Chapter 6After using the command “Burst Out” to return to the real world from the territory battle field, Haruyuki hesitated before opening his eyes as he felt gravity press down on his body.
He stayed still like that for about 10 seconds, but then finally raised his head up.
Currently 6 PM, his home’s living room was so deathly silent that the conversation and laughter that he exchanged with the others just a moment ago on the other side seemed like an illusion.
The room was quite gloomy since the lighting was off. The sliver of the evening sky that could be seen from the gap between the slightly opened curtains was a dull lead color. The only thing moving within his field of vision was the thin second hand moving languidly on the a.n.a.log-type clock on the wall, which was practically just an accessory in this day and age.
Haruyuki let out a small sigh and slumped back his body on the sofa.
Their legion tried as much as possible to Dive for the weekly territory battles on Sunday after gathering together in real life, but when they didn’t have the spare time to do so, they instead partic.i.p.ated from each of their respective homes and neighborhoods. Although a single battle in Brain Burst took only 1.8 seconds to finish, having to fight defensively in more than ten consecutives battles, at the very minimum, made it come out to closer to ten minutes when you included the intervals between battles. Today had turned out to be one of those days they each Dived separately, due to Kuroyukihime being unable to leave the student council room. —Of course, Sky Raker was the only one that partic.i.p.ated from a separate location almost every week, due to her house being close to Shibuya.
Haruyuki could never come to like partic.i.p.ating in the territory battles from his home by himself. The reason was simple. It was because, when he Bursted Out after having been absorbed in fighting ten consecutive fierce battles and sharing the joy of victory or regret of defeat with his friends, he always felt an intense loneliness when he suddenly woke up alone in his empty home.
It wasn’t the kind of extreme loneliness at being completely alone that he’d felt before he’d met Kuroyukihime last autumn and received the Brain Burst program from her. Rather, that would have been more comforting if it were so. Back then, when he ran out of school as soon as school finished every day and returned home as if running away, he would keep immersing himself in the world of games, anime and comics that filled his room. Just talking with others in the real world—no, just being in the same place as other people was painful to him back then.
Almost eight months.
It had only been that long since he had become a Burst Linker. And yet, Haruyuki now felt from the bottom of his heart that he wanted to meet with his friends in the legion that he had just parted with a few minutes ago. No, he didn’t care if it was with Niko, Pard-san, Ash Roller, or even Frost Horn. He wanted to exchange fists in a «duel», to comment on battles as part of a lively gallery, to meet with others in real life and talk about trivial things.
“……What’s happened to me?”
Murmuring that, Haruyuki buried his face in a sofa cushion. Suddenly, some window opened in the center of his vision along with the default sound effect of his home network, but he hit the confirmation b.u.t.ton with his right hand right away without looking at the contents. It was probably an automatic fixed message from his mom anyway about how she would be late tonight again. He quickly forgot about it and imagined the continuation of the question he’d asked within his mind.
—Have I become stronger, or weaker?
Considering how his fear towards other people had decreased, it could be said that he had become stronger. However, that had also increased his dependence on others at the same time.
When he’d been alone every day, there was nothing else he could lose.
But now, Haruyuki feared from the bottom of his heart that the personal relations he had obtained in these last eight months would break.
In particular, the one thread that was firmly connected to the very bottom of his heart and extended straight outwards from there, shining like black silk—
Even though he knew this kind of thinking was dangerous, he couldn’t stop himself. He tightly shut his eyes while lying face-down on the sofa within his gloomily-lit living room, and continued thinking with his arms folded over his head.
What the end of the thread connected to was, of course, the person that had saved Haruyuki and was his «Parent», Kuroyukihime.
Kuroyukihime was currently a third-year at Umesato Middle School. And half of this year’s first semester had already pa.s.sed. In other words, there were ten months left. After only 300 more days pa.s.sed, Kuroyukihime would graduate from Umesato Middle School. He hadn"t heard anything about which high school she would be going to after that. He was too afraid to ask.
Haruyuki could feel the actual time pa.s.sing by little by little even at this very moment, just like the rapid stream of thought from accelerating his mind’s thought processes a thousand times. If he could, he would like to spend all of the remaining ten months in Accel World with Kuroyukihime. On the other side, time would flow almost infinitely, taking up to 820 years for the eight months to pa.s.s by his simple calculations, but even that seemed not enough to him.
“……Senpai.”
He let out that whisper and grasped the ends of the cushion harder.
“Hmm, what is it?”
He imagined hearing her voice from very close by. While remaining face-down, Haruyuki repeated the same words in order to hear the reply of the imaginary Kuroyukihime once again.
“Senpai…”
“Like I said, what is it, Haruyuki-kun?”
Her voice was extremely gentle, not to mention containing a sense of realism, and Haruyuki heavily turned his body to the left, in a mood to see how far the limits of his delusional power went.
And there, right before his eyes, were two legs wrapped in black stockings, just fifty centimeters away from the sofa.
After blinking several times, he shifted his vision upwards. There was actually a superb knee-length skirt there. Above that, there was a jet-black short-sleeve shirt with a damp l.u.s.ter and a dark-red ribbon.
Her slender neck with a piano-black Neuro Linker attached, her long black hair that flowed down bewitchingly, and even her slightly tilted white face that possessed a beauty detached from people everywhere; they all had an overwhelming sense of reality as they filled Haruyuki’s vision.
……Wow, I really can’t make light of my mind’s delusional power. To think I would see such a clear illusion. Or was this developed from the image data in my memories while I was unconscious? But, do I really have such a high resolution photo of her entire body…?
While thinking that, Haruyuki nonchalantly held out his right hand and used it to grab and pull on the hem of her pleated skirt.
Even the realistic texture of the cloth and the ma.s.s and elasticity of the body beyond that were transmitted to his fingertips, and just when he thought ‘Let’s see now’.
“Nyaaah!?”
He heard that scream, and his right hand was smacked away. And then.
“Wha…Wha are you doing, you idiot!!”
A thunderous reprimand rained down on him, and at the same time two slender hands were held out towards him, which then grasped his cheek with three fingers each and mercilessly displayed their pulling power.
“Hii…Hafueh!?”
At the same time as he let out a scream and exclamation of shock, Haruyuki realized.
This was the real person. Not an illusion, not a photo, and not a solid AR image either. The actual Kuroyukihime had suddenly appeared in the living room of Haruyuki’s house and was raising her eyebrows in anger. But why, and how? Did she teleport here? Or maybe even quantum coherence[1]?
After about thirty seconds of pulling on Haruyuki’s cheeks, Kuroyukihime sat down on the sofa facing him with a thump and began lecturing him.
“Hey now, I properly rang the door chime, you know! And since you unlocked the door without even saying h.e.l.lo, I had no choice but to simply enter like that. I even properly greeted you by voice when I was at the door!”
“……Hah?”
Certainly, when he buried his head into the cushion and thought about this or that with his arms covering his ears, he had sensed that some kind of window had opened for a moment. He had thought it was surely a mail from his mother and had pushed the confirmation b.u.t.ton without looking at what it said, but apparently it had actually been a notification window for the intercom.
After summarizing in his mind that leaving the settings on the similar-sounding default message chime had been a mistake and that he should definitely change the ringtone without fail, Haruyuki then straightened his back and opened his mouth again.
“E-Err……W-Welcome, senpai.”
“Hmph. Sorry for intruding.”
Still pouting somewhat, Kuroyukihime answered back while adjusting the hem of her skirt. It was good that he had pulled it downwards just then, since if he had lifted it up, his punishment would definitely not have ended at just a cheek pull.
As he thought that to himself, Haruyuki was aware that the gears of his thought processes were still turning strangely. That wasn"t the problem, nor was how Kuroyukihime had come up to his home either. The fundamental thing he had to solve first was,
“……S-So, umm…why did you suddenly come over to my place…?”
He timidly asked that question.
Based on her uniform and also her school bag lying on the floor, Kuroyukihime seemed to have come directly from Umesato Middle School. If it had been to give him a message, she would have said it when they were having their meeting after the territory battle earlier, and she could have send him a mail or called him as well. So it must have been a matter which she couldn’t discuss through those means.
“…Is it about…something that requires an extremely high degree of security to talk about?”
He went ahead and guessed that, but Kuroyukihime shook her head slightly and shrugged her shoulders.
“It isn’t something as grand as that…What, do I not have the right to come over to play every once in a while? Even though Tak.u.mu-kun and Chiyuri-kun seem to visit you quite frequently?”
As his cheeks started swelling again, Haruyuki shook his head back and forth at high speed.
“N-Nononono, that’s not it, that’s not it at all! I-I-I-I’m very happy. You can come every day if you like, rather you could even m-m-move in, wait, what am I saying, ah, that’s right I’m sorry I’ll go get tea! I’ll make it right away so please sit down, wait you’re already sitting I’m sorry!”[2]
Since he was speaking of things that couldn’t be recovered by talking any further, Haruyuki stood up as if rolling off the couch and escaped by dashing to the kitchen. From behind him, he heard her say “Please don’t mind me” mixed with confused yet wry laughter, and the instant he heard that, his mental tension finally began to loosen slightly.
She hadn’t come bearing some strictly confidential matter concerning the legion, but had simply come over to play on her way home. As if he was receiving a fellow cla.s.smate as a guest in his home. Like an ordinary middle school student.
The instant he thought that, Haruyuki barely held back the smile that tried to break out from his lips as he took out the most expensive bag of coffee beans his mother collected from the cupboard and roughly put it into the coffee percolator.
While the cloudy sky outside the window changed from gray to a perfect pitch black night sky, Haruyuki continued talking in an engrossed state.
About today’s territory battle. About recent information on Accel World. About tomorrow’s race.
They didn’t stop at topics concerning Brain Burst; rumours and events at school, local topics within Suginami, and in the end even about the 2047 summer model Neuro Linkers announced by all the Neuro Linker-producing companies. They just kept talking, and talking, and talking about it all.
“…But, I think that the large and high functionality-type Neuro Linkers recently are putting the cart before the horse. In the first place, isn’t it meant to be a device that’s made to be so wearable that you forget you have it on your neck? And yet, the new Hitas model that came out just recently has an extra carry-use external unit made to attach to it!”
“Fufu, I understand how you feel. But, can you say that just by looking at the specs? According to rumor, it’s equipped with a deferred unit line CPU by having the connector and slot connection placed outside the device itself.”
“Uuh…N-No, regardless of how amazing the CPU is, it doesn"t give an advantage for Brain Burst duels, right?”
“Hmm, well, you can say that. But, I also heard gossip that the effect processing is rather gorgeous for players that use the newest Linker…”
“Seriously!? Unfair, that’s unfair!”
“What, it’s not like their percentage of victories go up due to the beauty of their visuals. By the way, I’ve also decided to change over to the new Recto model next month.”
“Uwah, that’s way, way too unfair! S-Senpai, can’t I also use yours a bit…?”
“Hey, hey, you can’t use the Linkers of other people. Even if I did lend it, I don’t think it’d fit on your neck, hahaha…”
So much fun.
Just thinking of having Kuroyukihime to himself, sitting on the other sofa and talking, nodding and laughing with a coffee cup in one hand, Haruyuki could taste a feeling of happiness that rose all the way to the heavens.
Haruyuki continued engrossing himself in the joy of communication known as a face-to-face conversation in the real world, which was a great luxury nowadays and was also something he still hadn’t been able to do well out of nervousness half a year ago. That’s why he wasn’t able to notice it. The faint hint of sadness that ran through Kuroyukihime’s eyes every once in a while.
After two hours.
This span of time that Haruyuki wished would continue forever was interrupted by a low grumbling sound from his stomach.
“Ah…It’s already this late. I overstayed my visit all the way to dinner time.”
After Kuroyukihime said that, Haruyuki shook his head frantically.
“N-No, it’s fine! My stomach isn’t hungry at all.”
*GUUH*
His body betrayed his mind again by letting out another grumbling sound. Thinking ‘This is why I hate this body!’, he covered his stomach with both arms, but dealing with the involuntary actions of his internal organs was quite difficult.
“Fufu, it’s only natural. Since you partic.i.p.ated greatly in today’s territory battle, you probably used up a lot of energy. You should replenish yourself fully for tomorrow.”
Smiling, Kuroyukihime stood up. Although he very much wanted to say ‘Then, at the very least, how about we have supper together?’, the only things he could prepare were frozen pizza, frozen Doria ca.s.serole, or five servings of frozen Chinese fried rice. He really couldn’t call it a menu appropriate for a guest.
While Haruyuki agonized over this, Kuroyukihime pick up her bag from the floor and began walking through the living room.
Her footsteps—
For an instant, her footsteps seemed just slightly heavier compared to her usual gallant gait. A needle of sharp discernment pierced through Haruyuki’s brain.
—Could she have come here because there was actually something else she wanted to talk about?
—And yet I simply talked about my own things and used up the time? Was I so engrossed in only my own happiness and enjoyment that I didn’t notice something important…?
Forgetting his intense hunger as well, Haruyuki opened his mouth.
But no words came out. How could he ask if she was worried about something, like an afterthought, in this kind of situation? He should have noticed it an hour, or at least thirty minutes earlier. He should have shut his rambling mouth and waited for her to speak.
While staring at her back as she approached the gla.s.s door to the hallway, Haruyuki prayed. ‘G.o.d, please give me just one more chance.’
It was then that a low-pitched rumbling sound resounded from far away.
Of course, the source wasn’t Haruyuki’s stomach. It was thunder. When he looked outside the living room window with a start, he saw that the interior of the thick clouds that dimly reflected the city lights of Tokyo were two or three times whiter than before. Shortly after, there was another roll of thunder from slightly closer this time.
While looking at the raindrops that started instantly striking the window and the blurring color of neon lights, Haruyuki spoke in a hoa.r.s.e voice.
“…Umm, senpai…It’s really raining hard.”
Kuroyukihime also halted, and whispered while looking at him sidelong.
“The forecast said there was a less than 10% chance of rain until 12 o’clock, though…This kind of mistaken prediction is rare.”
“U-Umm…do you have an umbrella?”
“Unfortunately, it’s just as you see. I’m sorry, but…”
As she held out her empty hands Haruyuki completely expected her to follow up by saying ‘Can I take shelter from the rain here for a little while?’—however.
“…Can you lend me an umbrella?”
“Eh…Yeah, sure, of course.”
After nodding stiffly and heading reluctantly towards the door, Haruyuki’s feet were held back by a second phenomenon.
A window with a yellow warning mark attached to it popped up in the left side of his vision.
“Ah…There’s a lightning warning and network malfunction alarm for Suginami and Setagaya.”
“You’re right. I don’t think I would get hit by an actual bold of lightning, but…I hate the connection lag on the road…”
Kuroyukihime said that with a shrug of her shoulders. When walking through traffic, it was convenient to have AR[3] information on every place within sight—from the traffic report within the vicinity, to the navigation line towards one’s destination, to the distance walked and to one’s calorie expenditure—displayed by the Neuro Linker, but when lags occurred frequently due to the network being in bad condition, it instead made walking very difficult.
“Hmm……But, the time is already this late…”
Although she was usually the kind of person who made quick decisions and took swift action, Kuroyukihime looked at the time with an unusually indecisive tone of voice. Haruyuki also followed suit and turned to look towards the lower right corner of his virtual desktop. It was 8:07 PM. It was a delicate period of time that couldn’t be called either early or late in the evening.
As the sound of rain and thunder reached them dimly from the other side of the window, the two of them continued standing still with awkward postures in the middle of the living room.
Haruyuki inhaled and opened his mouth several times. However, no words came out in the end each time. No, he shouldn’t have needed to feel pressured like this. ‘You should wait until the rain stops and the thunderclouds pa.s.s at least.’ Wasn’t it actually a harmless and natural request? Yet, why was his heartbeat skyrocketing like this suddenly?
He couldn’t read the expression on Kuroyukihime’s sidelong face two meters away. Was she wavering, or listless, or maybe tense, or was she just waiting for something…
*PIPOON*
A default beeping sound suddenly rang, and Haruyuki shrank back in surprise.
The window that appeared in the center of his vision was a text message sent via the home server this time. The sender—his mother. The t.i.tle—Be back tomorrow night. The contents—I can’t come back tonight, so please care of everything at home.
The third miracle in a row. Though, it wasn’t actually something so exaggerated. Half the time, Haruyuki’s mother would only return home on weekends after the date changed at night, and the other half she would not return at all. However, to Haruyuki, this message came with the greatest and most final timing. He closed the window and forcibly pushed out his voice from his constricted throat.
“U-U-Umm…I-I’m not really bothered by that kind of thing a-a-at all. That is, umm, ah…”
As Haruyuki agonized over how he should tell her about the contents of the mail from his mother in a non-suggestive way, Kuroyukihime touched precisely upon the crux of the matter.
“No, your mother will also be arriving back home soon, so I’d just be a bother. I’ll just go now…”
The instant he heard that, several of the safety valves in Haruyuki’s brain were blown away and the following words simply flew out of his mouth by themselves.
“No, i-i-it’s fine! Because my mother isn’t c-c-coming back tonight!”
The thought ‘Oh no, that was way too blunt, it’s like I’m saying I want her to take shelter here from the rain!’ went through Haruyuki’s mind as he fell into an even greater panic, but—
Even after she heard that, Kuroyukihime’s upper body merely twitched. Eventually, she did a half-turn in the opposite direction to face Haruyuki, and then she whispered while looking at him sidelong.
“…I see. Then, sorry for intruding further, but I’ll take you up on your proposal.”
“I-I-I-It’s p-p-perfectly all right!”
While nodding frantically, Haruyuki thanked his mother’s super laissez-faire parenting policy within his mind. After that, he simply prayed for the thunderclouds overhead to remain there for even a second longer. If possible for an hour, no, at least thirty minutes…
Then, as Kuroyukihime started walking again, her mouth moved at slightly high speed.
“Now that I think about it, since we’ll all be meeting up here tomorrow as well, it’d be a waste of time for me to leave now.”
“T-That’s right. That would be really inefficient…”
——Huh?
It’d be troublesome to leave since she’s coming over tomorrow anyway? Wait, what did she mean by that?
As Haruyuki froze with an unnatural posture and expression, Kuroyukihime put her bag down on a chair in the dining room, and then,
“Then, I’ll go down to the mall below for a little while.”
Leaving those words, she went out the door.
Haruyuki should have next cooked the best-cla.s.s frozen marguerita pizza that he treasured within the freezer for dinner, made another cup of coffee and then watched the night news program on top of the sofa, but he had almost no memory of doing all that.
By the time he came to his senses, Haruyuki sitting in the living room alone.
However, it seemed that everything hadn’t been a delusion, as the faint sound of a hair drier came from the bathroom across the hallway.
At this point, his brain transmissions that had been idling for over two hours finally entered first gear, and Haruyuki’s thoughts resumed from where they had broken off.
‘It would be troublesome to return.’ In other words, would it be correct to interpret that as meaning she would not be going home before the time of the race tomorrow? Then, didn’t this inevitably lead to a Kuroyukihime remaining here for the night? To put it another way, she was “staying over”? Was the occurrence of such a situation legally and morally allowable, even though they were middle school students? But, her words couldn’t be interpreted otherwise, right?
—No, don’t let yourself be shaken, me! Even if that’s the situation, you should be able to cope with it calmly! After all, this wasn’t the first time, she has stayed over before without this kind of feeling, but that time Niko was also here, and furthermore they’d slept in the living room while doing a retro game marathon…
“Thanks for letting me use the bath.”
The living room door suddenly opened, causing Haruyuki to spring up and looked at the owner of the voice with a speed that almost seemed to dislocate his vertebrae.
She wore a simple set of dull gray pajama top and bottom. She had probably bought it at the shopping mall attached to the apartment building on the ground floor. While rubbing a towel over the hair behind her head, Kuroyukihime spoke with a faint smile.
“For some reason, the pajamas I have keep increasing one after another.”
“Y-Yes…Then, you should just leave a pair here.”
After he automatically said that, he realized belatedly what he’d said.
“No, I-I-I didn’t mean it like t-t-that, I-I-I wasn’t thinking something like how I wanted to you stay over again due to the thunder like today, n-n-no I’m not saying I hate it or anything, not at all, that is, err, err——”
As Haruyuki shook his arms and head in a complex manner, Kuroyukihime gave a big wry smile and offered some help.
“How about you use the bath too before the water gets cold?”
“Yes! I’ll do that!”
Getting off the sofa as if rolling off, Haruyuki escaped from the living room at full speed.
While finishing up his bathing despite being hit by confusion again at steam still filling bathroom and then changing into a sweatshirt and sweatpants instead of pajamas, Haruyuki very carefully considered his next course of action that he would have to choose from among the available options.
The answer he came to in the end was—
“Umm, senpai, please use my mother’s bedroom! It’s the door at the end of the hallway! T-T-Then, good night!”
He babbled out those words from the entrance to the living room, and after that shut himself into his room and pulled his blanket over his head, which was a slightly, no, a very pitiful thing to do.
He had vaguely guessed that Kuroyukihime had come over because there was something she wanted to talk about. However, under these circ.u.mstances, Haruyuki didn’t think he could remain calm at all when directly facing her in pajamas. After all, since his brain had already overheated a while ago, he would undoubtedly talk about a hundred more meaningless things instead of saying nothing. No, before that, it wouldn’t be strange if he broke down from hyperventilation, dehydration or arrhythmia first.
If it was going to end up like that, he should put his head under the covers in his room like this instead. At the very least, he would not have to carry memories, permanently saved in his brain, that would always make him cry out “Wah!” or “Gyaah!” when he recalled it afterwards.
Activating his mental shut-in mode at full-throttle back pedal for the first time in a while, Haruyuki continued curling up in his bed while gritting his teeth in self-loathing with the thought ‘Thinking that I had gotten stronger was just my imagination’ in his mind.
That’s why, about ten minutes later, when he heard the faint words “Can we talk a little?” along with a light nock on his door, he was greatly surprised that he didn’t pretend to be asleep.
Instead, Haruyuki sat up on his bed and took a deep breath. He chased away the weakness inside him with the breath of air, and then answered “Come in” in a hoa.r.s.e yet clear voice.
Opening the door and coming in without a sound, Kuroyukihime was for some reason holding one of the big cushions from the living room sofa in her arms. She took a single look around the room, and then quickly walked forward and sat down on the edge of his bed.
“I thought you would say no.”
After Kuroyukihime said that in a low voice with her back turned to him, Haruyuki also answered back quietly.
“…I also thought I would say that.”
“Why did you change your mind?”
“Hmm…err…”
His emotions were unexpectedly calm. Instead, Haruyuki even felt a tranquil composure in this astounding situation. That might have been due to his relief at not having made a huge error at the last minute here.
“…It’s because I believed that you surely had something truly important to talk about, senpai.”
“What, so then you tried to swiftly go to sleep even though you noticed that?”
Seeing her slender back twitch and go stiff, he apologized while scratching his head.
“S-Sorry.”
“…Well, I’ll forgive you since you let me into your room like this.”
Letting the tension go out of her shoulders, Kuroyukihime turned her body a little and looked at Haruyuki as he sat in the middle of the bed. Her expression was gentle, but just as he thought, the sadness that had wavered over her face all day long still hadn’t disappeared from her eyes.
She raised her slender fingers and stroked the piano-black Neuro Linker attached to her neck. At the same time, she whispered quietly.
“«Those that use up all their points and have Brain Burst forcefully uninstalled lose all their memories connected to it at the same time.»”
Haruyuki’s breath caught in his throat. That was the Brain Burst program’s secrecy protection system that they had seen proof of almost two months ago. It was a form of absolute salvation, but ultimately a merciless punishment for losers.
Lowering her hand, Kuroyukihime gave a smile that had various feelings mixed into it.
“When I was clearly demonstrated the truth of this final rule, which had only been a rumor until then, in the most irrefutable fashion possible, I became very afraid. Because, if I’m beaten by any of the other «Kings» even once, it means that I would forget who I was at that very instant. But, Haruyuki-kun. At the same time, I…also felt relieved…”
Unable to immediately grasp the meaning of her words, Haruyuki was confused. Kuroyukihime gripped the cushion on top of her knees harder, and continued with her eyes cast downwards.
“……Two and a half years ago, I banished one of the «Kings» from Accel World forever with a surprise attack during a meeting. Since then, I have always been frightened in the deepest depths of my heart. I thought that he…the boy who was once the first generation Red King, «Red Rider», held a profound resentment towards me from somewhere in Tokyo.”
Haruyuki sucked in a sharp breath.
He had heard this story several times before. No, he had even seen a replay file that recorded that very scene once. Therefore, he had come to understand the size of the scar which that incident had left in Kuroyukihime’s heart, but at the same time, he had foolishly thought that she had already overcome that pain.
Unconsciously leaning his body towards Kuroyukihime as she set on the left side of the bed, Haruyuki spoke keenly.
“B-But…Even if it was a surprise attack…Wasn’t it a legal attack in accordance with the rules? Furthermore, he didn’t even have a non-aggression pact with the legion boss he was facing at the time. In that case, he shouldn’t bear a grudge…”
Kuroyukihime shook her head gently but clearly and interrupted Haruyuki’s desperate words.
“That’s wrong, Haruyuki-kun.”
“Eh…What do you mean, that’s wrong…?”
“The attack I used when I cut off Red Rider’s head was my Level 8 special technique, «Death By Embracing». It has an attack range of only 70 centimeters, but in exchange it has a high attack power. —That being said, regardless of how strong it is, it still shouldn’t have had the power to instantly kill Rider, who was the same level as me and moreover had a high defense just below that of the green and blue colors due to being a pure battle type. Yes…you probably already understand. At that time, I activated the «Incarnate System». I used the forbidden power that all seven Kings had sworn to not use after subduing the fourth generation «Chrome Disaster»…”
This time, Haruyuki was speechless.
The high-ranking interface hidden within Brain Burst, the «image control system». Crossing over the limits within the game by intentionally using this interface was, in other words, the «Incarnate System». Its power was the greatest, but at the same time it seemed to also have a terrifying dark side to it. All the high-ranked players Haruyuki knew had told him that all those that pursue its power are swallowed up by the darkness within their hearts. Kuroyukihime, sitting in front of him, was not an exception to that either.
Her slender shoulders slumped even further and a dry voice came from her.
“……Rider has a right to resent me, after I broke the oath we all swore. Although I don’t have any regrets at having chosen to fight the other Kings, my arms are still stained with the feel of that one attack…—That’s why, Haruyuki-kun, for a long time I stubbornly didn’t believe in the rumor that former Burst Linkers lose their memories of Accel World. Because I couldn’t allow myself to cling to that rumor and let myself feel better because of it. However, when it was proved two months ago that the rumor of memory erasure was true…I was relieved. I recognized that Rider no longer remembers that he was the Red King and that he was banished due to my betrayal, and I felt relieved about it from the bottom of my heart. Geez…what an incorrigible cowards I am…”
Chuckling slightly, the pajama-wearing Kuroyukihime looked unusually weak and fragile. Haruyuki mustered what little courage he had and shortened the distance between them by another five centimeters.
However, he of course didn’t touch her hand, but at least spoke as best he could.
“Se…Senpai. Umm, I think that the reason the existence of the memory erasure process is hidden is because it creates an incredible pressure within you if you fight while knowing about it. Bu…But, we already know about it. From now on, we have to fight while understanding that resolve. So…it isn’t cowardly to instead be a bit relieved about it…rather, I believe it’s perfectly justifiable.”
Kuroyukihime raised her head a little and glanced at Haruyuki. A painful yet gentle smile spread over her pale lips.
“…I see. That kind of logical opinion is just like you. That’s right, you should fight under that belief…But, I probably don’t have that right…”
“Wh…Why!?”
“That’s…because the Burst Linkers that received an unrecoverable loss due to an incarnate attack by me aren’t just Rider alone.”
Blinking several times, Haruyuki frowned and asked.
“By that…you mean the fourth generation Chrome Disaster? B-But, that couldn’t be helped with him, right?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Swaying her damp hair, Kuroyukihime shook her head feebly. After several seconds, she said the person’s name in voice that was almost like a sigh.
“My…old friend. The only person I had a friendship with in the real world before I made you my «Child»…Fuuko, no, Sky Raker.”
“……Eh…?”
“The reason Raker’s legs weren’t restored even with Chiyuri-kun’s «Citron Call» after the territory battle today wasn’t because her will power didn’t work. It was because of me. Most likely, my will power is still eating into Raker’s scars even now and is preventing them from being healed. Like a poison…Like a curse.”
“No way! No way, that can’t be!!”
Haruyuki shouted fervently. Shaking his head repeatedly, he leaned forward his upper body and argued back vehemently.
“Raker-san said that she forcibly asked you to do that, senpai. You tried to dissuade her right until the end, but Raker-san wouldn’t change her mind no matter what, so you reluctantly cut her legs off…Isn’t that how is was!?”
“That’s correct, on the surface…”
Burying her face into the cushion in her arms, Kuroyukihime whispered.
“But…my twelve-year-old self back in those days was far more childish and foolish than I am now. I couldn’t understand her feelings when she chose…couldn’t help but choose to yearn for the sky instead of fighting alongside me as the legion’s sub-master. At the very end, when I realized that Raker would never change her mind, I felt sad…and angry…and so I loaded all those feelings into the blade of my right arm and cut off Raker’s legs. At that time, there was surely the thought ‘Then you should lose your legs forever’ within my heart as I used will power. That became a curse which remains to this day. Just like the deep-seated grudge of the first generation Disaster that produced the «Armor of Catastrophe» in the past…”
She put even more strength into her hands holding the cushion. Her low cracked voice flowed into the dim bedroom.
“…The will power that Raker and you use is an embodiment of «hope». But I’m different. I override phenomena with the opposite…with the power of «anger», «resentment» and «despair». I don’t pile up or create anything, I just cut through everything, and lose everything. It’s as if my avatar is an extremely ugly form that symbolizes that…Everyone in the reborn, no, in the second generation «Nega Nebulas» that you revived will also one day be lost if they continue to fight with me…definitely……”
The volume of the last half of her words sank even lower, so much that Haruyuki felt as he was hearing not sound, but rather Kuroyukihime’s self-reproach itself.
—That’s wrong. That’s wrong. That’s definitely wrong.
«Despair» and «loss» can’t be your true nature. Because, I was saved by you. You keenly held out your hand and pulled me up from the bottom of the bottom within the pitch-black bog I was in. You gave me overwhelming «salvation»!
Although he shouted that in his mind, he definitely wasn’t capable enough to put those swirling feelings into words. Haruyuki gritted his teeth hard, and thought desperately about how he could convey to Kuroyukihime just how much he had been saved by her and Brain Burst.
After five seconds, the answer he came to was—
“……Senpai.”
Haruyuki called out to her, and quietly held out an item he picked up from the corner of his headboard.
It was a XSB cable with a silver wire. Gripping the plug at one end in his left hand and the other end in his right hand that he was holding out to her, Haruyuki spoke.
“Senpai, please «duel» with me. If we do that, I think I’ll surely get you to understand. About…about how…”
Unable to suppress the feelings that came welling up, tears fell in drops from Haruyuki’s eyes. He took a deep breath while sniffling and then continued in a trembling voice.
“…how important you are to me.”
Kuroyukihime turned her face halfway up towards Haruyuki, and widened her eyes. Showing an expression that went from shock, to hesitation, and to fear, she finally settled on a light yet pain-filled smile.
“…You always surprise me.”
Muttering that, she took the plug.
But, instead of putting it in her Neuro Linker, Kuroyukihime crossed over the bed and sat on her knees right in front of Haruyuki. The scent of soap and shampoo drifted to his noise, and his mind jumped in spite of the situation.
“Now that I think about, this is the first time we’re…”
Leaving her words there, she put her plug into the port on Haruyuki’s Neuro Linker.
“…f-fighting each other one-on-one.”
Finishing her sentence, Haruyuki also held out his plug to Kuroyukihime’s Neuro Linker while suppressing the shaking of the hand holding it. He jacked it in at the same time as they ended up face-to-face and pressed against each other. A wired connection warning blinked in his vision.
While soaking himself in the sensation of touching not just digital signals, but each other’s consciousness themselves, Haruyuki quietly recited the command.
“Burst Link.”
Clad in silver metallic armor, his thin legs stepped onto a floor of cracked marble.
Haruyuki’s apartment building had changed into a white-walled shrine. All the walls that divided the rooms of every apartment disappeared, and it all turned into a single floor consisting of a vast circular atrium. The ceiling was high, supported by Greek-style pillars in some places. Faint pale yellow sunlight shined in from openings along its perimeter.
It was the same «Dusk» stage where Haruyuki had received his first lecture from Kuroyukihime in the past. When he finished confirming his surroundings, he turned his gaze forward, and there, 20 meters away from him—a beautiful obsidian avatar stood there quietly.
Both her hands and legs were made of long swords. A petal-like armored skirt enclosed her thin waist, and both sides of her face mask gleamed sharply.
Accel World’s rebel, the Black Knight «Black Lotus», had her arms lowered without taking any stance, and her faced was slightly tilted downwards. However, that slender figure emitted an intense pressure that made Haruyuki feel as if he were standing under a huge guillotine, and so «Silver Crow»’s thin body unconsciously shook.
—No, I can’t let myself be seized with fear in this situation!
He shouted that at himself beneath his silver exterior.
Haruyuki had a reason for challenging Kuroyukihime to a «duel». It was something incredibly simple. He wanted to convey to her a certain belief that supported him as a Burst Linker. That was—
«Brain Burst» is, at its foundation, an online player-vs-player battle game.
And all games are meant to be enjoyed.
For the thrill, the excitement, and the pa.s.sion in playing. And in the case of net games, for the feeling of solidarity that came with competing and fighting alongside others. All players had a right to receive that. Games never exist for the sake of suffering.
In order to convey this belief to Kuroyukihime, the only thing Haruyuki could do was to muster his entire body and soul to fight her right here and now. With all his strength, he would challenge her, who thought that her avatar and will power projected «despair» and that those who crossed blades with her would also be consumed by it as well. And, he would remind her of the pleasure of dueling.
—That’s why, I’m…
“I’m going to come at you seriously, senpai!!”
Shouting that, Haruyuki fiercely dashed forward off the ground.
Black Lotus still didn’t move. However, he didn’t slow down his momentum, and so he ran through the twenty meter distance between them in an instant and stepped right up to her so strongly that he cracked the marble floor.
His first attack was his best specialty, a left-hand straight punch, which he aimed at the center of her body with the maximum spin of his waist and shoulder to give it more power. Kuroyukihime stepped one leg back at just the last second and narrowly avoided his attack.
Although she had had accepted Haruyuki’s challenge, she was probably still held back by hesitation. Her movements didn’t have their usual sharpness. Although she raised her right-hand sword for a counter thrust, Haruyuki could clearly see the point of the sword as if it were in slow motion.
He gathered his fingers on his right hand into a straight open palm while extending the hand forward. Wielding his arm like a whip, he tried to repel Kuroyukihime’s attack with a hand thrust.
Even though they had never fought each other directly, since they had fought side by side in territory battles for over half a year, Haruyuki had noticed a single very small weak point in the way Kuroyukihime fought at close range.
Although the swords on Black Lotus’ four limbs were terrifying weapons that equally integrated both offense and defense, they were still swords, and so their power had a certain orientation and direction. To be specific, their strength was concentrated only on the blade edges, and the body of the sword was actually rather vulnerable.
Of course, they couldn’t be broken with just a single strike, but it was possible to pile up damage. That was the only chance of winning that he would be able to find in a close range battle with her.
“…Kh!”
Along with a sharp righting yell, Haruyuki thrusted his right hand into the side of the blade being swung at him—or tried to.
However, the impact he expected didn’t occur. Instead.
Feeling a soft sensation he couldn’t described except as ‘gentle’, Haruyuki was shocked.
The long jet-black sword enfolded Haruyuki’s hand thrust with a small outward motion. He couldn’t believe it, but it looked as if the blade had changed into a soft material and halted his arm with a spiral motion around it. But, the moment after he felt that—
“Hah!”
Letting out a momentary exhalation, Kuroyukihime shook her right arm sharply while taking a step forward.
Instantly, an explosive repelling force hit Haruyuki from his arm to his shoulder and chest.
“Wha……”
By the time he managed to croak that out, he had already been helplessly blown backwards. Unable to adjust his stance either, his back crashed into one of the distant pillars. The pillar broke with a loud crash, but even so Haruyuki didn’t stop there, and after rolling on the floor some distance further, he finally stopped with his limbs spread out.
After seeing sparks flicker before his eyes for over a second, he shook his head and quickly stood up. Somehow managing to stay standing despite his shaking legs, he raised his head and shouted out.
“Wha…What was that just now!?”
Slowly approaching him with her legs’ hovering movement from far away, Kuroyukihime shrugged slightly and answered back.
“A soft technique for facing a hard technique[4]…I suppose you could describe like that. Someday I’ll tell you about the time I trained in the Chinatown area within Yokohama…More importantly, Haruyuki-kun. Wasn’t there something you wanted to tell me?”
Her voice was calm, but Haruyuki was strongly conscious of a feeling of suffocating loneliness contained within her tone.
Just as he thought, the current Kuroyukihime was always imprisoned by the feelings buried deep inside her. ‘My fighting can only create negative energy. I can give neither the excitement of battle nor the feeling of solidarity from competing against each other to my opponent.’ That’s what she believed.
—No, that’s wrong!
—I’m experiencing the strongest shiver in my body right now. It isn’t due to fear. My entire body is shaking from the thought of having such a strong person in front of me…and of having that person fight me.
Haruyuki resisted the urge the shout that out, and clenched his fists tightly.
He wouldn’t be able to convey this to her with words. That’s why he requested this duel. He couldn’t cower from having been blown back once in this situation. He couldn’t stop until he completely used up his entire being right now.
“……I’ll tell you with my fists!”
Shouting loudly, Haruyuki once again dashed forward.
His health gauge had decreased by 20% due to the attack that had sent him flying just now. However, in exchange, his special technique gauge had also been charged up. While running, he unfolded the metal fins on his back one by one.
He threw away his plan of counter-attacking Black Lotus’ sword from its side. He risked everything on the three-dimensional rush attack from zero-distance that he had secretly trained for a long time.
“Uu…oooh!”
Crying out, he did another long punch. Kuroyukihime also did a thrust with her right sword just like before. As things stood, he would be hit first due to the difference in reach between them.
The shining point of the sword approached closer and close, and the instant it was about to touch his helmet—
Haruyuki strongly vibrated his left wing just once. Silver Crow’s body slid to the right without any preliminary movement, and the sword scattered sparks across the surface of his helmet as it just barely pa.s.sed by him.
“…!”
Kuroyukihime sucked in a short breath. But she didn’t stop her movement even slightly, and instead rotated her body with her left leg’s sword as the axis and tried to dodge Haruyuki’s punch. At that instant, Haruyuki’s right wing quivered this time. He corrected his trajectory once again, and—
*KIIIN!* With a small yet clear sound of impact, sparks burst out from Black Lotus’ left should armor. Her health gauge indicated to the top right of his vision lost only a single small dot, but it definitely decreased.
—Now!
“Seaaah!”
Haruyuki let out a war cry and raised his right leg. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t be able to successfully use a high kick when glued to his opponent like thos. That was because a minimum fixed distance from the tip of his left foot that served as the axis of rotation and the tip of his right foot that dealt the damage was required. Kuroyukihime had perhaps figured that out as well, and instead of receiving or dodging the attack, she tried to counter with an elbow strike.
However, at that moment, Haruyuki once again activated only his right wing at full throttle for an instant. Using the center of his tilted body as the axis, he let out a groan as he put a miniscule swing that should have been impossible into his high kick.
Kuroyukihime stopped her elbow strike and bent her body back, but Silver Crow’s sharp toes grazed the left side of Black Lotus’ mask. Once again, sparks were emitted and minimum damage was dealt.
Having finished his bold move, Haruyuki was forced to experience a momentary stiff posture that was only natural at this point. Perhaps hating having her opponent glued to her, Kuroyukihime jumped back and crouched her body. But Haruyuki kicked off the ground with his left leg using the momentum from swinging his right leg. He activated his right wing for an instant again. Using the rotation this created, he unleashed a back roundhouse kick with his left leg.
Kuroyukihime blocked it with her bent left arm and received an intense impact. An orange flash effect dyed both their armors and the surrounding marble.
While perceiving the upper right gauge at the edge of his vision go down by two dots, Haruyuki added thrust from his left wing this time into the recoil of his kick. He rapidly counter-rotated in mid-air, and using that energy he thrusted with his left hand. His fingertips shallowly dug into Kuroyukihime’s right shoulder. He then activated both his wings when the two of them were face to face with each other. His double knee-kick was unfortunately blocked by her right arm, but it caused the greatest impact thus far to shake the stage. Damage, three dots.
—This was his second special technique that specially utilized flight ability, where he did a non-stop rush attack that efficiently employed momentary bursts of thrust from his wings, to which Haruyuki had dedicated special training for after the «bullet-dodging» training from before. Its name was «Aerial Combo». Compared to the first technique he had, «Dive Attack», its appearance was modest and it didn’t deal extra-large damage, but it could be used even indoors unlike the first and it could also be activated starting from when his special technique reached 20%. And most of all—it was almost impossible to defend against when seeing it for the first time!
“Oooh!”
Immersing his entire body in the sensation of acceleration as if his nervous system was bursting apart, Haruyuki sped up his rush attacks further. Remaining glued to his opponent, he continued letting out attacks with all four of his limbs while almost never landing on the ground. All of his attacks were avoided or blocked at the last minute, but it still gradually acc.u.mulated bits of damage to Black Lotus’ gauge.
Even while frantically moving his entire body, Haruyuki shouted out within his mind.
—Senpai, this is my current self. This is all the power contained in me, who you saved from that bog and gave wings to. If your true nature is «despair» and «loss» that cuts down everything…then what do you make of this battle!?
Without him noticing, Silver Crow’s form had turn into an aggregation of silver light that shined in the air. Putting at full throttle the reaction speed he’d trained at the virtual squash game in the Umesato Middle School local network, which had once served as the incentive that made him catch Kuroyukihime’s eye, Haruyuki continued unleashing his Aerial Combo. Although he wasn’t certain how many dozens of attacks he’d done, he still hadn’t landed even one clean hit. Kuroyukihime silently devoted herself to defense, and continued doing nothing but evading or blocking Haruyuki’s unpredictable rush attacks.
Although they didn’t exchange any words, after a certain amount of time Haruyuki was conscious of a deep emotion that was exchanged between the two whenever their avatars came into contact.
It was admiration. Towards Kuroyukihime’s defensive skill for Haruyuki. And most likely towards Haruyuki’s mid-air rush attacks for Kuroyukihime. Both of them felt unbelievably, deeply impressed and excited.
Suddenly, he felt as if he heard a voice.
——Aah, I see…So that’s it.
——This is a «duel». You need only forget everything else, become one with your duel avatar, and fight to your heart’s content. Even if this is a world that will disappear in just 1.8 seconds, even if it’s a contact that will end in 1.8 seconds…An innocent duel will surely leave something behind. It will give something to you…
——Rider and I. The countless number of battles between Rider and I that we had when we were young also surely…created something precious…that remains behind even now, within both of our hearts……
Haruyuki didn’t know if he really did hear those thoughts.
Because that voice was transmitted to him in the s.p.a.ce between seconds when Haruyuki’s right fist, which he had lunged out dozens of times, was touched and drawn in by Kuroyukihime’s left sword, a transient instant that couldn’t really be called time.
The next instant, that mysterious attraction intensely drew in Haruyuki’s fist once again.
…Ah, that «soft technique»…!
Gritting his teeth, Haruyuki tried to oppose the explosive repelling force.
However, it never hit him. Instead, Haruyuki’s body was pulled up to Kuroyukihime’s chest, and was firmly halted and held within her arms.
“Eh……”
While Haruyuki stiffened as he was unable to judge what he should do in response to this very unexpected development, this time an actual voice whispered in his ear.
“You were splendid, Haruyuki.”
—Eh? The duel is over? But, both our gauges still full, and there’s still time left, isn’t there?
When he checked their respective health gauges in confusion, Haruyuki realized something important.
Silver Crow’s special technique gauge had been consumed what he’d acc.u.mulated on it due to his continuous momentary thrusts of his wings, and now not even 10% of it remained.
On the other hand, Black Lotus’ special technique gauge was completely filled due to her endless blocking, and was shining a brilliant blue from end to end.
“This is the first time I’ve used this technique in two and a half years. Thank you, Silver Crow. Nice fight.”
At the same time as she whispered that, Black Lotus’ arms, which now wrapped around Haruyuki’s back from both sides, emitted an intense violet-blue flash.
“«Death By Embracing».”
Right after she uttered the technique name—there was a light cutting sound. Before its echo could even fade away, Silver Crow’s entire health gauge was dyed red—decreased swiftly from the right end—and reached zero.
……Really, what power she has.
At the same time as the greatest feeling of admiration he felt thus far filled his chest, the flaming words [YOU LOSE] appeared before his eyes. Luckily, before the feeling of being cut in half could reach his senses, Haruyuki’s entire body shattered into pixels while emitting a silver light.
He escaped from the darkness where he was filled with a feeling of floating, and returned to reality.
Opening his eyes on top of his bed, Haruyuki blinked several times, and looked for Kuroyukihime’s face, which should have been right in front of him.
But, he couldn’t find it. Because Kuroyukihime had pressed her body against his, put her head on his left shoulder, and wrapped her arms around his back at some point.
“Ah, umm, hey…”
As the sensation of her hair tickled his cheeks and the scent of her shampoo directly hit his brain, Haruyuki tried to jump up while still sitting. However, he wasn’t able to perform such a dexterous movement at a time like this, and instead his balance was broken backwards. He tried to frantically recover his posture with the thrust of his wings, but the back of his physical body was of course equipped with no such thing.
As Haruyuki fell down onto the mattress, Kuroyukihime’s slender body softly landed on his chest shortly after.
With only the faint sound of the air conditioner pervading the room, Haruyuki’s entire body froze completely this time as he widened his eyes. ‘First calm down, coolly judge the situation, and act!’ is what went through his mind, as he completely failed to grasp what had happened.
He was lying down on his bed in his usual sweatshirt and sweatpants attire at 11:00 PM. Up till this point was okay. There were no problems. However, the pajama-wearing Kuroyukihime was on top of his body, with both arms wrapped around him, and was also putting further strength into them—was this situation really reality? In the first place, why had they ended up in this kind of position? Was this all the work of a city-wide virus or something?
“……I’m surprised.”
When a voice spoke directly in his left ear, Haruyuki’s extremely confused thoughts halted.
“You…became that strong without me realizing it……”
Unable to think at all as he heard that emotion-filled murmured voice, Haruyuki’s mouth moved by itself.
“B-But, the end result was an almost perfect win for you, senpai……”
“That merely reflects the difference in levels. That battle was far more even-matched than you think. I was forced to desperately block while you continued your mid-air rush attacks for an incredibly long time.”
“Re…Really…?”
He skeptically muttered. In his estimation, though, he honestly thought the difference in true strength between himself and the Black King was like the distance from the bottom station of the s.p.a.ce elevator to the top or geostationary orbit station.
But Kuroyukihime raised her head slightly, and then looked into Haruyuki’s eyes from point-blank range and smiled weakly.
“Really. Aah…I wish I could convey to you how happy and how moved I am right now!”
A light like stardust whirled and glittered within her wide jet-black pupils. Just seeing that blew away his mind once again. Haruyuki didn’t know from whose heart the intense heartbeat he heard came from as they remained glued to each other with no s.p.a.ce between them.
As the tips of their noses were so close that they touched, and they held each other’s gazes—
Kuroyukihime continued speaking quietly.
“…At the very least, I’ll believe in the path I’ve walked until now. I still have many regrets, but…even so, the enormous time I spent in Accel World and the countless duels I acc.u.mulated weren’t useless. Because I got to find and invite you at the end of that path…”
She moved her right hand from his back and gently stroked Haruyuki’s cheek with her fingers.
“Haruyuki-kun. I’m proud of you.”
The instant he heard those words.
All of the fright inside him concerning the