Accel World: Floating Bridge in Starlight

by Reki Kawahara

  What the end of the thread connected to was, of course, the person that had saved Haruyuki and his «Parent», Kuroyukihime.

  Kuroyukihime was currently a third-year at Umesato Middle School. And half of this year’s first semester had already passed. In other words, there were ten months left. After only 300 more days passed, 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 passing 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 pass 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 luster 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 mass 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[32]?

  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 hello, 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 button 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 Takumu-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!”[33]

  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 classmate 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 participated 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 casserole, 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 glass door to the hallway, Haruyuki prayed. ‘God, 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 hoarse 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[34] 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 pass 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 title—Be back tomorrow night. The contents—I can’t come back tonight, so please take 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 arrivin
g 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-class 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 was sitting in the living room alone.