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 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 you to 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 due to the steam that still filled the 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 circumstances, 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 knock 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 hoarse 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 sat 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…”
Kur
oyukihime 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 coward 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 nose, 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 face 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.
Accel World: Floating Bridge in Starlight Page 12