“«Scars of the heart» are, in the end, only the key that determines the attribute of the duel avatar. There exist a virtually infinite number of powers stronger than that in Accel World. Training one’s knowledge by constructing strategies and tactics, fighting strength cultivated by experience, and also the bonds between friends, comrades and rivals. Even if it becomes a battle of mind power, the predominance of those strengths will never waver. —In the first place, isn’t the idea that those who drag along misfortune in real life are stronger than those who purely enjoy «duels» completely contrary to your beliefs?”
“Y-Yes, that’s…that’s true, but.”
“Your belief is absolutely correct. Never doubt that…But, although I’m making this out as a major premise…”
Here, Kuroyukihime closed her mouth, and Sky Raker smoothly took her place.
“At the same time, there exists another reality to this, Karasu-san.”
“R-Reality…?”
“Yes. From the viewpoints of others, it merely looks like they’re intently enjoying duels…For example, even for Burst Linkers like my «Child» Ash Roller, because they’re Burst Linkers, it is almost impossible for them to be completely satisfied in the real world. That’s because, the indispensable conditions for installing Brain Burst, in other words, «wearing a Neuro Linker since soon after being born» and «possessing a high level quantum connection aptitude» are factors that run counter to happiness in the real world.”
The instant he heard that, Haruyuki sucked in a sharp breath.
90% of the reason for attaching Neuro Linkers to newborn babies was, in short, for labour-saving in child rearing. Since their body temperature, heartbeat and breathing could always be monitored with it, parents could turn their eyes away from them without worry; various learning programs could be automatically used instead of teaching them vocally; and if they cried out at night, they could even perform a compulsory Full Dive on the children. However, they couldn’t argue that this was fortunate to the child when facing scholars and educational critics.
Similarly, in the case of high level quantum connection aptitude as well, although it seemed like an outstanding talent only a select few children had, the reality was different. This aptitude, in others, one’s affinity with the Neuro Linker, was determined since a young age by how much time and with how much frequency they had spent Full Diving. To put it another way, by how time in the real world they threw away and shut themselves in the virtual world—or something like that. Like Haruyuki, who had in the past continued fleeing into the virtual squash game in the local network at Umesato Middle School all the time.
As if reading his thoughts, Kuroyukihime calmly resumed speaking.
“…It may be an unpleasant way of putting it, but…in almost every case, the only ones that can fulfill these indispensable conditions to become Burst Linkers are children who grew up without being filled with love and affection from their parents. Conversely, to children who grew up while always watched over by their parents since they were a baby, physically interacted with them, and talked with them using their real voices, Neuro Linkers and the virtual world are both unnecessary. —However, it was necessary for my child self, and for Raker as well.”
In response, Haruyuki feebly nodded and murmured.
“Of course…it was necessary for me too. Since when I was young…this home where I was always alone at night was incredibly scary…”
Kuroyukihime once again touched Haruyuki’s hand with her white fingers, and continued speaking in a soothing voice.
“In other words…almost all Burst Linkers hold a lack of a certain thing that they have in common. That is, true love and affection between parent and child. That is the «reality» Fuuko spoke of earlier. And those that become Burst Linkers, when they eventually use their right for a single copy installation as a «Parent», try to choose as their «Child» someone who they instinctively feel to have the same scars as them. As a result, we strongly depend on and attach ourselves to the second «parent-child relationship» we obtain in Accel World. In order to regain what we never received in the real world…That is, in other words, an attachment to Accel World itself. In order to maintain our newly obtained bonds, we also try to maintain the stability and concealment of Accel Word. Geez…what a well-made system. I’d really like to applaud the developer…”
As Kuroyukihime gave a ‘Fufufu’ chuckle, Fuuko gave a slightly reproachful smile.
“Geez, Sacchan’s cynicism is the same as ever. Karasu-kun, although I certainly called it an «unhappy reality» just now, that is not the same thing as being actually unhappy.”
“Eh…eh?”
As Haruyuki blinked in surprise, Raker’s eyes looked at him, as if embodying the word “affection”.
“This is what I wanted to say. Certainly, the «Incarnate System» uses scars of the heart, in others words, trauma as its energy source. So, on one hand, if you’re unhappy, it may be true that you can manifest a stronger power. But…all Burst Linkers, in the deepest, deepest depths of their hearts, carry the greatest of scars, of «receiving a Neuro Linker instead of their parents’ hands the moment they’re born». Since they don’t clearly remember it, it simply isn’t reflected in the forms of their avatar or mind power. Therefore, it’s futile to try comparing it to the size of the unhappiness that is piled on top of it afterwards. Instead, let’s compare it to the size of «hope». The power of the Incarnate System isn’t decided by just the depth of the hole in your heart. It’s also decided by the height of the tree that takes root and buds in that hole.”
For an instant, Fuuko’s voice wavered there. Her gaze slowly looked down at the glass table between them.
“……As someone who tried to forcibly extend that tree and had it cut down from the roots in the past, this might not be something…I have the right to say, though…”
Her whisper was filled with a deep regret and an even deeper resignation in it.
After Sky Raker sank into silence, Kuroyukihime held out her right hand to her and spoke.
“Come over here, Fuuko.”
Then, Raker stood up from the sofa facing them, and went around the table to sit down to Haruyuki’s left. Now sitting on the sofa with Haruyuki forcibly trapped between them, the two girls then did a completely unforeseen action.
They each held out their arms from either side of him, and tightly embraced each other with Haruyuki stuck between them. Naturally, the serious conversation they’d been having until now was blown out of Haruyuki’s mind, and he merely huddled in on himself in shock.
But, for some reason, the panic which he should have continued to constantly feel rapidly melted way only now, like ice in the sun. Instead, a warmth he couldn’t name filled his chest somehow. It was different from the sweet and heartrending heat he’d felt when he’d been embraced by Kuroyukihime on his bed last night.
Eventually, he heard Fuuko whisper above his head.
“Fufufu…We’re like a group of kittens that huddle together in their den when their parent cats don’t come back.”
Kuroyukihime responded back immediately after.
“Having people you can huddle with and depend on is a fortunate thing. Besides, the night will surely end soon. When it does, we can roll about and play under the sun again.”
“That’s true…We’ll play earnestly, with all our strength. Regardless of the expectations of the developer and Brain Burst system…I will never forget that at least ever again.”
The two of them kept still like that for a while, but eventually they both separated from each other. Kuroyukihime placed her hand on Haruyuki’s head as he remained stunned.
“First of all, there’s today’s race! It’s an event in Brain Burst, so there will probably be neither a manual nor a tutorial for the race as usual and as a result we might suffer troubles, but we’re counting on you, Driver!”
“Y-Yes…”
As Haruyuki frantically nodded, this time Sky Raker hit his back.
“That’s right, I really hate words like ‘We put up a good fight’ and ‘We lost by a narrow margin’. I also hate words like ‘undecided’. Since you promised to call me over for a sleepover meeting, I’ll also push you off from the Old Tokyo Tower again if the match ends up undecided.”
“Eh…Eeh!? B-B-B-But that, that, that’s!”
“T-T-That’s right, Fuuko! No one has promised anything yet…”
“Ahaha, you can’t get out of it, because we’ve already signed a contract in our hearts!”
While listening to Sky Raker as she pleasantly laughed, Haruyuki made a new resolution in his heart.
They absolutely had to win today’s racing event. At the very least, they had to reach the top of the tower no matter what. It wasn’t just for the sake of victory or the prize. It was in order to cut away the thorn of regret that had extended as a long, long vine from the past, and that still cursed these two girls even now. If they could make to that 4000 km height, where terrestrial gravity couldn’t reach, it would surely be possible to do so.
Then, at that moment, the second doorbell chime of the day rang through Haruyuki’s home loudly. Looking at the clock, he realized its hands had already reach 11:00 in the blink of an eye.
“Ah, it seems like Taku and Chiyu have arrived.”
After standing up and walking forward several steps, Haruyuki timidly brought up a certain subject again.
“Umm, master, about those two, err.”
“Don’t worry, we made a promise, so I’ll protect your secret.”
Sky Raker nodded with a smile, and then gave a meaningful wink.
“But, a secret will inevitably bring about a new secret, you know.”
Wah, this person is serious.
Pushing aside that particular thought for the time being, Haruyuki ran to the door before the impatient Chiyuri could ring the doorbell again.
“Prepare yourselves, and hold your heads high!”
Along with that declaration, Chiyuri held out a basket, and with the usual ceremony where everyone who were hungry prostrated themselves before the basket—or to be more accurate, the enchanting fragrance that flowed out from it, the first thing they all did together was eat.
What she took out from the basket was a seafood tomato-sauce tagliatelle skillfully cooked by Chiyuri’s mama. Servings for five people, no, more than that so that Takumu and Haruyuki could have extra helpings, had been properly prepared. Sitting down at the dining room table, the five of them quickly struck their forks into the flat pasta which still had steam rising up from it, as if Chiyuri has dashed up to the Arita home two floors above with it as soon as it was finished cooking.
“Hmm, this was excellently cooked.”
“Really, it’s incredibly delicious.”
When Kuroyukihime and Fuuko let out praises of admiration as they tasted the homemade cooking of Chiyuri’s mama for the first time, Chiyuri ducked her head down shyly.
“Ehehe, since it’s unprecedented in history for this many people to gather at Haru’s place, my mama was in pretty high spirits when she made this…”
“H…Hey, Chiyu, don’t affirm that.”
Although he instinctively interrupted her, Haruyuki knew best that it was the truth. He glared at Takumu as he laughed slightly, and chewed the pasta with increased vigor.
While similarly smiling, Kuroyukihime spoke in a slightly apologetic voice.
“Now that I think about it, since the «Armor» subjugation mission in the past, we’ve always been using Haruyuki’s house as our meet-up base for every occasion. Although I should have prepared a proper legion headquarters…”
“N-No, I really don’t mind that you use my home! My mother hardly comes home during the weekend anyway.”
After he frantically responded with that, he realized that talking about parents was still a slightly sensitive topic, and immediately spoke again to change the subject.
“Speaking of which…what did you do back during the first generation «Nega Nebulas»? For your headquarters, I mean.”
Then, Kuroyukihime and Fuuko who were sitting on the other side of the table from Haruyuki glanced at each other, and both made a nostalgic-looking expression. Fuuko answered in a gentle tone.
“There were many more legion members back in those days compared to now, but as a result there weren’t many members who had a close enough relationship to meet in real life. Specifically, there was only me, Lotus and one other person who were close like that. Because Nega Nebulas was a legion that had banded together due not to the mutual relationship between members, but rather due to their individual strong feelings towards the aloof flower known as Black Lotus. For some it was yearning, for others it was worship, or even because they had a protective heart towards her.”
“P-Protective…heart?”
Takumu repeated in confusion. Haruyuki and Chiyuri also widened their eyes. Raker then continued speaking with an even cheerier smile.
“That’s right. It’s because Lotus was still nine-years-old in real life when she first formed the legion. Of course, that kind of real life information about her wasn’t open to the public, but people could tell to a certain degree from her behavior. There must have been many Burst Linkers who joined the legion after feeling their hearts thump tightly when they saw her act proud of her overwhelming strength, yet get easily hurt in a childish manner.”
“H…Hey, hey. I was certainly a kid back then, but I can’t consent to you saying that I got hurt easily, Raker!”
“Oh my? Then, shall I talk about how you came to meet me in the real world?”
“S-Stop it! You can’t, that’s forbidden, absolutely forbidden! If you talk about it, I’ll «execute» you!”
As Kuroyukihime shouted and started fervently peeling away the shell off her shrimp, Haruyuki and the others unconsciously laughed out. Kuroyukihime cast her eyes down further, and complained with a grumble of “Even the older members were only ten or eleven years old, though…”.
Fuuko’s shoulder’s also shook with held back laughter for a while, and then she continued explaining.
“…Due to that, we didn’t have any large-scale headquarters back then either. Though, it’s probably the same with almost all the legions of the other «Kings». If the King and their executive commanders exposed their real life information to even their legion members, it could possibly create a huge danger for them, after all…”
“Yes. Although it’s another matter entirely if they’re confident that they’ve completely grasped the hearts of the entire legion.”
Tidying up her shrimp, Kuroyukihime murmured that as her expression until now suddenly disappeared, and Haruyuki tilted his head in puzzlement once again. Even if the Legion Master had the right to use «Judgement Blow», it would be difficult to bind all the members of a large legions with just the fear of that. Since the valid time limit for «execution» was up to one month after a member left the legion, it be possible to betray them if they had the resolution to get away and hold on during that time period.
But, Kuroyukihime’s words seemed to imply that there was actually a «King» that succeeded in fully controlling their legion. He considered asking her about it, but Kuroyukihime put down her fork and spoke as if satisfied in her usual tone before he could.
“Yes, it really was delicious! Thank you for the food, Chiyuri-kun. Please give my thanks to your mother as well.”
“Ah, yes! I was worried whether it would suit Kuroyuki-senpai’s tastes, but now I’m relieved.”
As Chiyuri smiled happily, Kuroyukihime gave her a bitter smile while wiping her fingers.
“Hey, hey, my usual meals are extremely careless and half-hearted, you know. It’s on par with what Haruyuki-kun usually eats.”
“Eeh, that’s not good for your body, senpai!”
Chiyuri frowned, and Sky Raker spoke out with a composed expression.
“Then, perhaps Karasu-san and Lotus ate the same frozen pizza last night.”
Chiyuri and Takumu loo
ked puzzled by her words. On the other hand, Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime suddenly froze.
“E-Even frozen pizzas are delicious thanks to CAS refrigeration technology recently! Did you know that the cell walls don’t get destroyed when super-cooling is applied during the freezing process…?”
While desperately rambling on about that subject, Haruyuki suddenly thought in his mind.
—What, there is a fully-controlled legion after all.
The current second generation Nega Nebulas was exactly that, no, beyond that. Because, all members had revealed themselves to each other in real life, and gathered to eat together like this. Without anyone doubting anyone else, they were connected by a strong trust. As if they were a family.
In terms of scale, they couldn’t reach the level of huge legions of over forty or fifty members at all, but Haruyuki felt that these bonds were the greatest weapon for fighting the other Kings from now on. At the same time as he felt that, he strongly prayed from the bottom of his heart that these bonds would remain permanent. He momentarily closed his eyes, and then immediately after reopened them, unconsciously giving a wry smile without showing it on his face. Within his ears, he once again heard the words Kuroyukihime had said earlier.
—In order to maintain our newly obtained bonds, we also try to maintain the stability and concealment of Accel Word.
Haruyuki’s current state of mind was summarized by this very sentence.
‘But,’ Haruyuki thought as he took a step forward. ‘Even if my heart is following the path that the developer intended it to. The worth of these bonds isn’t reduced even a little.’
Yes, even if Brain Burst has a hidden purpose in its existence.
I will protect this «family».
Several minutes later, when they had all finished eating their meal and cleaned up their dishes, the five of them moved over to the sofas in the living room. Since the sofa set was arranged in a U-shaped pattern that could fit five people, they sat down next to each other so that they could connect all of their Neuro Linkers in a line.
Accel World: Floating Bridge in Starlight Page 15