Accel World: Return of Princess Snow Black

by Reki Kawahara

  "…Hey."

  Kuroyukihime stopped her hand, which had been typing on a holo-keyboard, and raised one small hand along with a slightly stiff smile. Probably, she had expressly taken out the work which she should have dealt with in the student council room here in this uninteresting place.

  In contrast, Haruyuki just bowed his head silently.

  An awkward silence instantly descended between them. A cold wind passed through them, rustling the leaves at their feet.

  As Haruyuki still hung his head, Kuroyukihime lightly cleared her throat and then continued speaking.

  "…Let’s talk as we walk."

  "Ok."

  Haruyuki nodded as he gave a faint response.

  Kuroyukihime walked silently, while Haruyuki followed a step behind on her left as they walked out of the school gate.

  After walking for a minute or two without talking to each other, Kuroyukihime began to speak after clearing her throat once more.

  "Umm…That is, I'm very sorry for this morning. I had a strange attitude."

  "No, I...don’t particularly mind. I should apologize too, for not coming to find you during lunch time."

  After hearing that unusually smooth reply from Haruyuki, Kuroyukihime seemed to tilt her head slightly, but then nodded.

  "Then, it’s fine, but…Umm. Even I don't know what exactly came over me, but…yes, when it comes to talking about «Cyan Pile», I'm unable to keep my calm."

  With her gaze set straight ahead, Kuroyukihime kept talking just a little fast—

  Haruyuki cut her words off with a dry voice.

  "About that. I’ve found the connection between «Cyan Pile» and Kurashima."

  "…Eh? Ah…I-I see. Then, let’s talk about it through direct connect. Since someone might hear what we say."

  Kuroyukihime spoke quickly, and searched through the bag hanging on her right hand instead of her pocket.

  What she pulled out was a small paper bag that had the name of a store within Umesato on it. Breaking off the tape with a stinging noise, Kuroyukihime drew out a new XSB cable from the bag.

  "Ah, I accidentally broke the cable that we used yesterday. So…I didn't have a lot of money with me, and could only buy this."

  Haruyuki purposely ignored Kuroyukihime’s explanation, which sounded like an excuse, as she held out a 1-meter cable—the shortest size sold in stores. Without meeting her eyes, he silently took the plug at one end of the cable and inserted it into his Neuro Linker.

  "……"

  Kuroyukihime seemed to be waiting for Haruyuki to say something, but eventually she inserted the plug at the other end into her own Neuro Linker. As the Wired Connection warning appeared and then disappeared, Haruyuki sent out his dry thoughts to her.

  "Kurashima isn't «Cyan Pile» herself. «Cyan Pile» has installed a virus in Kurashima’s Neuro Linker and made a Backdoor inside it. That’s why he appears on the stage from the coordinates where Kurashima is within the school."

  After Haruyuki had spoken up to that point, Kuroyukihime did not respond immediately.

  Eventually, her voice sounded through the center of his brain, sounding suspicious, or perhaps just a little scared.

  "…Did something happen to you…? Somehow...you’ve been a bit strange since earlier."

  "Not really…nothing’s wrong."

  Haruyuki responded to Kuroyukihime as she walked beside him 1 meter away, obstinately not turning to look at her.

  "But…—Could it be that you’re angry? Because I acted strangely this morning and yesterday…?"

  "No way. There's no reason for me to be angry at senpai…I’m fine, so let’s return to the important discussion here."

  Once again, only silence flowed through the thin cable.

  With dusk approaching, the sidewalk was dim and gloomy from the group of buildings lined up to the left, and the people who came and went were all sunk into black shadow. No one paid attention to Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime as they walked while direct connected, it was as if there was just the two of them, wandering through a calm country of shadows.

  "...Do you have evidence that proves this?"

  Abruptly, a thought that had suddenly changed to cold resounded in Haruyuki’s mind.

  "Did you get a hold of evidence that proves that Kurashima-kun really isn't «Cyan Pile»?"

  "No. If I touched the virus, there was the danger of them noticing, so I just checked it."

  "Ho. That’s a calm decision, but at the same time it lacks persuasive power. Even I’ve never heard of something like connecting to Brain Burst via a Backdoor virus, so how should I believe your words?"

  As she kept composing her words, Kuroyukihime’s thoughts became more and more sharp. Haruyuki clenched his teeth firmly and replied in an even more monotone voice.

  "So in other words, you’re pointing out the possibility that I made up the story about the virus… in short, that I changed sides over to Kurashima, «Cyan Pile»? If that's the case, it isn’t about evidence or the like. How the matter is judged all depends on what senpai decides."

  "…I never said any of that. You’re thinking too much."

  Kuroyukihime’s words shook a little, but Haruyuki obstinately gave nothing in reply to that.

  "—Are those really your heart-felt words?"

  Kuroyukihime’s feet suddenly stopped and she spoke with a stiff voice that made the temperature quickly fall.

  "The instant I concluded that you had gone over to «Cyan Pile», I would hunt you, take away all of your Burst Points, and drive to forced uninstallation of Brain Burst. You would forever lose the ability to accelerate. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

  "I understand. I’m just an ordinary chess piece, an ordinary tool for you to freely use as you like. When I’m no longer needed, I’ll be thrown away."

  "…You…"

  Suddenly, Haruyuki’s left shoulder was lightly seized.

  When he looked up, Kuroyukihime’s face was close to him, strained hard like a work of ice.

  "You really are angry with me. Certainly, I haven’t been perfect either. I apologize for that. But."

  Her lips faintly trembled, and she squeezed her words in a forcibly restrained voice.

  "…I also can’t freely control all my emotions. When I get irritated, I also think anxiously. Especially concerning you…and Kurashima-kun…"

  Hiding her gaze for a moment, Kuroyukihime tried to continue speaking as her pale cheeks stiffened.

  "…Very well, if you wish to know the reason, I’ll tell. I…"

  Before he received her thoughts through the cable, Haruyuki turned his head to the side and cut her off.

  "It’s fine, just stop it already."

  "Eh…W-What…?"

  "It’s also tough to watch it. It’s painful to see."

  "What are you talking about…What do you…mean?"

  While fixing his gaze on a single pavement tile on the lower-right, Haruyuki spoke out loud the «only conclusion» he had arrived at earlier today.

  "You…hate yourself, don’t you?"

  The sound of a sharp intake of breath.

  Haruyuki was conscious of the fact that the words he was giving shape to right now could not be taken back.

  In his ear, he faintly heard Chiyuri’s encouragement from last night like a refrain, but he could no longer stop thoughts he was letting out.

  "You hate yourself for being too perfect in everything. So you purposely try to diminish yourself. Isn’t that right?"

  Kuroyukihime’s fingers which were holding his shoulder stiffened hard, as if they had become iron. While thinking that “This will be our last contact”, Haruyuki threw out the last words which would destroy everything.

  "By speaking to me…to a fat, unattractive and unlikable person like me, by touching my hand, by showing kindness…or rather, showing something like kindness to me, you were just trying to dirty yourself…Even if you don’t do those things, I will still do as you say. I don’t wish for anything else. I don’t need
compensation. Being just a pawn, just a tool to be ordered about, is suitable treatment for someone like me, you should also understand that!!"

  Slowly—Slowly, the white hand left his shoulder.

  ‘That’s fine.’

  ‘Without touching me, nor meet my eyes again.’

  ‘Without even facing me in the real world, just make me into an ordinary tool.’

  Haruyuki didn't know whether those feelings reached her as thought.

  ‘Goodbye.’

  Just as he murmured that at the end.

  Slap!!

  A sharp sensation hit his left cheek.

  Feeling a burning heat, Haruyuki raised his face in astonishment.

  "…Idiot!!"

  That word came from her pale lips as real sound.

  Dumbfounded, Haruyuki watched as tears poured out like a waterfall on that face that was twisted to its limits, yet was still extremely beautiful.

  While still in the stance of having waved her right hand in a big way, Kuroyukihime’s face and entire body became crumpled and disheveled like an infant, and she kept shedding tears without interruption.

  "Idiot…Idiot…"

  The sound of that repeated word seemed different from the «idiot»[10] with a mature and wry smile he had heard up until now.

  As a single girl of suitable age—of 14-year-old, Kuroyukihime had abused Haruyuki so, so many times.

  And Haruyuki, without even some responses that a 13-year-old boy should be able to do coming to mind, just stood there stock-still and wide-eyed.

  The words he spoke had deeply injured the person in front of him. He understood that.

  However, Haruyuki had thought that, if it’s Kuroyukihime—if it’s this person, who is perfect in everything and possesses a reasoning and ability to think beyond that of adults, she would simply hate Haruyuki, be disgusted with him and separate her heart from him.

  To think that she would cry so much. That she would have such a fragile face. Such a—such a possibility was…

  Haruyuki opened his mouth as he tried to say something.

  Kuroyukihime covered her flowing tears with both hands.

  Only a momentary breeze passed by them as they stood on the sidewalk as it sunk into the color of dusk.

  Immediately after that—

  The dreadful sound of metal striking metal hit Haruyuki’s ears.

  At first, he thought that it was quantum noise that originated from the Neuro Linker.

  As Haruyuki was shocked and his heart jumped, he turned his neck and upper body to the right.

  What burst into his field of vision was—a terrible sight.

  A white car, as it cut down the guardrail that separated the road and the sidewalk with its left front fender, was hurtling straight towards him.

  An accident!? No! He couldn’t hear the sound of brakes.

  Those four thoughts flashed through Haruyuki’s mind in less than 0.1 seconds.

  His mouth moved almost automatically and sent out one word. And at the same time, the same words sounded in his mind through the direct connect cable with a voice completely different from his own

  ""Burst-Link!""

  Bashiiiiiiii!!

  Along with a sound similar to thunder, the world stopped.

  Blue.

  A frozen scene, that was transparently blue as far as one could see.

  But, Haruyuki was immediately conscious of that fact that it wasn’t completely stopped.

  The tires of the large sedan that was driving right before his eyes, as if resisting the freeze, were turning little by little, little by little, gnawing on the road surface and decreasing the distance between them

  …Uwaaah!?

  Though a little late, Haruyuki screamed and sprang back. Instantly, the form of the car vanished. Hiding it from view was his—roundish back, wearing the Umesato middle school uniform.

  This blue world wasn’t simply a scene of reality. The Brain Burst program was hacking the images from the countless Social Security cameras installed in the surroundings streets and reconfiguring them as a polygon-made pseudo-reality.

  Turning his gaze down a little, he saw that his body had changed into a pink pig. Moving his familiar virtual avatar, Haruyuki went around the back of his real self and saw the white sedan once more.

  There was only three meters of distance between Haruyuki and the car, which had slantingly gone outside of the road and crashed through the gap between guardrails. Also, judging from its speed as it gradually but steadily advanced forward, it would come into contact with the two of them in less than ten minutes within this accelerated world.

  For such a thing to happen—Why!?

  Haruyuki thought desperately within his confused mind.

  It was normally impossible for a car to deviate away from the road. Because the instant an abnormal course was detected, the control AI of the car would take the driving authority away from the driver and automatically perform a course correction, deceleration and stop.

  In other words, this car’s control AI must have been broken, or temporarily stopped by the driver's manipulation.

  Most likely the latter, as Haruyuki quickly surmised. Because his ears couldn’t hear the screeching sound of the tires chafing against the road surface due to full braking at all.

  The driver wasn’t stepping on the brakes. Rather, he was plunging forward by accelerating full throttle.

  This was an intentional attack. Kuroyukihime had hinted at it before, about «attacks» on the side of reality by Burst Linkers.

  Was the attacker an unknown Burst Linker belonging to the legion of a «King»? Or was the person at Umesato middle school, «Cyan Pile»?

  Most of the surrounding social security cameras didn’t seem to catch the image of the car’s interior, and the window couldn’t be seen through easily. Haruyuki changed angles, strained his eyes and finally found a position where he could peek into the interior.

  After raising the short pig avatar to its full height, he saw that the driver, who had almost collided with the car hood, was—

  “Wha…!?”

  The instant he saw, Haruyuki once again let out an astonished cry that was similar to a scream.

  The one inside there was the face of a classmate that he recognized completely and had never wanted to see again.

  “A…Araya…!? Wh…Why…”

  Why was this guy here.

  Because of the assault event he had caused inside school and the things that had been discovered in his Neuro Linker as a result, including the game of illegally copying the social security camera-avoidance application, images and even virtual drugs, he had simply been arrested without any question. Like that, he had been thrown into the juvenile institution of the Discrimination Office for the time being—at the very least, he shouldn’t be returning to our school.

  Not believing his eyes, Haruyuki blinked several times and stared at the icy blue face of the attacker.

  However, that needle-like hair that stood up on end, those raised-up thin eyebrows, those lips that were twisted in cruel excitement—and the feeling of fear that all those features forcibly created inside Haruyuki, all these things told him that the person in front of him really was Araya.

  “This morning—he was given bail.”

  A said voice spoke out suddenly next to him, and Haruyuki quickly turned his face.

  Kuroyukihime, wearing the body of her black swallowtail butterfly-like fairy princess avatar, stood there biting her lip.

  “…I’d hear that he was going to have a trial in family court next week and would be imprisoned for one year at least…That’s why I that it was no long necessary to worry about this man anymore. But…to think he would do such a…”

  After murmuring that with a stifled voice, Kuroyukihime hid her long eyelashes and shook her head.

  “No—I should have anticipated and watched out for this. One doesn’t need the power of «acceleration» to attack someone…I should have known that a knife or car is more than
enough, but…it seems I didn’t truly understand that…”

  As she said that in her usual tone, any lingering of the childish crying from before couldn’t be seen on Kuroyukihime’s face.

  ‘No, that’s simply what I want to believe’ is what Haruyuki immediately rethought.

  In the eyes of her avatar, of what should have just been a constructed image, a keen regret and something like resolution could be clearly seen.

  Kuroyukihime slowly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then spoke in a whisper.

  “This…is something like a punishment. For me, who didn’t understand the hearts of people, nor tried to understand them, and yet still kept toying with them for amusement.”

  “…Wh…What…What are you saying?”

  Haruyuki barely managed to say just those words. Kuroyukihime didn’t responded immediately, and instead turned towards Haruyuki and quietly kneeled her avatar, whose height was double his own.

  Spreading her black dress on the ground, she went down to the same height as Haruyuki and gazed straight at him.

  “Arita-kun…Haruyuki-kun.”

  Her voice now was kinder than any other moment in his memory, gently stroking Haruyuki’s hearing.

  “I’m sorry. The one who caused this situation was me. But, I won’t let you get hurt. I’ll definitely protect you.”

  “…Eh…Wh…What…”

  Dumbfounded, Haruyuki repeated the same words as before.

  Even if they undid the acceleration now, there should be nothing they could do.

  The instant they returned to reality, the sedan before them would cross the distance between them with dreadful speed and would splatter first Haruyuki, and then Kuroyukihime from behind.

  Good thing that it was in that order. If he became a cushion, there was the slight possibility that it would end without Kuroyukihime being greatly injured. Haruyuki had already thought of that.

  But, Kuroyukihime said something shocking with a tone that hid a strong resolution.

  “I can definitely save just you. I haven’t told you yet, the greatest and final power of Burst Linkers…of «acceleration».”

  “Eh…!?”

  Save me…? You, my master, save me, a mere tool…?

  Haruyuki held his breath and vehemently shook his head left and right.