The Red Storm Princess

by Reki Kawahara

  “Whoa, you’re right! Maybe we should run a bit, Haru.”

  “Ugh! Give me a break.”

  Even as Takumu clapped him on the shoulder and he shook his head, Haruyuki couldn’t forget his unasked question. Chasing after Kuroyukihime, who had already started walking briskly, he tried again to pose it to that black back, but for some reason, the words wouldn’t come out.

  They managed somehow to fly through the school gates just before the first morning bell rang. After checking that their Neurolinkers were connected to the Umesato local net and that they hadn’t been counted as tardy, Haruyuki split off from the other two.

  But even during his morning classes, a single thought swirled persistently through his brain.

  Why did Kuroyukihime say that stuff about negative aspects of the relationship between Burst Linker guardians and children? And why did she look a little sad? I want to know. I have to know.

  As soon as the virtual blackboard disappeared from his field of view at the end of second period, Haruyuki brushed away his hesitation and launched his text. Keeping it short, he typed and sent, CAN WE TALK NOW? in a mere two seconds.

  The reply arrived eight seconds later, a single line: LET’S MEET IN THE VIRTUAL SQUASH CORNER ON THE LOCAL NET. He settled deeper into his chair, closed his eyes, and called out the “direct link” command.

  Since there were only fifteen minutes between second and third periods, the fairy-tale forest that made up the Umesato local net was deserted. The short legs of his avatar had barely touched the virtual ground before he was dashing toward a single, large tree towering on the outskirts.

  The ringleader of the group of bullies who had forced Haruyuki to use this ridiculous pink pig avatar was no longer around, and his underlings were keeping to themselves, so Haruyuki could have changed to a cooler design anytime, but he missed the window of opportunity, dragging it out so that he was still using this one. This might also have been Kuroyukihime’s influence, telling him she liked it.

  In this form, he bounded up the stairs cut into the trunk of the tree and leapt onto the squash court set up on the top floor, his eyes falling on a slender avatar standing quietly in the center of the court.

  A jet-black dress with silver edging. A parasol of the same in her hand, the wings of a black spangled butterfly run through with deep crimson lines.

  Kuroyukihime, disguised in this form as a fairy princess of darkness, turned her essentially colorless face toward Haruyuki and smiled slightly. “Hey. It’s been a while since I saw you in that form. I suppose because we’re always talking in the real world lately.”

  “You almost never come to the local net. The fans of your avatar are sad,” he replied in a voice 30 percent smoother than in the real world.

  Kuroyukihime’s smile grew wry, and she shrugged lightly. “Goodness. And here I was thinking I should go ahead and get a black pig avatar to match you. Anyway, what is it? You wanted to talk.”

  “Oh…umm…um, well…” This time Haruyuki stammered as usual and fumbled for words.

  If he thought about it, the number of personal questions he’d asked Kuroyukihime up to this point was essentially zero. So was it okay for him now to suddenly be acting like she owed him explanations?

  For a while, Kuroyukihime looked down at him with a bemused smile, flustering him even though he was the one who had asked her here, but eventually, she rippled the wings on her back and lightly stepped away from him. The bells adorning her parasol rang clearly.

  “Haruyuki. You want to hear about my ‘guardian,’ don’t you?” Kuroyukihime spoke softly in her silky tone, somehow even more mysterious than her real-world voice.

  Haruyuki gasped and, without waiting for his response, the young woman lowered her long eyelashes. “Sorry. I can’t tell you that name just yet. Because I don’t want you to have any contact with that person, just in case. As a Legion Master…and as a girl. Perhaps it’s an ugly jealousy.”

  Freezing and opening his eyes wide, Haruyuki was aware of several thoughts flashing through his mind.

  From what she’d just said, he learned two things. First, Kuroyukihime’s “guardian” was still alive and well as a Burst Linker in the Accelerated World. And second, it was probably a girl.

  Moving soundlessly along the squash court, Kuroyukihime continued, playing her voice as if plucking the low string on a harp. “That person was once…the person closest to me. I believed this Linker would shine brightly forever at the center of my world and keep all kinds of darkness and cold at bay.”

  Almost the way you are for me, Haruyuki thought suddenly.

  “However, one day…one incident, one instant, I realized that this was an ephemeral illusion. Now you could go so far as to say that, for me, this person is my archenemy. So much so that I could almost believe that this inexhaustible hatred existed inside me from the moment we first met.” Her voice was calm and controlled, but the passion of her words was incongruous with the usual Kuroyukihime.

  As her downcast eyes briefly caressed Haruyuki’s stationary figure, the raven fairy princess brought a hollow smile to her lips.

  “If it were possible, I would fight this person right now, this second. After a delightful match spent severing the avatar’s limbs with my sword and making the Linker crawl before me to beg pathetically for its life, I would offer no amnesty and lop off the avatar’s head. However, I will never realize that dream…Haruyuki. Do you understand where the relationship between Burst Linker guardian and child is fundamentally different from, say, the relationship between partners, or lovers, for instance?”

  After a moment’s confusion, Haruyuki remembered the thing glittering in Kuroyukihime’s proffered hand that fateful day three months earlier. The silver direct cable. “It’s…Guardian and child know each other in the real, without exception.”

  “Yes, exactly.” Nodding, Kuroyukihime tapped the court with the tip of her parasol. “Because to install Brain Burst, the two Neurolinkers must be directly connected. When that happens, guardian and child are most certainly looking at each other’s real faces and have a relationship such that directing is permitted. Because of this, the relationship between Burst Linker guardian and child is the strongest bond in the Accelerated World, having the potential to become its greatest curse at the same time.”

  “C-curse?”

  “Yes. Because if guardian and child were to part ways, when their relationship becomes acrimonious, that hatred is intensely amplified in the real world. I…I can’t fight my guardian, not with this much hatred. My guardian exerts overwhelming influence on me in the real world. The only proof of a Burst Linker’s existence is the duel, after all. We carry the duel avatars in our minds in order to fight each other. And yet only guardian and child cannot fight. If you don’t call that a curse, then what is it?”

  “Kuroyukihime,” Haruyuki murmured, groping for something to follow that with. But he felt it was impossible to say anything; his voice would be too clogged by the emotions swirling around in his heart.

  So he took one, then two steps forward and cradled Kuroyukihime’s limply hanging left hand tightly in his own plump hooves. Although their avatars should not have been different temperatures, her hand was as cold as ice.

  “Haruyuki…” Her quiet voice echoed his.

  Kuroyukihime probably still agonized over the fact that she had hunted the former Red King and chased him away forever. And to martyr herself for that act, she would push herself to turn her sword against any and all Burst Linkers. Even if, for instance, it was her own guardian—or her child.

  Trying to bring her white hand to his mouth but in fact pressing it into his large nose, Haruyuki thought, This is the only thing I can say.

  “I said this yesterday, too,” he murmured earnestly. “I absolutely will not fight you. I won’t become your enemy. If a time like that comes for some unavoidable reason…I will uninstall Brain Burst before I fight you.”

  A long silence filled the space in the virtual sunlight, which d
rew a diagonal line interrupted by the treetops.

  Finally, Kuroyukihime, a bit of her warmth returning, spoke as she tapped Haruyuki’s round head with the handle of her parasol. “Fool, I’d be the one to step down. You fight. You have much more fun with Brain Burst, with the duels, than I do; you should be the one to stay in the Accelerated World.”

  “No. I definitely don’t want that!”

  And then the parasol rolled onto the carpet of fallen green leaves, causing a soft rustling. Haruyuki was half carrying on like a spoiled child when a soft, smooth hand caressed his right cheek.

  Raising his face, he met Kuroyukihime’s eyes, discovering she had dropped to her knees at some point. Her pale red lips, extremely close by, moved subtly.

  “No matter what future comes for us, I will at least not regret choosing you.” As she spoke, her hands stretched out to embrace Haruyuki’s head tightly.

  Despite the fact that he should have been in heaven right then and there, mingled amongst beautiful sensory signals that were almost too overwhelming to process, Haruyuki felt an indescribable sadness.

  After school.

  Kuroyukihime and Takumu had said they would come over after dropping stuff off at their respective places, so Haruyuki went home by himself.

  Bracing himself to a certain extent, he opened the door but heard neither the sound of a game blaring nor an eager greeting today, and when he peeked in the living room after saying, “I’m home,” very quietly, he saw Niko from behind seated on the sofa.

  It was so ridiculously quiet Haruyuki thought she might be sleeping, but her small hand soon waved briefly at him. Going around to face her, he saw that she was staring off into space with eyes wide-open. He supposed this meant she was taking in the virtual desktop visible only to her.

  “I’m home.”

  When he said it again, Niko responded with a curt “Hey” and flicked her gaze at him for an instant. “The other two?”

  “They said they were going to stop at home and then come over. They’ll probably be here in twenty minutes or so.”

  “Good. We should make it in time. Chrome Disaster’s not moving yet.”

  Haruyuki blinked with surprise. Apparently, Niko was somehow monitoring the movements of Cherry Rook, the member of the Red Legion who had inherited by means unknown Chrome Disaster’s Enhanced Armament, the Armor of Catastrophe—but to do that, she would naturally have had to connect her Neurolinker to the external net.

  “I-is it okay for you to connect to the global net? Even though you’re outside Red Legion Territory here?” he asked spontaneously, which elicited a bold smile from Niko.

  “Well, I ran into just one foolish intrusion earlier. Knocked that kid flying in ten seconds, told her to tell everyone else not to bug me, so I’m prob’ly good now.”

  “O-oh, I see…”

  Within a Territory, members of the controlling Legion were given the right to refuse challenges by other Burst Linkers unless they had their settings otherwise.

  Because of this, Haruyuki and his friends could now safely connect globally at home and around the school, but obviously, that right did not extend to Niko. But when he thought about it rationally, the only one who could win one-on-one against Niko, a King, was another King, and they had negotiated a mutual nonaggression pact, so there was no way any of them would suddenly provoke a fight. Presently, the traitor Kuroyukihime was the only King who absolutely had to terminate her global connection when leaving her territory.

  Trailing his thoughts this far, Haruyuki realized with a start that the redheaded girl before him was also someone who could potentially vanquish Kuroyukihime. He decided to try to confirm this at least, taking the opportunity of it being just the two of them there.

  He cleared his throat and opened his mouth. “U-um, Yuni—Niko. Can I ask you something?”

  “Nope…or at least don’t start with a pointless intro that lets me just say ‘nope.’ What?”

  As she glared at him, Haruyuki, still standing next to the sofa, asked as simply and straightforwardly as he could, “Y-you don’t hate Kuroyukihime?”

  “Huh? Why?”

  Seeing the look of genuine surprise on her face, Haruyuki, not to be outdone, was also dumbfounded.

  “Why? Because she has the biggest bounty on her head. And not only that, it’s on her head because she took down the former Red King, i.e., the person who was the Prominence Legion Master before you.”

  “Oh, that.” Sniffing slightly, Niko stretched the slim legs poking out of her cutoffs. Twirling a red pigtail with a finger, she let her eyes wander toward the window. “Yeah, well, he might have been the master. But I never spoke directly with my predecessor, with Red Rider.”

  “R-really?” Haruyuki leaned forward unconsciously; he’d supposed Niko’s “guardian” might be this Red Rider.

  “I mean, I became a Burst Linker two and a half years ago, and then my predecessor was retired a few months after that. I was still level three back then, or four maybe, and we hadn’t even dived in the same field or anything. When I heard the Master had been struck down in a surprise attack by Black Lotus and lost all his points, the only thing I thought was how tough level nine must be. And anyway…” Niko raised a single eyebrow deftly. “The main reason I could fly through the ranks all booster-powered and become the next king was because Lotus took out the old king, temporarily dismantling the Red Legion for me. Back then, it was a real ‘warring states’ kind of deal for Nakano and Nerima. Every day, new fight groups were being formed, so you just racked up the points. Doesn’t matter if I’m the strongest, if that hadn’t happened, it would have taken me another two years to get to level nine.”

  A stiff smile broached Haruyuki’s face as Niko cackled. “O-okay. So then, you and the Red Legion aren’t interested in any kind of vengeance on the Black King?”

  “Hmmmmm. Well, to be honest, there’re probably some old-timers who would be. But the ones burning up with a hate-on for Black Lotus transferred to other Legions pretty quick when Prominence disappeared back then. Honestly, doesn’t make any sense. The whole idea of picking up where the last guy left off makes me laugh, but if that’s where their heads are at, fighting to bring back Promi would’ve been the easiest way.”

  She cut herself off there, stared up at Haruyuki, and muttered a threatening, “What?”

  He shook his head hurriedly and turned away.

  After a brief silence, Niko opened her mouth once again. “And—you totes can’t tell that girl this…”

  “O-okay.”

  “The truth is, I think she’s—Black Lotus is pretty amazing. Kinda motivates me.”

  “Huh?! Th-that’s—what do you—”

  “No telling. For reals, no telling.” After giving him a sharp glare, Niko kept going in a quiet voice that didn’t match her rough tone. “Because she’s the only one of all the Kings who said she was serious about getting to level ten. Meanwhile, the other Kings, me included, are running around playing at duels under the lukewarm pretext of the stupid territorial nonaggression pact. The worst part is that some of the other Kings secretly have their sights set on level ten, too. Small-minded bastards looking for a chance to get the jump on the others, all the while singing their little song of the status quo ‘for the continued existence of the Accelerated World.’”

  “And you?” Haruyuki asked, reflexively, the moment Niko’s monologue was done. “Which are you, Niko?”

  “Dunno.” Her response was short and contained the ring of truth.

  The young King rolled her too-slender frame over onto the sofa with a thump and folded her arms behind her head. The toes of her bare feet, thrust nearly into Haruyuki’s face, tapped the air rhythmically.

  “The other Kings—especially Purple and Yellow—are pushing this theory that the moment even one Burst Linker makes it to level ten, that’ll be the end of Brain Burst. There’ll be some doo-doo-doo trumpeting and fanfare, the developer’ll appear, say congratulations or something, and roll end credits
. And then all the Burst Linkers get Brain Burst forcefully uninstalled.”

  “Tha…”

  That can’t be. There’s no way a net game would end for everyone all at once. He almost laughed, but then his mouth froze.

  He remembered what had come up when he was talking with Kuroyukihime and Takumu that morning. At some point, there will come a day when the Accelerated World is no longer hidden, and the game is destroyed. Haruyuki himself had said it.

  Niko nodded lightly, almost as if reading Haruyuki’s thoughts. “And I don’t think what they’re saying is totally impossible. To be honest, I don’t want to think about what it’d be like after Brain Burst’s gone. I mean, for me, that over there’s basically the real world. But…I wonder if it’s really okay for us to cling to it like this just ’cos of that. The Seven Kings—no, the Six Kings—and their nonaggression pact distort what the Accelerated World should be, and we’re paying the price for that all over the place now.”

  “D-distort…?”

  “Chrome Disaster, for example,” Niko muttered abruptly, closing her deep green eyes. “Cherry Rook gave in to the temptation of the Armor of Catastrophe because of his despair at the wall between him and the higher levels. I mean, prob’ly. Because of the pact now, the Accelerated World’s stagnating, and no matter how hard you fight in the Normal Duel Field, getting to level nine—no, even level eight—is crazy-hard. There’s no one to fight. I got to nine, like I said before, because I managed to sort of surf the total chaos Black Lotus caused. But that kinda thing’s not gonna happen again. So these days, if you’ve got your sights set on a high level, all you can do is take the risk and fight in the Unlimited Field. The thought of it tormented Cherry, and he reached for the Armor. And in a way, what pushed him to it was a single King, me…”

  Niko suddenly blinked hard and clenched her teeth.

  Haruyuki watched her flat chest heave twice, three times, and he held his breath and whispered unconsciously, “N-Niko…”