The Black Dual Swordsman

by Reki Kawahara

  He lifted his face, and Pigtails opened her mouth first. “I’m Koto Takanouchi. Ninth grade.”

  Followed by the Ponytail across from him: “Yuki Takanouchi. Same.”

  “Uh. Um.” Haruyuki froze up again for a couple seconds before he hurried to ask, “Those names are your real…?”

  “It’s all the same once your face is out there!” The one with pigtails who’d given her name as Koto furrowed her brow. “Tell us your names, too.”

  “R-right. Um. I’m Haruyuki Arita. I’m in eighth grade.”

  They turned to Utai, but he quickly explained the situation and had them accept the chat app’s ad hoc connection.

  Utai immediately tapped at her holokeyboard. UI> MY NAME IS UTAI SHINOMIYA. I AM IN FOURTH GRADE.

  Once they had introduced themselves with their real names, they all spontaneously bowed again.

  It was the sound of Koto tapping an AR button on the table that broke the strange silence. She quickly scrolled through the holomenu displayed and opened the dessert page.

  “Oh! You’re gonna have dessert, Koto?”

  “The fight was exhausting. I’m starving.”

  “No fair. I’m having some, too, then.”

  Listening to them bicker shook his conviction that they were, in fact, the Dualis of the Leonids, aka Cobalt Blade and Manganese Blade. But considering their appearance and names, they were definitely twins, and their hairstyles were the same as in the Accelerated World. The twin-tailed Koto was likely Cobalt, while the single-tailed Yuki was Manganese. When he looked at them with those eyes, he could somehow see something sharp, reminiscent of soldiers, in their auras.

  Anyway, I should order something, too. He shook his head, called up the menu himself, and flew to the dessert page. He moved it to a position so that Utai could see it as well and asked quietly, “What’re you having, Shinomiya?”

  UI> I WILL HAVE THE CREAM ANMITSU.

  “Okay, then I’ll get the double scoop of ice cream.” He tapped the menu, and the Nega Nebulus order was completed in five seconds.

  The Leonids team, however, still seemed to be undecided. They stared at the menu with serious expressions and then suddenly opened their mouths. ““Strawberry brûlée parfait.””

  Their harmony was exactly the same as during the duel, and he felt a rush of admiration for this incredible duo, while, for some reason, the twins glared at each other.

  “I said it first.”

  “I was faster. You change your order, Koto.”

  “Yuki, I changed mine last time. It’s your turn today.”

  “Nuh-uh. I worked really hard in the duel today.”

  “And yet, it was a real struggle against Crow, who’s a level lower.”

  “What about you? You were beaten black-and-blue by Maiden, and she’s long-range.”

  “Uh, um,” Haruyuki hurriedly interjected now that their avatar names were being tossed about. “That’s good there. Like, why do you have to change your order? Can’t you both have the strawberry parfait?”

  Now Koto (Cobalt) was glaring at him. “Yuki and I have a rule that we get different things and share.”

  “Uh-huh. But if you’re going to share anyway, then does it matter who gets what?” he asked, and this time, Yuki (Manganese) rebutted him.

  “It’s totally different. With the strawberry parfait, whoever eats it first gets the strawberry half on top!! From the middle down, I mean, it’s just ice cream and sherbet and cookie.”

  “And if this is a yogurt parfait, then the bottom’s only yogurt and cereal. That stuff’s not a treat; it’s like a meal.”

  “I—I see. I completely understand.” He raised his hand and bobbed his head.

  Suddenly, Utai giggled, albeit in an extremely restrained way. Given that she had aphasia, it was quite unusual for her to laugh out loud, so he gasped unconsciously. Finally, she sent her fingers racing across the tabletop. UI> PLEASE EXCUSE ME. YOU’RE JUST SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FROM HOW YOU ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE.

  Reading this, Koto and Yuki looked slightly uncomfortable.

  “That’s how it is, though. I mean, Burst Linkers,” Koto muttered.

  Yuki smiled. “Just today, we could both order the same thing, right?”

  “A celebration of meeting other people for the first time in the real.”

  The twins tapped the picture of the strawberry brûlée parfait at the same time and closed the menu.

  As he brought the cold water in the glass to his mouth, Haruyuki considered the fact that both Koto and Yuki’s Leonids and Great Wall from the battle three days earlier were technically Negabu’s enemies. If they hadn’t all had an overly powerful shared enemy like the Acceleration Research Society, they definitely wouldn’t be able to meet and talk in the real like this.

  Trial Number One, Accel Assault 2038, had fallen into ruin due to excessive fighting; Trial Number Three, Cosmos Corrupt, had also failed due to excessive harmony—or so said the White King. This was coming from their most powerful enemy, but as a gamer, he could get on board with what she was saying.

  Trial Number Two, aka Brain Burst 2039, the version Haruyuki and his friends played, had been going for eight years, regardless of the activity of the Green King, because it somehow struck a balance—albeit an imperfect one—between fighting and harmony. This spontaneous meeting was perhaps a one-time miracle brought about by that precarious balance. The chance to meet Koto and Yuki Takanouchi in the real world might never come along again.

  But even still, we can show our faces, name ourselves, and eat sweets together like this, so we’re already friends. I want to believe that.

  He watched as the faces of Koto and Yuki lit up when their enormous strawberry parfaits were brought to the table.

  7

  “So then, Coba and Manga agreed to take on the observer role on Saturday?” Chiyuri asked over the voice call.

  “Yeah, basically,” Haruyuki replied. “They kept asking about the Metatron mission, though, which was some rough going. But they’ll be on standby at the Institute for Nature Study in Minato Number Three, and they said they’ll check the matching list as soon as the Territories are over.”

  “Good. That’s great. Nice work on that mission, Haru. Now all we have to do is pray that at least one member of the Society is connected globally at that time.”

  He nodded and set his arms on the balcony railing as he looked out in the direction of Koenji. The temperature didn’t drop that much even at night, but his condo was up high, so the breeze blowing past felt good. White headlights and red taillights flowed slowly down Kannana Street below his eyes. As he took in the flickering lights, he listed in his mind the known Acceleration Research Society members.

  First, the president—the White King, White Cosmos. It was only natural for her name to be on the list in Minato, so that wouldn’t be any kind of proof.

  Next was the vice president, the formidable Black Vise, who had pushed Haruyuki and his friends up against the wall any number of times. But given that there had been no instances of a double color name in the Accelerated World up to that point, the possibility remained that the name Black Vise was simply what he called himself. In that case, it wouldn’t show up on the list.

  Then there was a similarly experienced veteran, the Quad Eyes Analyst, Argon Array. But only Haruyuki and his friends knew she was a member of the Society, and they didn’t have a shred of evidence to prove it. So her name was also weak in terms of evidential power.

  In short, of the three members of the executive, only Black Vise had any possibility. Otherwise, all they could do was hope for lower-ranking members.

  But they faced problems here, too. Dusk Taker had already lost all his points and retired, and Wolfram Cerberus was unprovable like Argon Array, which just left Rust Jigsaw, who had charged into the Hermes’ Cord race, and Sulfur Pot, whom Kuroyukihime had encountered in Okinawa. Pot, a veteran Burst Linker who had belonged to the Purple Legion in the past, would likely testify for them.

&n
bsp; “In the end, only Vise, Jigsaw, or Pot will be any kind of proof,” he muttered with a sigh.

  “Yeah.” Chiyuri also sighed heavily. “If only we could get some evidence that Argon’s a Society member.”

  “Ash saw that time when Argon jumped into the Battle Royale in Suginami. She blew up his motorcycle with her lasers, so Ash knows she’s not just some analyst. But even that isn’t proof that she’s an ally of the Society.”

  “And Ash’s a member of GW.”

  “Yeah…”

  They sighed together once again.

  If there was actually some way to prove Argon Array was a Society member, Kuroyukihime or Fuko would have come up with it a long time ago. This wasn’t a nut Haruyuki and Chiyuri could crack at this stage.

  “Mm!” Chiyuri shouted on the other end of the line, as if switching gears, and continued in a slightly cheerier voice. “So anyway, did you decide what to take as your level-six bonus?”

  “Oh. No, not yet. The more I think about it, the harder it is to decide…”

  “Ha-ha-ha! I figured. But the Territories on Saturday are gonna be way fiercer than the fight against Great Wall the other day, so better to have all the weapons we can.”

  “I guess you’re right.” Haruyuki nodded deeply at Chiyuri’s warm advice.

  It was important to select a level-up bonus after careful examination of his actual needs over the course of countless duels, but during this investigatory period, he was denying himself a considerable boost in power. It would be his Legion comrades paying the price for that. This kind of softness would not be allowed in the fight against the Oscillatory Universe.

  “I’ll definitely decide before the Territories,” he announced firmly.

  “Level six is still a little far-off for me,” an equally serious voice chimed in. “But I’ll fight hard on Saturday, too.”

  “Yeah, I’m counting on it. How much longer ’til you hit it?”

  “I only just went up to five a little while ago. So a lot further still.”

  “Huh. Okay, so let’s invite Taku and go Enemy hunting now,” Haruyuki proposed enthusiastically. “We might get one that G—I mean, we might get someone the Green King fed points to.”

  “No way!” Chiyuri immediately rejected the idea. “You already fought in Naka-two today! Go to bed early tonight!”

  He frowned slightly. But Chiyuri wasn’t done lecturing.

  “And, Haru, there’s one other thing you have to decide before the Territories on Saturday, isn’t there?”

  “Huh? Th-there is?”

  “Don’t tell me you forgot!”

  Just as his childhood friend was on the verge of sending a lightning bolt to strike him, he remembered the critical matter unrelated to the Accelerated World and shook his head furiously. “Oh! No! I didn’t forget. I didn’t! The student council election, right?”

  “Right. So what’re you going to do?”

  Haruyuki turned around and leaned back against the balcony railing. Last week, eighth-grade class C representative Mayu Ikuzawa invited him to stand in the next-term student council election. He said he’d give her an answer this week, so just as Chiyuri said, he would have to make a decision before Saturday.

  “What’d Taku say?” Takumu had also been invited to run, and Haruyuki thought Chiyuri might know his plans.

  But her answer was the same. “No way! Ask Taku about Taku if you want to know!”

  “R-right.”

  “Oh! Mom says I should hurry up and get in the bath, so I gotta go, okay? G’night, Haru. See you tomorrow.”

  “Uh-huh. See you tomorrow. ’Night, Chiyu.” He disconnected the voice call and let out a long breath as he looked up at the summer’s night sky from under the balcony. The sky, lit up by the illumination of the city center, was gray, but even so, several stars shone in silent splendor. He admired them for a while before stretching and going back inside.

  The time was nine thirty. His mother still hadn’t come home. He would have to talk to her soon about the trip with his friends to his grandparents’ house in Yamagata over summer break, but their lives had as little overlap as usual. Not long ago, when he’d stayed up until she got home to show her the results of his final exams, she only said, “Work hard for next time, too.”

  Well, at least it was “next time, too” and not just “next time.” Finding solace in the distinction, he tumbled into bed.

  What would his mother say if he did decide to run for student council? Would she root for him? Tell him to give it up? Or just say he should do what he wanted?

  From what he’d heard from his grandparents in Yamagata, his mother had also been involved in student council during her school days. He was curious to know what on earth had made her run for council, but she’d probably just be annoyed if he asked her. And wanting his mother’s attention was not a good reason to decide to try for a council position.

  Mayu Ikuzawa said her reason for running in the election was because she admired the current council vice president Kuroyukihime, so she wanted to try to get just a little closer to emulating her. He could totally understand that feeling, but that was Ikuzawa’s motivation and not Haruyuki’s. If he was going to run, he had to find the reason for it and his own objectives within himself.

  So what’s my goal then? he wondered idly, staring up at the gloomy ceiling.

  If it was about his goal as a Burst Linker, he had an immediate answer: reach the ending of Brain Burst with Kuroyukihime. He didn’t know if the road that led there was Kuroyukihime reaching level ten or undoing the seal on the final Arc in the Castle, The Fluctuating Light. But Haruyuki believed that if he kept fighting alongside Kuroyukihime, the end of the game would come at some point, and all its mysteries would be revealed.

  But what goal did real-world Haruyuki Arita have as he lived his daily life?

  Back when he was being bullied by a group of hoodlum students, simply going to school every day had been an almost unendurable torment. But Kuroyukihime had saved him, and now he even had people in his life he thought of as friends. It was no longer a struggle to get up in the morning or walk down the road to school.

  But given precisely that, when he asked himself if he was fighting for something now, he couldn’t say yes right away. He wasn’t burning with passion for a sport the way Takumu and Chiyuri were. He definitely couldn’t say he was studying hard. And while he was serious about his work in the Animal Care Club, he was actually only Utai’s assistant.

  If he cut away all the things connected with the Accelerated World, maybe the current Haruyuki was just passing the days aimlessly. He was simply staring at the days sliding by, with no vision for the future, and no goals for the next month or half a year, much less after graduation.

  Was it a lie when I said I wanted to go to the same high school as Kuroyukihime?

  This seed of doubt caught him off guard, and Haruyuki turned toward the wall and hugged his knees as it took root. A gloomy voice in his head responded:

  It wasn’t a lie. But…some dreams just don’t come true, no matter how hard you try.

  Effort without results is meaningless. Is that it?

  Exactly. I mean, who’s going to high-five you for something like that? No one’s going to tell me how great I am if I fail the entrance exam, no matter how hard I studied. And if I run for council and lose, I’ll be miserable and pathetic. Are you trying to tell me there’s some kind of meaning in that?

  Haruyuki interrogated himself, sinking into a thick swamp of misery.

  But suddenly, in the back of his mind, a refreshing breeze blew. Something Kuroyukihime had said to him a few days earlier was replayed with a deep echo. “Is there any meaning in work without results…? That’s what you’re thinking right now, yes?”

  His eyes flew open, and he stretched out his curled-up body. He spread his arms and legs on top of the bed and took a deep breath, then exhaled.

  When Kuroyukihime had posed this question, Haruyuki hadn’t been able to say it, but he had ind
eed felt his answer was no. If you fought, something of that had to remain inside you.

  He wanted people to say nice things about him. He didn’t want to be laughed at and he didn’t want to feel small. There was something more important than such small motivations. These wouldn’t change the Accelerated World or the real world. To fight for himself, for the sake of someone else. To fight because you just wanted to fight. The memories of having done that would gradually build up and someday become incredible power.

  “Aaall right!” Haruyuki thrust his hands out toward the ceiling and clenched them into tight fists.

  He brought one hand down and manipulated his virtual desktop with the index finger of the other. He sent a short message to the person at the top of his contacts list and got a swift reply. He quickly switched the settings on his home server and murmured a command.

  “Direct Link.”

  Now a pink pig avatar, Haruyuki touched down on a terrace jutting out from the tower of a European-style castle. A chain of snowcapped mountains rose up in the distance, and the railing was cut into a cliff so high up he couldn’t see the bottom. A small table, two chairs, and a tea set had been arranged on the terrace, the full-dive environment data he’d downloaded from overseas a little while ago.

  A few seconds later, he heard the tinkling of bells on the edge of the terrace, and a slender human figure appeared, a beautiful fairylike avatar in a long black dress with black spangle butterfly wings on her back.

  “Sorry for the wait, Haruyuki. As in love with heights as always, I see,” Kuroyukihime remarked as she looked out at the scene.

  “Good evening, Kuroyukihime.” Haruyuki scratched his head with one hoofed hand as he greeted her. “I’m sorry for calling you all of a sudden.”

  “No, I was due for a break anyway.”

  “Were you studying?”

  “Well, you could call it studying. I was compiling all the information we have about Oscillatory Universe. I’ll send the file when I’m finished, so be sure to study it.”