Accel World Vol 8 Chapter 1 (2/2)

—Reach, him..!

Accompanied by a strong echo, Haruyuki’s shout inside his heart resounded throughout the field.

The pure, s.h.i.+ning silver light melted the high-density darkness, penetrated through it, and progressed little by little, little by little.

It was no longer a sword. Extending from Silver Crow’s right arm was Haruyuki’s own flesh-and-blood arm.

—Taku!!

—I, need, you..!!

At the tip of his hand extended with all his mind and soul, from the far side of the gloomy darkness, he could suddenly see something.

It was a white left hand, armor-less like his own. It was Tak.u.mu’s hand, filled with hard calluses from daily kendo practice swings.

His tightly squeezed fingers trembled with a twitch. They timidly began to uncurl, closed again, and relaxed once again. While wavering, they reached forth, trying to approach Haruyuki’s hand…

At that moment.

In the s.p.a.ce between the two of them, a dark blood-colored light sharply exploded like an infinite number of needles.

“..!?”

Pulled back from the hallucination guided by his imagination circuits to the duel field, Haruyuki saw an unbelievable sight.

On Cyan Pile’s right arm, which was guarding his chest, the eyeball-shaped «ISS Kit» infesting the surface of his «Pile Driver» opened its «eye» wide as if it were about to spill out and deeply scattered a light resembling fresh blood.

From the vicinity of the eyeball, black tissues extending like blood vessels gathered in a place about ten centimeters away and created a round protuberance.

The protuberance rapidly grew to the same size as that of the adjacent eyeball. The black tissue surface split sideways with a snap. What was slowly opening vertically was nothing other than an eyelid. What appeared from within was another eyeball—

From the surface of Tak.u.mu’s horizontally aligned right arm, the two eyes of the «ISS Kit» aligned left and right stared at Haruyuki from point-blank range. From their interiors, Haruyuki could surely feel the will of somebody. A bottomless sense of hunger. The impetus to destroy. The thirst for multiplication. And then—hatred.

“Wh…why..!”

It was Tak.u.mu, whose Mind Power had been fighting with Haruyuki’s through his left fist, who had shouted. This was probably an unexpected phenomenon to he himself as well.

“I haven’t given the command yet..! Despite that, why have the «Clones»..!?”

At almost the same time Haruyuki realized the meaning of those words—from the surroundings of the second eyeball, over ten black, thin tentacles extended forth and pierced Silver Crow’s breast.

Cold.

No, hot.

The abnormal sensory signal ran through his entire body’s nervous system. It was wholly as if ice water had been poured into all his blood vessels using sharp needles. The cl.u.s.ter of capillary tubes resembling microwires slipped deeply, deeply into his body. Surrounding his heart, coiling around his lungs, climbing his spine, reaching inside his head—

Haruyuki became unable to move. He couldn’t let out his voice either.

Although his avatar’s chest had been penetrated deeply by over ten tentacles, his HP gauge only a few percent remaining had not decreased even one dot. But that in itself expressed the abnormality of the phenomenon. The silver Over-Ray overflowing from his right arm swayed irregularly and flickered. His extended «Laser Sword» also melted and collapsed like light snow.

Under ordinary circ.u.mstances, at this instant the two’s Mind Power equilibrium would have collapsed, and Cyan Pile’s «Dark Blow» would have blown Silver Crow away without a trace.

However, that had not happened. As for why, at the same time Haruyuki’s Mind Power had swayed, Tak.u.mu had also retracted his left hand and had shouted.

“Don’t you…dare touch Haru..!!”

While still enveloped in an aura of darkness, his left hand grabbed hold of the bundle of black wires that had been fired forth from his own right arm and had pierced Haruyuki’s chest. Twisting his entire body, he pulled with all his might. However, like some sort of living creature the wires shuddered, fighting and refusing to be pulled out.

The eyes of Haruyuki, whose body was numb and unable to move, and Tak.u.mu, who was continuing to pull the black tentacles violently with his left hand, met.

He had a feeling—that Tak.u.mu had smiled. In that smile, there was none of the emptiness tinged with deep resignation that he had shown several times during this duel. It was the trustworthy, warm smile that was always there if he looked sideways that Haruyuki had seen in their day-to-day fighting alongside each other.

Cyan Pile’s right arm moved; he pushed the muzzle of his Enhanced Armament Pile Driver against his own throat.

“…T, Taku..!”

From the bottom of his throat, Haruyuki imploringly squeezed out that single word—

At exactly the same time, Tak.u.mu resolutely called the technique name.

“«Lightning Cyan Spike»!!”

From the gap between the adhering muzzle and his thick armor, a pale blue light vehemently burst forth. Immediately after, from the nape of Cyan Pile’s neck, a streak of lightning pointed at the sky of the Scorched Earth stage rose high, high up.

Tak.u.mu, who had used his own special technique to bore through his avatar’s vital spot, unsteadily leaned backward; right before he was about to fall, he held his ground. His entire HP gauge, which was still remaining close to forty percent, flushed a bright red and drained precipitously from the right—and reached zero.

The movement of the black wires, which were slipping deeply inside Haruyuki’s body and about to reach the center of his head at any moment, stopped. Feebly dangling down, they were slowly dragged out of his chest and disappeared as if dissolving into the air.

The «second eye» born from Cyan Pile’s right arm also closed its eyelid as if vexed and disappeared as if being absorbed into the first eyeball.

“…I’m glad it’s over…”

He said that one phrase—

The bulky blue body of Cyan Pile, who had completely lost his black aura, became splinters of gla.s.s and dispersed in all directions.

In the center of the Scorched Earth stage, which had turned into the shape of a violently burnt, enormous crater, Haruyuki remained alone. From his right arm, the silver Enhanced Armament was removed as if unraveling.

As if to escape from the flaming words «YOU WIN!» displayed in the center of his field of vision, he looked up at the sky of the stage deepening into twilight.

An ineffable whirlpool of emotions filled his bosom, overflowed from his eyes, and blurred the sky’s purplish red color. The duel ended, and until the moment when he withdrew from the Accelerated World, Haruyuki’s avatar’s shoulders only quietly trembled.

When he returned to the real world, the moment he opened his eyelids Haruyuki felt a drop of water splatter on his right cheek.

It was the teardrop Tak.u.mu had spilled the instant before the direct connection duel had begun.

Tak.u.mu, who had burst out at nearly the same time, was still pinning down with his left hand the right shoulder of Haruyuki, who was lying p.r.o.ne on the bed, and was still grabbing the direct connection cable with his right. Tak.u.mu opened his eyes wide. On the other side of his gla.s.ses, a new drop of water was born and fell drip, drip onto his lenses. Directly above Haruyuki, his lips slightly quivered, and he let out a hoa.r.s.e voice.

“…I…”

However, unable to say any more than that, Tak.u.mu slowly fell prostrate and tumbled with a thump to the left side of Haruyuki.

The two of them were silent for a while, continue to lie diagonally next to each other on the wide single-sized bed.

At the tip of his vision—on Tak.u.mu’s ceiling, there was a thin polyfilm printed A2-sized poster affixed.

The subject of the poster was an adult kendo pract.i.tioner. Due to the fact that there was not a single word on the poster, it was probably a picture Tak.u.mu had found and printed himself. Since the composition was of him in the midst of releasing an overhead face strike from a diagonally opposite angle, the tip of his s.h.i.+nai[1] was blurred. Although it was merely a 2D picture, it had an impact so strong that Haruyuki’s body felt hot just by looking at it.

Through the direct connection cable still linking their two Neuro Linkers, Haruyuki asked a single thought.

Is that kendo pract.i.tioner your teacher, your senior?

After a slight pause, a quiet answer was returned.

“No. That person was last active fifty years ago.”

“Which means…the person whom you set as your target?”

“…Rather than that…the person whom I respected, probably. It’s too presumptuous for me to use the word “target.” At any rate, he won the national kendo champions.h.i.+p six times in the nineties. That record hasn’t been broken in the fifty years that have pa.s.sed from then to now.”

“By the way…what’s the second place record?”

“Three times. Even that was quite an amazing feat, though.”

If that were true, then basically the kendo pract.i.tioner in the photo was the best swordsman of the real world j.a.pan—no, of the entire world. The moment he thought that, Haruyuki murmured.

“I wonder what kind of a feeling it was to be that strong…he probably doesn’t hesitate or worry at all…”

“…After he had retired and became a mentor, he said this in an interview. «I still haven’t been able to grasp anything. I’m in the state of wandering at the entrance of a pitch-black tunnel.»”

“…Huh…I see…”

Inadvertently letting out a sigh, Haruyuki expressed his train of thought.

“…But you know, if it were pitch-black, then you wouldn’t be able to know whether there were an entrance there. Maybe the exit’s right there.”

He cut short his thoughts for a moment, then continued.

“Comparing myself to that person is at a level far beyond presumptuous but…I…I also have thought time and time again up until now that I was in the middle of a tunnel with no exit…but there was an exit. Without fail, it was there…the next tunnel will come soon, but…in spite of that…”

While earnestly searching for the right words, Haruyuki turned his face left and saw the side of Tak.u.mu’s face eighty centimeters ahead. On the other side of the temples of his gla.s.ses traversing his white cheeks, his pupils, still moist with tears, stared wholeheartedly at the ceiling poster.

Resolving himself, Haruyuki spoke a single, crucial phrase in his natural voice.

“—Taku. At first, for my sake you stopped the Incarnate attack…«Dark Blow», didn’t you. In order to save me, you resisted against the «ISS Kit» and shot yourself, didn’t you. I believe that that action was the true you. Even if you once obtained the «Kit» and wielded its power of darkness…I believe that you will sever yourself from its seduction and be able to break out of the tunnel.”

He had been unable to say those worlds until now because he was afraid that when their conversation was over, Tak.u.mu would stood up, bid him farewell, and leave the room—in order to fight «Magenta Scissor» as well as the «Acceleration Research Society».

Though Haruyuki was holding his tongue, for a while Tak.u.mu said nothing while looking up at the ceiling.

After a good ten seconds had pa.s.sed, he said something unexpected, also using his natural voice.

“Haru…Yesterday, at the vocal solo presentation during music cla.s.s, you sung “Please Give Me Wings,” right?”

“…Uh, uh huh.”

While being bewildered, he nodded. Tak.u.mu sent him a fleeting glance, then continued while faintly smiling.

“Even though there were several other set pieces to choose from, why that one? Didn’t you hate that song in the past?”

“Ah…that’s true…”

The anxiety in his chest slightly went away, and Haruyuki also somewhat smiled wryly.

“…Well, I didn’t have a clear reason why I didn’t like it though…how should I put it; in the past, I thought that song had «something that will not come true» as its premise.”

“…”

While regarding Tak.u.mu out the corner of his eye, who was keeping silent to press him to go on, Haruyuki moved his mouth.

“I might have been prejudiced though…before the very first instance of the lyrics “If you will grant my wish now, I want wings,” I always had the feeling that…the line “Though I know it won’t be granted” was before it. That was too much like my own real feelings…I was never able to bring myself to like that song.”

He returned his gaze to the ceiling and raised his right hand. With his fingertips, he caressed the sky that was there beyond the wallpaper and concrete.

“However…when I listened again to the reference sound source in the homework file received last week, I thought that…maybe it wasn’t like that. Um…ummm…”

Explaining his state of mind with words was Haruyuki’s worst point. While moving his upward-facing right hand like a bird, Haruyuki moved his mouth earnestly.

“…In that song, maybe wishes coming true and not coming true aren’t that important. Wanting to go to the “free sky without sorrow” someday…while thinking that, always walking forward one step at a time: I think maybe it’s that kind of a song…basically…uh…what’s important is that…”

His language processing ability finally reached its limit at that point. In place of Haruyuki, who had become only able to flap his mouth open and shut, Tak.u.mu murmured softly.

“It’s not the «result» but the «means»…it’s in the continual process where something precious exists…”

“Y, yeah. My point exactly.”

Tightly clenching his still raised right hand, Haruyuki braced himself and spoke.

“Kuroyukihime-senpai said something to me a long time ago. That «strength» is not a word that only indicates having victory as the end result. In addition to that, s.h.i.+nomiya-san also said something. That true strength is advancing forward even when losing, falling over, and failing…When I think that maybe that’s what that song is really trying to say…I’ve always disliked that song until now, but maybe I feel that it was just a little bit inexcusable of me…well, simply put, it might just be that if I become able to fly in the Accelerated World, I will also have been able to forgive that song…”

While lowering his arm with a light flap and putting it behind his head, Haruyuki added another phrase with a bitter laugh.

“One way or another, my singing was terrible though. I’m really glad that sound recordings at school without prior approval are restricted.”

“It wasn’t terrible, Haru.”

Haruyuki turned his eyes to the speaker of those words; he saw Tak.u.mu smiling while looking at the ceiling. Tak.u.mu softly closed his eyelids and murmured as if to remember yesterday’s cla.s.s.

“You didn’t notice, but Chii-chan was secretly crying. While listening to you sing “Please Give Me Wings” with all your might.”

“Eh…”

Haruyuki was suddenly at a loss for words, but Tak.u.mu quietly continued to speak without wiping away his smile.

“If I were the me of just a little while ago, the moment I saw Chii-chan like that I would have definitely inevitably become jealous and self-loathing…But…but you know, I was also happy then. I was happy in seeing you boldly sing that song and in seeing Chii-chan hear it and be moved to tears. At that moment…only at that moment, as if we had returned once more to the past…to our circle of three people…”

His voiced abruptly quivered at the end of the sentence; below his tightly closed eyelids, transparent drops flowed smoothly once again.

Touched with emotion, Haruyuki momentarily withstood his feelings. But he immediately turned his entire body left and spoke while propping up his upper body with his elbow.

“It’s not «like the past». It’s «now». That’s how we are at the moment. Taku, Chiyu and I, we need you now!”

For an instant, as if trying to flee from those words, Tak.u.mu averted his face to the left.

However, Haruyuki had the conviction that his words would reach his old friend’s heart. Having clashed all-out in the Accelerated World, through fist and fist—

Several seconds later.

Tak.u.mu, who had turned his body facing right again, looked at Haruyuki with his moistened eyes and whispered in a trembling voice.

“…Haru. I wonder if I’m also able to become like you. While fighting with the black emotions inside my heart…I wonder if I’ll be able to aim for the «sky» and be able to continue to walk forward…”

“O…obviously, Taku! You’re continuing to change too. From our duel a while ago, the «Lightning Cyan Spike» with which you shot yourself in the end is the proof of that.”

Haruyuki sidled up to Tak.u.mu, facing him, and grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand. He stared hard beyond the blue gla.s.ses wet with tears—

“Taku, Give me just a bit more time. Tomorrow, Wednesday…with the escape strategy starting at 7:00 P.M., I will definitely return alive from the Imperial Palace with s.h.i.+nomiya-san. She’ll definitely be able to purify you of your «ISS Kit». One more day…for just one more day, resist the temptation of the Kit, Taku.”

“…”

Tak.u.mu did not respond immediately to Haruyuki’s earnest persuasion.

He covered his eyes; at last, he squeezed out a tense voice.

“…Yesterday night, I received the Kit from «Magenta Scissor» in the Setagaya area. At that point, the Kit was still in the «Sealed Card» state. In spite of that…when I came home, finished my meal and my bath, and slept in this bed…that spoke to me. Not with words…with feelings. It poured anger, hatred, jealousy, and every other negative feeling into me. Furthermore, by that time, I had removed my Neuro Linker. Throughout the night, I saw a long, long dream…when I woke up, my chest was filled to the brim with a black something…”

Haruyuki felt Tak.u.mu’s body suddenly shake through his palm. His close friend, who had hung his head even more, whispered forlornly wholly as if he had returned to his elementary school days.

“…Haru. I’m scared…it’s not just in my memory area anymore, it’s inside of me…tonight, what it’s going to show me in its unsealed form…will I be able to be myself as I am now until tomorrow...I’m unbearably scared of that…in our duel at first, I already no longer hesitated to wound you cruelly…”

—Although he was not equipping a Neuro Linker, he was being interfered with in the real world.

In principle, it was impossible. However, in truth it was a phenomenon Haruyuki had also experienced firsthand. Haruyuki himself had heard the voice of the «Disaster Armor» without accelerating or equipping his Neuro Linker.

However, if he thought about it, the «Thought Acceleration» implemented by the Brain Burst Program as if it were nothing was an absurd super-phenomenon. Not only that, two months ago Haruyuki had witnessed an actual example of a Burst Linker who had lost Brain Burst and had had his memories manipulated and deleted.

In short, that programmed possessed the ability to interfere with humans’ consciousnesses—with their very souls. If that were so, it wouldn’t be strange if something happened. Accept it, fight. Those were all he could do.

Haruyuki seized with even greater strength the left shoulder of Tak.u.mu, whose body was trembling bit by bit, and spoke.

“Then, Taku, today you’re going to stay at my place.”

“…Huh?”

That must have been completely unexpected to him; to Tak.u.mu, who had made an expression of mute amazement, Haruyuki began to jabber at high speed.

“Like in the past, if we sleep together in a huddle while playing games, you won’t have the time to see any scary dreams. But if it’s just two people, we can’t really call it sleeping in a huddle. If that’s so, let’s call Chiyu too. If we say we’re doing our homework together, my mom will also allow it. Wait, in reality we had homework for math and j.a.panese, didn’t we. Then you’ll take care of math, Chiyu’ll do j.a.panese, and I’ll serve the tea. Did you know? If we open the homework file in the Initial Acceleration s.p.a.ce/Blue World, that stingy file protection will become invalid, and we’ll be able to copy our answers!”

To the vehemently arguing Haruyuki, Tak.u.mu rounded his eyes but—

When he looked again at Tak.u.mu’s mouth, Haruyuki could make out a bitter smile that seemed to say “it can’t be helped.”

“…In the past, we often followed your lead like that and did quite a number of things that got adults angry at us.”

“Did I do that? I don’t remember.”

With his released right hand, which had been gripping Tak.u.mu’s shoulder for the longest time, he scratched his head forcedly. Tak.u.mu, who was again wearing an ironic smile that gradually turned into a genuine one, removed his gla.s.ses and wiped his eyes with a jerk before speaking.

“It can’t be helped…you shouldn’t let exhaustion from homework affect the Imperial Palace escape strategy tomorrow. I’ll come help you out. However, as your Burst Linker senior, I can’t allow you to use a point just for the purpose of copying answers. Since I’ll be teaching you how to approach the problem, you should do the calculation by yourself.”

“What—…”

While appearing displeased, Haruyuki blinked several times and shook off the feeling that was sinking in.

The «ISS Kit» inside Tak.u.mu had not yet disappeared. Even now, it was on the alert, surely looking for another opportunity. Similar to how Haruyuki’s «Disaster Armor» had done so.

However, only one time, even if for only one arm, Haruyuki had repelled the dominating power of the Amor and had summoned its original, «The Destiny». If he could, then Tak.u.mu could also do it. The act of continuing to resist the lure of the Kit for twenty-four more hours until the «Shrine Maiden of Purification» Ardor Maiden returned alive from within the Imperial Palace. Because he was trying like this to stand up once more from the abyss of despair and walk forth…

“—All right, then if it’s decided, let’s go to my place now! Let’s stock up on food at the mall below while we’re at it. No wait, if we call Chiyu we’ll get a bonus item, won’t we…”

While laughing, Tak.u.mu lightly poked the stomach of Haruyuki, who was thinking deeply.

“Who you really want to call isn’t Chii-chan; you want the food prepared by her mom, right?”

“N, no, well, those two are indivisible…if you mention Chiyu, I think of refreshments, and if you mention refreshments, I think of Chiyu…”

“Uh oh, I’m telling Chii-chan what you just said now.”

“It, it was a joke! W-well, I’ll mail her, so you go get your mom’s permission.”

Attempting to steer him away from his improper remark, Haruyuki stood up from the bed.

At the moment when he was about to pull out the XSB cable still inserted into his Neuro Linker nonchalantly—

In the depths of his mind, a rather surrept.i.tious thought voice resounded like a raindrop falling onto a water surface.

“…Thank you, Haru. I’m truly glad…to be able to remain friends with you.”

With his back still turned to his dear friend, Haruyuki, who had strongly reflected upon those words, returned only a single, equally meager thought.

“Me too, Taku.”

References

↑ A bamboo j.a.panese sword used in kendo.

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