Accel World Vol 1 Chapter 7 (1/2)
Chapter 7
Haruyuki’s broken consciousness could only rees of three colors
The i on the brick tiles of the side walk and bent unnaturally—black
The ie amounts under that body—red
The ie of those still closed eyelids, and of those cheeks which had lost their complexion—white
The necktie Haruyuki used to stop the bleeding and his own hand were also dyed red in an instant
The clothes of Araya, who crawled out from the driver’s seat of the white car, which had crashed into the wall of a store while laughing manically, were also red
A patrol car ca rushed onto the scene, and the still laughing Araya was forced into its backseat
Immediately afterwards, a white ahts also arrived and the ot off of it fixed Kuroyukihi, Haruyuki also rode with theh speed—
And now, Haruyuki was looking up at the ER’s red in-operation lamp in a corner of a white hallway
Until now, Haruyuki couldn’t think about what had happened before
The only thing that was floating in his mind was a replay of every moment over the past four days since he met Kuroyukihime
That time too—that time too, and that time as well, Haruyuki should have been able to make different choices
And if he had chosen that instead, this situation could have been avoided
Why didn’t he try to believe even a little in the hand that Kuroyukihis she showed? If he had obediently accepted it without obstinately looking down, that quarrel between them on the road wouldn’t have happened and they should have been able to notice the approaching car as well
…A all the mistakes I’ve repeated so many times in my life until now, I’ve made the number-one mistake that can’t be undone
Haruyuki went back to every crossroad ament of his broken consciousness and tried to do down a different future one by one, but even Brain Burst couldn’t change the past
He continued doing that for who kne long as he gazed up at the lamp
The la, but suddenly the door slid open and a female nurse caown as she then approached straight towards him
She was a young nurse who see school As he faced her, who showed a strained expression under her beautifully arranged bangs, words flowed out almost of their own accord from Haruyuki’s mouth
“How…is it?”
“The doctor and all the staff are doing their best”
The nurse’s voice was slightly hoarse and stiff
“But…She has too ans We fully injected repair-use micro-machines, and the deterioration of her conditions has soht, about her faency contact address registered in her Neuro Linker”
“Eh…”
Sitting next to Haruyuki as at a loss for words, the nurse leaned forward and continued from there
“I thought that you would know her home’s telephone number You’re…her…?”
There was a questioning note at the end, but Haruyuki didn’t respond at once
What a I don’t want to use those kinds of words anymore But now, I also don’t want to refer to us as friends, or as senpai and kouhai
Hesitating to speak, Haruyuki heard the words the nurse spoke after a moment’s pause, and unconsciously looked up
“…her boyfriend, right?”
“Eh…W-Why do you say that?”
Looking at the beauty of Kuroyukihied, and the physical appearance of Haruyuki, there shouldn’t have been anything for her do draw such a conclusion from
As Haruyuki reflexively shrunk his body, he was quietly presented a small notebook
Stamped with a metal emblem on its blue synthetic leather cover, it was the Umesato Middle School’s student handbook
“I saw it just nohen I was looking for her phone nu her personal effects I’m sorry”
Wearing just a slight smile on her stiffened cheeks, the nurse opened the student handbook to the last page
In the clear pocket on the left side, there was a student ID with a face-shot of Kuroyukihime
And on the right side, there was a familiar round face
Receiving the notebook with tre an idiotic expression on his face Froht-capture picture she printed, from when he heard Kuroyukihie
With a dripping noise, a single drop of water fell onto the surface of the picture
Haruyuki hadn’t noticed that tears had been overflowing from his eyes for a while now
“Senpai…Kuroyukihime-senpai”
Hisfor hi like a child
“Uu…aa…Uaaaaa!!”
Holding the notebook to his chest and bending forward, Haruyuki cried
The tears flooded out one after another, and fell along his cheeks and onto the floor Within the gouging-like pain his chest, Haruyuki found for the first tis
The operation continued for nearly five hours
When the ti to late night, Haruyuki si “My friend was involved in an accident today, tonight I will return very late or not at all”, and then si on the chair
Kuroyukihih the school, but surprisingly, instead of her family, only a family lawyer appeared by himself
Equipped with large-type Neuro Linker and also like a al procedures in a very business-like manner, and then went away after about fifteen lance at Haruyuki
After a long, long tiuished at around 10 PM
The young doctor, who came out in an utterly exhausted state, looked a little confused at seeing Haruyuki alone in the hallway outside, but he still explained her condition in a polite tone
They had succeeded in stopping the bleeding, but the daans was extensive, and it wouldn’t be strange for her to fall into a state of shock
The batch of synthetic protein h tissue reconstruction and assimilation at full power, but in the end it depended on the patient’s physical strength
“…In short, I have to say that her present condition is serious The next twelve hours will be the difficult part…Please prepare yourself”
When he finished saying that with a grave expression, the doctor left the hallway along with the staff
The only person left was the female nurse from before
Giving a brief glance to the student handbook still being grasped in Haruyuki’s hands, the nurse spoke in a gentle tone
“You should also…return home and rest It see tomorrow”
“Tomorroill be too late”
Haruyuki replied with a stubborn attitude that showed that he had no intention taking even one step away from this place
“The doctor said that the next twelve hours would be the hard part Even though senpai is doing her best, that no one would be at her side now, that’s just…too cruel”
“……I see…That’s true Did you contact your home?”
“Yes…My parent won’t be returning until around one o’clock anyway”
“I understand Then, I’ll bring you a blanket, please wait a moment”
Leaving for the nurses’ station within the hallith quick feet and then returning i a thin blanket to Haruyuki
“Don’t worry That girl will surely be all right She’s so pretty…and has such a nice boyfriend like you The fun things, it all starts from here”
Really—sofro down the legions of the other Kings, and going to the place that person is aio with her
While instantaneously thinking that, Haruyuki spoke
“Th…Thank you very much Umm…when can I meet with senpai?”
“It’s iht now, since the micro-machine operation rooes of her via the hospital network For this tie for you”
The nurse sertip in the air At the saate appeared in Haruyuki’s vision
Haruyuki was a little surprised that he could wirelessly connect with the nurse’s Neuro Linker even though they were cut-off from the Global Net, but he quickly realized that they were connected through the hospital’s local network
When he clicked on the icon, a video as opened The screen was di his eyes he noticed a bed with a strange shape in the middle
It seemed to be a capsule with only its top-half transparent A semi-transparent liquid filled its interior, and he could see a white body down to the shoulders soaking inside it
The tubes that were connected to the arms and mouth were painful to look at, and the eyelids remained closed without even a flutter
“Senpai…”
Right now, inside that delicate body, countless e da to help in that battle There was nothing he could do, but pray
“Don’t worry She’ll definitely be saved”
The nurse repeated that again, and after gently patting Haruyuki’s back, she got up
“Since her condition is beinghappens You should rest a little too”
“Yes Ah…umm, thank you very much”
As Haruyuki thanked the nurse as departing and lowered his head—
As he looked at the videodisplayed on the right side of his vision, he unexpectedly felt unease over a certain place within it His intuition, polished by his enor that there was so about
What—What did I see just now?
Kuroyukihime’s body was naked above the shoulders But, she was still wearing so
She was sunk in semi-transparent liquid, so he couldn’t see it well, but—that black thing behind her neck was a Neuro Linker And, directly connecting to it was a single thin cable It extended outside the bed parallel to an oxygen tube, and connected to a large machine on the side
“Pl…Please wait a moment”
Stopping quickly, the nurse tilted her head while looking back at him
“What’s wrong?”
“No, umm…Kuro, no, senpai’s Neuro Linker, it’s still equipped, isn’t it?”
“Yes Since we’reher brain waves”
“Then, umm…that machine connected to it by cable isn’t stand-alone…?”
“Of course not, it’s connected to the hospital’s network”
—What!?
Seeing Haruyuki lose his breath, the nurse put on a quizzical expression and smiled as if to make him relieved
“What’s wrong, are you worried about the security? Don’t worry, the ly tough protective firewalls There isn’t a hacker that can do anything bad to that girl”
As he watched the back of the nurse, aving her hand with a “See you later then” and disappearing into the nurses’ station, Haruyuki replied back in his
—Normally, that would be true But, “that” isn’t normal “That”, which can easily invade the social security caest firewalls in the country, and can steal real ties…
Only Brain Burst could
Now alone in the hallway, Haruyuki sat doith a thud while holding the blanket in his left hand
Kuroyukihime’s Neuro Linker was completely severed fro for the sake of treatment, she was connected to the hospital’s network —In other words
Haruyukivoice
“Burst Link”
Instantly, all sound and the world froze
Standing up in his pig avatar for the icons lined up on the virtual desktop on his left with feelings of praying
The Brain Burst console activated and thelist opened
Following the Searching indicator, the name «Silver Crow» appeared at the top of the list
And, placed just a little beloas—the name «Black Lotus»
“No…No way…”