The Floating Starlight Bridge

  At some point, the figure of Silver Crow had transformed into a congregation of silver light glittering in the air. He had thrown the door open for his reaction speed in a full-dive environment, a speed he had trained and built up in the virtual squash game in the Umesato local net, where he’d first caught the attention of Kuroyukihime way back when, and Haruyuki kept throwing out his midair combos. He wasn’t certain exactly how many dozens of times he had attacked, but he still had not landed a single clean blow. Kuroyukihime silently and thoroughly defended, single-mindedly evading or blocking Haruyuki’s rush, when his movements should have in theory been impossible to predict.

  Although they exchanged no words, at a certain point, Haruyuki became aware of a deep, rich emotion being communicated between the two of them whenever their avatars touched.

  Admiration. Haruyuki at Kuroyukihime’s defense techniques. And most likely, Kuroyukihime at Haruyuki’s midair rush. Both of their hearts were filled with an incredibly deep emotion.

  Abruptly, he felt like he could hear her voice.

  Ohh, I see…Was that it, then?

  This is the duel. Forget everything and simply become one with your duel avatar; move as you wish. Even if it is a world that disappears in a mere 1.8 seconds, even if it is a contact that ends in 1.8 seconds…a mindful duel surely leaves something behind. It gives us something…

  Rider and me. The countless battles Raker and I have fought since childhood, too, they must…Something precious has come from them…and even now, that something lingers in both of our hearts…

  Haruyuki didn’t know whether he had actually heard these thoughts or not.

  Because that voice came to him in the moment his right fist, thrust out for the hundredth time, touched Kuroyukihime’s left blade and was drawn into it, a moment almost outside of time.

  In the next instant, that mysterious gravity once again violently swallowed up Haruyuki’s fist.

  …Ah! The “way of the flexible”…!

  Gritting his teeth, Haruyuki got ready to resist the explosive reactive force.

  But it didn’t come. Instead, his body was pulled into her chest, both arms held firmly and brought to a stop.

  “Huh…”

  At this deeply unexpected development, Haruyuki stiffened up, unable to decide what he should do, and in his ear, her actual voice this time came whispering.

  “That was wonderful, Haruyuki.”

  Huh? The duel’s over? But both of our gauges are still pretty full. And we’ve got tons of time left…

  In the moment that he glanced up at both of their health gauges, bewildered, Haruyuki understood something serious.

  Because of the ceaseless, instantaneous thrusting with his wings, Silver Crow’s special-attack gauge had been used up from its full state, and only 10 percent remained.

  In contrast, Black Lotus’s special-attack gauge was completely charged from the countless blocks, and glittered a full bright blue.

  “It’s been two and a half years since I used this technique. Thank you, Silver Crow. Nice fight.” As she murmured, Black Lotus’s arms encircled Haruyuki under his own. Circled around his back, they flashed an intense violet.

  “Death By Embracing.”

  Following her utterance of the attack name, a light snip. Before the echoes of this had died away, Silver Crow’s health gauge turned entirely red, sliding into nothingness from the right end—to zero.

  …Damn, that is some serious power.

  This final, great admiration swelled up within him at about the same time the flaming text YOU LOSE popped up before his eyes. Fortunately, Haruyuki’s whole being emitted a silver light before the sensation of the top and bottom of his duel avatar separating came over him, and he exploded and scattered.

  Passing through the darkness replete with the sensation of floating, he returned to the real world.

  On his bed, Haruyuki opened his eyes and, after blinking several times, took a look at the face of Kuroyukihime, which should have been right there in front of him.

  That was not to be, however. Because Kuroyukihime had in the blink of an eye pressed herself up against him, placed her head on his left shoulder, and wrapped both arms around him.

  “Uh! Um! Hey—”

  The black hair tickling his cheek and the scent of shampoo slammed into his brain, and Haruyuki tried to leap up while still sitting. But there was no way he could do something as agile as that, so instead, he abruptly lost his balance and fell backward. He hurriedly tried to recover himself with the thrust of his wings, but naturally, there was nothing of the sort on his flesh-and-blood back.

  Thump! He fell onto the mattress, and, after a slight delay, the slender body of Kuroyukihime came in for a gentle landing on his stomach.

  The faint rasp of the air conditioner in his ears, Haruyuki froze completely and utterly, both eyes wide open. Okay, just calm down! Make a calm decision before you do anything! Although that thought was in his head, he simply could not begin to grasp what was happening, much less act.

  At eleven at night, he was lying on his bed in his usual sweats. He was fine up to that point. No problems there. But Kuroyukihime was in her pajamas on top of him, both hands wrapped around his back, squeezing even more tightly now—this situation, was it actually, really reality? And why was this even happening to start with? This whole thing had to be the doings of some kind of virus, start to finish?

  “You surprised me.” Her real-world voice poured directly into his ears, and Haruyuki cut off his confused-to-the-extreme thoughts. “You…At some point along the way, you got that strong…”

  Her murmuring voice was filled with emotion, and while Haruyuki was still unable to process a single thought, his mouth managed to move on its own.

  “B-but the result was basically a perfect win for you…”

  “That’s just a reflection of the difference in our levels. It was a much more equal fight than you think. When you kept on rushing me in midair like that, you really forced me to block, and desperately, for the first time in an incredibly long time.”

  “R-really?” he said, half believing her, half not. In Haruyuki’s experience, the difference between his ability and that of the Black King was, to be honest, from the bottom of the space elevator up to the peak—no, out to geostationary orbit.

  However, Kuroyukihime brought her head up a bit and stared into his eyes from extremely close up, smiling faintly. “Really. Aah, I wish I could let you know just how happy I am right now, how full of emotion I am!”

  In the depths of her large black eyes, a light like stardust swirled, glittering. Just seeing that, his brain threatened to leap out of his head once again. Haruyuki didn’t know which of their hearts was creating the powerful heartbeat he felt on the border between their bodies, closer than they had ever been before.

  They were so close, their noses were almost touching. They exchanged glances—

  Kuroyukihime announced her next words calmly. “At the very least, I’ve decided to trust in the path I’ve walked this far. I’ll have many regrets, but…even so, the colossal amount of time I’ve spent in the Accelerated World and the countless duels I’ve played through were not in vain. Because as a result of this path, I found you and I was able to bring you in.” The five fingers of her right hand moved up from his back to caress his cheek.

  “Haruyuki, I’m proud of you.”

  The instant he heard this, all of the shock and confusion inside him evaporated and was replaced with something hot filling both eyes and flowing down the sides of his face and onto the sheets. The liquid kept coming, falling without stopping.

  He blinked hard several times, and as he rubbed his face with the back of his right hand, Haruyuki began to excuse himself in a hoarse voice. “Oh…Um, I-I’m sorry. I…It’s…I—I—” But for some incredible reason, even his voice turned into heaving sobs, and in between words, he bawled like a child. Trying desperately to get this under some kind of control, he continued to speak. “I— That’s the fi
rst time in my life…a-anyone’s ever told me they’re p-proud of me. And—” Unwilling to expose his ugly sobbing face any more than that, Haruyuki tried to turn away.

  But Kuroyukihime held him back with her whole body and stroked his head gently as she pressed her own face up against his slick cheek. “Well then, I will say fourteen years’ worth of it. You are the lone child of me—of the Black King, Black Lotus, and I am more proud of you than I am of anyone else in this world, my perfect partner.”

  It felt like each time she patted his head softly, the thing blocking his chest eased pleasantly. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  The faintest of voices reached his ears. “No, you’re not just that. The real-world you, Haruyuki Arita, too…and me…Kuro…”

  But he didn’t get to hear the rest.

  Because here, Haruyuki had probably made the biggest of that night’s blunders.

  Coupled with the exhaustion from mustering all his strength for the duel, the sweet pain of the overflowing emotions melting away, the sensation of her kind hand, and the warmth of their bodies touching, his consciousness had been smoothly sucked into the darkness.

  In other words, he fell asleep. Like a log. In this especially, like a child.

  He felt like the last thing he heard was mixed with a wry smile.

  Good night, Haruyuki.

  7

  Ding-dong.

  A light chiming sound echoed inside his brain, disturbing his deep sleep.

  Wha? he thought, with a head that was at best 10 percent awake. It wasn’t the sound of the alarm clock he always used. And in any case, that clock sat on the headboard, so he should be hearing the noise from above. But the sensation of sound delivered directly to his consciousness, without it going through his ears— Oh, that’s right, I fell asleep without taking my Neurolinker off. I hope the shell didn’t get cracked or anything…

  Ding-dong.

  The chime again. He finally realized that the sound was not an alarm to wake up. It wasn’t the sound of mail or a call arriving. The ringing was the intercom to let him know someone was at the door. Reluctantly, he half opened his eyes and looked at the clock hanging on the wall to the right of his bed. Nine in the morning.

  His mother wouldn’t be home until the middle of the night. Maybe it was a courier with a morning delivery? He thought about just pretending he didn’t hear the bell and having them leave it in the delivery box, but it was time for him to get up anyway. Takumu and the gang were coming at eleven.

  After closing his eyes tightly one final time, Haruyuki got up.

  Instantly, he felt a slight tugging resistance on the right side of his neck. He turned his gaze to find a silver XSB cable stretching out from the external connection terminal of his Neurolinker. Glinting in the light of the sun coming in through the gap in the curtains, it disappeared beneath a thin blanket—

  Where the tiniest part of a head of silky black hair popped out.

  “…Unh.”

  Waaaaah?! He very nearly shrieked before clapping his hands over his mouth to desperately hold the cry in. In the moment of this shock, as if all circulation of blood in his body had suddenly reversed direction, he was entirely awake. Blinking repeatedly at top speed, he stared doubtfully, but the small head didn’t disappear. Just the opposite, the distinct outline of a slender body lying there appeared under the blanket. He could doubt it no longer: Someone was sleeping in Haruyuki’s bed, fifty centimeters away, back turned to him.

  “Mmm…mmm.”

  This someone, perhaps sensing Haruyuki moving, rolled over and let out a small sigh. The blanket slid off and the hidden face was revealed.

  “……Ku—”

  Ro-ro-ro-ro-ro?! He managed somehow to suppress scream number two. That beautiful face—a beauty he was very familiar with and yet never felt even slightly used to—belonged without a doubt to Kuroyukihime.

  Why the hell is this—?! He shrieked in the back of his mind before finally remembering the details of how the previous night had ended. Kuroyukihime had come to his room late, they’d talked for a while, and then they’d had a direct duel. After that, he didn’t know what had happened or how, but when all was said and done, Kuroyukihime had ended up falling asleep like that in this bed, and Haruyuki seemed to have no recollection of the process leading up to this result. Serious misstep. Serious situation.

  Still frozen like a stone statue, he mustered every ounce of willpower not to look at the rumpled sleeping figure, pajama top noticeably flipped up—Don’t look don’t look don’t look—

  Ding…dong.

  Once again, the chime, longer than before now, echoed in his auditory system. With the thought that that was one seriously patient courier, he glanced at the visitor window in the right of his vision; it seemed that they hadn’t just come to the entrance on the first floor, but all the way up to the twenty-third floor already. Having little choice, he decided to put off the situation before him for the time being and gently plucked the direct cable out before carefully stepping down to the floor. He tiptoed out of the room, closed the door, and sprinted to the entryway, replying in a hush, “Okay, okay, I’m coming!”

  “Sorry to make you wait so—”

  Haruyuki swallowed the “long.”

  On the other side of the opened door was not a cheerful young courier standing there grinning.

  Snow-white, wide-brimmed hat. Shrug of the same color. Light blue chiffon dress. Thigh-high socks with a border pattern on slender legs peeking out from the skirt hem. Long, full hair reaching down her back, a small bag dangling from both hands. This visitor was clearly—

  “M-Master?! I mean, Raker?!” Haruyuki cried out, stunned, and the woman bowed lightly at him. She responded in a voice even more clear and gentle than it sounded through the net.

  “Good morning, Corvus. When we meet in the real, you can just call me Fuko.”

  At these words from the second-in-command of the Legion Nega Nebulus, level-eight Burst Linker Sky Raker, real name Fuko Kurasaki, a girl two years older than himself, Haruyuki quickly bowed again.

  “Oh! R-right! Good morning, Fuko. Oh! Uh, excuse me! Please come in!”

  “Thank you. That would be lovely.” She closed the door and, as she took her sandals off, he got some slippers ready for her.

  “A-although…you’re pretty early,” he said, still somewhat spaced out. “There’s still ages until we’re supposed to meet.”

  “Hee-hee-hee, I’m sorry. I wondered if it might be a bother, but it’s the first time for me to come over to your house and I’m afraid I couldn’t wait. At any rate, I did send a mail very early this morning…”

  “I-I’m sorry! The truth is I was asleep until just a minute ago.” As he spoke with an embarrassed laugh, Haruyuki finally realized that the current situation was very much not one in which he should be laughing.

  At that very moment, on Haruyuki’s bed only seconds away down the hall, the Legion Master aka Kuroyukihime was fast asleep! Clad in perfect pajama top and bottom!

  Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what am I gonna do! No, now’s not the time for doing. Think, think! Right, first, I’ll show Raker to the living room. And then I’ll secretly get Kuroyukihime’s stuff, and she can change in my room, and we can work it out so she comes in from outside again. That’s it; that’s the only option.

  As Haruyuki instantly came up with this secret operation, Sky Raker politely lined her sandals up before stepping into the slippers set out. She no sooner had them on than Haruyuki was showing her the way to the living room.

  “P-please, this way, p-p-please…Straight ahead, please!”

  “R-right. Thank you.” She smiled, puzzled, but then began to walk next to Haruyuki. She spoke in a singsong voice. “The truth is, I came early because there’s something I wanted to talk about, just you and me, Corvus. It’s been a while since just we two talked. Lately, the only chance we get to meet is in the Territories…I wanted to thank you properly…once…”

  Her words suddenly dropped
away and the reason for the abrupt interruption was clear. However, he did not have the extra brain space to come around to that insight. Because at that point in time, Haruyuki had again frozen solid, one foot in the air, about to take another step.

  The French-gray-pajama-clad figure that appeared shuffling from around the corner two or so meters ahead of them in the hallway looked first at Haruyuki and then at Fuko with a dazed expression. She batted long eyelashes. She moved her lips and the voice of someone freshly awake came out.

  “Morning, Haruyuki.”

  Followed by.

  “Morning, Fuko.”

  Reflexively, Haruyuki dipped his head with a “Good morning,” and as if pulled along, Sky Raker also replied, “M-morning, Sacchi.”

  “Mmm.” Still 80 percent asleep, Sacchi aka Kuroyukihime nodded once before facing forward again. She cut across their view, walking in a fashion similar to the hovering of her avatar, and disappeared to the left. A few seconds later, they heard the sound of the door to the washroom opening and closing.

  Silence.

  It was not a voice that broke this heavy blanket of quiet, but a movement. A pale hand extending from the right pinched Haruyuki’s ear and yanked on it hard.

  His whole body stiffening, he allowed himself to be pulled around to confront a smile he had rarely seen on Sky Raker’s face. He wondered, almost as a means to escape, where he had seen that expression before, and it soon hit him: It was the very smile that her duel avatar had given him in training, when she pushed him off the top of the old Tokyo Tower in the Accelerated World’s Unlimited Neutral Field.

  Eeee! Haruyuki shrank into himself.

  “Corvus,” Raker said gently. “What is the meaning of this?”

  “…I-it’s not like that.” Haruyuki could think of no other option than to immediately shake his head vigorously.