Accel World - Volume 25 - Chapter 11

11

When they were done explaining everything to Haruyuki, it was just past ten thirty PM. For the junior high and high school students, it was a bit early, but it was pretty much bedtime for an elementary school student. It would indeed be cramped for all five of them to use the two futons laid out in Utai’s room, so it was decided that the older three would sleep in the larger guest room across the hall.

After saying good night to Niko and Utai, Haruyuki, Kuroyukihime, and Fuko did a bit more homework at the low table in the guest room—although Haruyuki was working on the draft for his student council election speech—and worked right up until it was almost a new day before getting ready for bed. Once they put the table away, there was plenty of room for three futons, and Haruyuki was secretly relieved at the extra space. He felt like he would be able to sleep now in a room with two older girls.

They changed into the lightweight nightclothes that Shiomi had left out for them, turned off the light, and climbed into their futons, and Haruyuki relaxed his head onto a pillow that rustled but had a strangely pleasing feel to it before moving to take off his Neurolinker.

From the central futon, Fuko turned to where he lay on the hallway side of the room. “That reminds me, Corvus.”

“Wh-what?”

“I heard you and Sacchi took a bath together at her house?”

“Nngh?!” He choked a little, like the air had gotten into a weird place in his lungs. After somehow managing to get breathing properly again, he called out weakly to the other girl on the far side of the room, “K-Kuroyukihime…”

“Oh. I didn’t mean to tell her all of that, but…” Kuroyukihime’s apologetic voice came through the faint darkness. “When we were in the bath tonight, I showed Fuko the barcode on my neck.”

“…!”

Haruyuki reflexively raised his head a little. But the strength quickly ran out of his shoulders and sent it back down to the pillow. If Kuroyukihime had shared the secret of her birth with Fuko as well, that was definitely a good thing. “Y-you did?”

“Mmm. And so, while I was telling her all about it, I ended up mentioning that I’d shown you the barcode. And I accidentally said ‘in the bath.’”

“…You…did…”

Well, if it came out naturally like that, Fuko won’t read anything weird into it, Haruyuki thought.

However.

“So then, Corvus, how was it?”

He heard Fuko’s voice once more and Haruyuki glanced over at her. But he could only just barely make out the silhouette of her face in profile; he couldn’t see the expression on it. “H-how was what?”

“Having a bath with Sacchi. How was it?”

The voice that questioned him was nothing if not gentle, but when it came to Fuko, he couldn’t take gentle at face value. Sweat oozing from the palms of his hands, he chose each word carefully as he replied.

“W-well, I was surprised at first, but I was super happy that Kuroyukihime told me all these things she’d had locked up inside for so long. I felt like I wanted to be there for her even more now.”

“Thank you, Haruyuki,” came Kuroyukihime’s quiet voice in the gloom, and he felt his heart grow warm abruptly.

However.

“That’s not what I meant, Corvus.” Fuko sounded even gentler now. “I mean, how was it, as a teenage boy, seeing Sacchi naked?”

“Nawhaa?!” This bizarre sound came from Haruyuki, and Kuroyukihime also cried out in a hushed voice.

“O-oi! What are you saying, Fuko?!”

“Well, I’ve always felt that one of Corvus’s good points is that he isn’t ravenous in that way, so we can relax around him as BB girls. But this does have me a little worried. You’re lying here about to fall asleep with Sacchi and me, but I do wonder if absolutely nothing will happen?”

His only choice here was to accelerate.

No. If he just burst-linked, Fuko might come after him in a normal duel, and he couldn’t enter the Unlimited Neutral Field. So then should he flee to the Highest Level? But what would he do if Snow Fairy showed up again? If he asked Fairy how a junior high boy should respond when interrogated about his physical urges by a high school girl, would she tell him? And how old was she anyway?

After racing through these panicked thoughts in 0.3 seconds, he timidly replied, “I-I-I mean, it’s not like I feel nothing. Of course, I’m nervous. But no matter which way you look at it, you and Kuroyukihime would never allow any…inappropriate action from me, Master.”

This was the answer his brain earnestly put out.

For some reason, Fuko sighed. “Well, I’ll go along with that for the time being. But, listen, Corvus. When the time comes that this is no longer an unforgivable act, you have to choose just one person and really cherish her, all right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“And Sacchi, you. Barging into the bath naked, what were you intending to do if Corvus ran wild on you?”

“R-ran wild? Listen, Fuko,” Kuroyukihime started, but the older girl cut her off.

“From now on, restrain from such indiscretion. It’s good for the Legion that we have this kind of rich exchange in real life, but as your elder, I will not allow any corruption of our morals.”

Does she want me to do something or not? Maybe I should make a barricade with an extra futon, so I don’t roll over toward her while I’m sleeping.

These thoughts running through his brain, Haruyuki pulled the thin blanket up to his chin.

A sunny Wednesday, July 24.

Having feasted on the very Japanese-style breakfast of grilled salmon, boiled komatsuna greens in soy sauce, slow-boiled onsen tamago eggs, rice, and miso soup made by Fuko and Utai, Haruyuki helped clean up before leaving the Shinomiya house with Niko at seven forty-five. Niko had apparently eaten a little too much, so they made their way slowly down the narrow road of the residential area until they came out on Ring Road No. 7. They got on a bus at the Honancho intersection and sat down alongside each other in a two-person seat.

Niko pulled a red XSB cable out of the purse slung across her small body. As she connected it to her Neurolinker with her left hand, she held out the plug at the opposite end. Haruyuki hesitated briefly before taking it between his fingertips.

The bus was about seventy percent full, and the passengers included junior high and high schoolers on their way to some kind of team practice. It would have been a lie to say he wasn’t aware of their eyes on him, but Niko was bold and proud, so Haruyuki couldn’t flinch here. The instant he connected the magnetized terminal with a click, he heard Niko’s neurospeak in his mind.

“Hey, Haruyuki. You know how Hoo came up over breakfast?”

“Huh? You wanted to direct for this?”

“Whatevs. Why not? Anyway, about Hoo.”

“Uh-huh.” Haruyuki waited for her to continue.

Just as Niko said, the main topic of conversation over breakfast had been Hoo. When Utai invited Haruyuki and Niko over to her house, she’d said she wanted to discuss something about Hoo with them, but their time had been taken up with the Genbu mission and their summer homework, so she hadn’t really been able to bring it up.

The first item on her agenda was taking measures against the extreme heat of the height of summer. Hoo might have been an African owl, but it was indeed harsh to leave him outside when the temperature rose to over thirty-five degrees Celsius. And the second item was what to do about the owl during the planned trip to Yamagata for all the Legion members at the beginning of August. This was the more difficult problem, and their choices were to leave him with someone or take him with them, but in reality, both of these were relatively difficult.

There were pet hotels that would take in owls, but as a rule, Hoo would only eat from Utai’s hand. Recently, he’d been eating from Haruyuki’s hand—and the day before from Reina Izeki’s, but that was because Utai had been right there with her gentle presence. If she wasn’t around, he wouldn’t even look at the offered food.

Taking him on the trip was also not practical. Because of his past experiences, Hoo was extremely sensitive. It had taken a fair bit of time for him to grow accustomed to his current hutch, so the stress of being in a carrier and traveling for several hours would be too great. And they didn’t know if he would settle down at Haruyuki’s grandparents, where they would be staying.

When Utai explained all this, Haruyuki understood that she was thinking that the only option was for her to stay behind. But that was just too much. The trip to Yamagata was the reward awaiting them after the long and painful battle against the Acceleration Research Society and the White Legion. Haruyuki had already called his grandfather and asked if he could bring around fifteen friends and gotten his ready consent. He hadn’t explained yet how he knew these friends, and his grandparents might be stunned when they saw the group of girls, the only boys being himself and Takumu, but it was sure to be a fun trip.

But that was only because they would all be there.

If Utai couldn’t go—a core member of the Legion in the mock battle against the Green King, in the Territories with the White Legion, in the mission against Inti, and in the attack on Genbu the night before—then he almost thought it was better to cancel the trip entirely. But Utai would definitely not accept that option. He was sure she’d put on her usual smile and tell them to go have fun, not to worry about her…

Haruyuki started to hang his head, and then Niko’s voice echoed in his mind again.

“So, like, I dunno if this’d be a thing yet, so I didn’t mention it to Maiden, but you know our Pokki, yeah?”

“Pokki…You mean Thistle Porcupine?” he said, an image of the porcupine avatar with the rare fluffy hair armor floating up in his mind.

“Yeah.” Niko nodded firmly. “I’m pretty sure she’s got this huuuuge bird for a pet in the real.”

“What?! Even though she’s a porcupine?!”

“That’s not the important part,” Niko pointed out, and he hurried to correct himself.

“A-a huge bird? Is it an owl?”

“Dunno, but I feel like she mentioned it eats meat, so I think it’s prob’ly a bird of prey. Parrots and stuff don’t eat meat, right?”

“I-I don’t think so.” Here Haruyuki finally saw where this was going and glanced at Niko next to him. “Um. So then you’re saying get Thistle to take care of Hoo?”

Instantly, the red pigtails swung from side to side. “Don’t get ahead of yerself here. This is totally a what-if kinda deal. I haven’t checked with Pokki, and anyway, I’ve never even met her in the real, so.”

“What? Really?” Haruyuki said, and Niko shrugged, the shoulders of her short-sleeved blouse bobbing up and down.

“That’s the usual, y’know. Negabu’s the weird one with all the Legion members cracked in the real. But, like…lately, I been thinking I could maybe get a bit closer to the core of Promi—I mean, the former Promi.”

“Yeah, that’d be good.” Haruyuki nodded.

Niko glared at him out of the corner of her eye. “I’ll tell you right now, you’re comin’ with me when I go ask her.”

“H-Huh?!”

“Obvs. You’re the Animal Care Club president. But, y’know, I gotta check what kinda bird Pokki has first, and then talk to Maiden—Ui. An’ we don’t know if Hoo’ll let her feed him even if Pokki does say yes.”

“Yeah…”

It was true that it was unlikely that Hoo would accept food from the hand of a new person whom he would be meeting for the first time in an unfamiliar place, all without Utai. He might fight with this “huuuuge bird” that Thistle had, too. That said, the final decision would be made by super president Utai.

“Thanks, Niko.” Haruyuki sent her a thought of gratitude, and Niko shrugged again.

“Anyway, isn’t your stop next?”

“Huh? Oh! You’re right!”

When he looked out the window, the bus had at some point crossed Ume Kaido and was now approaching the Chuo Line elevated bridge. Haruyuki hurriedly raised a hand to press the stop button displayed on his virtual desktop.

8:15 AM.

Arriving at his condo, Haruyuki went against the flow of people to cut across the front entrance and jumped into the elevator. He replayed the conversation with Niko inside the empty carriage, and then had the sudden thought that he should invite Trilead on the Yamagata trip, too. He had never met him in the real world, and they’d basically never even touched on the real world in their conversations, so he didn’t know if he’d accept, but Haruyuki would feel a lot more comfortable with three boys there.

He got out of the elevator and walked down the hallway to the Arita apartment. Thinking that his mother was probably still asleep, he carefully opened the front door and snuck into the living room on quiet feet. But there he ran into his mother coming out of the kitchen. He blinked a few times before opening his mouth.

“I’m home. Morning, Mom.”

His mother—Saya Arita—nodded slightly, holding a porcelain teacup in one hand. “Morning.” She walked past him to the dining table, her glossy nightgown swinging. When she sat down, she took a sip of tea and started to flick at her virtual desktop.

Haruyuki also went into the kitchen and first washed his hands before opening the refrigerator. He checked the contents as he pulled out a bottle of barley tea and found that the wraps, the canapés, the lasagna, and all the other leftovers from the send-off party the day before yesterday had disappeared. His mother had probably eaten them for lunch and supper the previous day.

He drank a glass of barley tea before setting down the carrier bag still slung across him and pulling out a bioplastic container. He was about to put it in the refrigerator but then stopped and called across the counter, “Mom, do you want some onigiri?”

“Onigiri?” His mother looked up from her desktop with a doubtful expression. “Did you buy some downstairs?”

“No, a friend made them at the house where I was staying over last night.” He had lied to his mother about a number of things in relation to the Accelerated World, but this was the truth. Fuko had made onigiri with the leftover rice and grilled salmon and had given him three to take.

“Hmm. What’s in them?”

“S-salmon.”

“Okay, I’ll have one. Can you make some miso soup, too? Instant’s fine.”

“Okay.”

As he turned on the electric kettle with his right hand, Haruyuki got a bowl and a square plate out with his left. He put a dried cube of wakame and green onion miso soup in the bowl and poured the boiling water in before setting the onigiri on the plate and carrying it all to the table. He sat down as well and pretended to open his virtual desktop as he looked at his mother’s face.

She took a sip of the miso soup before biting into the onigiri. The look on her face didn’t change, but it didn’t seem like she was unhappy with the taste, since she kept eating it.

It’s almost Mom’s birthday, too, he thought suddenly.

When Saya was a twenty-three-year-old master’s student, she had married a man three years older and given birth to Haruyuki. This was fairly early back then, when late marriages were the norm. Even when her birthday came this year, she would be only thirty-eight. Her slanted bob cut was shiny, and her profile was just as sharp as ever, but in the bright morning light, he felt like he could sense a little exhaustion in the skin around her eyes.

And it was no wonder. Working in the trade department of a foreign investment bank, Saya had irregular work hours because she was active in international currency markets, and there were plenty of days when she had to have a drink with clients. And even when she was at home, she was always checking market trends with her Neurolinker, so her brain didn’t ever get much of a rest. He felt like she didn’t need to work so hard, but it was because she did that Haruyuki could live in this condo and invite over a dozen or more Legion comrades to this spacious living room.

That said, however, he did have occasion to wonder about how she had completely abandoned the cooking side of things. But if he was unhappy with instant meals, he could just improve upon them himself. The much-younger Utai had mastered the kitchen knife, so he couldn’t say that it was beyond him. Thinking he might tackle a simple meal that very evening, he stared absently at his mother eating the onigiri.

“So this Animal Care Club camp, what did you do, exactly?” she asked abruptly.

“Um,” he said. “Talked about the animal we’re taking care of at school. And did our summer homework. We gamed a little bit, too.”

“Animal? So what, a rabbit?”

“No, it’s a northern white-faced owl.”

Saya lifted her gaze from her virtual desktop, her face softening a little. “Oh my, a white face, hmm?”

“A-a white face?” he repeated. “People call them that?”

“They do.” She nodded. “You know, I wanted one a long time ago.”

“Huh. You wanted an owl?”

“A looooong time ago,” she said. “Your grandparents up in Yamagata, they have the cherry orchard, right? A lot of pests come for the cherries. Birds like sparrows and starlings and bulbuls, animals like field mice, civets. And bears.”

“B-bears?!” He gaped at her. “Bears come to the cherry orchard?”

“A long, long time ago, they did. Now we have the high-performance electric fence, so they can’t get in. But the birds and the mice aren’t stopped by the fence. So you set up a nest in the orchard and have an owl live there.”

“Wow…”

“When I was little, a long-eared owl lived in the nest in our field,” she told him. “Normally, the owls of the north move south in the winter, but this one never budged from the orchard. I guess it was there for six or seven years. But when I was in junior high, it suddenly disappeared. I don’t know what happened to it, but I was so sad. So I decided that when I grew up and was living on my own, I would have an owl as a pet.”

Given that Saya was estranged from her family, it was relatively rare for her to talk about her childhood. To the point where he couldn’t remember any such talk over the last few years.

So Mom was a kid once, too, living at Grandma and Grandpa’s in Yamagata. As this thought passed through his mind, he asked, “You didn’t get your owl?”

“I’m sure you know if you’re taking care of a white face at school, but there are a lot of steep hurdles to clear to keep a bird of prey as a pet. I kept thinking ‘one day, one day,’ and then I forgot at some point.” A faint smile crossed her face, and she finished off her tea. “Thanks for the onigiri. It was good. What are you up to today?”

“Um. I’m going back to school around lunch.”

“Be careful not to get heatstroke,” she said as she charged 500 yen in lunch money to his Neurolinker and stood up. She carried her dishes to the kitchen, and for a moment, Haruyuki wanted to stop her.

He still had things he wanted to talk about. Like would she come to school and see Hoo, or would she come with them to Yamagata, or what kind of person was his father…But he was afraid of being rejected and closed his mouth.

Saya quickly washed her dishes and was about to step into the living room. But she stopped in front of the door and looked back. “That reminds me. Did you manage to write your student council election speech?”

“Oh. Y-yeah.” He flicked at his virtual desktop and sent the draft file to her.

“I’ll make some notes in the next couple days and send them to you, okay?”

“Take your time. There’s no rush.”

“If I think like that, I’ll forget,” she replied, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.

Returning to his room, Haruyuki made some progress on his summer homework before taking a shower and leaving the house at eleven.

The skies were clear again that day, but a dry wind was blowing from the east, making the heat much more bearable than the day before. A typhoon had sprung up on the southern seas, and there was talk of its making landfall on Honshu in a few days, but the fine weather was supposed to continue through the beginning of August, when their trip to Yamagata was scheduled.

When he arrived at school, he first went and said hello to Hoo and got to work cleaning the hutch area. The trees dropped a surprising number of leaves even in the summer, so if he didn’t make sure to sweep them away every day, they would pile up here and there.

He was almost done when Utai and Reina Izeki showed up and gave him a scare. It was his day on duty, so Reina was supposed to take the day off. When he pointed this out, she told him that he had come the day before.

And just like the day before, the three of them finished taking care of Hoo and then said their good-byes in the front courtyard. Haruyuki ate the bread he had bought in the cafeteria—which was open, but not serving hot lunch—as was his custom, moved to the library, and continued working on his homework. In the evening, once their practice was done, he joined up with Chiyuri and Takumu, had some fruit anmitsu at their usual sweet shop, Enjiya, and then went home.

His mother had already gone to work and left a message that she wouldn’t be back until late the next night. Even so, Haruyuki went shopping for ingredients at the supermarket in his building to prepare supper himself and ran into Chiyuri once more there. When he was forced to explain what he was shopping for, she ended up following him home for some reason and butting in from the sidelines while he cooked.

He could no longer say that the meal was one hundred percent his effort, but the fact that the resulting chicken sauté and broad bean salad were more or less edible was likely thanks to Chiyuri. She sat down to eat it with him as if it were only natural, and then he saw her off at the door. When he got back to the living room and looked at the clock, it was exactly seven. The sky beyond the windows was dyed red with the afterglow, and one or two stars had started to shine. Closing the curtains, he went over his day in his mind. Overall, it had been very peaceful, quiet, and fun.

Later, he would have occasion to recall this ordinary and thus priceless day.

After putting his uniform in the washing machine and rinsing the sweat off his body in the bathroom, Haruyuki put on some shorts and a T-shirt, brushed his teeth, and went back to his bedroom.

The start time for the mission to rescue Silver Crow was eleven that night, with a full dive meeting for all the participants an hour before that. It was just past seven thirty, so he still had more than two hours to go. He lay down in bed, wondering if he should work on his homework, play a game he hadn’t finished yet, or watch a video.

Then in the center of his mind, he heard a sound he had been eagerly awaiting—the ringing of a clear, ephemeral bell.

“…!!”

A jolt ran through him, and he hurriedly rested his head on the pillow before taking as deep a breath as he could.

“Unlimited—” He clamped his mouth shut. He couldn’t exactly go to the Unlimited Neutral Field. Deeply annoyed, he shouted a new command:

“Burst Link!”

Skreeeeee!! The sound of acceleration cut Haruyuki’s mind away from the real world.