Accel World: Flight Towards the Blue Sky

by Reki Kawahara

  The instant the door tried to close after several seconds passed, Haruyuki reflexively pressed the «Open» button with his right hand. He kept looking obstinately looking at Chiyuri’s face as he held the button.

  Just before the alarm rang, Chiyuri turned down her eyes and quietly boarded the lift.

  “…Thanks. Good morning.”

  While she spoke in a low voice, Haruyuki released his hand from the button.

  Within the moving elevator, he responded absently while casting a side-glance at Chiyuri’s left hand holding a pink umbrella, as she stood with a little more space between them than usual.

  “…Ossu.”

  The words he should have said after that flooded his mind one after another.

  No matter what she had been told by Noumi Seiji, there was no need to obey him. Even if she had been threatened by him and the basis was the peeping video in front of the shower room, Noumi couldn’t actually use that. Because the instant he ruined Haruyuki with that video, there was the possibility that Haruyuki would also distribute Noumi’s «real world information» in Accel World and take him down along with him.

  However, it was also clear that Chiyuri didn’t understand that kind of «nuclear deterrent due to mutually assured destruction»-type talk. If there existed even the slightest chance of Haruyuki being expelled—or at worst, arrested due to an extremely shameful crime, Chiyuri would do all she could to avoid that. Even if she was, for example, forced to become Dusk Taker’s exclusive healer and face Haruyuki and Takumu as enemies in Accel World.

  Because they were friends. Because there were childhood friends who had spent a long, long time together in this real world. To Chiyuri that was the most important thing to be protected above anything else.

  “…Chiyu.”

  In a voice so small that it almost vanished in the faint driving sound of the descending elevator, Haruyuki called out his childhood friend’s name.

  Chiyuri’s small shoulders trembled with a twitch, but her lips were still obstinately pulled tight. Turning his gaze to Chiyuri’s left hand which was tightly the handle of the umbrella, Haruyuki began to lift his own right hand as if to grasp that hand and make her face him.

  But, the words he should have said after that became a crumpled hot lump and remained jammed in his throat.

  Unable to move any further and standing stock-still, Haruyuki’s body was wrapped in a gentle feeling of deceleration. Without looking behind her, Chiyuri briskly stepped forward towards the entrance.

  Separating in the blink of an eye from his childhood friend who belonged to the track-and-field club, Haruyuki walked to school while looking down the same way as he had on the way home yesterday. On Wednesdays, he always bought the package-version of a comics magazine he loved at a convenience store, but today he simply passed by the store without stopping.

  After following the route to school, which had a population density of a third less than usual with the absence of the new third-year students, and while alternatively feeling joy at having had a Dive Call with Kuroyukihime and regret at having said nothing to Chiyuri, Haruyuki stepped into the gates of Umesato Middle School that he eventually saw while curling up his back. Once he connected to the local network within the school, things like the log of the time he arrived at school, today’s schedule and messages from the school were listed on the right side of his vision.

  At the end of those, Haruyuki saw a sentence that read «Important Transmitted Matter: Addressed as Personal», making his face twist.

  After changing to indoor shoes at the entrance, he touched that string of characters with his finger while biting back an unpleasant feeling.

  *SHUU* The message text opened and words in grim Ming-cho font were lined up in Haruyuki’s visions.

  [To 2nd Year Class-C, School Register Number 460017, Arita Haruyuki: As soon as you arrive at school, you are to promptly present yourself at the career-counseling room on the first floor of the general education building: From the teacher in charge of 2nd Year Class-C, Sugeno Kouji]

  Instantly, his heart shrank with a start. He thought that Noumi really had submitted that video to the school authorities. But he quickly noticed that the sender of the message was his homeroom teacher Sugeno. If they had gotten that much clear evidence, it should have been handled by the administrative department without it ending at the level of an interview with his teacher. Most likely, he was being summoned based on Sugeno’s personal prediction.

  Even though it was just a guess in his head, Haruyuki passed by the stairs up and headed towards the career counseling room on the first floor inside the school building while sweating plentifully within his clenched hands. While walking, he opened the student-exclusive database of the local network in his browser and uselessly searched for something like a «manual for when you’re summoned by the teacher», which likely didn’t exist.

  Then, he actually found it within a school newspaper from a few years ago, and Haruyuki read it thankfully while amazed.

  When he arrived in front of the counseling room, he immediately followed the first thing within the manual and confirmed left and right that no students were in sight just in case. He took a single big, deep breath in front of the gray door, and then pressed the room enter button indicated within his vision. Student authentication was performed, and the lock was released with a click.

  When he pulled open the as expected non-automatic door and peeked inside, he saw that Sugeno was already within the not very wide room. Sitting down on the window-side seat behind a long desk, Sugeno had his arms crossed in front of his chest as if displaying the thickness of his arms.

  “So you came. Come in.”

  The first words from the young Japanese History teacher weren’t that friendly. Suppressing the urge to just close the door, Haruyuki stepped into the room quietly and greeted him in an indistinct voice.

  “…Good morning.”

  Sugeno sucked in a breath as if he was going to voice a complaint just then, but he seemed to reconsider as he closed his mouth for a moment, and then spoke once again.

  “Good morning. Please sit down there.”

  Though the seat he indicated was only one seat away from Sugeno, Haruyuki couldn’t say “No, I’ll stand here” and so reluctantly obeyed by sitting down.

  The teacher had carved a single line of deep wrinkles on his often-tanned forehead and seemed to be staring directly at Haruyuki with more of a «looking» than «scowling» gaze, but suddenly the corners of his mouth finally lifted up.

  “Arita. Though I may not look like it, the truth is, I was also not very popular during middle and high school.”

  “Hah…?”

  “I’m not kidding. Because I was in the judo club, I was jealous of the soccer club guys who played around with girls instead.”

  While looking dumfounded at Sugeno who was nodding with a ‘Uh-huh’, Haruyuki muttered in his mind.

  —There were at least four improper points in those words just now. Suggesting that you’re good-looking, saying that all the members of the judo club were unpopular, saying that all the soccer club members were playboys, and in addition arbitrarily determining that I’m unpopular.

  While Haruyuki added to himself that he couldn’t help but agree with that last point, Sugeno’s monologue continued.

  “That’s why, I understand that boys your age have a lot of things you don’t know how to deal with. I understand very well…Hey, Arita.”

  Here, the teacher gave off a «leave everything to me»-type vibe around his thick eyebrows, and gave a single big nod.

  “If there’s anything you want to tell me…anything you have to tell me, please say it right here and now. I promise that I’m your ally. So, how about it?”

  “………”

  Haruyuki stared at his face for a few seconds while becoming even more dumbfounded.

  Eventually, he somehow reorganized his thoughts and opened his mouth.

  “……U-Umm.”

  “Ooh, what it
is? Please tell me anything!”

  “Errr…Before that, I’m first going to record this conversation…”

  That had been the second thing that the manual said to “definitely do”, but Haruyuki regretted it intensely as soon as he said it. Sugeno’s gaping and wide-eyed face quickly turned red from his neck to his cheek to the border of his hair. Haruyuki even felt like he heard a ‘clunk’ sound when the reliable older brother-like expression Sugeno had worn until now fell away.

  “What’s that supposed to mean, Arita! You’re saying you don’t believe in me!?”

  Raising his eyebrows and shouting with an angry look, Sugeno’s neck shrunk. But Haruyuki didn’t drive him away anymore more after that and answered back with a mumble.

  “No, umm, it’s not that I don’t believe in you…It’s recognized by the law that a student has the right to record a one-on-one interview with a teacher…”

  “What law!? What right!?”

  Letting out a loud yell that little improper for a teacher, Sugeno hit the long desk with a bang.

  “Don’t you understand that I’m thinking about your sake here!? If you wait until later to talk, your position will only get worse! As it is now, there’s a possibility that it will become a police matter.”

  His speech was suddenly interrupted as Haruyuki desperately operated his virtual desktop and activated recording mode. Haruyuki wasn’t in the newspaper club, so the other person’s acceptance was needed for a recording of the conversation. Right now in Sugeno’s vision, a ‘Yes or No’ button for allowing the recording should have appeared.

  If he pressed the ‘No’ button, then the log would record that that he had refused a legitimate request. Sugeno scowled at a point in space with an expression that he couldn’t bear the indignation, but in the end he lifted his finger and stabbed it through the air with a jerk.

  A [SREC] icon along with a ‘recording starting’ message blinked in Haruyuki’s vision. Even so, Haruyuki didn’t have the nerve to think “it’s over” with this, and earnestly shrunk his neck, while Sugeno spoke in a low voice which had increased in hardness.

  “Arita, I’ll…I will only ask you once. On Sunday the 14th, why did yo…you[6], who doesn’t participate in club activities, come to school?”

  —It seemed that the conversation recording had had more of an effect than he’d thought.

  “I was meeting a friend from the kendo club.”

  When Haruyuki answered feebly yet instantaneously, Sugeno kept silent. Sugeno should also have known that Haruyuki was close with Takumu of the kendo club, and furthermore it was recorded in the local network that Takumu had come to school on Sunday. Haruyuki had actually gone to school in order to talk with Takumu that day in the first place.

  But Sugeno persisted in his attack while the temple of his forehead twitched.

  “Is that really all? Can you affirm that there were no other reasons at all? Please look at me in the eyes and answer.”

  ——Well, he’s not a bad person, probably. We just don’t seem to be able to understand each other.

  While thinking that, Haruyuki looked directly at Sugeno’s clear eyes with an upward glance and responded.

  “That really is all. I can affirm it.”

  “……I see, I understand. Then, you can go back now.”

  After letting out a long sigh that sounded like the sound from a large cooling fan, Sugeno told him that, so Haruyuki quickly stood up. He responded with a “Excuse me!” with largest volume after visiting this room, and then headed towards the door over the shortest distance, pulled it open as minimally as possible and left.

  Escaping into the hallway, Haruyuki stopped the recording mode after deeply inhaling with all his strength, and headed towards the classroom at a fast pace while confirming that the voice file was saved normally. With this, unless new material came out, Haruyuki’s innocence was now officially acknowledged. Nonetheless, with the exchange just now, Sugeno’s impression of him would have fairly worsened. There was not a single benefit by antagonizing a teacher and it wasn’t Haruyuki’s hobby either to do so, but even so it was out of the question to admit to a peeping crime he didn’t commit just for the sake of getting on Sugeno’s good side.

  —‘Even so.’ Haruyuki thought while climbing up the stairs.

  Even if that fatal video hadn’t been used, the trap that Noumi had set seemed to be slowly displaying effects like a weak poison. The reason was that Noumi himself had committed a crime and hid a miniature camera in the female shower room.

  As a result, a real peeping attempt incident had been produced, and Haruyuki who had gone to school despite not being in a club was suspected. Had Noumi predicted things this far? No—He couldn’t have.

  Shaking his head, Haruyuki opened the door of his classroom one minute before the first bell rang.

  Just then, an uncomfortable feeling formed. He felt like the volume of the chatting that filled the classroom went down.

  “……?”

  He looked around in puzzlement, but the classroom hadn’t changed at all from any other morning. He weaved his way between the students who were gathered in small group and were animatedly talking about a net show or a sports game, and sat down in his seat.

  At the same time as he hung his bag on his desk and let out a sigh, an incoming Voice Call icon flashed in the center of his vision. The caller was—Takumu.

  Barely resisting from looking back at him who should have been sitting in the back of the classroom, Haruyuki pushed the icon.

  ‘Haru, something bad has happened.’

  At those sudden first words, Haruyuki responded with thought-speech, though he almost moved his mouth.

  ‘Hah? Wh…what is it, all of a sudden?’

  ‘A strange rumor is going around. About you.’

  At that point, the communication was cut off without notice. At the same time, the sound of a light chime filled his hearing. The first bell rang, and now real-time communication between students was prohibited. The next time they could call each other was at lunchtime and it was possible to send text messages as an exception, but school regulations prohibited them from exchanging contents that were unrelated to schoolwork through these.

  He thought of just standing up and going directly to Takumu’s seat to hear the rest, but then homeroom teacher Sugeno came in from the door, so he had to give up on that. He was very interested in what Takumu had been talking about, but the only means to communicate no matter what right now was to talk in an «accelerated duel». Since he wouldn’t go that far, there shouldn’t be a serious problem even if he waited until the next break.

  But—immediately after the end of that lesson.

  As Haruyuki began to move his hand in order to mail Takumu, two male students blocked the way in front of his desk.

  He lifted his head with a start as his body reflexively stiffened. They were both his classmates, but he could only remember the name of the boy to the right. He should have been a regular player in the boys’ basketball club, called Ishio if he remembered right.

  With a tall figure which didn’t seem to be of the same age as Haruyuki, Ishio spoke while moving his mature yet troubled face to the left.

  “Arita, sorry, but please come with me for a bit.”

  Haruyuki then noticed that it had become deathly silent at some point in the classroom. But there was almost no feeling of surprise in that silence. Rather, there was a hint of understanding and consent, as if this was an expected scene.

  Facing Haruyuki who couldn’t understand the situation and was gathering himself, Ishio continued in a low voice that broke towards the end.

  “I don’t want to have a disagreeable talk in a place like this. Even you feel the same as well, right, Arita?”

  At the same time as he heard that, Haruyuki felt a feeling as if his stomach was being squeezed.

  A disagreeable talk. The only subject that came to mind when he thought of that was the peeping attempt incident.

  —In other
words, before he had noticed it, Ishio and the guy next to him, no, the entire class had come to believe with considerable certainty that Haruyuki was the perpetrator of that incident.

  “Ah…I-I, didn’t…”

  While muttering that in a hoarse voice, Haruyuki turned his gaze diagonally to the left in front of him—to Chiyuri’s seat with a feeling of wanting to cling to someone.

  Over there, he saw the form of his childhood friend looking down deeply, firmly closing her eyes and clenching her hands on top her desk as if enduring something.

  As soon as he saw that, Haruyuki thought despite the crisis he was in.

  —Right this instant, the one that is causing Chiyuri pain isn’t Noumi, but me. My foolish actions brought upon this situation. If I show pitiful behavior here, I’ll just be making even tougher concerns for Chiyuri. Then, at the very least, I have to deal with the situation with resolution right now.

  Even if it’s just bravado on my part.

  Taking a deep breath, Haruyuki pushed back his chair with a bang and stood up.

  “Very well, let’s go.”

  After Haruyuki gave his short reply, one of Ishio’s eyebrows twitched. But he nodded without changing expression and began to walk away.

  As Haruyuki followed after him, the other boy went along with them from behind Haruyuki. While Haruyuki thought ‘It’s like I’m a prisoner being escorted’, a student stood up slowly at the back of the classroom. It was Takumu.

  His childhood friend whose height rivaled Ishio’s sharply narrowed his eyes behind his glasses and tried to take a step forward.

  Holding him back with his right hand, Haruyuki quickly shook his head left and right.

  —I’ll be fine. I can get through it by myself.

  It wasn’t a Voice Call, so those thoughts couldn’t simply be communicated, but even so Takumu gritted his teeth firmly and sat back down. Ishio forcefully pulled open the door to the dead silent classroom, making a loud sound as he did so.