Author's note: I know this fanfic really sucks and I'm sorry if it's really boring. I just have to get this out of my system. The characters may tend to get OOC.

WARNING: THIS IS AN AU

Disclaimer: Trust me, if I did own Accel world, things would have went differently...


In a student's life, school festivals are one of the highlights of the year wherein the school can be compared to a garden of vibrant colors of various arrays. Wherever you look there were stalls and attractions that would pique anyone's interests with their foods or maybe haunted house attraction or perhaps the maids/waitresses dressed in frilly costumes… those are just few of the examples. Decorations adorned the campus and the air smelled divine, carrying the fragrance of freshly made treats and sweets.

However, on the other hand, school festival indicates a very hectic time for the student council. Some were occupied with the preparation for the main event that afternoon, some were engaged with monitoring some facilities for the festival, overall the student council was bustling with their tasks and responsibilities for this certain celebration.

Kuroyukihime was out in the school grounds where the students were busy preparing the stage for the presentation that was to be the main event that afternoon. She had been busy prepping the flyers and handouts when Aiko, another member of the student council, came running to where she had been standing.

"Vice President!" The brunette hastened, looking weary and troubled.

"What is it, Aiko?" She had asked, eyeing the girl worriedly as Aiko panted and tried to catch her breath while she placed her hands on her knees.

"M-Michiko she..." Aiko wheezed," s-she caught a cold and can't be here. She was… supposed to wear the bunny mascot and we can't find anyone else who can."

Well, that certainly was a big problem. The bunny mascot was supposed to be the one handing out the balloons and prancing around the campus, cheering people. And giving free hugs to kids, perhaps…

"I'll do it."

Aiko instantly snapped her head up towards her," But Vice President-"

"The President is busy with being in charge of the preparation for the main event, other student council members are also busy with their respective tasks, and I know you're assigned with the costumes and props so you're pretty occupied already. I can do it. Other students are also taking care of the flyers and handouts anyways."

"Vice President…" Aiko peered at her with teary doe eyes, looking at her as if she was this goddess who saved the day.

And that was how it started, as soon as she put on the pink bunny mascot costume. Even if she had changed into her P.E. shirt and bloomers, saying it was hot inside the suit would be an understatement. She could feel large drops of sweat trickle down every now and then. Prancing around in this thing was really not an easy job. She can't help but praise Michiko for keeping up with this kind of task ever since. But anyways, the kids loved her… well technically the bunny… but still. They would always ask for hugs after getting their balloons while other students would ask a picture with her.

It was somewhere around late noon when she started feeling lightheaded and dizzy as she was heading towards the vending machine by the side of the school building for a much needed can of cold drink when her vision blurred and muddled up before everything went black all at once.


As her unconsciousness ebbed away the first thing she is aware is how dry her throat is and it was as if she had swallowed sandpaper then got it lodged in her throat. She gradually flutters her eyes open, revealing radiant pools of hazel behind the prior closed lids. Squinting her eyes to adjust to the light, the first thing that greets her is the white ceiling of the infirmary.

"You're finally awake," A voice from the side catches her attention, breaking her post-sleep daze.

She shifts her gaze towards the source of the voice to see a guy, with a mop of light brown hair and cobalt blue eyes, wearing their mandatory blue school uniform, sitting on the provided plastic chair for the certain school facility.

Her gaze regarded him as he reached for the pitcher of water from the bedside table and poured it into the glass next to it, handing the water filled container to her.

"Thank you," She said, accepting the glass of water after sitting up on the bed.

"You shouldn't have worn that suit if you weren't used to being in it for a long period of time," He said.

"It was an emergency. And everyone else was busy with something," She replied after deftly placing the now empty glass of water on the bedside table," What exactly happened?"

"You collapsed and no one else but me was around so I carried you here. You've been unconscious for quite awhile now."

"What's your name, boy?" Kuroyukihime asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Takumu Mayuzumi."

"Kuroyukihime," Her lips tugged upwards," Thank you, Takumu."

"I-" He was supposed to comment on the first name basis but was cut off when he saw her getting out of bed, trying to look for her school uniform and shoes," Are you sure you're fine now?"

"Yes, I still need to get back," She replied, finding what she was looking for neatly folded on the second panel of the bedside table and her shoes next to it.

"The festival finished a few hours ago. Don't worry, the other student council members already took care of it. They said you should get more rest and don't worry about cleaning up."

"Okay then," She picked up her schoolbag (which someone from class had probably delivered) that had been leaning against the bedside table," I guess I have to go home now."

"I'll walk you home," Takumu stood up from his seat.

She couldn't help but eye him," I'm not sure if this is still chivalry or you trying to make moves on me."

She was obviously teasing, hinted with the smirk she was wearing but he had instantly flushed, averting his gaze from her momentarily.

"I just want to make sure you get home safe after what happened," He replied, sputtering slightly," But if you don't want to then-"

"I never uttered a 'no', did I?" She slyly smiled.

Then all of a sudden she turned her back to him, hooking her fingers on the edge of the shirt she was wearing, attempting to lift it up.

"W-What are you doing?" He instantly sputtered, face aflame.

"Oh, you're still here?" She teasingly asked before a smirk gradually crept on her face, seeing the light pink hue painting his face," I'm going to change. Could you-"

Takumu had instantly dashed out of the room with a flustered "Atleast say something next time!"

After that little fiasco they started their way home but not before Kuroyukihime made a stop by the school's vending machine to get a can of tea.

"Want something?" She had asked, fishing some coins from her pocket.

He had good-mannerly declined.

After getting her tea, she opted to take a seat on a nearby bench.

Taking a sip of her tea, she finds a sandwich inside a disposable container held in front of her.

"I figured you might be hungry," He said, not really meeting her gaze.

And of course her stomach thought it was the perfect time to growl and make her hunger known, reminding her that she had not eaten her lunch.

Heat automatically engulfed her face as she stared at the offered sandwich then deliberately accepted it, uttering a 'Thank you.'

She eyed the sandwich in her hand. It was a katsu sando sandwich and it didn't look like it was store bought, meaning it was homemade.

"Did you make this?" She said, opening the disposable sandwich container.

"Nope," He opted to take a seat next to her on the bench, keeping a decent distance," A friend of mine did."

She smiled impishly, fully facing him," Oh~ A friend? Or a-"

"She's just a friend," Takumu immediately answered.

She snickered," Right…"

"What's with the patronizing tone?"

"Nothing~" She replied before biting into the sandwich. She got to admit it was palatable. The flavors of the ingredients just complemented and blended rather nicely.

The walk home later that afternoon had been rather quiet. They didn't really find that much of a need to chatter. The silence wasn't uncomfortable or awkward in the first place.


The next time they met was when the student council was conducting their monthly examination on the different school clubs. Apparently, she and Michiko had been assigned to the kendo club and to her (masked) amusement the first thing her gaze landed on were those unfamiliar pools of cobalt blue. She had smiled at him and the guy beside him immediately looked at him with mouth agape, sputtering something she couldn't make out.

As fate would have it or coincidentally, as she was leaving after the student council meeting that day the kendo club had been dismissed and she had noticed Takumu about to leave the campus with a three other members.

Without any second thoughts, she had strode over to where they were standing, immediately grasping the blue-eyed boy's wrist. Not giving him time to even react or register what was happening before she pulled him along with her as she sauntered towards the school gates.

They were a good distance from his friends when the situation finally sank in, retracting his hand from her grasp to get her attention.

"What are you doing?" He sputtered, appalled at what she had just audaciously did in front of his friends not so long ago.

"Inviting you to tea," She replied rather calmly despite the predicament she had placed upon him.

"Which part of that was "inviting"?"

"Are you refusing?" She countered.

He sighed," Fine. I'm going. Just ask normally next time or atleast ask."

Subsequently, they later find themselves inside a café with pleasing beige colored wallpapers, light grey porcelain floor tiles, round Ikea maple wood tables along with cream colored chairs, vintage lights hanging from the ceiling, light brown single seater sofas adorned a certain nook of the café with glass tables, occasional plants in decorative pots grace the a few parts of said café.

She took a sip of her chamomile tea, silently regarding the boy across her who had been eyeing the surface of his earl grey tea for awhile now.

"Senpai," He finally voiced out, looking up from the dark brown tea," Why?"

"I just wanted to thank you for what you've done for me," She sophisticatedly took another sip of her tea, neatly cutting her torte with the spoon in her grasp," And I would appreciate it if you refrain from calling me senpai. It makes me feel old~"


She wasn't really feeling like eating lunch in the cafeteria that day so she had opted to have it on the rooftop in peace instead.

However, she did not expect to see a certain brown haired boy sitting on one of the benches, peacefully eating his lunch alone.

He had instantly swiveled around towards the source of the sound as he heard the rooftop door opening, cobalt blue against radiant hazel.

"Eating alone?" Honestly it was more of a pointed out statement than a mere question.

"I don't usually do," He replied," My friends just got caught up with something so I had to."

His gaze landed on the store bought bento box she was holding," I thought you preferred eating in the cafeteria."

" I just felt like it," She shrugged nonchalantly, before taking a seat next to him without even bothering to ask.

(He didn't even bothering commenting about it, he figured by now that this girl likes to do things that way.)

"Your girlfriend made that?" She motioned adorably made bento he was consuming.

"S-she's not my girlfriend!" He quickly shot back, a light pink hue evident on his face.

She snickered at his expense.


She didn't know how it exactly happened but somewhere along the way they had started this little routine of theirs, it had been vague, not really mattering that much to them at first. Whenever his friends got held back by some school activities during lunch and when she didn't feel like eating at the cafeteria they head to the rooftop, sometimes Takumu gets there first, already sitting on that particular bench and sometimes, she arrives first. She learned that he could be a good cook too when his "friend" (she stills enjoys teasing him time and time again) doesn't make his lunch for him and he brings an organized bento box for lunch to which she had arched a brow at. And of course, there's her, who usually just buys her lunch at the cafeteria or brings store bought bento boxes or sandwiches.

Sometimes, when he gets held up by kendo practice in the afternoon and he has to go home later than his friends while she has student council meetings to attend, she drags him along for a walk home since coincidentally they live in the same direction, leaving the other kendo members that had been with him gaping and gawking as they watch her pull along a will-less Takumu the first few times it happened.

And of course the news of them spending time together spreads like a wildfire throughout Umesato junior highschool, the popular goddess of the campus and the freshman kendo prodigy. She doesn't pay attention to it of course and eventually it stopped bothering him after awhile.

On a particularly dreary afternoon, after bidding goodbye to the other members (they had gotten used to her presence now, no more gawking and gaping) and after they had walked through the gates of the school, they find a girl with light brown hair standing before them, pale pink eyes intensely staring at them (but actually, more like glaring).

"Uh Chiyu, I thought you went home," Takumu uneasily vocalized.

"I left something in school so I had to go back," Said girl then shifted her gaze towards her," I didn't know you were walking home with her."

"Well, the rest of the school population does," She lightly shot back," Chiyuri Kurashima, I presume?"

"Yes," Chiyuri replied, a fire in her pale pink orbs," What are you planning with Taku, senpai?"

"Chiyu," Takumu opted to make his presence known by then," We were just walking home."

"It's nothing really, Kurashima. You can have your boyfriend back now," She playfully shoved Takumu towards the other girl.

"Kuro-"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Takumu," She cuts him off with a wave," Goodbye to you too, Kurashima."

She then leaves them but not before shooting Takumu a knowing look and that telltale smile of hers that practically says 'have fun~.'


"You should confess to her," She tells him one day while they were in the middle of eating their lunch.

"…" He was really not meeting her gaze by then," If only it was that easy."


Fortunately for them that afternoon, the train station wasn't really that busy and there wasn't a mass throng crowded for the train so she and Takumu had slipped easily inside the train.

Without any trouble, she had been able to take a seat, Takumu following behind and taking the seat next to her.

However, trouble started as soon as she noticed three girls in the Ito Gakuen white blouses and grey checkered school skirts occasionally throwing looks at her while not so subtly whispering.

"Isn't she that infamous Black King?"

"You mean that notorious bully back in primary school?"

"Yes, that one. I heard she once caused someone to almost be hospitalized."

"How evil. How dare she pretend to look so innocent after everything she's done?"

"A wolf in sheep's clothing, I tell you."

The hands on her lap clenched unconsciously, nails biting into tender skin, leaving crescent-like marks in their wake.

"Hey," Takumu's voice brings her out of her trance," You should look outside, check out the sunset."

And she did. She turned towards the window; the sun met the horizon, bathing the sky in a beautiful glow of the dying embers of the day. An array of sparks lit the sky and colors painted such canvas. And as she stared at the magnificent view, face aglow with such bright streaks, she felt him shift closer to her.

"You know," He uttered under his breath," those girls from Ito are definitely jealous."

A smile gradually graced her lips.


"When are you even planning to confess to her?~" She teased, as usual, smiling tauntingly, knowing the flustered expression that was to come…

However…

"Today, actually…"


"And let go," She utters, eyes tracing the letters of the words she had been reading in a book in literature class.

But what if it was never in your grasp in the first place? How can you..?


Honestly, he really was planning to confess to his childhood friend that day, with his firm resolve and his heart on the line.

And to add to that, Haruyuki had to go home earlier than usual that day for some issues at home so that left him and Chiyuri more time alone, also meaning there would be no possible disruptions. He had found her arranging some things inside an empty clubroom after a particular unexpected meeting she had been held back by.

"Chiyu?"

Said girl instantly lifted her gaze from the papers she had been organizing," Oh, Taku. What is it?"

"I..."

And all he could think, all that's been racing through his mind that very moment, making the lines he had been certain all this time suddenly ambiguous, everything he knew and he now knows suddenly gets muddled and jumbled... because in that moment he couldn't but think that something was wrong, seems out of place...

The eyes staring back expectantly at him are too light or are not in the right shape. Her hair, especially her hair, is not in the right shade... or length.

"Once in your life you meet someone who would challenge everything that you've been dead set on believing, who'll always be in your mind, who makes you happy and at the same time makes you sad," She smiled at him, hazel eyes unusually soft," That's love."


Kuroyukihime briskly walks out of the clubroom, a certain grace in her steps... only to falter as she rounded a corner, remembering the change of plans for today.

She had just walked out of the school building when she heard someone calling her name.

"Kuroyukihime!"

She whirled around, only to see Takumu hastening towards her, quickly closing the gap that separated them.

"Takumu," She stared at him, baffled on his sudden appearance," I thought you were..."

He had smiled at her, those wonderful cobalt blue that practically threatened anyone to drown in its depth, suddenly taking her hand in his," How about we get some tea?"

He had started pulling her along with him, not even waiting for her answer.

It didn't take too long for her to abruptly intertwine her hand against his, squeezing it," How about some ice cream instead?"

He squeezed back, whether intentionally or not she'll never know," Of course."


"Why ice cream though? I thought you loved tea."

"Because those trashy romance movies and anime always have ice cream for their first dates. I just wanted to know what was so great about it."

"And what was so great about it, 'Hime?"

"You."

A snicker.

"What are you laughing at?" Glare and a blush.

"You're adorable, you know that?"

"I'm perfectly aware of that, Taku. But..." Smiles impishly.

She kisses him on the lips, a blush quickly engulfs his face.

"I can't help but wonder who's more adorable when you're being like that. You Mmhhhmmpphh..."

She couldn't help but pull him closer as they cuddled on the couch in her apartment months later after their first date.