"This lounge… it's where Megumi and I used to meet."

"Megumi… You mean Wakamiya-senpai?"

"Mhm. We were also first-years who used this lounge, just like you."

Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime were chatting at their usual spot in the Umesato school lounge, this time about her closest friend since she had joined here, Wakamiya Megumi.

"Huh?!", Haruyuki exclaimed. "B-But I was protected by you when you were a second-year. How did you two-"

"Perhaps it's because we were both such beautiful girls that no one dared to interrupt us.", Kuroyukihime replied sarcastically.

"So you have that advantage, huh…", Haruyuki thought.

"Though once we found out, we started using it after school when no one could see us."

"Is that so…"

Just then, Haruyuki remembered what he wanted to ask his enigmatic senpai today, whom he knew almost nothing about, despite having met her almost half a year ago. Although he was happy to be her boyfriend, she was still a web of secrets that were intricately woven together to him, and he would only occasionally gather the courage to untangle them one by one.

"Oh yeah, Senpai, I've been meaning to ask you something. That is… how did you become the super-cool, ultra-gorgeous, all-around-perfect Kuroyukihime-senpai?"

"You used too many weird adjectives there!", Kuroyukihime exclaimed, exasperated by his verbal dictionary.

"It's just… you said you were like me once, but I can't believe that's true. Because… Senpai basically conquered the entire school. While I… could barely find my place here."

She finally gave in after listening to his honest doubts and responded:

"It's… not that I was always perfect, but rather that I had to become perfect. You see, 'Kuroyukihime' was the nickname that Megumi gave me. But… it's more than just a name to me. It was also a mask I wore to cover my scars. A second persona, if you will."

"A second… persona?"

Kuroyukihime pulled out an XSB cable she'd been carrying. With an ever-so mysterious grin on her face, she said:

"Come on, put it on, Haruyuki-kun."

After listening to her clear silky voice, he did so without hesitation, almost as if she cast a spell on him. He then caught the slight movement of her lips, which uttered the words "Burst Link".

Skree!

As expected, he was sent to the accelerated world. Kuroyukihime had challenged him to a duel.

"But… why?"

The stage was the Twilight stage, where they had connected with each other for the first time.

After the start signal, Kuroyukihime rushed towards Haruyuki at a breakneck speed and pointed her blade towards him, giving him no time to react. This left him extremely frightened, but she only laughed at his condition.

"Hahaha! I just can't get enough of that face."

"That's not funny! Honestly, one of these days, you're gonna give me a heart attack."

"Sorry, sorry."

Dropping her mischievous side which she only showed to Haruyuki so far, she opened up her terminal to switch from her duel avatar, Black Lotus, to her butterfly avatar, complete with a parasol in hand.

"Now then, time to get down to business."

"…With that avatar?"

"Mhm. This 'pretty onee-san' will tell you the tale of her metamorphosis."

"Umm, Senpai, I know you're way older than me as a Burst Linker, but it feels weird to hear my own phrase from you.", Haruyuki said, recalling the time he once called Niko a 'cute imouto' and Kuroyukihime a 'pretty onee-san', to which he was met with cold stares from the two.

"Do you like real books, too?"

"W-Well, I don't hate them."

"Then let's meet in the lounge tomorrow once we've borrowed a few paperbacks and talk about them."

That was my very first conversation with her. On my first day at Umesato Junior High, we just slightly bumped into each other while I was checking out stuff in the library, namely the placement of the Social Cameras.

I remember the 'me' of back then, still reeling from the experiences I had in that world. I was weary of letting another person approach me like this.

But she – Wakamiya Megumi – did so anyway. No matter how much I tried to push her away, she only kept getting closer to me. I almost muttered 'stay away' as if I were the untouchable Black Lotus once again, but then I realized I would've hurt her feelings. It wouldn't do me any good to make more enemies in this school as well.

The next day, I unwittingly met her on the school lounge, seemingly drawn by a strange feeling. But I was still suspicious of her. I accelerated and checked the Matching List on the off-chance she was a Burst Linker, but only the name 'Black Lotus' showed up.

The days passed, and eventually she started to remove the barriers in my heart. I always wondered, why did she choose me? This pitiful excuse of a girl like me? She couldn't have known about my sorrow, but she still gave me a helping hand, one that was warm and gentle. Just like Fuuko – no, Sky Raker – did.

And then, it happened. My thirteenth birthday. No, I should say that was the day I was 'reborn'.

"Sayuki, happy birthday!"

Megumi called me to the coffee shop near our school for a surprise. She somehow knew it was my birthday and immediately gave me a present before I had time to retaliate. It was a hairpin designed in the shape of a butterfly.

"What… is this?"

"That's what I see you as. A butterfly that is ready to take flight. You always had that desire to fly off to a distant place. But you're unable to do so because something's weighing you down."

"I'm surprised you could tell, to be honest."

"Well, who was the one who always looked so forlorn?"

"…You got me there."

"Listen, caterpillars undergo a long and painful process called 'metamorphosis' in order to become butterflies. It's basically a transformation, but it can also be a rebirth that frees you from your shackles. Therefore!"

She pointed her index finger at me and said:

"You need a new name, one that signifies your own rebirth. Let's see, how about… Kuroyukihime?"

I spat out my own drink. Megumi momentarily left me out of my wits with how straightforward she was in giving me that name.

"W-Wha… How did you even come up with that?"

"It's simple. You take the 'kuro' and 'yuki', then put both together to get 'Kuroyuki'. And I put 'Hime' at the end because-"

"Okay, stop, stop!"

At that moment, I turned red, barely able to speak.

"How do I say this… It's just… calling me a princess is a bit… embarrassing. Especially when I'm practically a nobody in our school."

"You aren't a nobody! You're exactly like the princess from that fairy tale, fairer than any other. Instead of Snow White, you're Snow Black."

'Snow White'. That was the fairy tale she mentioned, named after the princess in the story said to be the most beautiful in the land, translated as 'Shirayukihime' in Japanese. From my side, instead of exuding the brilliant radiance of white like her, I was stuck with the color black, which I always thought represented the ugly side of me.

But Megumi didn't see it like that and kept on pressing me.

"You see, I think black suits you. People may look down on it as a bleak color, but I don't believe it is pure negativity. It is rather a color that represents the greatest warmth and kindness, because it knows what it feels like to be hurt."

"Megumi…"

"I can tell, Hime. You've been hurt a lot as a caterpillar, right? Well, don't worry. As your one and only friend, I will help you complete your 'metamorphosis' and shed your past burdens. What do you say?"

She was calling me back into the light instead of letting me wallow in my own darkness. Left with no other choice, I accepted her offer.

"…Thank you, Megumi, for this gift, and this beautiful name."

"Didn't you just say it was embarrassing?", she replied with a smug look on her face.

"Oh, shut it!", I pouted, slightly annoyed by her teasing. "That aside… how did you know it was my birthday? I don't recall ever telling you-"

"I found it from the school records."

"But I thought no student had access to that."

"The student council does, and I just barely managed to take a look at your file. You can get a hold of it too if you decide to run for the elections."

"Oh-ho?", I let out a smirk, knowing what my next objective in this school would be.

The following Monday, I entered the VR space of the school's local net for the first time. As a traitor with a bounty in the accelerated world, I could not afford to take one step in the global net, but I never had a reason to be connected to the local net aside from certain necessities.

I tried to pick a good avatar for my entrance, but none of the choices from the standard set of avatars were good enough for me, not even with customization. So I decided to make my own, completely original avatar.

A piece of black upper clothing with two strips and thin lines, resembling a butterfly. A black skirt and shoes, both studded with butterfly-shaped gems. Long black gloves that extended to my arms. White fluff pieces stuffed on top of my gloves and clothing. Wings that grew from my back similar to that of the black swallowtail butterfly with a pinkish red core. A black parasol with a sword attached to it, as a means of self-defense. A black headband. A red butterfly-shaped mask.

This would be the avatar of the person known as 'Kuroyukihime', the ideal 'me', one who would shine brilliantly in this school as a butterfly, more beautiful than any other.

Sure enough, I quickly became known as a celebrity. For the first time in my life, people admired me and even came close to me, one who always shied away from others and even hurt them in the past.

Deep down, I was truly happy. I received something I thought I would never have, which was a sense of belonging to others, though I was unable to get close to them myself. My scars from back then still remain, yet to be healed, but right now, I at least had the courage to take the first step.

The cowardly caterpillar 'Sayuki' has shed herself, and taking her place was the beautiful butterfly 'Kuroyukihime'. I thanked Megumi in my heart for providing me with this new persona that I quickly grew comfortable with.

"It was thanks to her that I joined the Student Council. Well, the fact that I became Vice President simply means that there was someone better than me. After that, I secretly rewrote my own student profile to include this name, as you saw."

"How did you do that?!", Haruyuki asked, extremely shocked at the last bit of info Kuroyukihime provided. "Taku just said those profiles can't be hacked!"

"Hmm… I shall tell you some other time. I'd rather not get caught in case you somehow let it slip.", Kuroyukihime replied rather strangely. "For now, that was the story of my first friend in this school, Megumi, and how she changed me… or at least, that's what I thought at first."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought everyone would be comfortable with me in this state no matter how pitiful I was, but… meeting you triggered a spark inside me. The emotions that I had once kept at bay eventually resurfaced, and 'Sayuki' reawakened once again. I do not know why, but perhaps she wanted to call out to you, since you were lost and helpless just as she was."

Kuroyukihime continued with a downtrodden look on her face.

"That day, when you said I was degrading myself, I wasn't. I truly wanted to reach out to you and show you my genuine compassion as 'Sayuki', but it seems you only knew the perfect 'Kuroyukihime'. I didn't want to use you and throw you away like my 'parent' did to me. When you said those things… it really hurt me."

"S-S-Sorry! I'm really sorry!", Haruyuki switched into his rapid apology mode.

"No, I should apologize too, for not being honest with you. Lately, I feel like I've been putting walls in my heart as 'Kuroyukihime' that pushed people away. No… perhaps I was wrong about her. Maybe 'Kuroyukihime' is not the perfect butterfly, but instead a cocoon that shields the maturing 'Sayuki', the same way 'Black Lotus' once did. But, that time… I'm certain. It was 'Sayuki' who felt jealous of Chiyuri-kun. It was 'Sayuki' who confessed her feelings to you. It was 'Sayuki' who protected you with her life."

Kuroyukihime – no, Sayuki – reached out for Haruyuki's hand, her face showing an overwhelming sadness, and said:

"Listen, Haruyuki-kun! It may have been 'Kuroyukihime' who saved you, but… it was the frail 'Sayuki' who fell in love with you! You are her strength!"

She put his hand on her heart, an act that could be misconstrued as sexual harassment if done in the real world.

"And she's still in here, crying out for you, asking you to save her from her shackles. So please, just call out her name and accept her for who she is. Maybe then…"

Hearing this plea of hers, Haruyuki was left speechless. For his beloved senpai, whom he had always seen as this perfect existence no one could touch, for her to break down like this and open her heart to him…

But… one thing was certain. She had given him courage, just as Megumi had given her. That's why he was still here. He felt he needed to repay her however he could.

"Understood. Someday, I will call you by your real name, and set you free. So… wait for me till then."

After hearing this, Sayuki put a slight smile on her lips, knowing that hope was not yet lost, and responded:

"…Thank you."

She then switched back to her Black Lotus avatar, possibly trying to hide her embarrassment.

"…T-Then, I shall take 10 points from you as compensation for listening to this story. Is that okay?"

"Y-Yes…"

Haruyuki plopped down on the table exhausted. Just then, he felt the sensation of a tender hand touch his. He lifted his head up and gazed at the black beauty whom he knew as Kuroyukihime. A smile was present on that white face which he could only describe as heart-throbbing.

It just wasn't fair. Right after she had mercilessly cut him down in Brain Burst a few seconds ago. He couldn't believe that smile of hers was sincere, yet he was still entranced by it, as though her magical charm was in effect.

He spoke, no, voiced his thoughts to her through their wired connection:

"Geez, you're so mean, Senpai. To steal both my points and my heart like that. No matter how close I get to you, you're still so far away…"

Although she was momentarily surprised, she resumed her charming smile and responded:

"…Is that so? Don't worry, Haruyuki-kun. I wouldn't do this with anyone but you. I told you, didn't I? You are the only one I love, and that will never change. That's why I believe… that you'll be able to reach me one day."

Wanting to reassure him, she added:

"You don't need to rush. I'm really happy that you took the first step today. I'll wait for you, as long as I can."

He was utterly incapable of refusing her after that.