Punch, Brother, Punch Ch. 4

It'd been three days since Akira last spoke with me. In that time, I hadn't logged into Brain Burst once. Since we lived in the same building, we ran into each other every now and then. Every time, I'd open my mouth to call out to her, but the words wouldn't come.

Even at school she wouldn't speak to me. We used to eat lunch together, but now I sat alone. "Pardon me, is this seat taken?" I blinked, looking towards the voice. The girl was beautiful! About my age, too. She had long black hair that went down her back, and judging by the color ribbon she wore, she was in the same grade as I was.

"Oh, uh...no," I replied. "Please, you can sit if you like."

She flashed me a coy smile before doing just that. Setting her lunch box down across from me, she sat, and began to eat her lunch. Unsure of what to say or do, I ate mine as well. God, this felt so awkward. There was a gorgeous girl across from me, just eating her lunch like it was no big deal.

"What is your name?" she asked, finally speaking up.

"Hughes."

"And your first name?"

"Zack."

She considered it for a moment before nodding her head. "Very well, Hughes-san. Thank you for allowing me to join you. Allow me to introduce myself. You may call me Kuroyukihime. I have heard much about you."

"You've heard about me?" I repeated in surprise.

"We have much to discuss, and I'd rather do it in private. Burst link."

"Burst link!" I quickly stated, bracing myself for a fight. Instead, however, my avatar was ejected out of my body, leaving me standing in front of the same beautiful girl,, although now she carried a parasol and had large pink butterfly wings on her back.

Noting my stance, she covered her mouth with a slight giggle. "Sorry. I did not mean to alarm you. Anyway, as I said before, we have much to discuss, Phosphor Punch."

"How do you know who I am?" I demanded.

"A mutual friend slipped me your name."

"That's funny. I don't really have any friends."

"Oh? Are you sure?" she asked. The way she put a lilting sing-song into her voice irritated me greatly. I didn't care how pretty she was. I hated when people acted so smug. "I can see you are growing frustrated. Allow me to put your mind at ease. I am a friend of Akira's. Otherwise known as Aqua Current."

I clenched my fists tightly. "As I said...I don't really have any friends."

"I heard you managed to get a hit in on the Red King," she said, ignoring my protest. "Very impressive. There are level 8 characters who do not have that boasting right."

"Please excuse my rudeness Kuroyukihime, but what is it you want with me?"

"I'd like you to join the Nega Nebulous. We're dedicated to reaching Level 10, the final level, in Accel World. I think you'd be a great asset as one of my knights."

"One of your knights? You must be the Black King."

"Black Lotus, at your service," she beamed. "Tell me, what have you got to lose, hmm?"

Considering it for a moment, I drummed my fingers against the table. "And if I refuse?"

"We part ways and that will be the end of it. Unless of course, you decide to go against us in the future, in which case…" Her voice plummeted to subzero in coldness. "I will crush you."

"What's that? You have a crush on me?"

"Wh-what?! No! I didn't…"

The fact that I'd managed to fluster her brought a smile to my face. "That's what you just said right? You'd be crushing on me?"

"I do not have a crush on you!" she protested loudly. "You're lucky that my knight isn't here because he'd punch you in the face just for suggesting so!"

"Relax, princess. It was just a joke," I sighed. "To be honest, you're not really my type anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you implying something about my looks, hmm?"

"Tell you what. I'll join your Kingdom, but I have conditions."

Kuroyukihime puffed out her cheeks in irritation. "First you criticize my looks and now you're making demands? Jerk."

"Do you want to hear them or not?"

"Fine. What are they?"

Running a hand through my blonde hair, I scratched the back of my head. I didn't really think this far ahead. "You said Akira sent you?" I asked.

"No. I said I was a friend of hers."

"Then how did you find out about me?"

"It's my job to know such things," she hummed. "Now, your demands, if you please."

"A date," I replied. "In exchange for my membership in the Nega Nebulous, I want a date."

Her cheeks turned a bright red. "You must be out of your mind!"

I shrugged. "Maybe. It's your choice. A date or I walk. What's it going to be?"

Her eyes sharpened. "I've half a mind to kick your ass," she growled. "Name something else. There has to be something else that you want."

"And if there isn't?"

"Then we're finished here."

She opened her mouth to give the command code, but before she could, I moved to her and clamped my hand over her mouth. She gave a surprised squeak. "The date. It's not for you."

Taking my hand she pried it away from her mouth. "What do you mean? Like you want me to set you up with some other girl?"

I shook my head. "No, the date is with you, but it's not for you. I've no intentions of going steady. One date, no strings attached."

"Then what's the point? To humiliate me? Trying to increase your popularity, maybe?"

"To make someone jealous," I replied.

A cat-like grin spread across her face. "I see. And just who, precisely, are you trying to make jealous?"

"Does it matter?"

The two of us stared one another down for a long while. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Sure. I'll go on one date with you. Just the one."

I smiled at her. "Then we have a deal."

"Good."

As we shook hands, she pulled me close to her and whispered into my ear. "You'd better make this worth my while, Punch. I'm talking all the stops. Got it? Your treat, of course."

"What do you take me for, some barbarian? Of course it's my treat. When and where?"

"This afternoon, right after school. I'll meet you by the front gate."

Would my plan work? I really hoped so. Akira didn't strike me as the jealous type, but then again...maybe she was. At the least, i'd have a nice date with a pretty girl. With that, the Black King disconnected, and the two of us finished our lunch in silence.

The day couldn't go by fast enough. I stared at my screen, drumming my fingers on the desk as I contemplated my date. When the bell rang, I rushed to the front of the school, only to see Kuroyukihime already there and with someone else as well.

"Senpai, why are we just standing here? Don't you want to walk home together?" the short-statured boy asked.

"Actually, I'm not going home," she told him, the eerily calm smile still on her face.

He blinked in confusion. "You're not? Why not?"

"I promised to meet someone here after school," she explained.

"Hey," I greeted. "Sorry I'm late."

"Not at all," she assured me. "Right on time, in fact."

"Senpai, who is this?"

She put on an expression of surprise as if she'd forgotten completely that he was standing there. It seemed I wasn't the only one trying to make someone jealous. "Oh! Sorry. Haru, this is Zach-kun. Zach-kun, this is Haru, one of my knights."

Haru's face was the color of a tomato, but I couldn't tell if it was out of rage and embarrassment in regards to the situation. "Zach-kun?" Haru asked her in confusion.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Haru-san. Are you ready for our date, my princess?"

"D-date?! P-Princess?" Haru's head was swiveling back and forth between us so quickly, I was concerned that he may drop dead from a heart attack.

"Mmhm. Sorry to make you walk home, kohai. I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?" She finished her statement with a wink before wrapping her arm around mine and pressing against me as I led her down the street. When we were out of earshot she whispered, "Is he watching?"

I turned my head slightly as if I were talking to her, and out of the corner of my eye I could see him on his hands and knees, as if being crushed under the weight of despair. "I think you broke him," I told her. "Let me guess, the knight who would punch me in the face?"

"He is very protective of me," she giggled. "I wouldn't be surprised if he followed us on our date."

"About that…"

"What? More demands?"

I considered it for a moment. "Not a demand. More of a request. But I warn you it's a big one."

"Bigger than a date?" she asked. That's when a thought occurred to her, causing the pressure on my arm to multiply. "I know you're not about to proposition me."

"Quite the opposite," I told her. "Would you be willing to pass around in Brain Burst about this date? I suppose to put it in royalty terms, that I'm asking for a political marriage."

She bit her lip. "I fear that truly would break Haruyuki. What's more, I don't see the point of it."

"There's a chance that Akira won't even know about this," I told her.

"Akira?" I froze. Shit. Kuroyukihime smirked at me. "I see. I think I've just about figured you out."

"You don't know me."

"Don't need to," she giggled. "It's written all over your face. Besides, I think I may have found the source of your problem. My answer to your proposal by the way is 'no'. That will hardly be necessary."

"You have a plan?"

"Maybe." Before I could react, she leaned up and kissed my cheek, taking a snapshot at the same time. "Voila. One selfie that'll be enough to make any girl jealous," she grinned. "Now I'll just upload that to the social media site and…tada!"

As she showed me her screen, I couldn't help but blush. "Date night with cute gaijin?" I read. "Really. Had to be gaijin? Couldn't just be boy."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Relax, it'll work. I promise. Don't make promises you can't keep. Also, don't forget about Haruyuki."

"Gah! I forgot about Haru! Oh no. No, no, no. I have to text him quick and explain."

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" I asked.

The glare she shot at me was like a laser. "Why don't you just tell Akira how you feel?"

"We're not presently on speaking terms."

"Shocker."

Suddenly, both of our Nervegears began ringing off the hook. It was Akira for me. I could only assume that meant that the other was Haru. "I've got to take this," we both said simultaneously.

Moving a respectable distance from each other, I answered the call. "Hello?" I greeted.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, hey Akira. I can't really talk right now, I'm on a date."

"This is not wise, Hughes. You're getting in way over your head."

"Right? I mean she's way out of my league," I replied, trying to hide the smugness in my voice. My plan had gone off without a hitch. "Was there something you wanted?"

I heard her take a deep breath before letting out a long sigh. "Why are you doing this?"

"How do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

I leaned against a lamp post, kicking a pebble with my shoe. "To be honest, I'm surprised you called at all. I thought we weren't friends anymore." On the other side of the line I could hear the sounds of sniffling. Was Akira crying? The thought made my heart plummet. Oh God, this wasn't what I meant to happen.

Meanwhile I could see that Kuroyukihime had already completed her call and had a satisfied smile on her face. God, why couldn't Akira and I be like that?

"Look, Akira…"

"No," she whispered. "It's fine. You're right, my apologies. I forgot for a moment that we're not friends anymore. I don't have the right to pry into your personal life anymore. Good bye, Hughes."

"Akira, wait!" I tried, before the line went dead. "Damn it!" I quickly called her back, tapping my foot. "Pick up, pick up."

"You've reached the phone of Himi Akira. If you'd like to leave a message, please do so after the tone."

"Hey! C'mon, pick up. I know you're there Akira. Look, It's not like you think. This was just the only way to get you to talk to me again! Please, pick up. I…" I paused, my breathing going ragged. "I miss you, Akira. Everyone else has left me. Please don't leave me, too."

Tears began to well up in my eyes and when there was no response, I finally closed the call. What was the use? There was no point. I always faded into people's pasts. That was my curse. Honestly, if I just disappeared, no one would even miss me.

"No luck?" Kuroyukihime asked. I shook my head. "I see…" she murmured, her expression sinking.

"You? Haru seems to be head over heels for you. I'm sure he was quick to understand."

She nodded, trying to put on a cheerful smile. "Yeah. That's his way. Haru always seems to put others before himself, even strangers."

"That's great. I'm really happy for you. Well, so much for our date, I guess. Not much point in it now."

As I turned to leave, she rushed after me. "Wait a minute! You can't just leave."

"Hmm?"

"I held up my end of the bargain. Now you have to do your part, too."

"Oh, right right. The whole Nega Nebulous thing. Look, I'll be completely honest, I don't even know if I'm going to be playing anymore."

"Seriously?"

"Not really any reason to anymore. I started to help Akira. I helped her with what she wanted, now she's done with me. Why even bother staying around?"

"For your friends?"

My eyes met hers and again, I grit my teeth. "I told you, I don't have any friends. I really don't care about this stupid fight you're having. I don't care about levels. All I wanted was to help my friend, and so far this game has brought me nothing but trouble."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I suppose if you're not having any fun there isn't any real reason to play. Surely it wasn't all bad though, was it? You must have had even a little fun."

"I liked working with Akira. We were supposed to be partners. Accelerated World Police. Protecting the innocent players from the bullies."

"Why can't you still be?"

I looked at her. "Are you even listening to me? Akira doesn't want anything to do with me."

"I'm not talking about Akira, I'm talking about you. If you want to be the World Police, be the World Police. The only thing is, you're not going to be able to do it alone. Tell you what. Haru is a great fighter. I'll get him to spar with you. Once you're stronger than maybe…"

"Maybe what?" I snapped. "Maybe Akira will come running back to be my friend again? Maybe people will realize that I'm not some sort of trash to just be tossed away? No thanks. If I have to buy friendship, than I'd rather not have it at all."

Just as I turned to leave, that's when Akira's words echoed in my head. "I've found that it's quite obvious that you keep me around less as a friend and more as a social comfort. To you, I am a safety net...You are afraid I would leave you. So you put on a facade of friendship because of that fear."

"You're right," I whispered finally. "Fine. I'll spar with your boytoy. I still don't know about joining Nega Nebulous, but if you think becoming stronger will help me be friends with Akira again, than I trust you."

"Excellent. Then let us begin at once. Burst link."

"Burst link!"

The world vanished around us, leaving us in the Ruined City stage. A Challenger Appears! A counter appeared above me, ticking down the time until the match started. A lithe thin silver figure appeared in front of me, holding his hands up defensively. "Silver Crow," I noted, looking at the name under the enemy health bar. "Funny, you don't look like a crow."

"They should have called you Phosphorous Kangaroo," he replied.

"That's fair," I sighed. "Sorry about earlier."

"No, no. It's okay, really. Senpai explained everything," he assured me. Wow this guy sure was nice. "She says you won't join Nega Nebulous though. Why not?"

"Sorry, but it's just not the place for me. Good luck, Crow."

"You too, Punch."

BEGIN!

Immediately, I rushed in towards him, swinging my fists like a professional boxer. I had to get my special gauge charged up or else I'd be done for quick. Silver was highly conductive to heat, even more so than copper. If I could keep him on the ropes and then ignite and echo, his health would be gone in a flash.

"Whoa! You're fast," he commented, dodging my punches in a blur of movement. "But you're swinging too wildly. Keep your arms closer to your body and throw them forward. You'll lose a little power, but you'll hit faster."

Pivoting on his foot, he swung his foot around to kick me in the jaw, sending me spinning to the ground. Slamming my fist down in frustration, I hopped back to my feet. "You're pretty spry yourself," I noted.

As I went into another flurry of punches and kicks, Haru crossed his arms in front of himself. He took my blows pretty straight on, but as he said the jabs I had weren't nearly as effective. Damn it, I had to find a way to slow him down.

I feinted to the left pretending to go into a round house. Just as he turned however, I stomped my foot down, and sent a haymaker from my left fist straight towards his cheek. He saw it at just the last second and it sent him reeling. "Good blow," he complimented, pausing to rub his green glassy face plate.

"Thanks. Shall we continue?"

"Of course. Now I'm going to come at you. Let's see how your defense stacks up."

As fast as I thought my blows were, his were doubly so. It was everything I could in order to bob and weave through his attacks. This was bad. I was being pushed back. Again, he was moving too quickly.

"Come on! You were able to get a hit on Scarlet Rain, right? You should be able to dodge these no problem."

"One: she's a little girl. Two: She didn't exactly move very much!"

Still, that gave me an idea. This was going to hurt, but it was necessary. I just stopped. Haru's fist rammed straight into my face. As I predicted though, his strikes weren't very powerful. What he made up for in speed, he lost in power.

I wheeled around him, wrapping my arms around his waist and bending backwards into a suplex. Just as he was moving over me though, his back started to glow. The hell? Wings erupted from him, causing us to both launch upside down. I was still holding on to him, but just barely.

"You can fly?! That's cheating!" I shouted over the sound of the wind rushing past us.

"It's not cheating! It's my special armament!"

"Well let me show you what I've got up my sleeve," I snarled, pulling back on him hard. Now sandwiched between Crow and the ground, I ignited into a fiery inferno that engulfed us both.

"What in the–?!"

"It's the benefit of being made of match heads," I hissed, trying to endure the pain. He suddenly turned, boosting upwards in hopes of extinguishing the flames through the wind. "Now! E-echo!" I cried. Duplicates of me flared to life, the fire now burning even brighter than before. Now both of our health bars were dwindling at an incredibly fast rate.

"Echo?! What is that? GAH! It burns even more now!" He twisted himself, turning around to face me, but I knew that wouldn't help.

"It's all over now," I grunted.

"Not yet! Headbutt!"

Headbutt? His face glowed for a moment before with an intense blast, he sent my head spinning. Breaking free of me, he flapped his wings, patting out the fire on himself as I plummeted towards the earth.

Now the fire had truly blown out, meaning my health bar was safe at nearly one quarter of its max. However, that did little for the fact that I was now hurtling towards the ground. God, not only was this the end of the fight, this was going to hurt like hell when I woke up.

"Hold on, I gotcha!"

My eyes snapped open to see Crow diving at me. His hand wrapped around mine, and with a flap of his wings, he slowed our descent until he could gently set me on top of a building.

"Whoo, that was a close one, wasn't it?" he laughed, scratching his head. "Man, when you caught on fire, I thought that I was a goner. You're pretty good at this."

"Why did you catch me? If I hit the ground you would have won."

"Yeah, but that would have hurt like crazy," he told me. "Besides, it's a friendly spar. There's no need to go so far."

"You are one seriously strange guy, Haru. But I like you."

"You did very well. Both of you," a feminine voice commented. Turning, I saw a well-endowed black avatar. However, instead of arms and legs, she had sharp pointed blades and hovered just slightly off the ground.

"Kuroyukihime? Is that you?" I asked.

"In this form, please address me as Black Lotus," she requested.

"Right. Sorry. Thank you for the compliment Black Lotus. Although…"

"Although?"

I looked at her and Haru before dejectedly glancing down at my feet. "I've yet to win a single battle," I explained. "Not by myself anyway."

"Really?" Haru asked in surprise. "You fought really well though. I wonder if there is another problem," he mused.

"Another problem?" I asked. "What other problem can there be other than me?"

"Well, you still haven't learned the incar–" His words trailed off as he suddenly fell quiet. "I mean, maybe you just don't have much experience with video games. Senpai found me because of my high score in Squash."

I frowned. Now I was doubly curious about what he was going to say. "I doubt that that is the issue Crow," Black Lotus interjected. "Rather the obvious problem is that all of your combat stratagems seem to inflict self-harm. In the accelerated world, every bit of health counts. That being said, we need to find a way to reduce the amount of damage done to yourself without sacrificing your output."

"I agree, but how are we going to do that?" I questioned.

"Wait! Senpai, you don't mean to take him to see sensei do you?"

"Sensei? I thought only people our age could play this game."

"Crow calls her sensei because she assisted training him. But yes, I do believe it is best that we take him there."

I gave a nervous gulp. "Who exactly is this mystery person?"

Even without facial features, I could still detect the smug grin on Kuroyukihime's lips. "You may call her Sky Raker…"

To be continued...