Author's Note: Yup, I'm still alive despite the massive delay. Been incredibly busy with work and this chapter (despite being only 3000 words long) was written over an incredibly long period of time hence the possible inconsistency. It may be awhile before the next chapter comes out

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters

Login 19: Truth

Ayumi blinked for a second, momentarily disoriented by the shift from the Accelerated World to the real world, before getting up from her seat.

"Ayumi, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't think that..."

Ayumi shook her head as she smiled, "There's nothing to apologize for Gen, and it's my fault for getting worked up over nothing."

Ayumi sighed again, "I'm sorry but I just need to be alone for awhile. I'll get my things tomorrow."

Kagama simply nodded as Ayumi wordlessly left.

Ayumi stepped out of the restaurant only to stand face to face with a very surprised Takeno Chiyu, "Chiyu-chan?"

"Ayumi-chan?"

For a moment, Ayumi saw a complicated expression before a wide smile flashed on her face, "Ayumi-chan! You finally tried out the ramen place I told you about."

Chiyu was about to continue before she noticed Ayumi's sullen expression, "Did something happen?"

Ayumi sighed, "I had a fight with Gen..."

Chiyu tilted her head in confusion before her face lit up in realization, "You were on a date?! With Kagama-sempai?!"

Ayumi nodded her head silently. Chiyu picked up on her uncharacteristic silence, a look of concern replacing her girlish excitement, "Did something happen with Kagama-sempai?"

Ayumi sighed in response, "We had a fight..."

"So you skipped the confession and went straight to the lover's quarrel?"

Ayumi responded with a silent glare, prompting Chiyu to take a more solemn response, "Sorry. I couldn't help myself."

"It's alright. I'm just angry."

"Angry? At sempai?"

"At myself. I snapped at sempai for something petty."

Chiyu returned an expression of surprise, "The Iron Princess actually lost her cool?"

"Come on Chiyu-chan, you know I don't like that name."

Chiyu simply laughed as they walked down the street, weaving through the light crowd composed of either people going home from work or simply taking a detour for some shopping or to meet up with friends. Ayumi never liked that nickname, it drew too much unwanted attention and suggested that she was someone both graceful and strong. She did not fully agree with graceful.

"But it suits you Ayumi-chan."

"I'm not as strong as you think I am..."

"You don't give yourself enough credit. I mean, you're excelling in the club matches, you've been picked for the school team, your grades are great and you're really popular with both the guys and girls."

Ayumi sighed as Chiyu continued, "You have more than what anyone in our age can hope to socially achieve. So what if you get into a little argument? If you truly love him, you'll be able to make up!"

"Chiyu, are you alright?"

Ayumi was surprised as Chiyu returned a tear filled glare. Her teeth were gritted as she held back from bawling, "Of course I'mnoalrigh!"

Ayumi was taken aback by her friend's sudden outburst as the nearby crowd took notice, murmurs rose together with the evening breeze as curious onlookers watched the distraught girl. Both aware of the undesired attention, Chiyu drew in a deep breath before exhaling, the attention dispersing with her breath.

"Chiyu-chan, did something happen? You seem tense."

Chiyu was on the verge of tears.

"Come on, let's go to my place and talk."

Chiyu simply nodded silently in response as they started walking in the general direction of Ayumi's house.

Narajima Residence – Living Room

"Here you go Chiyu-chan, I got some crackers and tea for you."

"Thanks."

Chiyu watched Ayumi set down the plate of rice crackers before taking a seat next to her friend, "So Chiyu, what happened?"

"Waddyou mean?"

"That. You only start speaking like that in only two situations, when you get and when you are...whatever it is you are now."

"I guess you're right..."

Chiyu took a cracker, taking a loud bite before continuing,"I've always had a crush on Kagama-sempai, ever since my first day in school when I got lost and found the dojo..."

1 year ago

"I think I'm lost... "

Takeno Chiyu wandered through the halls, her eyes seeking out familiar landmarks. This proved to be a flawed plan as this was her first day in junior high, as strange and unfamiliar a locale as it can get for a freshman in junior high school.

Her wanderings eventually took her to a pair of traditional sliding doors, Chiyu immediately noticed the hastily written Kanji saying "Dojo" and the loud almost rhythmic sound of the Shinai slashing air.

Chiyu stood outside the sliding doors before resting her palm on the door, carefully sliding it open. What greeted her was the strong smell of cleaning solution and the sight of a lone male student. The male was swinging a shinai with a steady consistent rhythm, the air whipping as he brought the blade down before repeating the action. Chiyu was not sure why but she was entranced by the older male, more specifically his strong arms...

"I believe the Club Festival starts tomorrow."

Chiyu blinked in surprise as she realised that the male had stopped swinging his shinai, holding it in his right hand as he padded towards her.

"Also, no shoes inside the dojo."

"Sorry sempai."

Chiyu quickly slipped out of her indoor shoes, slotting the pair into a convenient pigeonhole before standing upright. She slowly paced around, her steps echoing rhythmically as her feet hit the waxed parquet floor

"So this is the Kendo Club I guess...urm... "

"Kagama Gen."

"Kagama-sempai... "

She wrapped her tongue around that word she uttered under her breath for several seconds, smiling as she did upon noticing the older boy's questioning gaze.

"I suppose you're interested in joining the Kendou Club? Do you have any experience prior experience in kendo? "

"Well not really but I am willing to learn. "

The male student rubbed his chin in thought, "Maybe you can come by tomorrow during the Festival tomorrow. We're holding open tryouts to join the Kendo club and we don't mind having more participants."

"Guess I'll be there sempai!"

Present Day

"You actually tried out for the kendo team? "

Chiyu chuckled as she leaned back to sink into the cushion, "Yeah, despite how hard it is to believe, I did try out."

She paused momentarily before giving her answer, "Let's just say it didn't go as well as I thought it would. I lost on my first match. "

Chiyu laughed again, this time a hint of sadness resonated within her words, "However on the plus side, it turned out that the Kendou Club needed a manager since the previous one was graduating."

"So you took that job?"

"Well it was the only way I could get closer to Kagama-sempai...you could say I was crushing on him badly."

"I can understand that feeling. Kagama-sempai has that aura that just draws you to him. "

Chiyu smiled, "I know right? He has this charisma about him that pulls you in...like some kind of magnetism he has."

Ayumi raised an eyebrow as she adjusted herself on the sofa, "Magnetism? Really?"

"Then you come up with a better way to describe it!"

Both girls laughed hard. The rapturous laughter echoed through the house before the girls ran out of breath. As they panted, Chiyu raised her hand, "Ayumi-chan, do you have a direct link cable?"

"Yeah I do have one in my room. Why do you need it?"

"I just want to share a game that I'm playing right now. Trust me, it's great."

"It's not going to be one of those joke apps, right?"

"Don't worry Ayumi-chan, it's file size is quite big though. "

Ayumi was skeptical but intrigued by Chiyu's words as she mulled on what it could be during her trip to fetch the cable. Several possibilities ran through her mind, the most worrying one being Brain Burst. She frowned at the thought as she returned with the Direct link cable, a wire that directly two Neurolinkers allowing for private communication and file transfers. Chiyu could not be a Burst Linker, Ayumi thought. This did nothing to alleviate her concerns as she returned to the living room with a two metre cable.

"Took you long enough! Give it to me!"

Chiyu's excitement seemed barely contained as she took the cable from Ayumi, grinning as she plugged in one end of the cable into her Neurolinker while offering the free end to Ayumi. Ayumi took the free end of the cable, absently rubbing the plastic head.

"Seriously what app is it? I don't want some weird virus in my neurolinker."

"Trust me, it's not a virus. Now plug it in Ayumi-chan!"

Ayumi was reluctant, a strong feeling of unease filling her chest as she plugged the wire into her Neuro linker.

A dialogue window opened that notified her that she was linked to another Neuro linker along with a lengthy legal disclaimer about data privacy laws.

"Ok then, I'm sending it over...that's weird...this can't be right... "

"Is something wrong?"

"Well it says that you already have BB2039...no. It can't be. "

Chiyu's eyes widened in shock as she realized what this meant before they brightened with excitement, "Ayumi...you're a Burst Linker?"

"Well yes..."

"Why didn't you say anything? This is great! We can do tag battles and...maybe the more important question is what avatar do you have? "

"Well urm... "

"Oh wait, I can accelerate then find out who your avatar! Burst Link!"

Before Ayumi could stop Chiyu, the world froze with a blue hue

World's End stage

Iron Rapier [Ayumi] rapidly assessed her living room, now with peeling paint and debris that seemed to coincide with her furniture. The metal avatar's hand immediately went to the hilt of her sword as she faced a gun toting red avatar staggering backwards.

"You've got to be kidding...Ayumi-chan is Iron Rapier..."

"Chiyu? You're Cardinal Derringer?"

Before she could react, the barrel of one of Cardinal Derringer's [Chiyu] handguns was staring at her face, trained between her eyes.

"You lied to me."

Iron Rapier [Ayumi] stared down the gun's barrel, taken aback by the accusation but not shaken enough to break her stance.

"I didn't even know you were Cardinal Derringer...if I had known..."

"What would you do if you had known?"

"Well...I..."

Then Iron Rapier [Ayumi] held back her words as she realised she had no convincing explanation.

She did not know how to respond to her friend's accusation.

This silent sentiment was not transmitted to the red avatar as a shot grazed her right cheek, leaving a fine red line in its wake before the smoking barrel returned to its position staring at Iron Rapier's [Ayumi] face.

"Chiyu…just listen to me for one second."

"Listen to you? Why? So you can lie to me again?"

"Wait? What? "

This time, she felt a burning sensation on her stomach before she was blasted backwards by a mortar blast. She grunted as she slammed into the wall behind her, Cardinal Derringer's [Chiyu] right arm hinged back into position before drawing her remaining gun.

Iron Rapier [Ayumi] was slumped over from the pain of the mortar explosion, this action however did not earn any sympathy from her opponent.

"After all those battles we've fought and I never realized it."

Cardinal Derringer [Chiyu] stepped forward menacingly, the gun in her right hand aimed at Iron Rapier's crouched form.

"I should have known that you were Iron Rapier... "

Then, the red avatar squeezed the trigger.

Chiyu sighed in relief as she watched the grey avatar twisted away from the shot, getting to her feet as she rolled. She could only watch as she rained bullets on the evading Iron Rapier [Ayumi], unable to control her own actions ever since the battle started.

She could not even control the words coming from her mouth.

"How dare you lie to me! "

'I didn't say that, I don't want to say that! That's not me!'

Her desperate screams never left her mouth, only more spiteful words. Instead, another voice echoing in her head answered her plea.

'Of course you didn't say all that.'

The familiar, intelligent voice chuckled at his own statement, confusing Chiyu further.

'Orbit-san! What's going on? I can't control my avatar!'

'You don't have to worry about that. I'm just borrowing your avatar for a while.'

'Borrowing my avatar?'

The voice of Twilight Orbit simply laughed, 'Yes, yes! Blame me! Curse me! Turn me into the source of all of your pain and turmoil! All of that hate will just simply fuel me! '

'You're crazy!'

'You can call me that but I prefer misunderstood genius...'

Twilight Orbit laughed again as he unleashed a salvo of bullets using Chiyu's avatar. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] was only mere seconds ahead of the strafing shots as she dashed for cover, a trail of bullets chasing her before bouncing off a large piece of debris.

'Why are you doing this?! '

'I'm just simply accelerating an experiment that's taking too long to produce results.'

'So you hacked my avatar and Neurolinker?'

The voice of Twilight Orbit guffawed in response, clearly amused by the girl's outrage, 'This is beyond you, girl. You're lucky I can't silence you.'

Chiyu mentally gritted her teeth as she watched herself raining fire on a boulder, gradually being chewed off by the torrent of lead.

There was nothing she could do to stop herself or even tell Ayumi that she was not in control.

Bullets pelted the barrier, the constant ringing the only sound echoing throughout the room. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] crouched behind the broken column, waiting for a short lull in the barrage.

A single second was all she needed as Cardinal Derringer [Chiyu] stopped barrage to prepare a mortar, the grey avatar dashing out from her cover to flank the red avatar.

This move proved to be a poor choice as she was greeted by an airborne grenade hurtling towards her. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] had no time to dodge the projectile as it homed in on her, the grey avatar being oddly calm despite the obvious danger. Instinctively, she drew out a slender blade to block the explosive projectile. The split second action seemed to be futile until the blade glowed in a soft blue hue as it split the projectile.

The halves flew past Iron Rapier [Ayumi] before exploding in midair behind her, surprising her red opponent. This was exactly what she was waiting for as she rushed her opponent, surprising Cardinal Derringer. A well timed backpedal saved the red avatar from being cleaved by the glowing blades. She did not escape unscathed, a glowing red line bisecting her torso. This encouraged Iron Rapier [Ayumi] to press her attack, unleashing a rapid fire series of thrusts on Cardinal Derringer.

The pin point strikes were blocked by the red avatar using the broad side of her pistols, gradually being pushed back against a wall.

"Why are you doing this? What's going on Chiyu?"

The red avatar simply chuckled as her right arm hinged backward in an unnatural angle to launch a projectile into the wall behind her. The explosion and resulting dust cloud engulfed the pair, blinding Iron Rapier [Ayumi].

Chiyu mentally screamed in pain as her shoulder was pulled backward. The unnatural rotation causing excruciating pain. Ethereal chuckling echoed around her as she grimaced, 'Hurts doesn't it? '

'Of course it hurts!'

'Good, that's a very good reaction...a very natural reaction.'

The disembodied voice chortled before he continued, 'Did you know that cries of pain are an instinctive reaction to stimuli that result in bodily? It's fascinating how humans still retain these basic instinct even though we have evolved into an apex predator. It's a wonder we were able to reach a state where we are able to create entire worlds despite these evolutionary handicaps. '

'You know a lot of big words but what's your point? '

Twilight Orbit was silent as Cardinal Derringer continued dodging a barrage of stabs, like a marionette on strings. Then a single strike slipped through, piercing the red avatar's left shoulder. Chiyu was used to being injured like this in duels. As the blade pierced her armor, the familiar pain she knew shot through her like a red hot skewer. She was determined not to give Twilight Orbit the satisfaction of 'seeing ' her in pain although her efforts were transparent to him.

"It appears you've noticed that your wounds are inflicting more pain than normal."

Chiyu endured the pain that felt like being burned alive, "However I must commend you. You're stronger then you appear... I may need to rework the parameters... "

"Parameters? Parameters for what? "

The voice sighed, "And this is why I don't give compliments. Most will just let it get to their heads and become complacent. Besides that is not for you to know, all you need to know is that I can control everything about your avatar. Your movements, speech and even the intensity of sensation. "

At this point, Cardinal Derringer used the cloud of dust to conceal herself and jumped backwards into empty space. The red avatar drew out her guns, firing into the dust cloud. This proved futile as Iron Rapier [Ayumi] burst through the cloud, ignoring the storm of bullets that grazed her with swords drawn like a swooping eagle. A flurry of slashes rushed towards the red avatar, seemingly unable to dodge. This was proven wrong as the red avatar aimed her right arm to her left.

"Hidden Barrel: Right Arm!"

A fireball erupted destroying her right arm, but giving her the force she needed to dodge the dive attack.

Iron Rapier [Ayumi] slammed face first into the sandy ground, comically spitting as she propped herself up, still stunned by the reckless evasive manuvuer. Blinded by the sand, she scrambled for her blades.

The rapier within arm's length was shot away as the red avatar slowly approached the prone grey avatar.

Looking up, Iron Rapier [Ayumi] faced a gun aimed straight at her face.

"Checkmate."