Konnichiwa! =)

[eklypse37]

Hi everyone,

I'm learning Japanese; however, I'm doing the opposite of how people usually starts off by learning a language. I know Hiragana and a bit of Katakana and Kanji, but my main focus is on speech.

I'm also currently working on completing my TEFL Certification, so if there are any English learners here, I would be glad to help you!

When I'm not working or busy studying, I like to hang out with friends, watch anime and movies, go kayaking, and travel.

I hope to meet lots of interesting people on here!

[deatH_005]

hey there dude,, im not a native english speaker(but i can understand it),im also trying to lear japanese(pretty familliar with hiragana but not katakana yet-im trying to read the 100 basic grammar points several times and master it first before going into reading kana)

Spoiler:

Chapter 16.5
Asuna plopped down naked on the sofa and glared defiantly at me.
"...Kirito, hurry up and take your clothes off," she said in an authoritative tone.
"What...w-we're continuing?"
"It would be stupid if we stopped here!!"
I hurriedly complied. Opening the window indicated by Asuna, I toggled off the option buried deep within the menu.
Because of the hurried start, there was no romantic mood to speak of. Sitting on the bed which was slightly too small for the two of us, we slowly did as much as the system would allow.
The dim blue moonlight filtered through the window, casting complex shadows on the bed.
Since Salemburg has no marketplace, the townspeople disappear at night. The only thing that I could hear was the faint whispering of the lake, and my alarm-like heartbeat which seems to echo around the room.
By this time, Asuna and I had removed all of our clothing. We had been kneeling on the bed in front of one another for about 2 and a half minutes. I couldn't read Asuna's expression as she balled up her fists on her knees and looked down. I thought that I should probably be the one to take the first action in this situation, but not being able to predict the outcomes of any of my choices, I sat in petrified silence. I considered what would happen if I were to yell out, "Sorry!" and re-equipped minimal clothing at mach speed before escaping out of the room. Would she say, "I guess it can't be helped~" and forgive me when we meet again tomorrow? ―There's no way she would.
Remembering back to the distant past, I was only 14 the first time that I ever logged into SAO. The winter of 8th grade. I don't want to really recall how I was at that time, but I sacrificed all of the sexual energy that starts to awaken in all boys around that age in order to immerse myself into games. As a result, I had never been in a situation where I would be alone with a girl in her room. Obviously, I had also never been naked with a girl before.
To tell the truth, I would have liked for Asuna, who I thought was probably a few years older than me (and thus had expertise in this area) to take the lead. However, it seemed that everyone in SAO, including her, viewed me as being older than I really was. Since I had never denied any of it, there's no way that I could say to her in this situation, "Sorry, but I'm actually..."
I strengthened my resolve. Even if I didn't have the knowledge or the experience, I had never loved or had felt such intense feelings for someone like I have for Asuna.
Ever since SAO started, there were numerous times when I was in a situation where I told myself, "You can't run away from here no matter what," but here I had to muster up greater willpower than that as I extended my right hand and moved my body forward.
My fingertip softly touched the gentle curve that was Asuna's shoulder. Her body quivered sharply. I slowly traced a path from the line of her collarbone to the nape of her neck.
"N...mm..."
Asuna let out a soft moan as her eyes closed. The blood rushed to her cheeks and her eyebrows furrowed.
For some time I watched Asuna's responses in secret delight as I touched her all over the place. Slightly excited by her fresh reactions, I went a bit overboard as I kept my fingertip at a point where I was just barely touching her and continued to slowly glide smoothly across her skin. I crawled down her arms which were firmly hiding both breasts, circled around her stomach and reversed direction up her arms again.
"Ah...oh...mm..."
Every time my finger moved, Asuna's body would shake and a soft moan would leak out. After caressing her entire body, I put my right hand's finger under her small chin and lifted her head up. With my left index finger, I diligently traced her wet, shining, cherry-colored lips.
"No...not just...your finger..."
A softly blushing Asuna opened her eyes slightly and looked at me pleadingly.
"Kiss...me..."
"..."
I silently moved my face closer. Asuna's lips parted slightly as if they could not wait any longer. But, instead of fastening our lips together, I softly poked her lower lip with the tip of my tongue.
"Mm..."
As if seeking me out, Asuna stuck out her tongue, but I restrained myself and moved to avoid her before softly touching her with the tip of my tongue.
"Ah, mm...ah..."
Asuna let out a irritated sound of both anticipation and need as I abruptly plunged my tongue into her mouth.
"Ah—mm!"
I violently swished my tongue around.
The tactile senses in SAO are, just like the sense of taste, pre-programmed and activated in accordance to the situation. When you consider this, then the only conclusion that one can draw is that the "feeling of a deep kiss" must have been programmed in. (Well, it's not like I've ever really experienced that in real life, but...) An indescribably bewitching feeling assaulted my nerves.
My tongue entwined Asuna's and I forcefully sucked on it as I felt all the strength go out of her body. Her eyes were moist and dim and she was breathing erratically as I took my tongue out of her mouth and then proceeded to lick down her neck, behind her ear and the hollow of her collar bone.
When I eventually reached the soft valleys that were the top of her breasts which had been hidden up until now, her whole body leapt and twitched. Her arms gripped tighter together and she shook her head from side to side.
"Asuna...move your arms..."
"B...But..."
"I want to see your breasts, Asuna."
I caught her wrists which were crossed together and pulled them apart as I slowly licked and sucked my way toward the peak of the white breast that was gradually being revealed.
"Ah... No..."
Asuna's arms were finally at her sides as her twin peaks were revealed to my eyes. The swells which were usually hidden by the loose fitting knight's clothing and breastplate were bigger than I had imagined; full and protruding sharply forward. At their tips were a pair of nipples which were difficult to distinguish from the surrounding area, standing impertinently in a cone-shaped form. Regrettably the entire room was currently bathed in the blue glow of the moonlight and —
"Asuna, turn on the light."
"What...no...don't—"
Having accepted the rejection of my request, I sucked her left nipple into my mouth.
"Ah!!"
Ignoring the shrill voice that Asuna let out at the sudden attack, I chewed on the hard nub with my lips as my tongue rolled around the stiff tip.
"Ahhh! Ah! No, no no...!"
I firmly held Asuna's right hand that tried to push me away as she cried out, while her body convulsed and moved my left hand to the other breast. I squeezed her peak between my fingers, then gently used the nail of my index finger to stimulate the tip of her nipple.
"Ah, Ahh, oh!!"
As I tortured both breasts, Asuna's convulsions and sweet cries rose in intensity. Going a bit overboard, I bit down on the protruding object in my mouth and somewhat violently began to chew on it, while at the same time the thumb and index finger of my left hand painfully twisted the other nipple.
"Oh!! Ah, ah, no, no way..."
Asuna's body suddenly stiffened. Her arms which now encircled the back of my head tightened their grip.
"No, no no, I'm, with just, my breast...! I'm...com..."
She was unable to speak after that. Letting out a hoarse, high pitched cry from the depths of her throat, Asuna twitched and her body jumped once before collapsing against me. She was still breathing heavily, her body intermittently convulsed slightly.
"Ah... ha... haa..."
"...Asuna...just now..."
"Ah...n-no...it's so embarrassing... I never had anything like that...happen until now..."
"...until now?"
"Ah..."
Asuna ducked her body and looked down in an embarrassed manner.
"I-It's nothing, nothing at all!"
"...tell me."
I moved my left hand over to Asuna's left breast as she leaned against me and grasped her nipple before pulling on it.
"Ahh... no, stop, no more with the breasts..."
"...what do you mean by until now?"
"Ahhh..."
Asuna spoke haltingly in a crying voice that was once again mixed with sweet moans.
"...about the <Ethic Code Off>... After I learned about it...I did it...a couple times, alone..."
"...what did you do...?"
"Auuu... While thinking...about Kirito...played with...my breasts and...down below..."
Talking about her own fantasies seemed to have increased Asuna's masochistic side. Her breathing was gradually becoming ragged as she clung to me.
"Down below...like around here...?"
I gently moved the hand that had been abusing her breast downward. I stroked her tense stomach, then ever so slowly moved in that direction. I went over the slight swell of her abdomen, and when my fingertips reached the entrance of the two mounds, Asuna gasped as her body shook.
"Ah... no..."
I used the index finger and middle finger of my left hand to stimulate the area around her vagina. While taking care not to touch the center, I enjoyed the sensation of squeezing the two mounds together, then pulling them apart. "Ah, ah, ha mmm...!"
Asuna knelt down, putting both of her arms around me and moaned while burying her face in my neck as my fingers moved about, causing her body to jump and twitch.
"Ah, mm...there...no..."
But that voice gradually became hoarse as she shook her head and wiggled her whole body.
"Ahh... That can't...can't..."
Thinking that I was teasing her too much, I gradually moved my middle finger towards the center.
"Mm...mm... Ahhh!!"
As Asuna let out a remarkably loud cry, my finger was enveloped in a slimy sensation. That place was seemingly endless, so hot, moist, and indescribably soft that I involuntarily stirred it with two fingers.
"Ah!! No!! No!!"
Asuna cried out, and her body started to shake and jump. Without regard for that, I kneaded the little knob that was peeking out from the top of the slit with my thumb while spreading it open with two fingers.
"Ah... Haa... Ha..."
It appeared that Asuna could no longer speak as she dug her nails into my back and arched her back as far as she could.
"Ah, ha... No!! I can't take it any more!!"
But in another sense, I was also at my limit. I wanted to see every single part of Asuna so badly that I pushed her down onto the bed and grabbed her legs, spreading them apart.
"Eh... Eh...? Ah... Wha...!?"
Asuna came out of a hazy state and bucked her body to escape as she realized that she was in an extremely embarrassing position, but there was no way that I was going to loosen my grip now.
"Wha, Wha, Kirito, don't look so closely!!"
"Asuna..."
I raised my head and looked steadily into Asuna's eyes.
"...should we turn on the light?"
"No—!!"
Asuna forcefully rejected my suggestion as she shook her crimson red face. Giving up, I devoted myself to examining Asuna's hidden place.
The soft and fluffy pubes were pure white and smooth without a single hair growing there. This was, to say, rather than a preference of the developers, a limitation of the system itself. Hair-type objects are of the extremely heavy category. As a result, aside from hair on the head and beards, there was absolutely no hair anywhere on the bodies of the SAO players.
In between the two smooth mounds was a single slit, and further into that were light colored folds. From time to time a clear fluid dripped out and flowed towards Asuna's anus before turning into beads of light and disappearing.
Whether it was from embarrassment or loss of strength, Asuna had stopped struggling, so I took my hand off her right foot and slowly spread the slit open.
"Mhaa..."
Asuna's eyes turned vacant as she moaned softly. Inside the slit, compared to the information that I had received from the net in the real world, was an unusually simple design with (what I thought was) peach colored membrane spreading smoothly on the inside and bottom. The vaginal opening which tirelessly produced clear fluid was quietly throbbing, and in the upper part where the slit closed together a little protrusion peeked its head out.
Within SAO, the male players must have at least once or twice racked their brains in wondering what that part of the female players looked like, but I was experiencing a certain kind of emotion having just discovered the answer to this question.
Of course, in my own lower half there was also a certain thing, which, having swelled to its limits, was seeking release. But this was the first time since I had entered SAO that it had become like this.
There is a somewhat interesting story concerning all of this (I apologize for digressing, but)... When SAO was under development, the Argas company had an internal closed alpha test phase during which time they reasoned that since players would have no use for genitals, it would not be necessary to objectify it.
However, in reality they found that most of the male testers would experience a certain amount of severe anxiety. Even so, while there was no problem when playing for several hours. When they conducted consecutive tests over a 48 hour period, they found that most of the male testers who attended this trial period were unable to stand not having their genitals and gave up. So it was from the Beta testing phase that the genital parts were implemented out of a sense of necessity. It seems that this was also part of the reason why SAO players were not allowed to change their characters' genders.
However, even if you had your genital parts, the question that I had prior to the official start of the game (meaning, before the incident) was whether or not there would be anxiety over the lack of proper function. I myself had agonized repeatedly on multiple occasions over the inability to release my pent up energy, but now I saw that if the ethics code or whatever was disabled, then functionality, probably even ejaculation was possible.
While feeling like I had missed out on a lot by not knowing all of this until now. At this point though, I faced a new question.
Having the ethics code release function basically meant that online virtual sex had been planned with the release of the game. SAO had many underage players such as myself so, no matter how I thought about it, this function was sure to cause a lot of social outcry.
While teasing Asuna's cute slit with my fingertips, I raised my head and posed that very question to her.
"Ah... Haa... What...?"
Though she had a spaced out look in her silky eyes and her answer was punctuated by her heavy breathing, Asuna's serious disposition kicked in as she answered me.
"Ha... Th-That's... They planned to use SAO's...system in order to...provide a personal...sex service... We're probably linked with...that function...ahhh...ah..."
"I see... In other words, it's probably one of those delicate arrangements... Well, enough with the chit-chat..."
I used my left hand to open Asuna up as wide as possible.
"Ahh!!"
She wasn't immobilized anymore, but Asuna let out a sweet cry with both of her legs spread wide in the air. I brought my face close and gently pushed my tongue toward the little hole in the center.
"Haaaa!!"
Asuna shook her head from side to side as she cried out. I softly stimulated the entrance to that hole with my tongue as I pushed my finger in and out.
"Ah! No, not that—!!"
Every time Asuna convulsed, a large amount of fluid would make a sticky sound on my tongue as it leaked out of her vagina.
Having pushed my tongue into her hole and enjoyed the feeling of her constricting around me, I pushed myself up over Asuna. I was already swollen to my limit and felt like I would end up coming if I continued to explore Asuna's body anymore.
While softly playing with her pert nipple, I covered Asuna's lips with my own and softly whispered,
"Asuna...can I...?"
"Ah... Ha..."
Asuna nodded vigorously as she let out a hot breath.
"Yes... Make me...full...with your thing Kirito..."
Feeling slightly dizzy at the thought of having that straight-laced invincible warrior tell me that with such a tearful face, I pressed myself against Asuna's moistness. My penis caught on the entrance of her vagina as I moved it up and down.
"Ah... Ah..."
Asuna firmly gripped my shoulders with her arms as she squeezed her eyes closed and furrowed her eyebrows. Even in the pale blue darkness of the room I could see that her whole body was flushed and beads of sweat shined everywhere.
When I placed my hands at Asuna's sides, her hips moved slightly forward. I felt a slight resistance, but with a popping sensation, half of my penis was swallowed up inside of Asuna.
"Aaaa!!"
Even with just that, Asuna let out a scream as she arched her body to its limit. At the same time, my breath caught and I felt a numbness spreading from my penis to the rest of my body.
Having pushed my entire length into Asuna, I let my desires take over as I continued to penetrate her bit by bit.
"Aaah!! Haaaah!!"
Asuna continued to scream as she continued to vigorously shake her head while her body shook. Although I briefly wondered if it hurt, I was no longer able to stop my hips from moving as my penis continued to plunge into Asuna's deepest parts with a wet slapping noise.
"Ha... Ah... Ah—!!"
Eventually my penis pushed all the way into the root of Asuna's vagina. While she was the woman whom I knew the best and loved the most, the crazy thought that I was deep inside Aincrad's top idol at this moment was spinning around my mind, making me go crazy.
I somehow managed to calm my breathing as I put my mouth close to Asuna's ear and said,
"It's all inside... Does it hurt...?"
"N, no... So...hot... I-I'm going to melt...!"
Asuna answered me in a thin, high voice as she shook her head.
"Kirito...so much of you...inside me...ah...ah..."
I also felt like melting from the incredible heat that I was experiencing. My penis which was tightly gripped by Asuna was continuously sending heat waves up my back that exploded into fireworks in my head.
"Ah...ah, ah, ah, ah!!"
I was aware of Asuna's moans becoming higher and higher as I was immobilized, struggling against the sensations that threatened to overwhelm me. As if in anticipation, her slit also continued to tightly massage me with it's convulsions.
"Ah! Ah, no, no way, I'm, again, again..."
Asuna's voice, which sounded as if she was becoming delirious from the heat, was changing into a meltingly sweet sound and,
"No, no, again, I-I'm coming, coming, ah, ah..."
She threw her head back with a jerk and
"Ahhh——!!"
Screaming loudly, Asuna climaxed for the second time. At the same time, my penis was squeezed with an incredible pressure, and to my horror, I felt a raging sense boiling up inside me seeking release.
"!!"
I bit my lip and fought against that feeling. Supported by the thought that I couldn't relax when we hadn't even reciprocated once, I was somehow able to quell the urge. Panting heavily, I embraced Asuna's body which was limp from orgasm. I knew I didn't have much time left, so I violently pulled all the way back to the opening of her vagina before pushing in all the way in one thrust. Smack! Our bodily fluids flew about.
"Aaa!!"
Asuna's eyes flew open as she let out a shriek.
"No! If you...do that, I'm going to go crazy...."
"..."
I was once again forced to stop while deep inside of Asuna. The hot, soft sensation surrounded me as the throbbing of the folds penetrated my entire being. Asuna had come several times already and if we stayed like this, I would eventually end up coming. But I didn't feel like that would be a very good way to finish, so after thinking for a moment, I gently began shifting my body.
"Eh...?"
Lifting up a drowsy looking Asuna's body, I moved underneath. Eventually the two of us switched positions, with me on my back and Asuna in a mounted position on top of me. As soon as Asuna realized what sort of position she was in, her face turned even redder as she shook her head from side to side.
"No... this is...embarrassing..."
"Asuna, you try moving..."
"What... O-Ok..."
Asuna blushed shyly as she nodded and began to gently rock her body.
"Ah, aah... I'm...sorry that...I'm...the only one...feeling good... Kirito, you can come too..."
A sticky sound was coming from the slit that was being pierced by my penis. Asuna's movements were minimal, but the powerfully numbing feeling was spreading through my body again. Right when I thought, "At this rate I'm going to come right away—"
"Ah, Ah, Ah, ha..."
Her voice was once again mixed with the sound of arousal. Asuna bit down on the fingers of her right hand, as she moved her hips up and down.
"Ah, ah, why, am I, ah, like this, like this..."
Asuna's long chestnut-colored hair flew into the air every time she shook her head. Beads of sweat also flew about, turning into light before disappearing.
"I'm sorry, sorry, Kirito, I'm, ah, ah, com...com...coming—!!"
Asuna threw her body back while drawing out the last part of her sentence as she violently convulsed two, three times. Her breasts which were sticking out in front of her danced in time with those motions.
I was in no position to pause and admire the sight of Asuna with her eyes scrunched closed and her teeth gritted together looking incredibly cute, yet horribly lewd, all at the same time. As Asuna's vagina gripped my penis tightly, I was once again assaulted with the powerful urge to come.
Thinking that I wouldn't be able to resist it this time, I instinctively pushed up into Asuna's core with abandon. Grabbing her hips with my hands, I shoved my hard penis in as far as I could before pulling out again.
"Ah—!! Aaaah—!!"
Being suddenly assaulted right after coming, all Asuna could do was frantically writhe about. I took her hand which was extended toward me and linked our fingers together. Every time I stirred up Asuna's insides, our overflowing juices would fly about as the place of our joining melted in endless heat.
"Aah...amazing, amazing..."
Her bouncing breasts also sent large amounts of sweat flying about. Asuna was letting out deliriously sweet moans with a completely melted look on her face.
"Ah, A-A-Aaa!!"
"I-I'm com..."
"Ha, yes, let it out, ah, Kirito, let out, a lot..."
As I shoved myself into Asuna, I released all of the pent up sensations that I had stretched to the limits.
"A...Asuna...!"
"Aaaah—!!!"
I could feel my hot sperm gushing deep into Asuna as she trembled in yet another climax. Two years worth of semen made a glopping noise as it flowed endlessly into Asuna. Every time my penis twitched, fireworks would go off in my head.
"Ah...ah..."
After receiving all that I had to give her, Asuna's strength gave out as she fell on top of me.
"Ah... Ha..."
I gently embraced Asuna while she continued to gasp and convulse as if she was being stimulated by the fluids inside her body as my consciousness dimmed.

so good luck with this,, i think this site is a good site to learn japanese cuz we can interact with each other happy learning

[deatH_005]

Spoiler:

“Body-sword composite sword skill, «Meteor Fall». ……But even saying so, he wouldn’t hear it anyway.”

I muttered while rubbing my abdomen which was hit earlier.

While it wasn’t at the same level as if it happened in real world, the strength of the feedback from the pain should be enough to be considered illegal. Just from this pain alone proved this place wasn’t in any game operated in year 2026 Japan.

But, with the big move finally making a clean hit, Silver Crow who was blown away in a flashy fashion and whose body was currently half buried under the rubble should have felt more pain. Of course, if a nervous system existed under that metal armor, that is.

Confirming with a glance at the stamina gauge, eating the punch and the knee at that close range took about fifteen percent, and Crow’s was reduced by nearly thirty percent. Even though it looked like a metal robot, its defense wasn’t that high, just like how fighting games were supposed to be.

Then for the fighting game, this difference in damage isn’t enough to decide the outcome of the battle. It is not the situation I can relax in just after I got an attack in. Once I decided that, I kicked the ground to follow up with a sneak attack.

Suddenly the silvery body trembled——

The round metal helmet quickly lifted.

I could feel the strong light emitting from both eyes inside it.

Immediately after that, the rubble which buried half the silvery avatar had scattered violently in all directions.

Curling clouds of dust blown up by the wind covered the surroundings. I corrected my sword stance at this distance, waiting for my vision to clear up.

The chilled wind from the bottom of the stage carried the dust away.

Several seconds later, the trace of collapsed buildings appeared again —— but there was no trace of Silver Crow.

“What……?”

I quickly looked left and right, my sides and my back was a huge open space, in front of me was the wide three-storey building. If it wasn’t so tattered and decayed, this could be seen as a small scale school.

All the windows and entrances of the building were blocked with the metal plates, there were no stairs at the outer walls, so I’d notice if Crow cut across my left or right side. In other words, there should be nowhere to go during the brief moment my vision was blocked by the dust. In that case, where exactly did that silvery robot hide?

——No.

It isn’t hidden. The special move gauge below Silver Crow’s stamina gauge is around thirty percent charged, and even now it’s still slowly decreasing. It means he’s using the special move. I guess it was the reason he disappeared from my vision. Probably the power to go under the ground? Or the power of transparency?……

I tensed up all my senses from below my feet, front, back, left, and right. Lowering my waist, softly setting up my sword, I readied my stance to intercept an attack from any direction, waiting for an action.

But.

Where Silver Crow appeared from was beyond my expectations.

Noticing something shining above my head, I quickly looked up

Then I saw it, the protruding sharp right toe, swooping down as if it was a spear from the silvery white avatar, with the big metal fins expanded to the left and right, shining dazzlingly on its back.

So that was really its propulsion equipment. But it shouldn’t have the high-speed mobility to move its body above the ground to that degree.


Then those fins are —— wings!

I kicked the ground with as much force as possible to jump to the right.

But the Crow diving in a straight line used the stabilizers on both arms to change its angle, perfectly matching my movement.

“Guh……”

While I let leak the voice, the sword in my right hand tried to parry the sharp toe.

But, defending against the attack with that degree of weight wasn’t possible. Just like when receiving a heavy rush from the Salamander in ALO —— No, with greater force than the sword at that time, the dive kick directly hit my right shoulder.



* * *

For Silver Crow, who spent all of his level-up bonuses on expanding his flying ability, his greatest weapon is a swooping attack from high altitudes.

Just that would allow it to hit? Over the long period of time, Haruyuki had earnestly researched the technique for the half a year since becoming a Burst Linker. Although it was still too soon to be considered complete, it had become a very important asset of his.

Power, or descending speed, and accuracy, or homing capability, both present together.

All the power of the wings was used for acceleration, while the arms and body did the orbit adjustment. To get the hang of it, he couldn’t count how many times he had bitten the ground in vain.

However, the effort wasn’t fruitless. He was able to capture Kirito, despite his formidable reaction speed.

——No.

Haruyuki shook the head in his mind. The dive kick directly hit the right shoulder, while on the ground, unable to escape, but his eyes could still follow Haruyuki’s action.

Apparently, Kirito didn’t know Silver Crow was an aerial type Duel Avatar. For those Burst Linkers he fought on a daily basis, the moment they lost sight of Haruyuki in the cloud of dust, they would be cautious above their heads, rather than the surroundings. But Kirito did the opposite, which opened the opportunity for Haruyuki’s kick to hit. Thinking about it, the reaction ability to attempt to step and parry at that moment was really frightening.

Glancing at the HP gauge to confirm, Kirito’s HP was just below fifty percent and had changed to yellow. Although the amount of damage had reversed the situation, but because the opponent already knows of his flying ability, it would be difficult for Haruyuki’s kick to get a clean hit again. If that was the case, then he couldn’t stop his hand now.

Haruyuki spread his wings for the second time, he started a low altitude dash towards the shadow crouching on the ground.

Kirito’s sword manipulating arm was hit with the big move. The shock reverberating in his nerves should remain for at least ten more seconds, he wouldn’t be able to swing the sword at full speed till then. Then, with this rush, the result of this battle will be decided!

“U……oo!!”

With a short roar, Haruyuki got close to Kirito, then swung a big roundhouse kick diagonally upwards.

The method of using wings wasn’t just swooping from high altitudes. At short range melee, the three dimensional actions, ignoring the gravity and inertia, was possible. This kick was also impossible to deal with.

The growl released from his right feet, which looked like a laser cutting across the space.

Of course, Kirito’s right hand didn’t move.

Sure hit——!!

While Haruyuki felt confident, at that moment,

Both of Kirito’s eyes behind his long bangs shone brightly.

The left hand wrapped behind the black leather coat became hazy and disappeared.

KIAaan!! The high-pitched crashing sound. The blinding spark. Then the searing heat sensation.

The mid-air kick was repelled, then Haruyuki slapped down to the ground due to the returning momentum. He understood what had happened at that point.

In Kirito’s left hand, which was still on his knee, raised high with the bright white shining like cat’s eye, was a second sword.

The swordsman dressed in black stood up while still swaying, in both of his hands were the white and black long swords moving in an arc——

With a JyaKiiin!, Both hands let out the clear sound.



* * *

I must admit.

I just had witnessed the opponent, Silver Crow’s, endless power.

That name was so suitable with its meaning, the avatar’s potential was mostly based on its flying ability. In other word, in ALO, it was what allowed me to press my advantage over the air raid ability specialists, Sylphs, in the aerial combat.

If that was the case, I would like to settle this battle with a mid-air combat. However, now my avatar isn’t the Spriggan Kirito in ALO, but the SAO’s Dual Blades Kirito. There were no wings on my back, and of course I couldn’t fly.

In that case, if I don’t squeeze all I have to use in this fight, there would be no chance of winning.

Thoughts about this battle being the result from the abnormality of the quantum circuit had disappeared from my mind. My whole body was wrapped around with the tension I’ve tasted dueling with truly formidable foes.

It had been one and a half years since feeling the trustworthy weight of the Elucidator in my right hand, and the Dark Repulser in my left. I slowly stood and stared wordlessly to the silvery white avatar.

The pale sparks scattered all over the deep wounds at its chest and left foot, around forty percent of its HP bar remained. Thin smoke smoldered from the right shoulder, my bar had a similar amount.

However, there were still some tricks under the sleeves on both sides, the victor shall be decided by the following clash.

The wings on the back of Silver Crow stretched wide.


* * *

Watching the mild silhouette of «Kirito», who was carrying two swords in standing position, Haruyuki finally realized the true identity of the pressure he felt since the beginning of the battle.

It was similar.

To the pressure from the Black King, «Black Lotus».

More than the form of both swords, or wearing color on the whole body, the most similarity was the «Immeasurable».

Truthfully, Haruyuki almost never watched KuroyukiHime fighting at her full power. From his memories, once conducted in the unlimited neutral field, in the battle against the similarly level 9 Yellow King, that time had left him with the impression that both sides still had spare energy left.

That feeling of bottomless strength. If this person had become seriously serious, just what kind of fury would be unleashed?

The same thing could be felt here, what this Burst Linker Kirito had behind his back.

——What if this guy really is as strong as KuroyukiHime-senpai, I won’t have any chance to win.

Haruyuki’s mind was so determined.

But why was the inside of his chest armor full of wounds burning hot? It wouldn’t cool down at all. Far from that, it even blazed more and more, sending heat to the tip of his limbs.

I want to fight. Burn all of Silver Crow and then all of Arita Haruyuki to the exhausting limit, I want to beat this strong foe.

Recalling the moment when the slowly walking figure of the dual blades swordsman caused him to unintentionally shout Burst Out in fear, a subtle smile floated under the silver mask.

It might seemed like the difference in numerical potential of avatars was big, but he was bad at manipulating his consciousness efficiently. Kirito was one step ahead in the ability to analyse situation and ability to react. Even though it was just their first meeting, Haruyuki had ended up behind on everything.

In that case, the only way was to bet on the cornerstone of his humble self-confidence, his «Speed».

Believe in the wings on the back, produced from the craving for speed. Concentrate.

“……Cross it. Go beyond it.”

Just as he murmured, the hue of his field of vision had shifted slightly.

The background noise disappeared, and the movement of the sparks drifting in the air became gradually slower.

However, he didn’t sense these changes, as all of Haruyuki’s spirit was focused on his dual bladed opponent.


* * *

«Silver Crow»’s spirit’s state had changed, I felt that fact.

Probably, the opponent also determined this as the climax of the battle. The wings on the back opened wide, but he didn’t take off, just slowly lowering his waist and setting up both his hands, a natural posture to receive my attack.

Betting everything on the line, where all hope was placed.

I finally noticed I made a blurred thin smile on my mouth.

I really longed for this kind of battle. I might have been in many serious battles in ALO or GGO, and even have trouble surviving in a few of those, but up until now there was never a time I tasted the pain from the sense of tension before.

It was really strange. I wasn’t sure why Silver Crow and I were fighting in the first place. It was only the experimental machine’s troubles that had led to the accidental encounter with him but——

……No.

That is why, how to say it? The battle wasn’t in the well known game, and everything was wrapped under mysterious circumstances, causing me to feel excited.

It wasn’t just that. Carrying the [KIRITO] name tag, holding my beloved swords in both hands, being half hearted was not allowed.

“……From here on, you’d better go all out.”

I uttered in a low whisper——

My right foot made a big step forward, readying the sword skill motion.

Both swords were bathed in a vivid orange light.

At the next moment, I started a long distance charge, aiming at Silver Crow like a bullet fired from a cannon.

Dual blades rush sword skill, «Double Circular».


* * *

The shape of Kirito, who was controlling the trajectory of the twin shining swords which penetrated the depth of the darkness, like a flame from a fire dragon.

He kicked his fear of wanting to flee to the sky away, Haruyuki just waited.

His consciousness had been geared up to the limit, but it all happened in just the blink of an eye.

In front of Haruyuki, Kirito’s body rotated upward. The black sword in his right hand pulled the helix of the flame from below and slashed straight up furiously.

The point of the sword split Haruyuki’s left hand’s armor open and bounced it upwards.

Silver Crow’s wrist armor possessed the highest strength of the entire body. Despite that, the sword ripped the arm apart in the middle, the pretty sparks from the slash wound flowed into the night sky.

“Ku……!”

Haruyuki leaked a voice that came from his throat through his mouth, but the lethal attack would be the following strike.

Following right behind the slashing trail remaining in mid-air, the white sword in Kirito’s left hand thrust in a straight line. The tip was aimed with fearful accuracy at his neck, it was much faster than the attacks from any previous confrontation with Burst Linkers —— be it bullets or laser.

Haruyuki’s aim was to catch hold of that blade.

However, he couldn’t see any possibility of success at all. Even avoiding it wasn’t allowed, it would be accurate to say it was an attack at the speed of god.

Therefore, Haruyuki decided to spread his palm, at the risk of losing his right hand —— used the center of his palm to catch the tip of the sword.

He felt all the resistance of the sword piercing his hand, but continued stretching. The speed of the thrust dropped just slightly, however, it gave Haruyuki a moment of opportunity to twist his neck away. The weak vibration transmitted from the right side of his neck, the blade deeply cut there and split out at the back.

Stamina gauge is, ten percent remaining.

This bet is——

My win!!

As his consciousness shouted, Haruyuki used his right palm which was penetrated by the sword to grab Kirito’s left hand.

“U……oooo!!”

Yelling, both feet kicked the ground, both wings slapped the air, Haruyuki’s fully charged special move gauge was burnt to exhaustion to let him fly into the night sky.

In the midst of full acceleration, he turned his body around. The momentum of inertia was still positive, he then threw Kirito’s body above down with all his might.

The sword was extracted from the palm, along with a thin line of sparks. Without the violently built up momentum, the dual blades swordsman without wings was no longer ascending.

In that situation, what surprised him was, there was no sign of struggle from the swordsman at all. His limbs weren’t twirling, both hands and feet were spread out, trying to control his posture.

However——

Once this happened, there was nothing he could do.

Most Burst Linkers might not be aware of the basic rule governing physical attacks, which was the reaction to the action.

Be it a punch or kick, sword or blunt weapon, the foot must be firmly planted, without a ground of mass to place a foot onto, power wouldn’t arise. This was the reason melee attacks were weak in the «Ice and Snow» stage, where the ground under the feet was abnormally slippery.

Then in mid-air, there was no ground.

Even if Kirito swings the sword, the blade will not have that formidable power anymore.

On the other hand, Haruyuki could use driving force from the wings to kick the air. So even if both strike each other, he should be able to do a lot more damage.

“Now…………”

Losing the ascending momentum, staring at Kirito’s silhouette once it reached the topmost point, Haruyuki yelled.

“Is the endddddddddd!!”

Douuu, the sound of air rang in the ears.

He put his right foot as the pivot point for the rushing momentum, and shot off a long ranged roundhouse kick.

Kirito tried to intercept it using his left sword, however his defence was abruptly bounced back with a high-pitched sound, the kicked pierced deeply into his flank.

Haruyuki then dashed after the black dressed figure which flowed down through the air like a bullet. His next attack was deflected by the crossing hands, he then headbutt using his helmet. Along with a heavy impact, it violently hit the center of Kirito’s chest.

At this point, the stamina gauge of both sides had ten percent remaining.

The aerial gauge had less remaining. But it was just enough to spend on the next decisive attack.

Exerting as much power as possible in his right fist, Haruyuki began the final rush.

At that moment——

Both Kirito’s eyes suddenly widened. Haruyuki noticed his longcoat which was streaming violently over the entire body, wrapped in a thin red aura.

The black long sword in the right hand was enveloped in a blood-like crimson light.

——Special move!

——I don’t fear it!!

Haruyuki clenched his teeth, and continued straight in. That was just a long range thrusting attack, but during mid-air with no ground to step on, with the body flowing backwards. That kind of move wouldn’t go through Silver Crow’s armor!

“U……o……!”

Haruyuki roared. In front of his vision,

Kirito’s body turned around.

Giiiin! With a loud jet engine-like sound, the tremendous power could be felt vividly from the straight thrusting move fired from the right hand, brightly penetrating the night sky.

——Approaching Haruyuki, in exactly the opposite direction.

“Wh…………”

Kirito’s body received reaction from the strong thrusting attack and retorted ferociously towards a gasping Haruyuki.

The sword in his left hand glazed the glistening pallid crescent moon in Haruyuki’s vision——

Cut into the center of the chest. Haruyuki could feel both hot and cold at the same time where the point of the sword touched.

————What’s with this guy.

All the remaining special gauge was used not on the attack but to get the driving force for a single moment.

Admiration crossed his mind. But at the same time, Haruyuki’s consciousness attempted a final counterattack.

The right fist pushed straight across the sword trail. But the reach wasn’t enough. He then reflexively stretching his fingertips, making the shape of a hand-knife. The sharp fingers lined up, glistening white like a sword.

————Reach it!! At least, I’ll convey my final struggle until the end!!

The white sword pierced through Silver Crow’s chest.

Silvery fingertips touched Kirito’s coat.

At that moment, Kirito’s avatar soundlessly changed into white light particles.

The sword which lost its substance went past Haruyuki’s body, Haruyuki’s right hand also passed through Kirito’s body.

Both of them made contact in mid-air, the bodies blended together.

In the passing moment, Haruyuki felt a sound within his head. A soft, yet dignified, and comfortable voice resounded.

『It was a good duel. Someday —— let’s fight again.』

Then, the mysterious Burst Linker «Kirito» body vanished from the imagination field.

In Haruyuki’s center of vision, for the first time he sees, the system message [DISCONNECTION] blinking.


* * *

“……iichan. Onii-chan!”

I raised my gaze to the source of the voice, on the other side of the table, from the sharp lips of Suguha.

“Ah, s-sorry. What was it again?”

“Since just now that your hand hasn’t moved much at all, isn’t the food good? That was what I asked!”

To Suguha who made a sully look once more, I quickly shook my head.

“T-That’s not it. It’s delicious, this oden.”

I filled my large open mouth with a potato, and showed a nodding gesture, but Suguha’s mood wasn’t getting better.

“……This isn’t oden though, it’s Pot-au-feu.”

——Pot-au-feu with whole eggs only, huh, of course that thought didn’t leave my mouth. I quickly emptied the plate and asked for a refill, trying to settle the mood.

Our mother was late as usual, so today’s dinner was just me and Suguha. At that point I went back into silence, causing the table to be quiet again. But while eating seconds of the french-style oden, my thoughts were pulled back to the experience of the strange incident which occurred this afternoon once more.

It was about four hours ago, at the mysterious battle game field, the serious battle with the unknown avatar «Silver Crow» had unfolded, but regrettably just before the result would be decided, my connection was cut off.

I told Higa Takeru about what happened after jumping out of the experimental machine.

However, Higa had a doubtful face about the fact, so I connected back into that game, this time for the exchanging of information rather than sword and fist.

What I saw in the second Dive was —— as described in the beginning, just a scene of a lovely forest. There was no stamina gauge nor time count on the field of vision, the battle opponent also wasn’t present. After we took the data as planned, Higa and the other staff also Dived just in case, but no one saw the mysterious human shadow at all.

So, the quantum circuit of the experimental machine was somehow «Fixed». It could be said that the machine was thoroughly satisfied from my battle with Crow……

That battle was probably just a dream I had from FullDiving in the fourth generation machine for the first time. And for now, the part-time job was over, Higa told me that just as I was about to leave the laboratory.

However, I couldn’t believe such explanation, from the Silver Crow’s splendid movements, the flame of fighting spirit burning at an ultra-high temperature, to the duel which was like to burn each other down, it couldn’t be just a dream.

“What are you thinking of for a while now?”

I woke up from my thoughts after hearing Suguha’s voice.

So as not to offend her again, and also to get her involved in what was in my mind, I used my fork to pick a Vienna into my mouth, and said,

“Hmm…… Today, I dueled with an amazing opponent. But due to circuit irregularity, I can’t say I won……”

“Heh? Onii-chan’s battle with an unknown player ended up in a draw? Does such a person exist?”

Attracted to my story, Suguha’s body leaned forward. Apparently she thought it had happened in ALO, I left it that way in order to keep the contract I made to not disclose information about the experimental machine.

“How to say it…… Amazing, naturally flying. It was like seeing a real voluntary flight.”

“……? What do you mean?”

Suguha tilted her head, while still holding her fork.

“Well, for the voluntary flight in ALO, you really don’t just use thoughts to control the wings, it actually requires the use of shoulder blade movement too. During acceleration would be like this……”

I pulled both arms backward, causing both shoulder blades to get closer.

“Then, during deceleration.”

This time the arms was stretched out in front, the gap between shoulder blades opened wider.

“With experience, the actual movement can be minimized, but I don’t mean it can be completely eliminated. That’s why it interfered with the attack during the air raid.”

Suguha gave a big nod at my words.

“That’s right. When swinging the sword, stretching the arm cannot be avoided and at the same time, it acts as a brake command to the wings too. The attack which completely kills the momentum of a full speed flight, only the lance type weapon is an exception due to its stance being based on the waist. But that can’t be helped anyway, because humans don’t have real wings, so we have to substitute it with some part of the body.”

“Yeah…… But that guy could move his limbs without causing any conflict with the wings at all. Even during the fierce full speed dash, he could still accelerate while throwing the fist forward.”

“Ehh―, something like that can’t be possible.”

I show a slight smile to Suguha who made the rounded eyes.

“Yeah, it’s not possible. Maybe it was too fast to notice…… Or he wasn’t human but a birdman so he could operate the wings separately, something like that……”

————In that world, something exceeding my understanding of a man-machine interface existed.

Yes…… Perhaps, unlike the AmuSphere which picked up the body’s movement commands from the medulla oblongata, it read the image directly from the brain, no, the consciousness.

It couldn’t be possible. Consciousness, or rather, to access such things as the soul itself.

But without thinking that way, Silver Crow’s movements couldn’t be understood.

Changing the image power, that is the human mind, into data, which was the actual power in the real word. Yes, if we think about it, hadn’t that experimental machine read my «Self-image» and created the swordsman Kirito’s avatar? In other words, Higa’s fourth generation FullDive machine communicated with the soul rather than the brain cell…… It could be said that, in that world, there’s the possibility that the Diver can pull out and use the ultimate kind of power, which is the «Mind Power».

I closed my eyes tightly once, then looked at Suguha and finally smiled.

“……W-What are you smiling for, Onii-chan?”

Towards the discomforted Sylph swordswoman, who acts like a possessed speed-holic in the sky, I said,

“By some chance, one day……no, in the surprisingly near future, we might be able to really fly. Not a pseudo-voluntary flight……but flapping the wings created by the mind.”

Suguha blinked in surprise——

Her whole face smiled cheerfully.

“Yeah, that would be great.”

I nodded in return, and bit the Vienna, my mind returned to that figure once more.

Flying across the dark night sky, the beautiful silvery white crow.


* * *

“……yuki-kun. Oi, are you listening, Haruyuki-kun?”

He lifted his face in a hurry at the call, as KuroyukiHime emitted a perilous glare on the opposite side of the round white table.

“Ah, s-s-sorry! I was just thinking about something……”

“Ho, I wonder what kind of important consideration has distracted you during this discussion with me.”

Haruyuki gulped, and drank iced latte from his paper cup to stall for time.

There were no other students in the quiet cafeteria lounge after school. But Haruyuki still looked around just in case, affirming the conversation wouldn’t be heard by anyone else, before mumbling the answer.

“Erm, well, the truth is……I had fought with a strange Burst Linker……”

Those words intentionally omitted the ‘during today’s lunch break’ part. Furthermore, the lunch break when the unidentified enemy showed up in the school’s local network, was comparable to the big «Dusk Taker Incident» which happened in spring. Actually, after that battle, all the members of Nega Nebulas must be warned immediately, but Haruyuki didn’t do so as he felt the enemy wasn’t real.

Because he felt neither maliciousness nor hostility from that battle opponent. All he could feel from him was excitement and joy. Despite waging a fierce battle, Haruyuki was left with some sort of freshness in his mind.

Maybe he won’t show up again.

While he still didn’t know why he was so convinced about that, Haruyuki started speaking piece by piece.

“…………It was weird, but he was amazing. His weapons were two swords……Which he could swing as if they were weightless, I was almost unable to track his special moves.”

“Two……swords.”

KuroyukiHime furrowed her small eyebrows while murmuring to herself. But she stared blankly at Haruyuki then immediately returned to her normal facial expression while encouraging him to continue.

“No, there’s nothing. Then? Did you win?”

“Ah, well……he was disconnected just before the conclusion……but, if it continued, I am sure I would lose. My final attack probably couldn’t reach him.”

“Ho. Being able to defeat you in close combat. What’s the color and level of that person?”

Haruyuki shook his head with a troubled face to KuroyukiHime’s question.

“About that, either it was a system error or he used some kind of a filter…… color name and level were both not shown. Just the color of his appearance was, well……, really black.”

Towards the «Black King» who narrowed her eyes again, Haruyuki didn’t think too deeply into her reaction, and threw the question he had thought of during the battle at her.

“Oh, senpai. I wanted to ask this for a long time now, what are the characteristics of the «Black»?”

KuroyukiHime blinked blankly then showed a big bitter smile.

“Suddenly asking such a question…Haruyuki-kun.”

“Eh? No, erm, s-sorry!”

Haruyuki unintentionally shrank the upper part of his body, this time a smile which was like from an intelligent older sister towards her younger brother, floated on KuroyukiHime’s face.

“No, there was no need to apologize. Because, to that question, «I also do not know».”

“…………Heh?”

“That said, there will be a certain degree I’ll have to guess.”

The glass containing iced tea made a ringing sound, KuroyukiHime stared at the pale afternoon sunlight, then explained,

“The three primary colors on the upper part of the color circle…… «Neighboring Blue», «Remote Red», and «Indirect Yellow». And then there are properties in the middle «Green» and «Purple». With the exception of metal colors, almost all of the Duel Avatars are classified somewhere between those links. As the purity of the color goes higher, the characteristic purity also increases.”

Up until that point was what Haruyuki already understood. For example, his friend Cyan Pile had a fairly bright blue color which slightly tilted in the purple direction. So his initial equipment «Pile Driver» was combined with the ranged attack power.

Seeing Haruyuki nod in response, KuroyukiHime continued,

“Conversely, as the color purity lowers so does the characteristic purity. For your friend «Ash Roller», he is more like the green than the grey type. That is because he spent most of his potential into strengthening the exterior of his unique bike. At the same time the purity of his color had declined. But why an avatar’s color is darkened, while another is brightened, I still can’t give a proper explanation yet.”

“Become darker……or brighter……”

Repeatedly murmuring, Haruyuki finally understood. When an avatar’s color rapidly darkened, the destination was surely black —— the «Pure Black». And conversely, white existed, the «Pure White», when going brighter as well. It was probably very unique on both extreme ends, but he couldn’t understand clearly the reason behind the divide of both black and white being the exact opposite.

While Haruyuki twisted his neck, KuroyukiHime suddenly murmured,

“«Black» is the «Rejected Color» —— It’s what I’ve been aware of for a long time.”

“Eh……, r-rejected……?”

“Yes, refused to be dyed in any color, the color of possessing nothingness, it couldn’t go anywhere else other than that, the bottom of the deep well of color……”

With those desolate words, KuroyukiHime shook her head before Haruyuki could speak. Then her light colored lips showed a faint smile.

“But……, just but. Maybe it isn’t really that way, recently I started to think like that, thus……”

Suddenly she moved her delicate right hand over the luxurious table, and grabbed hold of Haruyuki’s left hand, causing him to be taken aback.

“……Because you had held my hand many times. This me who couldn’t interact with other people, always reminding me.”

Haruyuki’s face was red to his ears from the unusually gentle pupils gazing at him, he gripped her cold hand in return and would not let go. His heart throbbing, but unable to say a decent line, he just grabbed her hand as if trying to pass his earnest feelings from his heart with the touch of the fingers.

——Black is absolutely not the rejected color. Because it was you, without a doubt, who stretched her hand to me who was alone in the bottom of the well, who gently wrapped and healed my wounds.

——That’s right, that guy was the same.

——That black swordsman was also had a similar tranquility. Receiving everything, both giving great support and strength.

Haruyuki felt the «Kirito» inside his mind was pushing his back, he timidly lifted his face, and somehow managed to speak.

“Erm……, well, black objects don’t reflect any light, causing it to looked black, it is what I learned in class. So……so, it surely isn’t the lonely color. I think it’s the warmest color, more than any other color.”

KuroyukiHime widened her eyes for a moment—— then,

A beautiful smile floated on her face like a blooming lotus bud.

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