Chapter - 1

On a piece of reclaimed coastal land far from the center of Osaka stood a collection of unpopulated buildings. During a period of urban development some decades ago, this area was heavily built up, but the essential attraction of enterprises was unsuccessful and tenants did not move in. As a result, any new development was abandoned, with those that had been built left as relics of the failure.

Yet, that 'ghost town' where not a soul would dwell normally was brimming with life, filled with rows of stalls and the heavenward-reaching clamor of people gathered from all over the Japanese Isles.

Why were these people gathered there? There was only one reason. Two days from now―the annual student knight event, the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, would be held in this ghost town's Bay Dome.

In previous years, the Festival always garnered more of the public eye than the professional mage-knight combat league, the King of Knights. Of course, this meant that in those years the degree of competition for tickets and nearby accommodation was extremely high. But with the uproar surrounding Akatsuki Academy that had arisen from its attack on Hagun Academy, that level of scrutiny only increased this year. As a result, the aforementioned competition increased manifold. People from inside and outside the country of all walks of life scrambled to reach the site, surrounding it with an anomalously feverish atmosphere two days before the event even began. Those who arrived at the location early were not limited to audience members. Many of those participating in the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival had also gathered on-site well before the opening ceremony, and were resting at the competitors' provided living quarters.

The one carrying the flag of Hagun Academy as the captain of its representatives, the "Worst One" Kurogane Ikki, was one of them.

"Hmm… somehow this feels really weird."

In an chic and elegantly furnished room of a fine hotel, Ikki Kurogane stood in deep thought before an antique-style full-length mirror. His attire was not his usual uniform; instead, he was dressed up stylishly from top to toe in a navy blue tuxedo and a bow tie of the same color, and with a lustrous sheen on his leather shoes.

Of course, dressing up was not one of Ikki's interests. He was wearing attire like this for a reason. The League's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival steering committee had arranged for a buffet-style party to be held today, two days before the opening ceremony, for those participants who had arrived early. It was for his attendance at this function that he was presently selecting a set of formal-wear. However, he was having a rough time.

I can't wear my normal clothes at an occasion like this, but….

Being in no way used to formal dress, he could not find one that suited him among the suits loaned to him by the management. In fact, Ikki thought, they were so ill-suited to him that it was laughable.

I wonder if the problem is my spiky hair.

Thinking thus, he grabbed a comb and parted his usually hairstyle to one side, then examined the changes in the mirror.

"Ah, that looks more fitting than before―"

But this would only last an instant. The hair he had just combed down sprang back into their original place with a *bing!*, as if yelling "Who would listen to what you have to say? I'll do what I like!"

"These stubborn things."

Didn't they resemble a certain someone, he wondered? While mumbling harshly, Ikki took off the tuxedo.

For now, we should consider this one unsatisfactory.

At first, he had thought that little could go wrong in choosing the most high-class suit, but the fit turned out to be so bad that even though wearing it would not embarrass him as far as etiquette was concerned, he could not accept it personally. So after some fretting―

"After all, I guess this one is the best…."

Ikki took up a light grey three-piece suit from among the sets he had borrowed. It was a safe choice, but that couldn't be helped―after all, he possessed neither the sense nor the ability to flaunt his character through fashion. And in any case, there was only a little time left before the party would start.

Thus, Ikki quickly put on the three-piece. Just at that moment―

"Onii-sama. Is it alright to come in?"

―there came a knock on his door, and with it the voice of his sister and fellow Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival representative, Shizuku Kurogane. He must have taken too long to dress, for her to have gotten worried and come over to see him.

Thinking this, and feeling ashamed at having taken longer to prepare than a girl like Shizuku, Ikki examined himself in the mirror again in response to her request. His white shirt was not completely buttoned up, exposing his chest and abdomen, though his trousers were at least on properly. If the other party was female, this would usually be a sight he was hesitant to show, but since it was his blood-related younger sister Shizuku, it should be fine. Having judged so―

"Ah, sorry. I'll be ready soon, so it's okay to come in."

"Excuse me."

The door opened even as the words were spoken, and the silver-haired girl, Shizuku, stepped inside the room―

"Onii-sama, I'm read…y―"

―and stopped dead mid-sentence, as well as in her tracks at the entrance to the room. Upon seeing Ikki's state of dress, her green eyes widened with shock. Wondering what might have surprised her so for a moment, Ikki's attention was quickly turned elsewhere―namely, to Shizuku's attire.

Wow, that's amazing.

Shizuku was wearing a dress she too had been loaned to attend the party as a representative, a classy black bustier adorned with intricate flower-petal frills that seemed to absorb the light. Her neckline and shoulders were highly exposed, creating a stark contrast between the dark dress and her snow-white skin. Such attire would normally be too adult for Shizuku's young looks, but a tasteful application of makeup, likely masterminded by none other than her friend and roommate Nagi Arisuin, had caused her to seem several times more mature than usual, thus eliminating any sense of incongruity. It was a beautiful visage that his sister donned at this moment, one befitting of a lady, and Ikki praised it straightforwardly.

"This might be trite… but you look really beautiful, Shizuku."

"…Hau."

At that instant, Shizuku turned a deep crimson and fell backwards, a spray of blood spurting forth from her nose.

"Shi-Shizuku!?"

"Eek! Oh dear!"

Rushing in from where he had probably been waiting outside, Arisuin supported the falling Shizuku with his right hand, while in his left he held a handkerchief to her nose to prevent the blood from dripping onto her dress.

"Wh-What happened, Shizuku? Are you alright?"

Shocked by his sister's odd state, Ikki tried to get closer, but―

"Ah, aa, ah―"

―even as he did so, Shizuku quivered, her face and the handkerchief pressing on nose becoming all the redder.

It could not be helped. Shizuku Kurogane loved her brother Ikki as a woman would. To see the man she could not help but love deeply tell her "you're beautiful" with his chest exposed in a disheveled manner was honestly too much for her. Erotic dress did not differentiate between genders. Ikki, not realizing any of this himself, drew even closer―

"Hey Ikki, please don't get any closer! Button up your shirt first!"

―only to be stopped by Arisuin, who unlike him had immediately understood Shizuku's feelings.

"Eh, eh!?"

"Hurry! Her dress is about to get bloodied!"

"Ah, um―okay, I got it!"

Ikki failed to understand what he might have done wrong, but quickly got dressed in response to Arisuin's fierce scolding. Thanks to that, Shizuku was able to calm down somehow.

"Haa… haa… I am truly sorry for letting you see something unsightly. But Onii-sama… you were a bit too sexy just now."

"Uh, I don't really understand, but sorry. I still haven't decided what I should wear…."

"I think you look great in this suit. Is it unsatisfactory?"

"O-Oh, really? I was worried that I look like a child masquerading as an adult, though."

"It's not like that at all. Ikki's shoulders are well-formed from training, so this suit fits you fine."

Arisuin also piped up in praise from behind Shizuku. With his excellent height and figure, Arisuin looked perfect in a suit, just like a cabaret host. Even though Ikki had never met a host, Arisuin seemed the very image of one, so Ikki could not truly be pleased even when receiving such praise from him. More precisely, could this friend who was much taller really be one year Ikki's junior? Considering that his background was fabricated, Arisuin might even be older. Pondering such things in his heart, Ikki pointed at Arisuin's attire and inquired―

"Are you attending the party too?"

"How could that be?"

Arisuin shook his head while answering in the negative.

"I'm no longer a representative. But I'm going with Kagamin to the journalists' party after this."

"You've totally become Kusakabe-san's errand boy, huh?"

"It can't be helped, since I owe her a favor."

Arisuin shrugged at Shizuku's words. The "favor" he mentioned referred to the matter of Akatsuki Academy's attack on Hagun Academy only shortly before. Arisuin had originally been one of the enemies, a spy for Akatsuki, especially with regards to Kagami who had previously received an illusionary form strike directly from him. As atonement, he was now being put to hard labor at her right hand as part of the Hagun Academy newspaper club.

All the same, Ikki believed that this was nice of Kagami. Akatsuki had only utilized illusionary form during their attack on Hagun Academy, although this was because their sponsor and man behind the scene, Prime Minister Tsukikage, did not wish to harm his own citizens. But though the body was unharmed, the wound of the heart known as fear would not be easily healed. Currently, the Hagure sisters had lost the will to fight and had thus relinquished their positions as representatives, while Touka Toudou and Utakata Misogi had yet to awaken from the coma-like state they entered after having been struck by a single blow from the Sword Emperor of Wind. Arisuin understood that this unconsciousness had been brought about by extreme exhaustion, and was not life-threatening, but due to his involvement and his upbringing that had led him to have an overly low self-concept, he nonetheless held himself responsible.

It was for the sake of preventing him from wallowing in such thoughts that Kagami used the pretext of repayment to order him around. Moreover, Arisuin had a keen eye for the subtleties of the heart. He had probably noticed and understood Kagami's intentions. Despite that, he continued to 'repay' her while pretending not to know.

I guess Alice honestly wants Kagami-san to depend on him.

So Ikki thought. If they could little by little regain the relationship they had before, that would be great. At that moment, the room's wall-clock began to resound with a sonorous *dong*, *dong*, announcing the arrival of six o'clock in the evening―and thus the time of the party.

"Aah, so it's already this late? Let's go then, Shizuku."

"Yes, Onii-sama."

"Ah. Wait a moment, you two."

Ikki, having already lined up with Shizuku and gotten ready to leave for the party, was stopped by Arisuin. Even as he wondered what was going on, Arisuin snapped a shot of the two of them with the camera on his student datapad.

"A memento for this special occasion where both of you are so well-dressed."

As he said this, Arisuin quickly worked at his datapad, sending the photo to both of them. Shizuku's cheeks colored red with joy upon seeing the photo.

"Waa… thank you, Alice. I will treasure this all my life!"

…All her life, huh…?

Ikki on the other hand felt dispirited. In the end, he still looked out of place in such formal wear, and standing next to Shizuku who wore that look so well he appeared more ludicrous still. It might become a nice memento once he became an adult, though. While he was dwelling on such complicated feelings, however―

I don't think Akatsuki will attend the party, but be careful for the time being.

"Thanks. I'll take this."

Expressing his thanks for the photo as well as the message that had come with it, Ikki headed out to the party.