Kuroyukihime

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**Kuroyukihime** (黒雪姫, *Kuroyukihime*?) is one of the main characters in the *Accel World* series. She is currently the leader of the Black Legion, Nega Nebulus. She was formerly known as the **Black King** (黒王, *Kuroō*?), but she was driven into hiding after killing the former "Red King." Her biggest ambition is to reach level 10 and meet the creator of the Brain Burst game, and to accomplish that goal, she has to defeat five other level 9 users who happen to be "The Six Kings of Pure Color", the leaders of the six most powerful factions in Brain Burst. Kuroyukihime is also Haruyuki's Burst Linker parent.

## Personality

Kuroyukihime has virtuous tranquility and patience, which is perhaps granted from her love to drink tea, even in unfitting locations such as the classroom. Like any human, however, she can sometimes be rude, angry, or even jealous when girls flirt with Haruyuki. She also has a habit with hypnotizing wordplay which others find to be an annoyance. She shows wisdom and experience, knowing details about the "Brain Burst" game due to her time as the "Black King". Brain Burst is not her only area of expertise, however, showing proficiency with the infrastructure of networks and deducting information, even knowing the steps undertaken by the networks that have been used.

Kuroyukihime boasts of herself, believing to be a bright individual. During her time as the "Black King", she killed the previous "Red King" and also tried to kill the other members of the "The Six Kings of Pure Color" in order to reach level 10 and find out who the creator of the Brain Burst game is. When she doesn't know someone's name, she will address them as "boy" or "girl", as she did with Haruyuki when the two first met and for a time afterward. She seems to be a hardcore gamer, especially simulation games, as she defeated Haru at his favorite game of squash by achieving more points than him. however, she later admitted to using Brain Burst to beat his score. She also loves Haruyuki, and their friendship grows to the point where she acts as his spouse. However, even when they show romantic feelings towards each other, they become serious when fighting against others or giving each other information.

## Background

Kuroyukihime is a mysterious and popular student who also happens to be the Student Council Vice-President at Umesato Junior High School. Her Brain Burst Avatar is **Black Lotus** (ブラック・ロータス, *Burakku Rōtasu*?), in which she was a burst linker only when she was eight years old. She formerly was the "Black King" but was driven into hiding after killing the previous Red King while she tried to defeat all other kings to reach level 10 and meet the person who created the game. She values Haru as more than a subordinate and is often the voice of reason to him when he is willing to go to extremes to protect her. Prior to her hospitalization, she confesses to Haru that she fell in love with him.

## Appearance

 File:Kuroyukihime with ponytail.PNG

Holding true to being "the most beautiful girl in school," Kuroyokihime is considered to be a very attractive young girl that sports a slender figure, large hazel eyes, and long black hair. Her hair usually has two strands of hair extended from the top of her brow, resembling the antenna of a butterfly. When Kuroyukihime was hospitalized, she had her hair in a ponytail. Her wardrobe is usually her school uniform consisting of black tights, a dark green skirt with a brown trim, a navy blue blazer, and a light blue bow tie. As she moves to her final year at school, her uniform alters to a red bow tie with all else being the same. It is extremely rare to see Kuroyukihime in casual clothing. It is somehow known that she prefers to wear black colored clothes.

## Plot Outline

### Return of the Black Snow Princess Arc

Kuroyukihime is first seen in her avatar in the school's network where Haru first notices her appearance. She later meets Haru for the first time after she beat his score in his squash game with an LVL. 166. She then asks him if he would like to accelerate to the next level. She goes on saying if he wanted to, then he is to come to the lounge during lunchtime and then leaves. After Haru appears, Kuroyukihime gives him the permission to come sit with her. Kuroyukihime signals Haru to have the seat in front of her. She then pulls out a cable for a Direct Wired Connection between her and Haru, surprising everybody in the lounge. Haru is surprised by this and questions her on why she wants to do this as wired connections are for lovers. However, she continues on while talking through mental communications to keep their conversation private. Kuroyukihime then states that she is sending Haru a program called Brain Burst to his Neuro Linker.

After hearing everything she said, Haru decides to accept the program and starts installing it. As it is installing, Haru asks Kuroyukihime as to what exactly is Brain Burst. She then tells him that she will answer all of his questions only if the program successfully installs. As soon as it has successfully installed into Haru's Neuro Linker, Araya and his gang appear in the lounge since they were looking for him for the food that he was supposed to give. Kuroyukihime interrupts their conversation and tempts Araya into hitting Haru, but before he could, she shouted to Haru to use the Burst Link command to which he did.

After accelerating, Kuroyukihime goes on explaining the details about the Brain Burst program and how acceleration works. Afterward, she conceives a plan to have Araya expelled by telling Haru to let Araya hit him and have it all recorded on the school's camera. They return to normal speed, and Haru is struck by Araya and is flown towards Kuroyukihime, injuring her as well. Araya and his gang are then taken into custody. Before leaving, she tells Haru to make sure he doesn't turn on his Neuro Linker until tomorrow to ensure that he doesn't connect to the global net.

Haru returns to Kuroyukihime the following day, telling her that he lost his first duel to which she replied that it is his fault as she told him not to connect. However, they both accelerate in order for her to fully explain the details on how the duels and avatars work in Brain Burst. When they finished, Megumi and the other students asked what the relationship was between the two. Kuroyukihime simply stated that she was rejected by him to which everyone was shocked. Leaving the school, Kuroyukihime decides that Haru is ready and pushes him outside the school's network. Haru once again fights against Ash Roller where Kuroyukihime is watching everything from the sidelines. After the match is over, she congratulates him but is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Chiyu who has decided to confront her in order to get answers.

### Return of the Black Snow Princess (Elements Side Story) Arc

Return of the Black Snow Princess – Takumu met with Kuroyukihime, who accelerated, challenging Takumu to a duel, she confronted him about his intention to quit kendo and eventually uninstall Brain Burst, Kuroyukihime taught Takumu to stop feeling guilty and trust his friends more.

### Dusk Robber (Elements Side Story) Arc

In Okinawa, Kuroyukihime was on her school trip with her friend Megumi. When the two went souvenir shopping for each other, Kuroyukihime was approached by two local Burst Linkers, Ruka Asato and Itosu Mana, who asked her to help their master fight against an enemy that is plaguing their Accel World community. Their discussion caused Kuroyukihime to lose track of time and forget to buy Megumi a present, which upset Megumi. Kuroyukihime apologized to Megumi by telling her that, since she discovered Brain Burst seven years ago, she is the one who kept her tied to the real world. The next day, Kuroyukihime entered the Accelerated World with Ruka and Itosu to meet up with their master, who turned out to be an old acquaintance of Kuroyukihime's, Crimson Kingbolt.

Kuroyukihime was reunited with Crimson Kingbolt, aka "Crikin", a Burst Linker who moved from Tokyo to Okinawa after his parents divorced. They were then surprised by the mysterious threat, revealed to be a Burst Linker named Sulfur Pot, who had the power to tame "enemies". When it is mentioned that Sulfur Pot didn't appear on the challenge list, Kuroyukihime realizes that he's from Tokyo, using a backdoor program to dive into Okinawa. After defeating Sulfur Pot, Crimson Kingbolt then gave Kuroyukihime the Enhanced Armament that Sulfur Pot used to control the enemy, Mystical Reins, figuring she may use it one day. As Kuroyukihime departs Okinawa, Ruka and Mana see her off. Kingbolt then sends her message informing her that the trail on Sulfur Pot has gone cold. Kuroyukihime can then only wonder about the mysterious faction Sulfur Pot belongs to.

## Avatar

Kuroyukihime is known to have an exquisite, original virtual character design. Her virtual character resembles that of a butterfly and has been dressed in ballet shoes. The overall look is black and while other parts have red or purple. Her avatar also carries an umbrella. This virtual character is the one she commonly uses whenever she has contact with other people and discusses with them about things that are usually happening around school, or she also uses it to demonstrate the world of acceleration, on how they can use it, or on how they can't use it. This avatar is known as black swallowtail butterfly.

### Black Lotus

 File:Black Lotus.PNG
Her "Burst Brain" character "Black Lotus" (ブラック・ロータス, *Burakku Rōtasu*?) was once known as the **Black King** (黒王, *Kuroō*?) but after she killed the Red King, she went into hiding. Black Lotus was known as a fearsome model before and after what happened to the Red King. However, she rarely reveals her Black Lotus form. The form of Black Lotus is more technical and robotic than her virtual character. It seems that she can only soar in a short length in the air instead of flying. The character model's color is black and purple. Black Lotus is unique since her limbs are blades instead.

### Abilities

As Black Lotus, her limbs acts as sharp blades capable of cutting through almost any parts of the body upon contact, making her a deadly opponent in close-range combats as her dance is described as "black death waterlily", as well as being immune to grappling and restraining skills such as Static Pressure. Outside of her knowledge of the Brain Burst program and her virtual network knowledge, she has been shown to be a great strategist.

## Other Appearances

### Video games appearances

#### Accel World Stage 01: Awakening of the Silver Wings

*Main article: Accel World Stage 01: Awakening of the Silver Wings*
Kuroyukihime is going to appear in the upcoming game named *Accel World Stage 01: Awakening of the Silver Wings* (アクセル・ワールド ー銀翼の覚醒ー, *Accel World -Ginyoku no Kakusei-*?) for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable. It only contains the same plot from the anime and light novel. She has only been seen at the beginning of the game, but the end is unknown.

### Video game crossovers and cross-promotions

#### Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax

***'Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax*** – a 2D fighting game involving numerous Dengeki Bunko properties. Kuroyukihime is available as a main playable character, while Arita Haruyuki is listed as a support character option. This game has been released in North America and Europe in 2015.

#### Sword Art Online: Lost Song

***Sword Art Online: Lost Song*** – an action RPG based on the *Sword Art Online* franchise. The "Weapons Instrumentalist" game update included Kuroyukihime as a guest character.

## Trivia

* Her real name is Kuroba Sayuki, as revealed in light novel volume 26.
* Kuroyukihime are capable of programming even though not as a hardcore developer. In all applications made by her, a black swallowtail butterfly is always present, which would appear on the loading bar and it would fly away when the loading is finished. According to Haruyuki, this butterfly which worth 1 point can be caught with fast but gentle reaction. Many wonderful things will happen when he obtained 1,000 points..
* Her birthday is September 30, 2032 on her forged identity . September 30 is also the birthday of Asuna Yuuki in Sword Art Online, another light novel written by Kawahara Reki.
* According to the web version of Accel World, Chouzetsu Kasoku Burst Linker (超絶加速バーストリンカ, chōzetsu kasoku bāsutorinka, lit. Super-ultimate acceleration burst-linker), she said that her real name is 黒羽 雪子 Kuroba Yukiko. However, it might or might not be the setting of the published version.
* Kurasaki Fūko calls her "Sacchan" and Arita Haruyuki tries to address her with "Sa-" but then cuts off and calls her Senpai. Several other members of Elements also call her in a different form that all begin with "Sa-".
* Black Lotus and Black Vise is one of the two pairs of Avatars with the same color, Blood Leopard and Blood Love is the other.
* In Black Vise's case, most characters believe that it is just an alias as no one actually saw his name appear on the matching list.*[citation needed]*
* She also resembles Kirito in Sword Art Online series in which, they both prefer black clothing.

## References

1. ↑ Accel World Episode 01
2. ↑ Accel World Episode 10
3. ↑ Accel World Episode 04
4. ↑ Accel World 1 (Chapter)
5. ↑ Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax coming west this summer
6. ↑ Dengeki Online article revealing Kuroyukihime, via http://gematsu.com/2015/05/accel-world-kuroyukihime-joins-sword-art-online-lost-song
7. ↑ Accel World Light Novel Volume 11, prologue
8. ↑ Accel World Episode 09
9. ↑ Accel World Episode 24
10. ↑ EX01 OVA
11. ↑ Accel World Episode 07