Declaration

As Haru chooses not to meddle with the backdoor to avoid detection, he finds Kuroyukihime starting to act strangely around him when he mentions how close he had gotten to Chiyuri. When Haru is interviewed by a pair of gossip club students, they hint that Kuroyukihime legitimately likes him, which he refuses to believe. As Kuroyukihime and Haru walk together that day, Haru resides himself to just being a pawn, prompting a slap from her. Just then, an out of control car heads straight towards Haru and Kuroyukihime, prompting them to go into the Accel World. As Kuroyukihime confesses to Haru that she is love with him, she uses a powerful move which causes her Brain Burst to drop to lower levels, allowing her to manipulate her body in the Accel World to push Haru out of the way of the car, leading to only her being hit. As Kuroyukihime is taken into intensive care, Haru comes to realise that if she was to be attacked by a Burst Linker now, she would be completely vulnerable, and so chooses to stay the night. As the morning comes, Haru spots Takumu coming into the hospital and comes to realise that he is the true Cyan Pile. With just a split second to act, Haru rushes to challenge Takumu to a Brain Burst match before he can challenge Kuroyukihime.