A Little Bit of Lisbeth
"Hey, guys, I'm back," Lisbeth called out as she pushed open the door.
Only Keiko's voice came down the stairs. "Hi!" she heard and Liz knew her housemate was currently glued to a screen. She edged her way through the door, her arms full of the day's shopping. The entrance seemed too narrow at first but by shuffling through sideways she managed to get into the house. As she went to nudge the door shut after her, however, a loud ripping sound made her eyes roll, just as several kilos of potatoes, carrots and broccoli were now rolling across the floor of the hall. Looking at the vegetables she realised she couldn't be bothered right then.
The kitchen doorway was easier to navigate, the bags now lighter and less cumbersome. Her phone pinged in her pocket and, sighing, she put the majority of the shopping on the counter and dug it out of her jacket, clicking the side panel to light up the screen. There were a few notifications but it was an alert from the Alfheim messaging app that had caused the ping. She had guessed that it was from Asuna so the name she saw at the top made her pause.
Kirito
"Huh," she muttered. "Wonder what he wants." The group hadn't met up for a while so her only group contact had been with Keiko. She swiped through the menu, logged in to the Alfheim system and after a couple of taps her messages were displayed on the screen. Surprisingly, she had quite a few unread, one from Silica.
Walking out into the hall she called up the stairs, "Hey, you messaged me earlier?"
Keiko's voice came from her room, "Yeah, did you get ice cream?"
Liz rolled her eyes. "Well, duh."
In a flash, the smaller girl's face popped round the corner. Liz chuckled as she saw she'd tied her hand-made Pina plushie to her head. "Cool!" she beamed. She looked at the hall floor. "Did they not have a bag for the vegetables?"
Liz ignored the cheeky comment. "Dai not in?"
"Nope, he's off at basketball practice. Ice cream, quickly, my show's on!"
Liz gasped and with mock urgency dashed across the kitchen to grab a spoon, rushing back to thrust both ice cream and cutlery into Keiko's eager hands. The girl with the dragon in her hair shot off up the stairs with a "Cheers, sis!" thrown over her shoulder. Liz grinned and went back into the kitchen.
Keiko was a small, mousey girl Liz had met in Sword Art Online where she'd gone by Silica, a dragon tamer, with a cute, blue dragon named Pina. After SAO was completed the two of them had got on and eventually rented a house together with one of Liz's old friends from middle school. Though she'd grown up somewhat, Keiko was still the baby of the group and Liz loved being her new big sister.
She moved back to browsing her phone. Looking up the list she saw a couple of messages from Klein and cringed, deleting them without reading. She liked Klein but he was just a bit creepy and his messages always seemed like he was hitting on her. Tshere was another from Asuna and some general notifications from the game masters. It was the one at the top that she was interested in though.
Kirito
Liz felt that jump in her stomach again, the one she always had whenever Kirito came up. Of course, now she was back in the real world she knew he was Kazuto but then, to her, he'd always be the strong warrior Kirito who took her on her first real adventure. Her real name was Rika and yet, after two years and more, she felt more comfortable as Liz.
Liz almost missed the days of SAO. She'd started the game to see what all the fuss was about. Playing a few MMOs before had been fun and the full dive system looked interesting but all she'd wanted was a bit of a laugh. Of course all this had changed with Akihiko Kayaba's announcement, that first day in the town of beginnings.
Liz had known straight away that she was in too deep. There was no way she could help beat the game, she'd die instantly. Her skills weren't in fighting, mapping or even information. So she'd decided on blacksmithing. Well, first she'd tried running an item shop but she'd been so bored and ended up eating a lot of the food on the shelves. The weapons were exciting though and she was good at it. It felt more like she was directly helping the other players, if they were fighting with the swords that she was crafting, like she was almost there on the front lines.
And then one day she wasn't just a blacksmith making swords. The day that guy in the black coat showed up at her door and asked for the strongest sword she could make. What followed had been Liz's greatest thrill and a story she's told almost everyone. The two of them had gone hunting for a rare metal and ended up almost being dragon-food. Liz would have certainly died and been ejected from the game if she'd been alone but, thankfully, she wasn't. She can still remember how fearless and powerful Kirito had been, how he'd taken on the crystal dragon single-handed and come out victorious.
The not-so-great part of the adventure had come afterward. Liz had managed to create the finest sword she'd ever made, a real beauty, and Kirito had been thrilled. She'd put all her heart into that blade and she couldn't not say what else her heart needed. Just as she'd been about to confess to the dark cloaked stranger who'd brazenly walked into her life just how she felt, however, her friend Asuna walked in. And she saw how the two of them talked, how they looked at each other. And it crushed the blooming flower in her heart like a spiked boot on the last daisy of summer.
She'd made her excuses and left, taking refuge by her favourite bridge. The world had almost faded as she'd watched the water ripple by. It would only have taken another moment to rebuild the wall of her usual happy self in front of the hurt but she was interrupted.
"Hey, Liz."
He'd found her, climbing the tallest tower around to see her. She could tell that he'd realised how she felt but she could also see that he didn't reciprocate those feelings. Liz knew she'd never be with him but she did all she could and made him promise that she would be his exclusive blacksmith. Maybe she couldn't protect him with her arms and press her lips to his but she could shield him with her armour and kiss his enemies' hearts with her blades. They'd carried on as friends and she continued to share adventures with him, Klein, and the other girls but the matter of her heart had never surfaced again.
Liz rushed herself back to the present and pressed her thumb to the 'open' button. She frowned as the words popped up on the screen.
Hey. Can you meet me in the city park today at 4? I need to talk to you
It seemed sort of serious for Kirito. It wasn't like him to send such a vague message and then to ask her all the way across town too? Something was up. She didn't see why they couldn't have just met in Alfheim either, it would have been easier. Interesting, she thought.
Liz realised she'd been staring aimlessly at the screen so long that it had shut off to save power. She hurriedly hit the keys and sent her response.
Sure thing, I'll head over now x
The text bubble popped into the conversation. She twisted her fingers around her thumb as she waited for the circle to finish spinning. It did and then the smiling face popped up to let her know that he'd seen her message. She waited a little bit but when no response came she put her phone away again.
"Wonder what he wants," she muttered again.
She was still wondering halfway across town. It had taken a bus and half an hour but she was nearly there. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts that she'd put her headphones on but forgotten to actually play any music. They were keeping her ears warm, at least, in the chill air. It was bright and sunny but there was still a stiff breeze rolling through the city.
Such an odd message made her consider whether it was anything to do with how she felt about him. She was fairly sure he knew, and had for a while, so something would have had to have happened to make him send the message. Could she have made some remark, slipped up? No, she'd held her brave face this whole time around the two of them, not letting the hurt she felt show through. Of course, she was happy for them, they'd found each other and were in love. Only she knew she'd be happier if she was the girl that he held in his arms and kissed every night before he slept next to her.
She laughed. Maybe he finally realised that she was that girl. Oh, how that would be everything she wanted, what she'd wanted for years now. But no, the idea was laughable. He was with Asuna and the two of them were more perfect than anything. What could be much worse, she realised with dread, was if he was going to ask her to leave the group. She wracked her brains, trying to recall anything that could cause that. Nothing came to mind and she sighed with relief as she decided that it likely wasn't that.
Before she knew it she was at the gates of the park. Scanning around, she didn't see Kirito anywhere so she walked into the entrance a little more. That's when she saw him, he'd been behind a tree at first. He was sat on a bench a ways in, his back to her. The thick duffle coat he always wore was easy to spot but she'd know it was him from just the briefest glance at the back of his head. She folded her headphones into her pocket and headed over. A minute later and she was almost behind him, able to see how the breeze was slowly moving his collar. She paused and calmed down her breathing before opening her mouth to announce her presence.
"Hey."
Liz's "Hi there," stuck in her throat. Somehow he'd known it was her. As he turned around she got that rush again, tingling from her stomach to her fingers. She could see his eyes and realised they were even more beautiful than she remembered. Liz caught herself before she ended up staring at him.
"Hey Kirito," she said, and smiled back.
He half-laughed. "Come on, Rika, we're not in Alfheim at the moment. Kazuto please," he said, but she knew he wasn't serious. He turned back away from her but patted the space on the bench next to him.
Liz gently lowered herself into the seat. She suddenly realised she couldn't think of anything to say. The odd situation and Kirito's behaviour had left her totally unsure of herself. She shuffled on the wooden panels. Kirito made no sound and Liz wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to her or not.
The weird tension was killing her. "So, how are-"
"The clouds are pretty today."
Liz turned to see that he was leant back and watching the sky. Looking up herself she saw what he meant, the white giants rolling gently along in the breeze. It had died down slightly now and she was even beginning to feel warm. A particularly smooth cloud caught her gaze and she followed it past the others until it was hidden behind a building. Then suddenly the silence wasn't awkward anymore. The two of them sat there, taking in the gentle movement of the white giants, way up in the blue.
Liz looked over at Kirito and smiled. "How's Asuna?" she heard herself asking.
It was a moment before he answered. "Ah, well, that's the thing." He paused. "I'm afraid that Asuna and I aren't…. well, Asuna and I anymore." He sighed slightly.
Liz blinked. It took a moment for it to register and when it finally hit her she didn't know what to do. So she did nothing. He continued watching the clouds and she sat there with a stark expression on her face. Slowly, she turned to him and was confused when he wasn't looking as sad as she would have expected.
"Can I…. Can I ask what happened?" Liz eyebrows were still raised. Suddenly all she was thinking about was Kirito, everything around them forgotten. Bemused, was how she would have said she felt. It was just so….sudden.
"Well, it's been coming for a while, I've known it. You see," he looked down at the slats of the bench, "there was a reason that things weren't going so well for us."
"Oh?" She could tell Kirito wanted her to ask. "What is it?"
He smiled softly but continued studying the knots in the wood. "It's a bit embarrassing but I knew it wasn't going to work out with Asuna. She just ended up not being what I wanted."
Liz found this strange. Every time she'd spent time with the two of them they looked like they were always thinking about one another. "But you two seemed so perfect for each other?"
He shook his head. "Yeah, I thought so too. But there was always something in the back of my mind that I couldn't shake."
"What was it?"
"Well, a memory kept coming back to me. A memory of a girl who I once climbed the tallest tower around to see, only to find her crying by a bridge." Now he looked up at her and for the first time she felt like he was talking directly to her and not mostly to himself.
She could almost hear the gears trying to turn in her head. Today was a slow one for her. Liz blinked as she realised. Her heart jumped. "Hold on." She shook herself. "Me?" Kirito nodded at her and smiled. She blinked, "Are you sure?"
He smiled at her surprise. "Yes, Rika. You. Are you ok with that?"
Liz couldn't speak. She'd guiltily hoped this would happen for years and now that it had she had no idea what to do. Tears started pooling in her eyes and she looked away, blinking rapidly, and hoped he hadn't seen. She tutted, of course he had, and turned back to him. The two of them locked eyes. Neither moved. She paused, waiting for it all to sink in but his words just continued swirling round her head. She kept blinking, trying to process, him looking back with an amused grin. Holding her hands in front of her she fixed him with a serious but hopeful stare. "One more time. Me?"
This time his face opened into a beaming smile. He was laughing at her reaction but she didn't care. "Yes. Rika, I want you," he finally said.
And then, finally, it clicked. Every little piece that had been floating in the air suddenly fit into place and the puzzle was whole; Kirito wanted her.
Liz couldn't hold herself back anymore. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him, her face buried in the puffiness of his jacket to hide the tears in her eyes. In a heartbeat his arms were around her too and she realised just how happy it was possible to be. He held her tightly and she knew that if she wanted him to he would never let go.
Liz grinned softly. She sank herself deeper into his arms and yet she couldn't help noticing how the side of her mouth felt cold. A breeze rolled over her skin and she shivered as Kirito and the park slowly faded away. She opened her eyes and saw that the room was in darkness. It took a minute but her heart started to deflate as she realised. She wiped at the cold of her mouth and felt that she'd drooled onto her pillow. The covers slid off her as she sat up. The breeze was coming in where her window had blown open and her curtain flapped over the glass.
There was just enough light that she could look left and see the picture on her nightstand. There in the glass stood the seven of them, Silica and Pina, Asuna, Liz, Sinon, Klein and there, in the centre, Kirito. His smile was visible from wherever she was in the room.
Getting up she stepped into her slippers and crossed over to the window. She pulled it closed and got back into bed, holding her knees and sliding back under the covers. One of her pillows had fallen down the bed and she pulled it into her chest, holding it tightly with her arms. She was used to the numb feeling by now but each time she had that dream it still hurt to wake up.