Yuuki's Spirit

Kirito stared at Asuna, as if in a state of disbelief. His two beady eyes blinked once. Twice.

"Are you sure you saw Yuuki?"

Asuna gave an assured nod, smiling slightly. Mmhm. She was pretty sure. The purple-haired girl which left the world a few weeks ago had appeared outside the school for the SAO incident-affected students, SAO Survivor School; the girl was waving to her and smiling happily. Maybe it was her ghost, a kind of apparition that appeared to let the ones she loved how she was still by their side, in spirit, in heart. When she crossed the road, she disappeared without a trace, like a shadow of the moon at daybreak.

The two adolescents sat on the table that night, munching on their dinner, succulent and fat omu rice, egg omelette filled with rice tossed in tomato ketchup. Kirito lapped it up like a hungry dog. Asuna was a good cook. Really good. Her cooking skills were as good as they were back in the day, in SAO. But this time, it was the real deal; it was real food. They sat down in the kitchen every evening and talked, as was the case for these few weeks that Asuna's mother left the country for a business engagement. Her mother had been quite liberal in the sense that she allowed her to stay at Kirito's place. Knowing she could be alone for quite some time while she was away, there was little she could do to safeguard her daughter, which was necessary given the recent spate of incidents regarding Gun Gale Online. With a sigh, she allowed her to stay at her male friend's place, given her lack of relatives around Tokyo. Just be sure to not get into any funny business. She sighed. And be sure to protect yourself, if you know what I mean, Asuna.

This was a more open side of her mother she had never seen before, and she was pretty happy about it. Overjoyed, indeed. Somehow she had stayed over with Kirito in their little lakeside hut for two years, and maybe, she thought, that it was why her mother allowed her to stay over at Kirito's house. Or maybe it was from that incident when Asuna let her use the Amusphere to dive, letting her see the memories of the past that she never really knew about, and which made her tear up. Suguha was pretty happy about the fact that Asuna came by for a few weeks, though she had her reservations.

Suguha leapt into the kitchen like a flower in spring. She was smiling happily, having seen so many people in the kitchen eating together, a sight she rarely saw at home.

"Onii cha-an, anything for me? Oh, look! Omu rice!"

She jumped onto her seat, the couple smiling at her cheerful disposition. They were in a discussion that left Suguha wondering what they were talking about. Nevertheless, she tucked into the rice gleefully, her mouth filled to the brim with food, her cheeks puffed out as if they were balloons.

"Asuna, I wuve this!"

Asuna gave her a smile, appreciating the good feedback. She was too used to such comments, and she was getting a tad too proud. Her cooking has always been one of her good traits. Too bad her mother's too busy, she never knew how well she cooked. Maybe I'll get to know her cooking skills someday. She pondered.

That night, she lay by Kirito's side, thinking.

What's with that I saw just now? Was it Yuuki?

Her face turned, directed at the dimmed lamp, with Kirito sleeping soundly by her side, an arm over her hip. Her soft hand touched her slim cheeks, eyes still open, thinking quietly about her friend.

She felt pretty tired, yet the thought was still in her mind. She remembered walking out from the school, still alert, yet seeing something that strongly resembled her lavender-haired friend in the distance, looking at her, smiling and waving gleefully. She wondered what could have made the figure catch her eye. The zebra crossing led to the girl, who was standing and holding what seemed like a sword, seemingly from the Alfheim Online (ALO) series. The sword, she remembered, had a few fluffy white-colored feathers hanging from the hilt, and the blade was pretty short, the size of her shin, but still looking pretty sharp. She was dressed in the same clothes as in ALO, though. Asuna stood there, dazed, somehow not being able to move. People were passing by her quickly. Her hair swayed, in the cool autumn wind. Her gaze was still fixed onto the figure's direction. Cyclists cycled past the figure, and people walked past as if she was not there. The figure just remained, semi-translucent yet still looking very much alive.

Was it a projection? Or a spirit?

Yawning, she let the idea pass her consciousness, and her eyes slowly closed, her mind drifting off to dreamland.

The next day, Asuna was walking home from school. Assuredly, she went to the same spot, and looked across the zebra crossing. Oddly enough, she didn't manage to see the figure.

Hmm. Maybe it was just an illusion, after all.

Reaching home, she took off her socks and school shoes. Walking up the stairs, she saw Kirito in the room, lying on the bed with the Amusphere, relaxed.

The same as always, from the first day you got your NerveGear.

She then went to her room to change and went back to Kirito, putting on an Amusphere and laid down beside him.

Link Start-o.

With a flash of colourful beams of light, she was propelled into the world of ALO. There, she was greeted by Kirito, slashing some beasts in a plain field. Leafa was there too, as well as Silica, Lisbeth, and Sinon. It was a routine she had every day she came back from school. Fighting monsters, collecting their loot, levelling, gaining new items, and, of course, doing their homework in the wooden house by the lake before going for dinner. It was a nice experience and everyone had fun.

The beast, a large creature commonly situated near the Hill of Dreams, was a one-eyed goliath with a big head, an ugly grimace, thick pinkish lips, a huge eye, and a bald yet oval-shaped head, leaving it looking very unpleasant, like an ogre. It walked on its large, oversized hands and small feet which seemed to make it hard to move around, but believe me, it can run. Its pinkish-red skin all over made it really, really easy to spot in the wide open plains, though.

Amid slashes, the beast squirmed and tried to aim at the fairies trying to kill it, which seemed like mosquitoes. Finally, Kirito flew in front of the creature, its health bar declining rapidly, and unleashed a few blinding hits of light onto the creature. His sword, Elucidator, held straight and aiming towards the creature, was flying. He knew every inch of the sword since his days a few years ago when he played SAO. The sword flew while Kirito went towards the giant. It cut through the creature's heart as the tip entered it for the first strike. Then the next few strikes came as if out of the blue. You just couldn't see it properly, it was so fast.

2.

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

11!

11 Hits.

Mother's Rosario.

That was the name of the sword skill Kirito had gotten from Yuuki. The hulkish beast clambered and succumbed to the ultimate sword skill. It was owned terribly. It froze, and with the sound of breaking glass, shattered into several polygons that fell onto the grassy plain. Lisbeth, Silica and Sinon were just floating by the side, staring in awe at the 11-hit skill that Kirito unleashed upon the creature.

Everyone flew down and collected the loot, a few potions and skin from the creature. Whew. That was a tough cookie. Kirito looked up and noticed Asuna in the distance. She tilted her head, gave a smile and waved, walking towards the group. Everyone waved, too. It's such a nice day. She thought. I'm grateful for my friends.

Everyone was still in awe of the sword skill that Kirito-kun used against the hulking giant.

"That was really cool! I wonder how Yuuki learnt that skill." Silica exclaimed in admiration. She envied the sword skill, and as ambitious as she usually is, she knew she would have a long way to go before she could even get such a skill. She was always the one charging towards high-leveled monsters, and having her friends rescuing her in the process of doing so, much to their detriment.

Asuna wanted to say something, but she couldn't seem to. Maybe it's just an illusion. I shouldn't have even thought so much about it. With that the matter slid from her mind. They continued going towards the plain fields, the bunch laughing together and joking around. Sometimes mysterious things happen to the people most affected by a death of a loved one, I suppose. Nothing to get too worried about.

Little did she know that things were about to take a turn in the next few weeks.

A few weeks passed by quickly. Nothing was out of the blue, and the group was just enjoying each moment as it passed, exploring the numerous new updates and patches that introduced new monsters and maps. Asuna, Kirito, Silica, Lisbeth and Sinon were in the hut, helping each other with homework or doing their own, as was the case every week.

"And this is how you solve this question, Sinon."

Sinon nodded in comprehension, understanding how to crack the difficult sum.

Sighing, Asuna took a short break from the tutoring. Looking up to the window, she blinked, and just then saw a figure appearing in the far distance. It was smiling and waving.

Yuuki! That looks like Yuuki!

Strangely enough, it was. This seemed strangely eerie, and she wanted to creep up to Kirito-kun's side and hide. She was pretty scared this time. However, she got up the courage and asked the rest of the group to look.

"Take a look, guys! Take a look at this!"

A part of her wanted to run out the door and take a closer look. She knew Yuuki was gone, but somehow this image made her want to think otherwise. It seemed possible that Yuuki could remain as a character in ALO, somehow, or rather. Maybe as a NPC. But whoever had the thought of doing that?

Everyone took a look outside. They watched in disbelief, knowing that Yuuki was already gone, but apparently someone that looked a lot like her was standing in the distance, and she seemed to be smiling and waving.

Asuna then went towards the door, her eyes filling up with tears. She didn't know if this was a dream. That day when she went to the place to show her mother the scene from the past; the scene with a young Asuna talking to her grandparents, the scene where they were telling her how her mother was too focused on her professional pursuits; when her mother, for the first time, cried in front of her.

That. Maybe this is what's happening now.

She didn't know whether to open the door or not. She didn't know whether running up to the figure of Yuuki will make it disappear. She just wanted to see it from afar, just to know it's still there and won't go away.

Confirming that it wasn't just her and that everyone else had seen it, she asked the others to tag along. She gathered the courage to open the door and see.

All right. Let's go.

The group saw Yuuki in the distance. And they ran.

Running, they saw Yuuki.

And Yuuki saw them.

Asuna was so caught up in the moment that she almost stopped running to collapse in tears.

She was standing there, looking at them calmly. Kirito looked in shock, knowing that this might be a dream, somehow.

Everyone was on the verge of tears, not knowing how to react now that they actually saw Yuuki in front of them.

"Guys, please don't be shocked to see me. I'm just a projection, I'm not alive."

At this point everyone was wiping their tears off their face.

"This is part of the continuation of the Medicuboid clinical trials. They collected information from my brain while I was in it for three years, and I'm speaking to you now as a part of myself that they constructed as a character in ALO."

It was sort of like Yui. Someone they actually knew who wasn't a real person.

"This that you see right now is a recording I made some time ago, just before the doctors told me about having a few days left. I wondered if I would ever have to say this. But I'd like to confess. I like you, Asuna. I probably appeared outside your school, and it was controlled by a projector near the school. Just a small hack that I asked one of Akihiko's programmers to do for me. Heh."

Asuna didn't know whether to blush or to cry. She just looked towards Yuuki, giving a shy smile.

"I'd had a great time with all of you, and I'd just want to say that I love everyone here. I'd be gone from this Earth, as you all would have known by the time you get this message…"

The atmosphere was depressing. But they knew the words from Yuuki were sincere, and they felt warm.

"And so, I hope to leave with this parting message. I have lived well. And life has been better with everyone here. I don't regret anything at all…I will be with you, in your heart."

As she said her last few words, her character started to dissolve, and small squares from Yuuki's hair started to fly away into the orange-lilac evening sky. The group looked and held back their tears. Sometimes things can never be said with just words, you just watch as the seasons came and went, and people come and go…