Sword Art Online—Alfheim Online

In Heaven

"We're in heaven..."

Sylvain April, 2025

Aria and chorus of requiem resounded deeply in his ears, hovering around the thin air as he opened his eyes for ever so slightly. As it died down, Kirito needed more than ten seconds to realize the tears that started streaming down his cheeks. He sat, ignoring the fleeting sensation of grass, and sighed.

He missed her already even though the three months had passed.

Noticing his recent habit of being a crybaby, the black Spriggan rested his forehead on his fist, leaning his back on the rough surface of the cedar tree. As he did that, small droplets of water from the firmament soon joined his tears— squall poured down the virtual land in melancholy, cold draft sent chill to his thin-layered piece of clothes. The atmosphere at the perimeter was nostalgic; he could still feel it— the line of all ALO races lining in front of the grave, rhythmical music of falling rain and requiem, and of course— his broken heart and sanity that couldn't return but turning into miniscule fragments.

Why?

Lyfa did no longer exist in this world.

"Why did you go?"


The Reality April 20xx

Losing her was synonymous to losing everything; he decided as a tall stone— the only earthborn of her past presence— stood still in his sight. The grave was made of marble and granite, located at the very center of the graveyard area with an epitaph so beautiful that even any renowned calligraphy's couldn't defeat. It read:

"Here lies Kirigaya Suguha… A girl of her words and emotions… A beautiful girl, love by all…"

And it started raining again; the empyrean turned the cloud into numerous droplets of water; drizzle started falling down the earth as he knelt down, caressing the epitaph with utmost care. Kirigaya Kazuto was dressed all in opaque black; his countenance was one that belonged only to a forlorn wanderer trying to grasp the last, vanished love that had ascended to the heaven. His eyes glinted in sadness and remorse.

It was at 20th of January this year when the news that she was involved in an accident was heard via cell phone, and Kazuto never dreamed that she would leave the world because of it. The crash was omega for her and for him— her body was soulless and his soul was bodiless; everything shattered into tiny pieces and he only wanted to be embraced by the oblivion, in a very small hope to see her again, the strong girl with beautiful eyes, in heaven.

At first, the sense of loss was unfathomable; Kazuto was extremely perplexed why the loss couldn't even match to the time when Asuna Yuuki was in her sleeping-beauty-state. Then, after some evaluation and deduction, it came to light that he held certain affection toward Suguha much more rather than to Asuna. "Incest" was not a suitable word for such kind of love— they were not siblings to begin with. It was pure with no single scratch and defect were found. Ayano Keiko and Shinozaki Rika had also tried to console him, but they still couldn't warm his frozen heart.

Speaking of Asuna…

The girl was faraway from him now. Her father decided that foreign knowledge was suitable for the science-loving Asuna, and being a docile girl she was, Asuna obeyed her father's will. Indeed, they still maintained the communication; nonetheless, it was growing thin recently but strangely, he didn't care about that too much.

He stood up, facing the epitaph with grief clearly seen across his face; he never smiled since the incident— he forgot how to. After some moments of praying, Kazuto turned around and trudged slowly as though he was with no energy, just a lifeless marionette that fell with a single push.

And the rain, it still fell.

"I want to go back to the past…"

"Can I?"


The Reality xxxxx xxxxx

Kirigaya Kazuto woke up with the sound of alarm perturbing his ears.

With a light smack on it, the sound wave stopped in instant. Kazuto rose from his slumber and stood up, greeting the world with his incoherent groan. Dawn was not as graceful as before, and he had forgotten the grandeur of fresh air. Everyday passed like another day; nothing is gained and everything is lost. School was secondary and he had tracked another record for continuous absence. Even his mother didn't support him much; he must have shared some of Kazuto's feeling, or at least it was his eventual deduction.

The daybreak pierced through his bedroom and the vernal scent wafted everywhere. He closed his heart towards the nature's majesty and slowly walked downstairs. Reaching the kitchen, he opened the fridge and took a bottle of milk, started gulping down the dairy product. It was when his ears caught onto the sound of door cracking from the outside. Kazuto stopped drinking to greet— the only person in his realistic mind— his mother.

Deep beneath his head, he suddenly could feel a slight pang of déjà vu; calling right to him and drawing him in. His mind traveled to the time when Suguha was still alive; she usually would wake up early and give her hands some swinging practice— the dim flash in his eyes always faded every time he recalled the memory. Then— he couldn't believe what he heard afterwards. He thought he was just dreaming.

"Onii-chan! You're awake, aren't you?"

His pupil dilated, his shoulder stiffened, his mind raced, listening to the voice he was longing for so much; everything sounded incredulous and even though he hoped for it, he didn't know what his logic assumed. In a blink of eye, light footsteps approached the kitchen; it was not long before the owner of voice's shadow was clearly seen. In seconds, she appeared in front of the kitchen, and Kazuto thought that he had gone insane.

"Ah, you're awake!" Suguha cheered, smiling at him as she waltzed through the kitchen; her slim figure passed him by chance, and headed to the fridge. No matter what she did, Kazuto did nothing but opening his mouth so wide that it could turn into gecko's nest.

Assuming that it was all just a stupid dream given by God to play around with him, Kazuto started pinching his cheek so hard that it couldn't be redder; but he couldn't still determine the world he was in. Noticing his foolish deed, Suguha stopped her action; she looked at him with a giggle.

"Onii-chan, what are you doing? Stop pinching your cheeks!" she laughed and at that moment, he was immersed in the wonderment of her smile. "Oh well, I'll be going to the school for Kendo practice. Oh yah, by the way, your new console has just arrived. You can take it at the terrace."

New console? Did she mean Nerve Gear?

As his realization dawned, Kazuto sprinted towards the nearest calendar, located just beside the fridge and looked at it with eyes sparkling like the star. He breathed heavily, and his hand moved on the printed numbers like they were some kind of ruby shielded by emerald. He finally found what he wanted; today's real date.

6th of November, 2022

"Eh? Isn't this your holiday, oni-chan? How can you forget about… eeeeppp!"

Suguha— or by any mean, the resurrected Suguha— escaped a feminine shriek as Kazuto abruptly hugged her tight— all the emotion and tears were channeled in one moment, and he only had one thing in his mind: that he would never leave her side, and everything would start again today.

"Miracle transpired inside this family"

A/N: This story is solely inspired by JYJ's music video, "In Heaven". I don't watch SAO, I just read around, so I hope my written prose can exceed your hope! By the way for those who pm me, I'm sorry; but I got some problem with that, so I'll deal with it as soon as possible.

TheGiftOfHeavenSun