It had been years since Kazuto had been here in Tokyo – 8 years, in fact. He had left after his break up with Asuna, who had been his girlfriend for 3 or so years. Their reason for breaking up: a little question their "daughter" Yui had asked them.
How long will Mama and Papa be together? The question Yui asked ran through Kazuto's head as the train slowed into a stop.
When Asuna and Kazuto had heard Yui ask that, they awkwardly brushed it aside and waited for their daughter to leave the room they were currently in to do whatever else outside. Once she left they went into an awkward discussion on it. What if they did have to break up later on? What will they do with Yui? How would she react? They had multiple discussions about it for a few days until it somehow became an argument about many topics like their faults. It came to a heated point where Asuna had yelled something that made Kazuto think real hard.
"I'm starting to think you don't even love me anymore!" Kazuto remembered her say as he thought about it, stepping of the train, viewing the city and its common commotion.
The statement took Kazuto aback as Asuna continued her yells in the forest behind their cabin in-game, as they didn't want Yui to hear them, "You've never said 'I love you' or anything to me! I bet you've fell for one of the other girls that have fallen for you!" this also gave Kirito a shock, as he did not know that there were others that liked him. Asuna probably read his face and yelled again, "Don't tell me you're so dense that you can't see that the others like you! Heck, I'm guessing KLEIN could have fallen too!" At that point, Kazuto spewed out, "Whatever! Frankly, any one of them would be better than you! You aren't…the strong 'Lightning Flash' Asuna that I fell for…" Asuna stared at him, dumbfounded. "You know what?" he began, taking out the menu and into the options, "it's over," He clicked the log outbutton, and the last thing he saw was Asuna stare in shock.
A bit after that, he asked his mother, or aunt, if he could go out of Tokyo and find a job opportunity. After a bit of persuasion, she agreed, and he had said his goodbyes to everyone except Asuna, who he hadn't seen in the two days he spent packing. Shino, or Sinon, the only girl that hadn't REALLY fallen for him, was the last person he saw. She didn't say much, but sadly smiled and wished him luck. When he saw her sad smile, he felt a small pang in his heart but brushed it off.
When Kirito thought about it now, he chuckled at his excuse to leave, but it was still true. He had heard of some amazing opportunities actually outside of Tokyo but he was afraid of Asuna disagreeing. He got all his luggage and went straight a nearby apartment building, where he had bought an apartment there. The moving truck won't be here till tomorrow or so, he thought to himself as he set down his luggage in the apartment. He looked out the window that showed a surprisingly near empty street with a few tourists or locals here and there. It wouldn't hurt to go out just for a bit, would it?
He left the apartment and walked on the street that he had just seen through his window. While walking, he had noticed all the new VR games that had been advertised on the streets. So they're still popular, huh? He thought to himself quietly as he looked at a sign with a random Virtual Reality game starring a certain twin-tailed idol on the window of a video game store. As he walked, Kazuto had come across a familiar park across the street. It was the park that he and Asuna went to before he dived into the VRMMO game, Gun Gale Online. Deciding it would be nice to walk through the park, he crossed the street and went through the gate dividing said park from the rest of the city.
As he walked through the park, Kazuto had heard a female voice in the distance. "I'm late, I'm late! Excuse me!" it screamed, getting closer and closer rhythmically with light footsteps. As Kazuto turned his head ever so slightly to look for the source, his eyes were greeted with a woman about his only an inch or two shorter running…well, really fast.
Crash!
Before they knew it, the two had crashed and fell. Standing up and dusting off the dirt from his clothes, Kazuto immediately bent down and held out his hand. "I'm really, really sorry!" he had said over and over as the young woman took his hand and stood herself up. She waved off his apology and ran off again, this time at an even quicker pace.
Kazuto sighed and propped himself up again, deciding to walk through the park still. The park was still peaceful and serene after that little abruption, and Kazuto was enjoying it, remembering that date as if it was yesterday. Maybe I should talk to Asuna, Kazuto thought to himself. As he walked through the park, looking for the exit while doing so, he had heard a strange animalistic sound. He turned his head to the source of it, and to his surprise, it was a black kitten. The kitten made their way to Kazuto, and purred against his leg. Kazuto sighed and picked up the decently sized kitten and continued his way through the park, finally reaching another exit.
Kazuto walked through all the different streets, when he came across a certain alley. As he searched through the archive that was his brain, he suddenly remembered what purpose the alley was used for and went straight down it. He immediately stopped at a wooden door with a sign hung on it. He read the sign and smiled to himself, opening the door and stepping in.
The one conversation stopped when all the heads at the café turned to the one and only Kazuto. The one said Kazuto looked at the people staring at him and smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck, "L-long time, no see, guys…" he said with a chuckle, still holding the kitten from earlier. The first to walk to him and speak was a red-haired man, a bit of stubble adorning (?) his face. "LONG TIME, NO SEE, KIRITO!" The man broke down and hugged Kazuto in a grizzly bear hug, the kitten meowing for their life. "It's good to see you too, Klein…" Kazuto awkwardly replied, trying to push the grown man off of him. He turned his pleading eyes to the other grown man behind the bar, silently pleading for help. The man chuckled and turned around whistling, as if he saw nothing. Kazuto then looked to the only girl there. She was a brunette with clips keeping the bangs away from her face and looked to be the same age as Kazuto. "Lizbeth, mind giving me some help?" he asked the girl with a desperate smile. The young woman laughed. "It's not 'Lizbeth', Kazuto. If ya want help, address people by their actual names, please," the young woman said with a smirk as she slowly turned her body to face the bar. Kazuto sighed and spoke in a lazy tone, "Oh, do come and save me, dear almighty Shinozaki Rika-sama, for I am in dire need of the help of an empress…" came his half-hearted plea. He was surprised it wasn't her clinging on to him, but he waved it off
"Of course, dear humble peasant!" Rika replied, springing off of her barstool to drag Klein off of Kazuto. Kazuto smiled and gave her a word of thanks, which she took as praise and smiled ever so proudly. They all calmed down and decided to catch up with the "Black swordsman" as he was once known as. "How has Sugu been?" Kazuto asked the three. Agil, or Andrew, the man who owned the place they were currently lounging in, answered, "She looks quite the same, and has been doing well in school. She is also excelling in kendo. I know, because she likes to come here and tell us about it…" with a sigh. Kazuto chuckled to himself and nodded. "How about Silica?" came the next question. Rika giggled, "'Keiko' has grown quite a bit, and her cute voice is slowly deepening away…"
Kazuto smiled at all the good news, but a question that came to his mind soon diminished it. "How about…Asuna and Yui?" He asked. Rika lost her happy smile and took on a sadder look, "She, uh, moved away, after you left. Before she left though, she erased all memory of your relationship between you and her, and the memories of your little family. She still misses you and would refer to you as papa though…"
Kazuto nodded and looked for a way to lighten up the now gloomy mood. "What about Sinon?" Kazuto asked in his desperate attempt. Rika then answered once more, "She had left earlier because she was late for something," she said. Kazuto remembered the woman he had bumped into earlier in the park while looking at the kitten. "I do believe it was her first day on the job as a police woman…" Rika continued, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
Suddenly, the opening of the front door startled everyone. They looked to see a young woman with a ponytail and casual clothes come in. "Guys have you seen Pina anywhere?!" came her rushed question. Her face then paid attention to the black cat next to Kazuto and ran to it, the kitten just looking at her. She hugged the kitten and talked on about how worried she was, not paying any attention whatsoever to the young man in front of her. "Um, excuse me," Kazuto tapped her shoulder. The young woman looked up (she was crouching down to hug the kitten) and suddenly looked shocked. "K-kirito?!" she said in a shocked tone, the kitten just sitting there in her arms as if she didn't just scream or something. "U-um, it's Kazuto, and uh, long time, no see, uh" Kazuto paused his greeting. He literally had no idea who this person was. She was basically his height, maybe even taller, and has light brown hair in a ponytail. Her voice was also a bit deep, so he was at a lost for who this was. He looked at her, and her face obviously read, 'finish the sentence please,' so he was in a bit of a pinch. Rika sighed, "Good to see you too, Keiko-chan…"
It was Kazuto's turn to be shocked. This mature looking young woman was the cute little girl that reminded him ever so much of his younger sister? This person was Silic- err, Keiko? That was a huge shocker bullet that went through his brain, but a lot could happen after 8 years or so. Kazuto came back to his senses and looked to see Keiko apologizing to Rika for 'forgetting about her' as she was in the process of phrasing it. "Anyways… you should catch up with Kazuto now, or something, right?" Rika said, pushing the taller woman towards Kazuto. Among all the talk without them, Klein had left the café and Agil left into the back room. They all caught up with Kazuto and laughed like in the old days. It had then occurred that one of them said they should all meet up in ALO, which had still been running. Kazuto agreed and thought of all the nostalgia that would probably hit him in the face once he dove in.
Before they knew it, time had passed and it was around six in the afternoon (Kazuto had come at around 1:00) that was when the door had once again opened, revealing the woman that Kazuto had bumped into earlier that today. The young woman looked a bit surprised, but smiled, "Fancy meeting you here. I'm sorry for bumping into you earlier," she apologized, but as she looked at the young man before her, it suddenly clicked, "K-kazuto?!" she said in disbelief. It seemed as if there were tears in her eyes, but Kazuto couldn't figure out for sure, since the girl suddenly enveloped him in a hug. Rika sighed again, "Nice to see ya too, Shino…" she muttered just barely loud enough for Kazuto to hear as she took a sip of the iced tea she just ordered. Silica just sat there giggling about how everyone was all popping out of nowhere. Shino then let go of Kazuto and scratched her face awkwardly, looking away ever so shyly. They all laughed off the little scene and continued their merry chatter, until it finally arose to Kazuto that he still needed to set up his apartment. "I'm really sorry, but I think it's time for me to leave," Kazuto said as he stood from his chair. The group groaned in protest, but they let him leave anyway after they said their farewells, but not before exchanging numbers.
Kazuto then opened the door and exited the café, closing the door behind him with a sigh. He had got see everyone but Suguha, Asuna, and Yui, and caught up with them, so that's good. He made his way to his apartment as the moon had finally risen, and he settled with just rolling out a futon instead of dragging a mattress around. As he laid down on the futon, staring at the cream ceiling above him, his mind came to a certain topic. What was with Shino? He had expected more of a slightly shocked face instead of her hugging him tightly. She was also kind of odd, sitting next to him. Kazuto shrugged it off to think about tomorrow, and drifted off into a deep sleep.