AN: My first attempt at a fanfiction. I really like the Kazuto and Asuna pairing. Please just humor me a little. Read and review, if you would be so kind.

Chapter 1: Him

His apartment was empty and void of life, except for him. He no longer lived with his only former girlfriend, Asuna. She had broke things off for reasons that she didn't explain. That is what killed him the most these days. No closure. He often thought of her and it constantly chipped away at his already shattered heart. Kazuto missed everything about Asuna. Her long chestnut hair, her bright amber eyes, her beautiful voice. He missed them so much. He felt a lump of ice in his chest and shivered after thinking about her. He sat down at his desk and started working. Even though her "daddy and "mommy" were not together anymore, he was still going to bring Yui into the real world. He had made a promise and he fully intended to keep it. He reached over for his drink on the desk to help him calm down. His clock read 8:03 pm.

Before he knew it, the clock said 3:10 am. He didn't make very much progress. Kazuto tried to walk from his desk and computer; however his impaired vision and coordination made that difficult. The bottle of bourbon was almost empty after hours of steady drinking. He reached his bed and flopped down onto it. He looked at his phone, and to his surprise, it had died. He fumbled for his charger and plugged it in with great effort. After a few minutes, it powered on.

I wondered if anybody needed something, he thought to himself.

After checking his messages, which there were no new ones, he decided to open a line to Yui really quick to tell her that he loved her and that he'll see her the next day. He opened the line and Yui's face appeared on his phone screen.

"Hey Daddy", she said with a goofy smile on her face.

"Hey Yui", he replied.

"Mommy's online and here with HIM….", Yui said with a bitter sound in her voice. "I don't like him. I want you and mommy to be back together. Like the way it was.

"I know, sweetie. I want that too, but Mommy doesn't. Anyway, I'll be online tomorrow and we can go play some games when I am. Ok?"

"Ok, Daddy." Her smile picked up again.

"Ok, sorry to cut this short, but I need to get some sleep. See you tomorrow, Sweetie."

"Goodnight Daddy."

After the line went dead, Kazuto walked back over to his desk and grabbed the almost empty bottle of bourbon.

Only about a shot left, he thought.

He quickly downed it and threw the bottle across the room as hard as he could. It shattered on the wood paneling of the wall. He wasn't a violent person, however, when he thought of THAT GUY being in the same house as his daughter, it made his blood boil. Kazuto knew who he was because he ran into the couple at the Dicey Café and Agil had to restrain Kazuto from breaking THAT GUY'S face for the way he was treating Asuna.

Kazuto fell into a turbulent sleep. Bourbon usually does it, but not to this effect. Kazuto's broken heart is what was troubling him. It seemed to him that every fiber of his being knew that this situation should never have happened and that it was completely wrong.

Kazuto woke up around 11 am the next day. After he ate some food, or whatever passes as food in those microwaveable breakfasts, he logged on to see Yui for a few minutes. He and Yui played tag, hide and seek, and just had a good time between father and daughter. It made him and her both sad when he logged off for a meeting at the Dicey.

After logging off, taking a shower, and getting dressed in his usual dark attire, He hopped onto his motorcycle and drove to the Dicey. He walked in and sat at the bar.

"Hey man, been awhile. Last time I saw you in here, you went berserker status and I could barely restrain you", Agil said, as he greeted Kazuto.

"Hey. Yeah. Sorry about that again. Have you seen Klein?"

"Yeah, His phone went off and he asked me to let you know that some work things came up and that he'll be back, just a bit later though."

"Ok. Did he say when?"

"No man. Sorry."

"It's ok. Just means I'm waiting a bit."

"Hey, you know what day it is?"

"I'm not sure man."

"It's the 8 year anniversary of you rescuing Asuna from ALO… I'm surprised you, of all people, forgot." Agil looked concerned as he said it. "Is everything alright?"

"Why would it be? It's the day that I rescued my now ex-girlfriend from a piece of shit excuse of a man. I'm still a long way from bringing my daughter into the real world. I'm still hopelessly head over heels for Asuna and we've been broke up for about 4 years now. I have no support from my family ever since mom died and Sugu moved away for College. All of our friends have gotten hitched and married. Liz and Klein got married to each other for Christ's sake. And I'm happy for all of them, but I've fallen out of time because I'm so damn caught up with Asuna that I can't bring myself to move on. So tell me, why should everything be alright?"

"Because you are still alive and you still have your heart."

"I guess so… Can I get a drink really quick?"

"Sure thing, what do you want?"

"Surprise me."

Agil quickly poured a glass of tea and slid it to Kazuto. He caught it and stared at it for a while until Agil got his attention.

"Kazuto. If you cause any trouble, I'm throwing you guys out." Agil said in a flat, business-like tone.

"What do you mean?" Kazuto replied, looking up. He noticed in the bar's mirror that Asuna just walked in with THAT GUY. Kazuto bristled and his blood began boiling immediately.

THAT GUY. His actual name was Tozu Hazuma. He was almost 30 now. He stood about 5'3". His eyes and hair were brown. All in all, he looked pretty average build, except that he was short. His demeanor though, was another matter. He was condescending, controlling, and his temper was volatile. To the point that people wondered if he was bipolar. Kazuto noticed the first time he ran into Tozu and Asuna together, Tozu was oddly physical with Asuna. The physicality made Kazuto think that he wasn't a very pleasant person.

Kazuto regained his focus and took a sip of his tea as Tozu and Asuna sat at a table about 10 feet away from Kazuto. Still visible in the bar's mirror, though.

"Agil, you don't have to worry. I have a lid on it." Kazuto said coldly. Then Kazuto tried to stir up different conversation with Agil."Oh hey, have you seen Yui lately? I took an in-game snapshot this morning and saved it to my phone, wanna see it?"

"Yeah man. On occasion, Yui joins Klein, I, and a few others for dungeon raids and whatnot. Lemme see the snapshot, though."

Kazuto opened his phone and pulled up the picture.

"Ahh, that's nice man. That looks like the two of you are having a great time and smiling like everything is ok… Do you ever take spontaneous pictures anymore?"

"Not really man. Yui is pretty upset about the whole thing, herself." Kazuto replied, lowering his voice to where Agil was the only one who heard. That was a pointless gesture because the Café, which had a decent sized crowd, was noisy.

"I see. Oh. Heads up. Klein's here."

Klein sat down at the bar next to Kazuto with a grim look on his face.

"Hey, Kazuto, I'm sure you noticed the scum sitting over there with a certain misguided female." Klein growled.

"I've noticed. However, I'm just not paying them much mind or care." He sighed.

Klein looked at Kazuto's reflection in the mirror. It was a lifeless expression that he wore. It was the same one that he wore the most often when he wasn't about to go berserk.

"Kazuto, it's been 4 years now since the two of you broke up. Right now, you look like a shadow of the Kazuto who saved her. That's what's heartbreaking about this. It seems like you lost that fire you had back then and that you've given up on her. However, I know you still haven't moved on and it kills you when you see them. So forgive me when I say Bullshit." Klein was still looking in the mirror. Something had caught his interest. "How often did Asuna wear that much makeup before?"

"She never wore makeup. She was just naturally beautiful, and didn't feel the need for it. Why?" Kazuto asked, the concern in his voice betraying his disinterested appearance.

"She's wearing a lot today. Between that, the dull shade her hair is now, she doesn't look like she used to. Something's up."

Kazuto glanced at Asuna's reflection in the mirror. She glanced over just in time to catch his eyes. Her eyes were filled with something Kazuto had never seen before. It was a mixture of sadness, pain, and longing. She looked away, got up and walked towards the Café's restroom.

"Kazuto…" Klein whispered. "What's up?"

"…." Kazuto was silent. The look she just gave him was enough to cause the pain he felt to spike again.

"Kazuto, I think you and Klein should take a walk." Agil suggested. "Klein, please get him out of here. The last thing we need is for him to completely break in front of THAT GUY."

Kazuto and Klein both got up and went out the main door. Agil watched them. He knew that Kazuto was hurting. He was disappointed with the whole situation. There was no real reason that the both of them should be apart and this miserable.

Maybe they'll find a way back to each other, Agil thought. Even if it has been 4 years, I'm sure they will.

There you have it. Read and review. The Klein and Liz thing was just a random thought I had. I have a few plans I want to make happen. The goal is a minimum of 5 Chapters, but I really want to try for 15. Thanks for the help y'all.