"Hey, he's awakened." – Seeing Kaz slowly moved his head and opened his left eye, Asuna told Sinon. Both of them was relieved but suddenly, after completely gaining back his consciousness, Kaz startled and got up, and tried to run but his tired body stopped him. He still thought that he was in the middle of the fight.
"Wait." – Sinon shouted painfully while Kaz was turning his back and crawling on the ground. Seeing he did not listen, Sinon quickly grabbed and put him on the ground. – "It's me. You're safe now."
"You…" – When Sinon got her face near to his, Kaz startled and stopped for a few seconds. He looked at her as he wanted to make sure it was really her.
"Do you recognize me?" – Sinon asked worryingly after releasing him.
"…" – At first, Kaz hesitated and he did not know what to do next. Seeing he was struggling, Sinon understood it. She then smiled and nodded to him, allowing him to do what was necessary. Although Kaz was surprised because of Sinon's attitude to him, he still took this chance. He looked over her face, her hair style and her eyes. Despite her blue hair and eyes, he still recognized her. He even tried to look at her as she had black hair and eyes. Afterwards, he looked the people behind her. There was the Spriggan man and the Sylph girl, along with an Undine girl. When he looked at the Undine girl, he felt she was very familiar to him. But he preferred to figure it out later. Kaz then nodded to Sinon, with a sad face.
"Something's wrong?" – Wonderingly, Sinon asked.
"I hope… you won't angry. But…" – Kaz turned his head away. – "I recognize you but I… don't remember your name."
"Shino. Asada Shino." – Sinon smiled brightly without looking back. Both Kirito and Leafa were surprised, except Asuna.
"Huh? But isn't "Sinon"…" – Kaz felt uncomprehend when Sinon spoke her real name. He looked at her avatar's name and intended to ask.
"It's my in-game name. Don't bother with it." – Sinon responded. – "Besides, it will be unfair if only I know your name."
"So, you know my name? The real one?" – Kaz asked.
"Yes. Ishimaru Kayuzuki. But you prefer to be called Kaz. Am I right?"
"It would be shorter and easier." – Kaz nodded and bowed his head. – "Sorry, for not remembering your name."
"It's okay. Don't mind it." – After comforting him, Sinon suddenly hugged him tightly. She said and it seemed she was crying. – "It's good… that you're still alive… and come back."
"Eh? Uh…" – Kaz did not know how to say, how to do and how to react to her. Seeing her body was shaking, Kaz could only pat her back. Meanwhile, the others returned to the wooden house. Kaz had a few seconds to look the scene around. Especially, the wooden house was very beautiful, he admitted. – "Can I ask?"
"Yes?" – Sinon wondered what he wanted to ask. But whatever the question was, she still answered it.
"When was the first time we met?" – Kaz asked. He hoped she would have the same answer.
"It was after the golden week, one year ago. You stepped in the class as a transferred student. And I was late." – Sinon answered. It was an easy question.
"I see." – Kaz was glad that their answer was the same.
"In your first day, you saw me was being bullied. You helped me not only in that day, but many times. Do you remember?" – Sinon asked.
"Huh?" – Kaz was surprised. He then answered with his sad face. – "I… only remember that you were bullied, and I didn't help you."
"It's not true. You helped me a lot." – Sinon rejected his answer. However, she remembered that Kaz had his brain damaged, so his memory was very fragment. In the other words, he could not remember everything had happened in his life.
"Not only that…" – Kaz then spoke on. – "I saw you… in danger. I tried to help you but… I failed." – He did not dare to face her. – "And then a guy had a girl's face came and saved you. He did what I could not do."
"No, just forget it." – Sinon was totally surprised. She did never think that he could remember that event, the event that she unconsciously removed Kaz from her mind. After that, she chased after Kirito and did not even think about Kaz. And when she realized who she wanted to be with her, it was too late.
"I'm sorry. I guess I should…"
"Please, don't." – Sinon then hugged him tightly. – "I should be the one sorry you. Because of my selfishness, I let you suffer. But right now, I really want to stay by your side. Please, don't leave me again."
"But I hurt you…"
"So did me." – Sinon released Kaz. – "I know that I don't have the right to be with you. But I… I just…"
"Isn't that Spriggan man was the one you love?" – Kaz stroke right to Sinon's heart and he did not realize it when he pointed to the Spriggan though the window, who seemed to have a fun chat with his wife-in-game and his sister.
"I…" – Sinon did not think that he would ask her this question. But she knew she could not just run away. She knew if she ran away like Kaz did, then the distance between them would be shorted. And Sinon preferred to destroy it. – "Yes, there was a time I thought that. But not after what had happened to you. Then I realized how selfish I was. I just kept thinking of myself and did not even think about you. I chased after him and did not think that you were being hurt. But then, when I realized if I kept chasing after him, I would hurt more people. When I did not know what to do next, we met again. Even though it was a short time, it helped me to realize that I wanted to be with you, to love and to protect you. I want to become stronger, so that I won't need you to protect me anymore. On the opposite, I want to protect you. But if you think I don't deserve it, then it's okay."
"No, that's not what I mean…" – Seeing how determined Sinon was, Kaz thought he had asked a wrong question. – "I just… don't want you to be suffered because of me. I…"
"It's okay." – Sinon smiled. She was very glad that Kaz was still the same before. He always tried not to make her sad. He was also in the weak side whenever they chatted. In this case, she just had to take the positive side. – "Do Kaz know that I'm very glad that you don't hate me? If there is a chance, can we… start from the beginning?"
"Are you sure?" – Kaz did not know what to say next. He tried to calm him down. He wished to have a chance to talk to her his feeling, and when he had it, he did not know how to express it to her. Just how stupid he was, Kaz wondered.
"Yes." – Sinon nodded, before she suddenly kissed him. Kaz was totally surprised and did not know what to do but opening his eye the whole time. He could even see that the others were looking outside and saw the whole situation. After releasing him, Sinon smiled happily and said. – "This is my answer and I will never regret it."
"I…" – Kaz was struggling to find a word to react. – "If… if Shino… think I…"
"If one day, Kaz get bored to me, just go. I don't have the reason to keep you stay." – Sinon spoke on decisively.
"No… I won't… I…" – Kaz was more and more embarrassed. And he tried to speak the short sentence that he wished to speak to her a long time ago. – "I hope… that day will never come. I… I love you."
"…" – Sinon was very surprised because of the answer. She could not be happier and she kissed him again. – "I love you, too."
"I hope… I won't disappoint you." – Kaz spoke shyly.
"Let's hope the same wish." – Sinon smiled. Afterwards, the others came out when everything was settled. Besides Kirito, Asuna and Leafa, Lizbeth, Silica, Klein and Agil had just logged in. Suddenly, Kaz put his head to Sinon's neck. Looking at his tired face, Sinon asked worryingly. – "You tired?"
"I will be okay." – Kaz woke him up. He did not want to worry Sinon.
"That's okay. You need to sleep." – Afterwards, Sinon put Kaz's head on her laps. Seeing he was trying to escape, she spoke with her smile. – "Stay. Down." – Just two words and she could put him stay down and did not dare to resist. Stroking his hair, she said softly. – "We'll be safer here. So you just have to sleep normally. I will be with you. We still have a long time waiting ahead, right?"
"Shino… should rest, too." – Kaz was not blind that did not see the tiredness on Sinon's face.
"Welcome back." – Sinon said the last words. Kaz could not help but smiled to her, before he went to sleep. Holding his hand, Sinon hoped for the better future for both of them. One other thing, she wished he did not have to suffer from his past anymore.
"Finally, you're back, safe and sound." – After Kaz had slept, Asuna came closer to the Cait Sith couple. She took out a small blanket and used it to cover Kaz. In the others' eyes, her action was unnecessary but from what Sinon had learned, he did need it. About Asuna, she just wanted to take care of him. Stroking his messy hair, Asuna smiled and touched his cat ears interestedly. Understanding, Sinon did not bother with it. Asuna said. – "Still cute as always."
"Er…." – Everyone was surprised because of Asuna's compliment.
"What? I thought you think so?" – Asuna looked at Sinon and pretended she had no idea what she had just said.
"Well… it's just this is the first time I heard someone called him cute." – Sinon responded.
""Someone", huh?" – Asuna smiled curiously. – "Then who was the first one?"
"Huh?" – Seeing she had fallen into Asuna's unharmed and funny trap, Sinon startled and was surprised.
"Come on. Tell me." – Asuna pushed forward.
"Fine. It's me." – Sinon answered frankly.
"Is he, right?" – Asuna smiled back. Suddenly, seeing Sinon was like feeling sleepy, Asuna reminded Sinon. – "You should sleep, Shino-chan. You haven't slept for long hours."
"I'll be fine." – Sinon refused while the others once again were surprised and had no idea what was happening. After a long time, she finally stayed with Kaz again and she did not intend to leave him anymore. She wanted to be with him, nothing else. She was also afraid that Kaz would be in trouble when she was sleeping or logging out.
"Then tell me what Kaz will react if he sees you're collapsed?" – Asuna did not give up easily. She softly said. – "You need to take care of yourself too. He will be safer here, right, Kirito-kun?"
"Oh, uhm, yeah." – Kirito startled and tried to follow Asuna, before he looked at Sinon. – "H-He'll be fine. Don't worry. This house is marked as non-PvP area, so no one can harm him. Besides, we have a lot of people here."
"But…" – Sinon did not know how to say.
"If you truly worry about Kaz, you should know that he will be worried if you push yourself too much. Listen to me, log out, eat something and have a sleep. After that, you can meet him again. I think you know that Kaz won't leave you easily, after both of you had had a talk, right?" – Asuna comforted Sinon. – "You trust him, don't you?"
"Yeah. Always." – Sinon answered sadly. She looked at Kaz and stroked his hair softly. After their confession, she knew that he finally had his answer, and so did she. From this time, they would not leave each other, and Sinon hoped they could be together until death parted them. Holding his hand, Sinon looked at Asuna. – "I'll log out. But Asuna should do the same. After all, we both were searching for him in the whole night."
"What?" – Kirito and others were surprised again.
"Not if you don't do it." – Asuna smiled.
"Then, see you late." – Sinon responded and logged. She looked at Kaz again before she lost her consciousness and returned to the real world.
"Well then, I'm out." – After Sinon had just logged out, Asuna sighed tiredly and prepared to log out.
"You two were searching him the whole night?" – Kirito asked. He wondered who this Cait Sith boy was that had two girls worrying.
"Yup. I'll tell you the detail later. Oh, and one more thing…" – Asuna opened her inventory and gave Kirito a beef hamburger. – "If Kacchan wakes up before we log in, give it to him for me, okay?"
"Kac…chan?" – Everyone was surprised again.
"No problem, but what about me?" – Kirito wondered where his hamburger was.
"Nope." – Asuna smiled naturally and logged out in the surprised eyes of her husband-in-game.
"Guess it'll be okay."
Washing her face in the toilet room of her school, Asada Shino checked the numb on her left eye. It was good that it was not too serious. She just hoped that the teachers would not ask her. But she wondered if they truly cared. She had never believed in anyone for years and she did not think she would. Years had passed and everything around her had not changed. Whenever she went, everyone just looked at her past and saw her as a killer, despite the fact that it was only self-defense. But the children, the classmates around her did not think so. They laughed at her, isolated her, and even bullied her. Shino did not know how to resist, but even she tried, it always ended up worse. Time after time, she got used to it and kept living meaningless. Even after the Golden week holiday, she was bullied immediately right after she had stepped in school. They requested her to give them some money, saying they were out of money after the holiday. She refused and it ended up she was beaten by one of their male friends. Luckily, they did not have anything since she did not carry any valuable things along with her. Speaking of the teachers, they said they cared but they never did any actual action to stop her from being bullied. Whatever it took, it was not a matter for her anymore. She just had to live until her school days ended.
Just opening her class' door, she felt a disappointed atmosphere covered the whole class. Standing in front of the black door was a strange student. He was young and not taller than her much. His eyes were black brown with a terribly cut short hair. His hair was purely black. His skin was quite pale. Although he did look normal, but it seemed it was not what the students expected. Shino looked at the board and saw a terrible hand-written kanji words on it, the words were "Ishimaru Kazuyuki".
"From today, Ishimaru-kun will be one of us. Let's give him a welcome, okay?" – The female teacher said but it seemed she could not raise any notice from her students. Realizing Shino had just come, she said. – "You're late again, Asada-kun?" – At this time, the students laughed joyfully. The teacher asked. – "What's with your face?"
"Nothing. I just fell off." – Shino made an excuse while the new student came to his sit, which was behind hers.
"Okay. Let's start, shall we?" – Seeing two students had come to their sit, the teacher started her lesson.
The lesson went well and normal, nothing happened and it was quiet. The new student just looked at the board and heard the teacher, while looking outside. – (So this is school. Quiet than I thought.) – He thought. In his eyes, the school was big, like a mansion placed in the middle of the city. From outside, the street was quiet as well, and some people were walking. It was peaceful, he thought.
"!"
Suddenly, he heard a small sound which woke him up. He looked ahead just to see nothing. The teacher was still doing her job, so did the same with the students. He wondered if he misheard of something. Looking at his white notebook and the students, he realized they wrote down what the teacher said, and something was called "homework", and else. He guessed that it was some kind of report he often did. From his point of view, it did not different much between his work and the school. A person explained what the others needed to understand and did, before they gave a report. But if he considered more, the students here just needed to sit down and nearly did nothing, while he and his comrades needed to do more activities. He guessed that this was one of the differences between peace and war.
"?"
While he was trying to write down what he could on the board, he suddenly saw a rolled paper on the ground. Near it was another one. He wondered who threw it. And it did not take him too long to realize what was happening. Some students threw rolled papers to the girl in front of him, the female student who came late. He had a chance to look at her closer, although it was just her back. But he was impressed because of her short black hair. It was cut very well and nice. It would be very impolite if he just stared at her too long so he turned away. But it did not blind him what was happening to the girl. Kazuyuki also remembered that the girl had a numb on her left eye. Looking at her at this moment, it made him really annoying and he decided to make his move.
Back to Shino, it was just another day. Being bullied like this was very normal to her. It happened time after time and made her seal away her reaction and emotion. She thought that as long as she acted like she did not care, they would get bored and left her alone. Because of this, she learned how to ignore everything happened around her. What would make the difference if she cared, she thought. Suddenly, she felt that the new student behind her was intending to do something. Just a slight look and she could look that he was raising his notebook. She was getting scared and thought that the new student was not different than the old ones. Slowly, she thought that he was going to hit her. She closed her eyes and her tears started bursting out.
"!"
Suddenly, a notebook came and shielded her from another rolled paper. And that notebook was from the new student. Shino was totally surprised and did not know how to react. For her, it was the first time that someone protected her from being bullied. And not only her, but also the bullying students were surprised. Obviously, they did not give up and kept throwing rolled papers at Shino quietly but Kazuyuki blocked all of them. And he even strike back one of them with his notebook.
"Hey, what are you doing?" – Suddenly, the teacher noticed and yelled out, making the bullying stopped their action while the others were looking at Shino and Kazuyuki. She came close to Shino and asked with care. – "Do you know who did this to you? Don't worry, I can protect you."
"Sorry, but I don't know." – Shino nodded. She did not think that the teacher would solve it peacefully, or she would say she did not believe in any teacher. Seeing the teacher was intending to say next, she said. – "I'm okay. Please keep teaching."
"If you have any problem, just tell me, okay?" – The female teacher said and turned back to her job.
Time passed until the lunch break. Afterwards, the students went out of the class and started having lunch. But everything seemed to be in trouble. Some bullying students came to Kazuyuki and intended to give him a lesson. But before they could do any move, Kaz stepped and moved his head, giving them a sign that they should go out. It was so fast that no one, even Shino could react. The bullying students, three of them, went along with Kazuyuki. Worrying, Shino followed them until Kazuyuki stopped at the male toilet room. Afterwards, he moved inside the toilet room and did not forget to move his head. Three bullying students followed him and they closed the door. Did not know what to do and who to call, Shino stepped close to the door just to hear the bullying students were shouting, before she heard something or someone was being beaten. Worrying it could be the new student, Shino breathed slowly to calm her down, before she tried to open the door. Looking inside, she was totally surprised. Despite the shorter height, Kazuyuki still beat the bullying students down. They lied on the wet floor painfully, with their noses were broken and some teeth of them were falling off. At the same time, Kazuyuki was putting lots of toilet paper to a student's mouth, before he punched him unconsciously. After that, he knocked the other two down and let them be. Seeing Shino, Kazuyuki was surprised and did not know what to do next. He did not think that he would be seen by someone.
"Come on, let's move." – Seeing he was struggled, Shino waved her hand and called him out. She knew that they needed to move fast before someone else saw it. At first, Kazuyuki did not know what to do, but he guessed he had no other choice so he followed Shino. Seeing one bullying student was not totally knocked down, he kicked his face to make sure that student would not wake up soon, before he went outside and came along with Shino. Fortunately, the toilet room was placed away the main area so no one had seen them yet.
[Why did you help me?] – When they moved to a safe place, Kazuyuki drew his phone and raised it in front of Shino.
"Eh?" – Shino was surprised and did not know why Kazuyuki used his phone to talk to her. – "Before that, why don't you speak?"
[I cannot talk, for now.] – Kazuyuki responded and pointed to his neck, where there was a small white bandage circled around his neck. He moved his neck and showed Shino a small area of blood on the bandage.
"Oh, I see. Sorry, I didn't know." – At the first look, Shino just thought the white bandage was an accessory. – "Well, about what happened back there, you helped me so I thought I should help you back. So we can be even."
[It's okay. But why they attacked you? May I ask?] – Kaz gave another question.
"Uhm… it's a long story but don't mind it." – Looking at the text, Shino was surprised since it was written very politely, which she did not expect from a student, especially, it was her classmate. – "Let's get back to the cl…"
"Rrrrrrrr.." – Suddenly, Kazuyuki's stomach rumbled.
"You haven't eaten your lunch?" – Surprisingly, Shino asked.
[After what has just happened, no. Besides, I forgot my lunch.] – Kaz answered honestly.
"So that is why you didn't draw any box lunch. Even so, you did not intend to go outside and buy some foods." – Shino covered her smiled and spoke on. Kazuyuki did not know what to say and could only scratch his messy hair as an excuse. After that, Shino said. – "We still have time, come on, I show you the canteen. It is where you can buy something."
After Kazuyuki had having lunch, the two of them got back to the class until the bell rang, telling them that the school time was over. For the first time in this school, Shino had a peaceful afternoon without being bullied. When she went to main entrance, where students put their own shoes on the lockets and wore the school's shoes, she met Kazuyuki again. More surprisingly, her locket was next to his. Suddenly, Kazuyuki looked at Shino's locket, he found something was unusual. When they came back to the entrance after the lunch break, he did not remember her locket's door had been slightly moved out. From the normal looks, no one would consider that small detail but to him, who was always cautious nearly everything around him, it was truly unusual. When Shino had just opened her locket, Kazuyuki moved instinctually and surprisingly, he successfully shielded her from an unharmed but disturbed trap. A black liquid busted out from Shino's locket and quickly spread Kazuyuki's face.
"Soya-sauce?" – From the smell, Shino could realize it, although she was very surprised at Kazuyuki's action. After that, she could hear the laughing from three female students, who was laughing very hard.
"Lucky for you, your new "boyfriend" shielded you. But there won't be the second time, if you're unlucky." – One student who had long brown hair laughed at Shino before she left the entrance with her friends.
"Don't." – Seeing Kazuyuki was squeezing his fist and his angry face, Shino quickly stopped him by pulling the armhole of his coat. Looking at his surprising face, Shino explained. – "Just ignore them. It happens every day. Sorry for dragging you into it." – Seeing Kazuyuki did not want to give up, Shino added. – "If someone stands against them, they will do worse things, more than what they have just done. I don't want to get anyone into my own trouble. Thank you for helping but I think you should not get yourself into my problem."
Shino took out her small handkerchief and gave it to Kazuyuki, so he could clean his face. Although he wanted to clean it before giving back to her, she refused and just took it back, before she left. After buying things to cook, she returned to her rent room. Surprisingly, when she had just opened the door, she suddenly saw Kaz moving up the stairs.
"Didn't think I will meet you here?" – Shino wondered why he was here.
[I live here, too.] – He answered and pointed to the door next to hers.
"So you're my neighbor." – Shino could not help but smiled slightly. She guessed it was nothing to be afraid or worried; especially it was a classmate who helped her back there. But she still wanted to keep distance to him. But since they were neighbor, it was not harm if they made some conversations. – "It's hard to stay alone, is it?"
[I used to it. But so are you, right?] – He responded.
"Not that bad." – She said. – "Ah right, I haven't introduce myself to you. Asada Shino, nice to meet you, Ishimaru-kun." – After that, she shook his hand. She felt a little surprise when his hand was quiet soft and it was very warm. Afterwards, they went back to their rooms and Shino did not forget to say "See you tomorrow".
Waking up, Shino sat up while yawning. She turned on Kaz's phone to look at the clock. When she met him, it was around 8 a.m. and at this time, it was 12 p.m. After washing her face and having a small meal, Shino wondered why she dreamed back to the first time they met. Was it a coincidence, she did not know but it could be. Suddenly, she realized that back to that time, Kaz was the only one she could talk without fear. After her accident, Shino had fear towards man, even hated them but Kaz was the only one she could not. Reminding it, she questioned herself but then she thought it was not a big thing to consider at all. However, she wondered how was the first time Kaz met her sister, and being adopted, when he met Asuna, and when that "terrible accident" happened. After that, she knew the rest of his life. Thinking of it, she was sad and very scared that something bad would happen to him again. After hearing the secret record Kamikuro gave to her, she was very happy to know that Kaz kept living only because of her. He did not even need her love, but as long as she could live a happy and peaceful life, he would will to trade anything for it. And to do that, he needed to live. Shino realized why she did not do the same for him. She would keep living, be optimistic, and did what she could so that Kaz did not have to worry about her. More than that, she wanted to protect him just like he protected her, and brought happiness to him. In the end, they lived for each other. After having a small break, she laid down on her bed before diving into ALO.
"You came." - When Sinon had just dove in ALO, she saw the face of her love sleeping peacefully and afterwards was Asuna's welcome. Looking around, there was only Asuna stayed with them, the others were nowhere to be found.
"Where are the others?" – Sinon asked.
"They'll be back soon. They are doing some quests." – Asuna answered.
"I wonder why you're okay with it." – Suddenly, Sinon wanted to ask a fact that she had considered for a long time.
"About what?" – Asuna wondered.
"Well… you know… Everyone knows the relationship between you and Kirigaya. But I can see that there are a lot of girls who are interested in him…. Uhm… How should I put it?" – Sinon hoped she did not ask wrong question.
"I see." – Asuna smiled determinedly to secure Sinon. However, Asuna was also trying to hide her fear. – "I believe in Kirito-kun. However, one side of me is very afraid of losing him. But I know that if I cannot keep him by my side forever, then I should let him go. You know, I wonder if I can be a good wife for him. We said many times that we promise to live together until the end. But no one can make sure everything, in every fact. So one day, if he can find a person that can bring happiness to him until the end, I will go away."
"Is that so?" – Sinon looked at Asuna's face. Although she was trying to show that she believed in Kirito, but also was afraid of losing Kirito. Sinon was glad that she was no longer a person that Kirito's was her love interest. – "You're really brave, you know? And… I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. Don't apologize." – Asuna shook her head and smiled. After that, she changed the topic. – "I wonder how Kaz's taste is? You know, I have never cooked for him before."
"Uhm…" – Reminding of that fact, Sinon turned sad when she remembered a memory that he confessed to her about his taste. Fortunately, when she met him in the school's trip in the beginning of the year, he was no longer a tasteless person. The only fact that she was not sure that will his taste change. Thinking pesimistically would not help her, Sinon removed them immediately and tried to remember what Kaz liked and hated. – "He likes something can be stomached easily, like soups. He can eat spicy as long as it is not too spicy. He doesn't like salty foods, too, but a little salt won't be a problem. Hm…"
"Does he like sweets, and onions?" – Seeing Sinon was thinking, Asuna asked.
"That's okay with him." – Sinon nodded. – "In conclusion, Kaz is easy to feed, as long as there is nothing too much heavy, smell or the meal itself. Ah, he likes beefsteak, too. And he didn't like fish until…"
"Until you cooked for him, right?" – Finding an interesting point, Asuna asked joyfully.
"How do you know?" – Sinon was surprised.
"The same with Kirito-kun. He doesn't like onion until I cooked for him." – Asuna responded. – "But after hearing what you said, I think that the hamburger I gave Kirito-kun later, Kacchan cannot eat it. Well, I just have to make another one."
"Thanks." – Sinon was a little sad when she had not learned the skill table "Cooking" yet. But she knew she had a lot of time to learn it.
"Don't mind it. Just wait a few minutes." – After standing, Asuna moved to her house's kitchen and started cooking, leaving Sinon looked after Kaz.
"?"
"…."
Suddenly, Kaz moved. At first, Sinon thought he was going to awake but she quickly saw a strange thing. Kaz squeezed his fists and did not conscious that one hand of him was squeezing Sinon's hand. His face's expression showed he was in pain. Immediately, Sinon knew that Kaz was having a nightmare. She tried to call out his name but it did not work. Sinon did not know what to do but kept holding him and trying to hold him down. Never in her life, she felt so powerless when her love was suffering and she could not do anything, but called his name.
"Ugh…" – Fortunately, Kaz slowly woke up. When he opened his eye, what he saw was Sinon's sad face. Her tears were rolling in her eyes. Startling, he sat up. – "Are… Are you okay, Shino?"
"I'm okay." – Afterwards, she hugged Kaz tightly. – "You seemed to have a nightmare. I tried to call you but you wouldn't wake up."
"I see. I'm sorry." – Kaz apologized.
"You didn't do anything wrong." – Sinon rejected him. Cleaning her tears, she asked worryingly. – "Was it a nightmare?"
"No." – Kaz shook his head. – "I just… heard a lot of voice. Some of them I can recognize, but some I can't. And some of them were your voices, too."
"Do you remember anything else?" – Sinon asked.
"No. Nothing else. They mixed all so I could not know what those voices were talking about." – Kaz answered sadly. Just met her again and he made her worrying.
"It's okay. You don't have to remember it if it was not a good dream." – Sinon eased him. – "How do you feel?"
"I'm fine." – Kaz nodded.
"Finally, you awoke." – From the sky, Kirito, Leafa, Silica and Lizbeth were landing together. Seeing Kaz woke up totally, Kirito said.
"You're back." – At the same time, Asuna went out, carrying a small bag with her. At first, Kirito thought she would sit next to him as usual but in this time, she stayed near the strange Cait Sith boy and Sinon. Not only that, she seemed to care about him. Seeing Kaz was looking at her, Asuna smiled and asked warmly. – "Can you recognize me?"
"…" – Kaz looked at Sinon just to receive her nodding. After that, he looked at Asuna carefully. Just like Sinon, Asuna's face was very familiar to him, the only difference was the blue long hair, which should be the long chestnut hair, the same with her eyes. However, Kaz still remembered her. – "Asuna… nee-san, right?"
"Nee-san?" – Kirito and the others, except Sinon, were surprised.
"I'm glad that you still remember me." – Asuna sighed relaxingly. – "Do you remember the first time we met?"
"I came to your house, a big one with old Japanese style. At first, we did not talk but lately, I was curious about… what is it?" – Kaz tried to remember but it seemed he was stuck at something.
"A personal computer. When my brother turned it on, you were really curious and asked a lot, giving me trouble to explain to you." – Asuna smiled. From Sinon, Asuna knew the reason Kaz had a damage memory. She felt sad but like Sinon, she did not want to make worry and tormented himself.
"You have a brother?" – Kaz asked surprisingly.
"You don't remember him?" – Asuna was surprised, too. Seeing Kaz shook his head, Asuna wondered how much memories had left in him. – "You also don't remember how you came to my house, right?"
"Uhm… no." – Kaz turned sad and bowed his head.
"Poor Kacchan." – Both Asuna and Sinon felt sad for him, and the others had not still caught up the story. Seeing Kaz was a little tired and hungry, Asuna suggested. – "Well then, let's eat and we can talk together. - "Okay, everyone, here your lunch." – After everything seemed to be fine, Asuna opened her bag and gave lunch for everyone, including Kaz, Sinon, Leafa, Lizbeth, Silica and Yui. The meals were placed in box lunches which different decorations. And they were cooked well.
"Where's mine?" – Seeing he did not have one, Kirito asked his wife.
"Have you still kept the hamburger I gave to you sooner? That's your lunch." – Asuna smiled but her smile had something in it. Kirito knew that and did not have the courage to ask more question. Whenever she smiled like this, he had better not to ask anything for his own sake. Afterwards, Asuna turned to Kaz. – "How is it?"
"It's… delicious." – Kaz ate with surprise and joyfulness. It had been a while since he could eat hot and delicious food like this box lunch.
"Of course she is. The best cooker of us." – Lizbeth praised Asuna.
"Yeah, it's different very much. She can make the meal both good-looking and delicious. It isn't like she made a cracker with a snake appearance, but it was totally looks like a sh…"
"Want to finish your line?" – Asuna glared at Kaz maniacally and dangerously.
"Okay." – Kaz showed his emotionless face, just like he had nothing to worry. Meanwhile, Sinon smiled joyfully and interestingly while looking at him.
"Didn't think Asuna had a time like that." – Kirito smirked.
"Practice makes perfect." – Kaz commented.
"Reminding it, you really have a good stomach which can consume nearly everything. No matter how bad the food is, you can eat it all." – Asuna reminded.
"That's because you made them for me, so…" – Kaz startled and looked at Sinon but he was overthinking, Sinon did not even show any displeasing and even cleaned the food attached near his lips.
"Don't worry. I won't have you test my foods anymore." – Asuna smiled and confirmed. – "But really, if you know a food that is not good, you should say it out and don't eat them all."
"What does that mean?" – Sinon asked curiously.
"Shino-chan should know, when I brought a basket of many types of mushrooms, he ate them all without knowing what can and can't eat. It was not until my brother told me some of the mushrooms were poisonous. Luckily, Kacchan did not have any bad symptom." – Asuna sighed. Back to that time, she was still a kid.
"Well, it was because he has excellent immunity and his tongue…" – Suddenly, Sinon turned sad.
"Shino?" – Kaz wondered worryingly.
"Ah, it's nothing. It reminded me a moment between us, that you apologized me. You said you could not taste anything, so you didn't know how my meal was. Do you remember it?" – Sinon asked.
"Yeah…" – Thanks to Sinon, Kaz still remembered and started considering the fact he could not fact. But he could not remember when the time was and how he could taste like a human.
"Luckily, your tongue is normal now." – Sinon then smiled happily. No matter how hard his body suffered before, in this time it was being cured and she did not want to remind more sad memories to him. She wished that she could make him smile and bring happiness to him. – "So, how long have you awakened?"
"Several years, I think." – Kaz answered. He guessed that it had been at least ten years had passed.
"Several years, are you sure?" – Sinon felt strange and asked back.
"What do you mean? I've been…" – Suddenly, he felt strange, too. He thought that the time in "the world reflects human's heart" was the same with the real world. But with the surprised looks that everyone gave to him, he felt strange and quickly opened his virtual window, and checked the time. It was like his thought. The time was still December 24th, 2025. It had not passed 24 hours since he awoke. Everything suddenly went to fast that he could not follow it. He started thinking and considering in case he was not dreaming.
"You're okay?" – Sinon asked worryingly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." – Kaz eased Sinon down. – "I just feel… a little strange. Although the time has not passed 24 hours, but I have a feeling that it's been several years."
"Maybe when you're in coma, you lost your consciousness of time?" – Asuna added. She was worried, too.
"Coma? What coma?" – Kirito and the other had no idea what three of them were talking about.
"In the early of the years, Kacchan was wounded in an accident, which created his coma." – Asuna answered.
"I haven't told you the reason why he had an amnesia, right, Asuna?" – Suddenly, Sinon spoke on which created surprise to everyone.
"Yeah." – Asuna nodded.
"Back in August, this year, Kaz woke up. While he was recovering, he heard that Kirigaya was stuck in a place called "Underworld". He tried to enter it without hearing anyone. And it was the cause of his amnesia." – Sinon bowed her head to hide her sad eyes and face. She did not even need to look that everyone was surprise, too.
"What? Really?" – Kirito asked and he received Sinon's nod. – "But why? I don't know him."
"He didn't do it for you, but for… me." – Sinon nearly cried. – "He thought that I was still loving you, and that was the reason he tried to bring you back. It was my selfish that bring pain to him."
"Shino…" – Kaz looked at Sinon just to see that she did not have enough courage to face him. When he was being stuck in "the world reflects human's heart", it gave him a lot of time to remember anything he could, including two big accident in his life, which happened in the same year, 2025. The first one created his coma, and the second one damaged his memory. About the second one, he remembered that he tried to force himself into a big white world glowing in front of his eye, but it turned out to be a sun that burned everything near it. He saw himself burning and fading away, until everything blacked out again. And when he woke up, he saw himself in ALO.
"I'm sorry, Kaz, I'm sorry." – Sinon cried and apologized to him, while the others were speechless.
"…" – Kaz did not know what to say to her, the one he loved. He wanted to bring happiness to her, not pain and tears. Seeing his love was crying, Kaz squeezed his fist, before he opened it and grabbed Sinon's hand. While she was surprised, he held it tighter. – "It was not Shino's fault, but my fault. After all, I decided what I have done. I knew the risk, and yet I still did it. Because I thought I could do something for you, the girl that always stays with and worries about me, a guy that doesn't know where he comes from. I owe you so…"
"You don't owe me anything, but it's me who owe you." – Sinon held his hand softly. – "I was blinded, and tried to run away from you, and it ended up badly. But when I knew I wanted to be with you, I once again hurt you. I'm such trash that always brings pain to you."
"But I did the same, didn't I?" – Kaz asked. – "If it wasn't me who did tons of stupid things, maybe…"
"You two are the same. You love each other, and yet hurt each other. However, after everything, you are still together, isn't that a good thing to think?" – Seeing they were struggling, Asuna interfered in to help them. – "What important is not the past, but the present and the future you want to go together. If you keep looking back at the past, you will make the same mistake. If you don't know what the future is, then just look at the present, aren't you two together now?"
"Yeah." – Looking at Kaz, Sinon agreed with Asuna. She did not want to run away anymore. The only she wanted to do right away, was staying side by side with Kaz, not as a friend, but a lover, or even a wife of him until the end.
"Kacchan, I know that you have been a lot of things, but I still believe that you will never let Shino-chan down, am I right?" – Asuna then looked at her younger brother.
"I'll do my best. After all, I don't want to hurt Shino anymore." – Kaz nodded determinedly to Asuna, before he and Shino thanked Asuna. – "Thank you."
"You're welcome." – Asuna smiled happily to them, before she turned to Shino. – "But it will be hard for Shino-chan, since she has to take care a stubborn, a stone head, and a troublemaker."
"Come on, he's not that bad." – Sinon pretended to reject what Asuna said, before she spoke on. – "But worse."
"Ugh…" – Kaz did not have anything to say.
"We're kidding." – Sinon patted Kaz's head to secure him. Stroking his hair, Sinon intended to fix it right away, obviously, after the lunch.
"Hey, if you don't mind, I want to ask something?" – When the three of them were enjoying their conversation, Kirito came into them.
"Fine by me." – Kaz did not bother with it.
"Back to the fight back there, why the Salamander guy was so disturbed with you?" – Kirito asked.
"The Salamander guy…" – Kaz started thinking. – "Is it a guy that his girlfriend attacked me without reasons?"
"Huh?" – Kirito was surprised. – "He said that you attacked him while he was trying to be nice with you."
"I don't recall any situation like that." – Kaz responded.
"So what was the beginning?" – Asuna asked, so did Sinon wonder.
"After I got up, I saw Shino's avatar near me. Since she had not log out, I decided to go out and took a look. When I was wondering around an area, a group of players were searching something nearby. One girl in a group seemed to be upset of something. It was nothing to do with me so I went away. For unknown reason, she attacked me and I ended up piecing her throat. After that, her group chased after me, including a Salamander man, in case you are wondering. But I can't tell if he was the man you asked." – Although Kaz said what the truth was, it seemed that only Sinon and Asuna willing to trust him.
"So what happened next?" – Asuna asked.
"Well…" – Kaz wondered if they believed the time he was being stuck in "the world reflects human's heart". He guessed that he should make it up and replaced it by another thing. – "I fell into a dungeon and being stuck in it. When I found the escape, it was in the morning and you know the rest."
"Not mean to be harsh but I can't believe your story now." – Kirito showed his doubt.
"I don't request you." – Kaz sighed boringly. Since Kirito came along with the party, so Kaz did not feel strange if he believed that guy than him.
"So it's meant you believe the Salamander player?" – Asuna asked Kirito.
"No, I didn't, too. Both of them have their defense. Let's just let it go for now. The next is I really wonder why you attacked the Cait Sith kid. And the way you killed her was very brutal. It will make a shock for her, you know." – Kirito asked.
"Even if that kid points weapons at you?" – Hearing it, Sinon suddenly got angry.
"Well, the kid was staying away, but he chose to attack her first." – Kirito wondered.
"That's right. He killed her without thinking anything. The way he fought was too brutal." – Leafa followed Kirito. She wondered why Sinon seemed to be angry.
"Well, we didn't stay at the scene, so we will stay out of it." – Lizbeth quickly grabbed Silica along with her when she felt another battle could happen any time.
"A large group attacked one person and you still want to call it "fair"?" – Sinon moved to cover for Kaz. – "He did not want to fight, and you still surrounded and tried to eliminate him, he just did what he need to survive. There is nothing wrong with it." – The way Sinon protected Kaz made him surprise, but since he was the main subject, he did not know what to say but be ready to leave.
"Well, it is just a game, even if he was killed, he still can start it again. This isn't SAO, you know?" – Kirito spoke on.
"So you mean when you feel danger, you shouldn't fight and just get yourself killed for no reason?" – Sinon suppressed Kirito.
"That's not what I mean. What I want to say is he should not fight that brutality. Sometime just stop for a second and talk to each other." – Kirito still protected his idea.
"Well tell me Kirigaya-san, did that group gave him a chance to talk?" – Sinon asked another question and Kirito could not answer.
"Hey, did you need to be that aggressive?" – Leafa spoke loudly at Sinon.
"Okay everyone, calm down." – Seeing the heat was rising, Asuna quickly moved between Sinon and Leafa, before they got into a fight. "Let's solve problem one after one, shall me?" – Thanks to her interruption, Lizbeth, Silica and Yui could sighed in relief while Leafa and Sinon calmed them down, Kaz and Kirito sat still and did not make any move.
"I have an opinion." – Lizbeth suddenly raised her hand up, before Asuna nodded. – "I don't know what to begin, but truly, even if your real life is not at risk, when you get killed, you will have to start from the beginning. I think that… Kaz, isn't it?" – The Leprechaun blacksmith looked at Kaz just to receive his nod. – "I think he is not an exception. After a long time playing, you don't want your account reset from the zero, am I right? As for me, I'm seriously giving up this game if I need to start learning and forging weapons from the very beginning."
"You got the point, Liz-chan." – Asuna smiled pleasantly and praised her best friend. – "That is what I intended to say. I heard that Sinon already partied with Kacchan, so it would be easier if they want find each other. If Kacchan got killed, both of them will need a lot of time to be together, not mentioning that lots of people have the same name with him. I also did not mention that Kaz might be tired when he got out from a dungeon."
"So what could affect to him?" – Leafa asked doubtfully.
"That person had been being stuck in a dungeon the whole night, so he could be very tired." – The Cait Sith tamer, Silica spoke out her opinion. – "Playing the whole night without sleeping can drain his endurance and diligent."
"Nice, Silica-chan." – Asuna smiled happily since both Lizbeth and Silican understood the situation very well. – "Just getting out of the dungeon, hadn't slept for the whole night made Kacchan exhausted. And yet, he was surrounded by a group of aggressive player. Terrifying, Kacchan just wanted to get away."
"Well, that doesn't mean he didn't lie about the dungeon, maybe it was just an excuse." – Leafa spoke on disturbingly. – "Even so, why did he aim to an easy target, like a little girl?"
"You just spoke for yourself." – Sinon spoke out. – "In every fight, kids are always an easy target that everyone can aim to. Between a tough opponent and an easy one, who will you choose when you want to escape?"
"That's…" – Leafa could find any word to say.
"Kirito-kun, you aren't wrong when you say they should just put their guard down and speak. If they could have done it, then there would have had no fight." – Suddenly, Asuna seemed to stay on Kirito's side. – "But you forget one thing. If it were you, a tired person who suddenly got surrounded and attacked by a group of aggressive stranger, can you keep your calmness? Or, you will be panicked?"
"Well, that's…" – The same with Leafa, Kirito did not know how to talk back to Asuna. Meanwhile, his sister looked at him as she believed he did not do anything wrong.
"I'm not saying Kirito-kun are the wrong person here. What I want to say is things don't always happen as you think and want to happen. Just put yourself in his situation, can you keep your normal calmness?" – Asuna softly questioned.
"No." – Kirito was struggling.
"Although Kacchan attacked a kid, but like Sinon's saying, he wanted to stay alive. I heard that he chose to run first, which meant he did not intend to fight. But because that group was intending to kill him, he did not have choice but to fight and tried to survive, by all cost, because there were something very important he wants to do, right, Kacchan?" – Asuna then turned to Kaz and smiled softly.
"Yes." – Kaz looked at Sinon's smile and nodded to Asuna.
"Everyone will do everything possible when they want to survive, no matter what is is. We were in this situation before. Didn't you forget, Kirito-kun?" – Asuna then turned to Kirito.
"Yeah." – Kirito nodded.
"Not to mentioning that Kacchan's past was something we, who were born in peace, can't imagine." – Asuna suddenly turned sad.
"Asuna…" – Looking at Asuna's expression, Sinon felt grateful to her. – "Thank you."
"That's okay. I understand." – Asuna smiled to Sinon.
"What do you mean "we who were born in peace"?" – Feeling strange, Lizbeth asked.
"That's another long story." – Asuna answered, before she spoke to everyone. – "After all, we are sitting here. I see there is no reason that we can't talk like friends, right? Maybe when we understand each other, there will no reason to argue anymore."
"I think so." – Kirito took a deep breath and looked at Asuna, and his adopted daughter who were hiding behind her adopt mother. – "Sorry."
"Whatever else, you have your reason to ask." – Kaz did not show any annoying. – "I guess I should be leaving."
"I'll go, too." – Sinon insisted.
"Just stay here. This is your home, too." – Asuna spoke to him. – "The house are quite big, we still have rooms left, just give me sometimes to arrange yours."
"Uhm…" – While he did not know what to say, Kaz looked at Sinon just to see her nod and smiled. He guessed he should not reject Asuna's offer. – "Then, thank you."
"Don't mind it. I'm glad that you still see me as your sister." – Asuna smiled happily. – "So, what are you doing next?"
"Before that, may I ask who is it?" – Kaz then pointed to the little girl, who had long black hair and big black eyes, looking at him curiously and shyly.
"Ah, I forgot to introduce you. This is Yui, my daughter." – Asuna patted Yui's back to encourage her. – "Come on, say "Hi"."
"Uhm… Hi." – The little girl seemed to be curious. But because of the heat of the conversation, she did not dare to show up.
"Your daughter?" – Kaz startled. He then looked at Asuna and Kirito, showing he could not believe it.
"No no no. It's not what you are thinking." – Realizing something, Asuna quickly spoke on embarrassingly. – "Kirito-kun, say something."
"Ah right. Yui is… uhm… our adopted daughter." – Kirito followed his wife. – "We found her in a forest. From that, we adopted her."
"She's really young." – Kaz asked surprisingly.
"Well, you can say that. And she is not human." – Kirito gave more information.
"What do you mean by that?" – Kaz was more uncomprehend.
"Well… Yui is… an AI, a special AI that can think as human being." – Asuna answered.
"Clearer, she was created as a program and was forced to monitor people's psychological parameters. But then she escaped herself and we adopted her." – Kirito patted Yui's head. The little girl smiled joyfully.
"Isn't that sad to her?" – Kaz suddenly felt sad. For unknown reason, he felt that he and Yui shared familiar unidentified things, which he could not know clearly and speak out.
"No, it's not. I'm very happy to live with Mama and Papa." – Yui quickly comforted Kaz when she saw his sad expression.
"That's good." – Kaz smiled slightly.
"I watched people for two years, only to see their insane, misery and else. But there were Mama and Papa who did not have either of them. After that "night", they were even happier. That was why Yui wanted to escape and came to see them."
"Glad to hear." – Afterwards, the little girl came closer to Kaz. Feeling something was unusual, Kaz asked Asuna. – "But what is "that night"?"
"Huh?" – Both Asuna and Kirito startled.
"It was the night in Mama's house, after dinner, Mama put off her clothes and…" – Yui answered innocently.
"NOOOOO. Stop, Yui. STOP." – Asuna quickly covered her adopted mouth. Kirito helped her, too.
"Just forget what she just said." – Kirito helped Asuna.
"It was not only that "night", but many "nights"." – The little girl said to Kaz interestedly and naively, while her adopt parents could not do anything else but covering their shy faces.
"Ah hah." – Both Kaz and Sinon looked at the family curiously, and they kept insisting them to tell what happened in "that night". – "Come on. Tell us."
"Are you two serious?" – Kirito did not think that both of them could be that insistence. It was like they were totally different than their usual calm appearance.
"But, Kaz-san is Mama's brother, so what should I call him?" – After that, Yui returned to her normal curious face.
"That's "Uncle."" – Calming down, Asuna smiled.
"Uhm… Can I call him that?" – Yui asked back.
"Why did you ask?" – Sinon wondered.
"Because Leafa-san is Papa's sister, I should call her "Aunt", but she always tells me to call him Leafa-san or Leafa nee-san." – Yui answered incomprehensibly. – "The same with Klein-san. He told me to call him "Onii-chan"."
"Don't listen to a stranger, okay?" – Immediately, Asuna and Kirito reminded Yui, why the mentioned character sneezed and wondered who called him. He thought it was a cute girl.
"Just call me what you see fit." – Kaz secured the little girl.
"Then will it be okay if I call you "Uncle Kaz"?" – Yui smiled brightly and came to him.
"Of course." – Kaz smiled and stroked her smooth black hair. The little girl could help but smiling happily.
"So, what will you do next?" – After everything seemed to be good, Asuna asked both Sinon and Kaz.
"I will fix his hair." – Sinon stroked her lover's mess hair. – "Is it okay?"
"Uhm…" – Kaz looked up and grabbed some of his hair. He wondered if it already returned to the beginning status. Whenever Kioku, or Sinon's appearance in his mind, fixing his hair, it always returned the same mess. And because it was Sinon, he said. – "Yeah, thank, Shino."
"Mah mah, don't be that polite." – Sinon smiled happily, before everyone moved.