Chapter 3: Suspect Behavior

Rika was curled up on her bed in a fetal position. Tears poured out of her eyes nonstop as she clung to a small plush bear that was now soaking wet. It was past two in the morning, but she couldn't fall asleep. Rika knew that she was being stupid. She was not the kind of girl to sit here crying over something or someone that she couldn't have, but being alone with Kazuto today, even if it had only been a short period of time had brought up a bunch of old feelings. Not to mention fighting a dragon together, which had been the first type of beast that they had faced together back in Aincrad. She had to shake herself out of this. Kazuto would never be hers, and Rika knew that she just had to accept it. She sat up, shook her head, and used her tear stained plush bear to dry her eyes before walking to the kitchen for a drink. She eventually drifted off into an uneasy restless sleep.

Several hours later Rika woke up with sleepy yawn. Her short hair was sticking up all over the place in a wild mess. A small line of drool had dried in the corner of her mouth. Her eyes well red, slightly puffy, and a little swollen. When Rika looked in the mirror she wanted to cry again. She looked horrible. Rika wasn't totally surprised by her appearance. She had spent the night crying after all. All she knew was that there was no way that she would be leaving the house looking like this.

After a steaming hot soak in a bath and fresh clothes Rika felt a million times better. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but sitting around the house was not going to make anything better for her. Rika thought about logging into to Alfheim to do a little material gathering, but really didn't feel like it. She was thinking that a day away from the game would be good. A day outside sounded quite a bit better. She picked up her phone and gave Asuna a call. It went straight to voicemail. That worried her. She knew that Kirito attempted to reach her after everyone logged out last night and it was the same thing. Despite the fact that Rika was extremely jealous of Asuna, she hoped that nothing was wrong. It wasn't like Asuna to just go off the grid like this and to miss the first day of a new update in Alfheim was unheard of. Aside from Kazuto, Asuna was the biggest gamer that she knew. They had all taken a little time off of ALO to sink some time into Ordinal when it was new, but the novelty had worn off pretty quickly for pretty much everyone except Asuna who had spent more time in the AR game than anyone in their party.

Rika glanced out of her bedroom window and smiled at the bright sunshine that was lighting everything up. A day outside sounded like just the thing that she needed to clear her mind. She thought about calling Ayano or Suguha to see if either of the girls felt like going for tea, but decided against it. Nothing against her friends, but Rika just felt like being alone right now. Besides, they were probably all in Alfheim right now anyway. Rika knew that she needed to get her mind off of Kazuto and hanging out with Ayano or Suguha would probably just lead to talking about ALO which would make her think of him.

Rika pressed down on her shirt to smooth it out and walked out of her door into the bright sunlight. She had no idea where she wanted to go, but started walking down the street aimlessly. Surely some place would catch her eye. There wasn't a single cloud to be seen in the sky and the sun was glaring down so harshly that Rika had to use one of her hands to shield her eyes. The heat in the air was intense and within minutes Rika had droplets of sweat running down her face.

Eventually she came across a tiny little cafe tucked away in a dark back alley. Rika had never seen the place before. It was very dimly lit, small lanterns were placed on each of the tiny tables outside. Only two people could sit at each table and Rika blushed slightly thinking about the happy couples that must come here for romantic dates. She pushed the door to the cafe open and a tiny bell jingled when she walked in. Inside was even more dim than the outside. Fans hung over a few of the tables circulating cool air that felt amazing after being in the heat outside. There were only six people inside the cafe, but it looked full due to the small size of the building. She gave a slight bow to the lady standing up front, walked to an empty table next to a small window and sat down. A friendly looking waiter came over and smiled at Rika. She ordered an oolong tea and smiled as he walked away. She leaned back in her chair and started staring out the window. As bright and sunny as the day was outside, the alley took in very little of that light. It was not a street that she would want to walk down in the middle of the night.

The friendly looking waiter came back and set her tea down on the table. Rika took a small sip, holding the liquid in her mouth to savor the flavor for a moment before swallowing with a sigh of satisfaction. She took her time with the tea, enjoying every single sip and then ordered another one. The quiet cafe was indeed making Rika feel better. She made a mental note to come back here again. Just as she was about to get up and leave she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

It was Asuna. Asuna had walked up and sat down at one of the outdoor tables tucked away in a corner, but still in Rika's line of sight. She wasn't alone either; a tall man with dark hair and a wispy beard sat down across from her. They were both smiling at one another and Asuna's face was slightly red. What is going on here? Rika thought to herself, sinking low in her chair to try to stay out of sight as the same waiter who took her order walked outside to Asuna's table. The mystery man said something and Asuna burst out laughing.

Rika didn't like this. Asuna couldn't answer anyone's phone calls or messages, she missed the first day of the ALO update, but she was here with some guy. "Maybe it's her cousin or something," Rika whispered to herself, feeling ashamed of the fact that she was about to sit here and spy on one of her closest friends.

The waiter walked outside and sat two drinks on the table. One in front of each of them. When he walked back in Rika ordered yet another tea as not to be rude and just sit there. The man reached across the table and rubbed his fingers against Asuna's who looked around blushing. Liz scooted even lower in her seat which drew looks from a couple of people inside the cafe as Asuna slowly laced her fingers through his. "Not a family member then," she growled, her face going slightly red.

Rika didn't want to jump to conclusions, but this did not look good. What would Kazuto say? He was not the jealous type by any means, and knew that Asuna had many male friends, but he knew most of them as they were mostly all SAO survivors like themselves.

Rika continued to watch the two of them, taking her sweet time with what was her third tea now, trying to make it last because she couldn't really spare the money for a fourth. Asuna and her friend continued to sit there and enjoy each others company, all the while acting like two people who were together, but didn't want to be caught or seen together. When the man finally got up and left, Asuna continued to sit there and just smiled looking off in the distance as he walked away. Rika knew what she had to do.

She got up and walked outside, leaving what little remained of her tea behind. Asuna didn't even notice her there. "Asuna," Rika whispered sitting down across from her friend.

Asuna let out a small yelp as if she had received a small electric shock and looked around half expecting to see more than just Rika sitting there. "Oh, hi Rika," she said, her voice cracking slightly as she looked around. "I...I didn't know that you came here."

"I don't. In fact I just ran across this place today." Rika was doing her best to keep her voice level. She still didn't know that anything was actually going on, just that Asuna's behavior with whoever that guy was had been awfully suspect. "I've just been sitting inside having tea and trying to clear my mind. Who was that guy though, Asuna?"

Asuna looked like she couldn't even look Rika in the eye and it made Rika slightly angry. "Oh, um, just some guy that I met on Ordinal. We've fought a few bosses together you know, no big deal."

Rika stared at her with penetrating eyes, trying to get Asuna to meet her gaze, but she wouldn't. "Look Asuna, you're one of my best friends and I have never had reason to doubt anything you say, but that didn't look like 'someone that you just met on Ordinal'. It looked bad from where I was sitting. It looked like a date."

Asuna's head snapped up and she locked eyes with Rika who could tell that she was about to go on the defensive. "What are you spying on me or something?" She said with a slight amount of rage in her voice.

It was Rika's turn to be defensive now. "I happened to be here before you," she said, her voice rising slightly. "Sitting just inside as I said before. I am glad that I saw you though. We were all worried about you Asuna. You didn't log onto ALO to run any of the new content with us and on top of that you haven't answered any phone calls from not only me, but from Kazuto either! So what's going on?"

"Look Rika, I was playing Ordinal that day and just didn't feel like talking to anyone! And nothing is going on, but even if there was it would be my business! Yes, we are friends, but please just leave this alone." With that Asuna stood up, grabbed her bag, and walked away in a huff not even looking back at Rika.

Rika sat there in a stunned silence. She had never seen Asuna so hostile before, at least not when there wasn't a game monster involved. She didn't know what to think, but needed to tell someone about this. Rika pulled out her phone and sent off a quick text message. Sugu, I need to talk to you, it said. Meet me at the house in Alfheim tonight, but make it late. After Kazuto and everyone else logs off for the night. It's important. Rika hit the send button and stood up to walk back home, not looking forward to the long walk in the heat.

Asuna: Witchy! Why would you do this to me? You know I would never hurt my beloved Kirito!

Witchy: *Casually holds up a Team Lisbeth sign

Author's notes:

I'm sorry about the slow paced chapter guys. This one was written as a build up. Bear with me as it is about to get good and intense!