Kirigaya Residence:
It was about 7 in the morning as sunlight hit Sugu in the face forcing her to wake up. She groaned a bit before opening her eyes and sat up. She rubbed her eyes a bit before looking at her surroundings, she realized that she was not in her room and was in Kazuto's.
Panic spread across her face as she quickly searched the room for her brother only to find him right next to her still asleep. She sighed in relief before looking back at him, she then reached out her hand and ran her fingers along his hair smiling as he leant into her touch.
"He's okay, he's still here…with me." She thought to herself. It's been a few days since he's woken up from his coma and these past few days haven't been exactly good to him. He's been punctuated by violent nightmares of himself killing people or seeing the faces of those he's had killed, each one worse than the last. He's been at this for a week.
Suguha has been staying with him at night to help keep his nightmares at bay. Until he had no more nightmares, she decided to sleep with him. Without question, she had told their mother Midori about his nightmares. She was skeptical a bit first but seeing her son sleep-deprived and staggering a bit every day meant he was trying to stay awake avoiding sleep, so she allowed Sugu to help him sleep even if he didn't want it. She had also told Ryo, Kotone, Sachi, and Strea. Hearing about they all decided that they should keep an eye on him whenever they were at school. When Sugu wasn't in the same class with Kazuto, she would make sure that one of the other three were keeping an eye on him. Speaking of him….
"Kazuto…Time to wake up Oni-chan." Sugu said as she poked and pulled his cheek like he did with her in the past. Kazuto groaned before lazily pushing her hand on of his face and tried to bury his head further into his pillow.
"Come on, Kazuto you got to get up." She said while giggling at him. Kazuto opened his eyes before sitting up and stretched out his arms as he yawned. He rubbed his eyes before turning his head to Sugu.
"Morning Oni-chan." She greeted.
"Morning." He replied as he looked away from her.
"What's wrong Kazuto?"
"Oh nothing, I'm okay just…a bit…never mind don't worry about it." He told her. Sugu not buying the act, crawled over to him and leaned right into his face pouting.
"Kazuto."
"Sorry." Suguha then frowned when the next question she asked froze him still. "Kazuto…when did you start cutting yourself?"
He froze in fear of that she knew about his cuts on his arms. He was about to wonder how until realization dawned on his face, he was in coma and put in the hospital meaning that they saw the cuts….his adoptive—his mother and sister saw them..
"Dammit." He cursed himself mentally.
"I've…..I've…I guess you could say when school started before SAO." He said quietly as he looked away from her.
"So three years ago?" she asked as he nodded.
"Right after a year at school, I didn't fit in. I would always avoid people since I couldn't really approach them since I only knew you but I know you enjoyed doing kendo a lot and had some friends I guess; I'm not sure I didn't ask you but I didn't want to impose on you so I just…..shut myself out from the world." He explained.
Sugu frowned at how her brother looked at the situation. She was a little mad that he didn't come talk to her at the time about stuff like that but she knew that he didn't want to be a burden to her which made her a little happy and sad that he thought about her needs before his own.
"Afterwards, I started hearing these….voices."
"Voices." She asked as he nodded.
"They sounded really deep and full of…anger. It told me that you can never escape from your past, you can never be happy….you can never be free of your darkness." He repeated those words like a mantra as he stared at the sheets with empty eyes. Sugu grasped his hands with her own and gently squeezed them giving some comfort.
"At first, I thought it was just my imagination but then they appeared in my dreams haunting me and then later they became hallucinations." He frowned at her before returning his gaze to the bed once more.
Suguha was thinking to herself about his demons. He was having these hallucinations for so long and he never said anything about it. Why didn't he? Did he not trust her enough or was that the time where he felt alone and just kept his distance away from her?
"What about your cuts?" she asked gently.
"It happened while I was sleeping. When I woke up from an intense nightmare I would feel something on my arm. I saw blood soaked into my sleeves, so when I rolled them up, I found a gash in my arm. I guessed when my nightmares get too intense I would cut something in there only to cut myself out here." He paused for a bit as Suguha stayed silent and continued her ministrations with his hand.
And when I was trapped in SAO it got worse. It was after I ran into a bunch of murderers over the years, whenever I go to sleep my nightmares, I see the faces of those I…..killed." he explained as he absently rubbed his right arm.
'That explains both the cuts and sleep deprivation. He's been avoiding sleep so he doesn't have to relive those moments. I know he was only protecting his friends but he thinks that he became a killer and was no better than them…..Kazuto.' Sugu couldn't even begin to imagine what he had to live through every day for the past three years. She then wondered about the past days, if he would hurt himself then why didn't he unless…..
'Since I'm here with him, he can't hurt himself. Good. As long as I'm with him he can't do anything dangerous to himself.' She finished thinking. She then engulfed her brother into a tight hug confusing him.
"Kazuto, I can't say that I understand of what you're going through and how lost you are but I can tell you that you don't have to face it alone. You got me and kaa-san to help you, plus there's Kotone, Ryo Strea and Sachi. We can help you get through this, if you feel like you're losing yourself in darkness we'll pull you out and keep you here with us." She said softly.
"Sugu…" It's times like these that made Kirito wonder why he ever push her away in the past? Even though he was distant, she was always worried about him and see if he was okay. He felt even more guilty that he tried to keep her away and remain alone.
"Sugu…..I'm sorry that I…that I pushed you awa-" he was cut off when she put a finger to his lips.
"That's in the past Kazuto. I knew back then you didn't feel like you fit in with us and tried to keep your distance, but even with that it wouldn't stop me from helping you or talking with you so you could feel like you belong with us. Nothing would stop me from being your sister." She finished.
"Thank you…..Imouto-chan." He whispered as he wrapped his arms around her not noticing the small smile on her face. The two stayed siblings stayed in that position for a few moments before they let go.
"Feeling better?" she asked him.
"Thanks to you."
"Good. Oh that's right!"
"What?" he asked confusedly.
"Today's Saturday."
"And?"
"Aanndd, I forgot that I talked with Kotone the other day about all of us hanging out today."
"What?...Wait when did this happen?"
"Kotone and I've been talking about your uh?"
"My depression?" he asked bluntly.
"Yeah. Sure. That's one way of putting it. Anyway, she thought that we should all hang out today, plus she wants to help you to keep your mind off SAO." Sugu explained.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea but um…what are we exactly doing once we get there?"
"You'll see~~~" she teased sending shivers down Kazuto's spine.
"Whenever her voice sounds like that, for some reason it scares me to no end. Reminds me of a certain rat, I wonder how she's doing since the game was cleared." He thought to himself before looking back at his sister.
"So when do we leave?"
"After breakfast, so hurry up and get dress okay." She didn't give him a chance to finish as she hopped off the bed and left the room to get dress. Kazuto laughed quietly before he stopped and stared at his hands. He still couldn't get that image out of his head, seeing blood stained by his hands sent tremors to his body as he clenched his hands.
"Will they see me as a scared teenager or…..someone who's nothing but a bloody murderer?" he thought darkly. No matter what Suguha said, he just couldn't see himself as scared….all he saw was a killer who had no remorse for the murderers in SAO and…he was no better than them.
Out in the hallway, Suguha was leaning against the door clutching her chest tightly as her brother's words replayed in her head.
Tears gathered in her eyes before she quickly wiped them away and shook her head. "No, no more tears. I have to be strong for him, I can't leave him alone either. These…dreams or hallucinations or whatever they are….it's causing him so much pain and his eyes are filled with so much guilt." She thought as she walked into her own room. She slipped out of her pajamas into her red jacket with a blue tank top underneath and black compression shorts. She then slipped out of her room and went downstairs to make breakfast since Midori was at work as usual.
She entered the kitchen and opened the fridge while thinking to herself. "So what should I make for breakfast?" As she was thinking she didn't hear Kazuto come down the steps and into the kitchen.
"Hey." Suguha was brought out of her thoughts as she turned her attention to him. He was wearing dark pants with a black long sleeve t-shirt.
"Do you have to wear black all the time Oni-chan?" She asked while giggling.
"Why, what's so bad about me wearing black?" he asked raising an eyebrow at her.
"Nothing. It's just that there's not a day I can remember you wore anything but black. You trying to go goth or something? She asked him with a smirk on her face.
"No…and I appreciate if you never ask me that again." He said as he walked by her and sat at the table.
"I'm just teasing you okay, lighten up." She said as she tried to earn a smile on his face but instead he look at the table and said "No thanks, I'm good." Sighing to herself, Sugu just went back to the fridge to get out ingredients for breakfast.
A few minutes later:
After eating breakfast, Suguha and Kazuto left the house and took the city bus into town. As they did Suguha talked to her brother about what's been happening over the two years he's been inactive.
"So you've been playing computer games?" he asked in bewilderment.
"Mmmhmm. You could say I started a year ago while you were in the hospital, I kind of got bored. I love doing Kendo but with you out in a coma and mom working all the time there wasn't really much I had to do outside of that."
"So I started playing a game called Alfheim Online." She said. Before he could say anything, she placed a hand up stopping him.
"I know what you're going to say and I'm fine. Right before the game was launched someone named Sugou was caught doing something illegal when the game was created. He was trying manipulate players emotions while they were in the game basically you could say that he was trying to control their minds with his own hands."
"So how did he get caught?"
"Kayaba."
"What?" he asked confused by her answer because the said man was long gone. Well his life in the real world was but his spirit not entirely. "Kayaba left a recording message and evidence saying that he knew one day if he was gone or not that Sugou would try to do something really bad that was worse than death itself or something along the lines like that. Sugou would use his technology as his own and do something that would allow him to control and manipulate emotions and break their minds by his own two hands." She explained with an angered expression on her face.
"Well at least he's behind bars." Kazuto said.
"Yeah, he even tried to blame everything on Kayaba but it was pointless either way no one has heard of the crazy man since then." Suguha said. The bus came to a stop signaling her that they were here.
"Come on oni-chan." She said as she grabbed his hand pulling him with her as they got off the bus and onto the sidewalk. As soon the bus left, Kazuto turned around and saw the school buildings in view.
"Um…Sugu….why are we back at school?" he asked her. She only pointed to the side and saw their group of friends. Kotone, Sachi and Strea. They waved at them as they walked over to the duo. Kazuto feeling unsure on what to do stood still. He wasn't sure how they would react to him, Suguha said that they see him as their friend.
If so then why was he having doubts about that? Has his own madness caused him to start question everything around him? Or is he slowly losing his mind?
He was brought out of his thoughts when Suguha placed a hand on his shoulder as she looked at him worry etched across her face. "Kazuto. You don't need to worry about it okay? I told you no matter what nothing will change okay?" she said hoping that he would listen.
"Okay." He nodded as she smiled at him. He could see that she and the others were willing to show him that he is still the same person they know and not someone else.
"Hey guys." They both looked at Strea who greeted them happily as did Sachi and Kotone.
"Hey. Sorry we're a bit late." Sugu apologized.
"Yeah someone wanted to make sure I got out of bed and not stay in locked in my room all day sleeping." Kazuto said as Suguha gave him a playful glare. "Well maybe if you weren't a vampire then all the time then I wouldn't have to now would i?"
"Vampire? I thought vampires weren't real?" Sachi asked as she tilted her head in confusion. Strea decided to play with her sister, seeing this as an opportunity.
"Oh, vampires are real baby sister. I mean they do like to sleep all day but when night falls that's when they're active."
"B-But there's no way Kirito's a vampire, r-right?" Sachi stuttered not noticing the chesire grin on her sister's face.
"Oh really, hey Kirito~~ is it true that you tend to sleep all day and play computer games all night?" Strea teased.
"Well I don't sleep all day, I do practice fighting with Suguha from time to time though I'm usually worn out the next day but other than that I don't-" he paused as he saw the scared expression on Sachi's face while Strea was trying to stifle her laughs but was failing miserably.
"I just confirmed that I was a vampire didn't I?" he asked blankly as Strea just started laughing like crazy while Sachi hid behind Kotone who just sighed in exhaustion and Suguha just giggled at the antics while patting her brother on the shoulder.
"I don't know if I should be either laughing or annoyed at this." He said glaring at Strea.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. *hahaha* I'm sorry." Strea was holding her stomach as she continued laughing.
"Not funny sis." Sachi said pouting at her sister.
"Your right. It was hilarious." Strea chuckled as she slowly calmed down from her antics with her sister.
"You done?" Sachi asked.
"Yep."
"Where's Klein?" Kazuto asked as he finally noticed that the red haired man was nowhere to be seen.
"He said he would meet up with us later, as for right now we are going to exploring." Kotone said.
"Exploring?"
"Yep. We're going to go around the city to explore, you know sightseeing and all that." Strea said.
"I don't-"
"Kazuto Kirigaya if you say I don't feel like it I will knock you out and drag you around the city myself understand?" Suguha said with a sweet smile on her face which terrified all of them.
"Okay, fine." He replied with a hint of fear.
"That's what I thought."
"Now off let's go." She said as she pushed her brother forward and into the city leaving behind the three girls.
"I'll be honest I knew she was scary but that smile of hers freaks me out." Strea said sheepishly.
"It just goes to show that if you either mess with her, get on her bad side, anger her for no reason, or hurt her brother in anyway she'll kill you." Kotone said bluntly making the Sayuri twins looked at her in disbelief.
"Do you have to be so blunt with your answers towards everybody when asked a question?"
"Do you have to be so straight forward with your answers towards everybody when asked a question?" Sachi asked her and then Strea added. "Sorry but that's just how I act. Thank you very much." She replied as she started walking off to catch up with the two.
"Do you think she'll ever admit that she has feeling for Kazuto?" Sachi whispered to Strea who just sighed.
"I don't know, if anything from what I can tell they're both oblivious right now so anything we do to try and get them to tie-the-knot would be pointless." Strea said.
"Aww, I really wanted to mess with them and get them together~~" she whined while Sachi just looked at her in silence.
"Please tell me you weren't actually thinking of plans of having to play matchmaker with those two?" she asked while Strea sheepishly scratched her cheek and gave her sister a sheepish smile.
Sachi just sighed at her before walking ahead. "Hey, Sachi wait up I was only joking." She said as she caught to her. 'Not really'.
As the five walked around the city they started talking to each other about different things. Sachi and Suguha were up ahead chatting while Kazuto stayed behind and wanted ask Kotone a question.
"Hey Kotone."
"Hmm?"
"Are you alright?" he asked her with a stern expression on his face startling her a bit.
"Y-Yeah I'm okay. Why do you have ask?" she was curious onto why he was concerned about her not that she didn't appreciate it and secretly liked it.
"Suguha told me about your chat with Asuna." As soon as those words left his mouth, she held her head down and frowned. She didn't want him to know how weak she was, not being able to stand up on her own. Strea noticing this walked up ahead and took Sachi and Suguha by the hand and dragged them into a nearby restaurant.
"Sister?"
"Where are we going?"
"We're giving them time to talk." She said as she gave the two one last look before pushing Sugu and Sachi into the restaurant.
"Please don't be angry with me." She muttered to herself forgetting that he was right next to her.
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"I-I couldn't stand up for myself. She talked about you and said then….she said she knew about you dying and all I did was freeze in fear….I-I was scared of her being right… I-I was scared of losing you…i-I was…" Kotone was about to cry until Kazuto wrapped his arms around her. She sighed in contempt, loving the warm embrace he was giving.
"I'm sorry Kotone. I'm sorry that I wasn't awake aroud the same time as everyone else was." He apologized to her. He was also burning with anger when he thought about Asuna, he knew that girl had a split persona but this was too far. Then he remembered why no else in SAO would partner up with her and when he was forced to…
"No one was able to handle that split personality of hers. I only knew about it because I encountered her during a quest and well…..crap hit the fan reeeeaaal quick."
"It's not your fault. There's no need to be sorry, if anything we're sorry for not finding you in SAO." She whispered.
"No Kotone. I didn't want to put you or anyone else I care about in danger. I rather have my friends alive and happy without me than dead because of me." He replied.
"Kazuto.."
"It looks like you woke up after all didn't you Kirito~" Kotone froze and her eyes widened in fear while Kazuto's widened in anger. As he turned around he saw none other than his rival and forced acquittance from SAO Asuna Yuuki. She was wearing a pink sweater with a white coat and black mini shorts with white mid-heels.
Kazuto glared at her while Kotone looked at her in slight fear before glaring at the girl as well. "Why are you here Asuna?" he said heatedly.
"Aw what's wrong, I'm not allowed to check on my old partner who was slowly dying in the hospital about a week ago?" she asked as she tilted her head in a cute manner. Kotone suddenly felt angry at her and wanted to say something but Kazuto beat her to it.
"Don't you mean forced partner?" he asked making her giggle in amusement.
"Yep it's you alright. Only you can humor me like that." She replied.
"What do you want Asuna?" he growled dangerously making people around them looked at them in confusion. When Kazuto turned his glare at the crowd they shivered and went back to their activities. So he pulled both Asuna and Kotone by their wrists into an empty alley before letting go.
"You were saying?" he growled again
"I just want to have a little chat with you…..you know like old friends." She said as she clapped her hands together and gave them an innocent smile, indwardly smirking as she saw Kotone's expression of anger. She then reached hand out to touch his face but before she could get far Kotone slapped it away.
"Don't even touch him Asuna!" she hissed making the chestnut-haired girl looked at her in annoyance before she let out a few giggles and spoke again.
"Relax. I'm not trying to hurt him or anything after all, it's just a conversation between two old friends. WE don't need a third wheel interrupting." She emphasized.
"Why you…."
"Kotone." The said girl stopped at his voice, it sounded so…..dark and malice…..
'Wait, I remember him using that tone towards Laughing Coffin when they tried to kill us…..what is he planning?' she thought as she turned her head to him and saw his eyes. They were different, they were no longer filled kindness but instead were replaced with hatred and malice.
"Kazuto." She said worried about him.
"I'll be fine….okay?" he reassured her as he turned his head and gave her a ghost smile. Kotone nodded but was still worried about the outcome of their talk. She placed her hand on his arm gently before speaking.
"Please…be careful." She pleaded at him. After giving him one last worried look and Asuna a heated glare, Kotone walked out of the alley and into the restaurant where the other girls were at. As soon as she was gone Kirito turned his attention back to Asuna.
"Now that she's gone I can finally speak. Kirito…how should I put this?" she said as she placed a finger on her cheek. "Okay…..how does your body feel? You been inactive more than anybody trapped in SAO but more importantly how do you feel?" she asked in a caring tone.
Kazuto hated it whenever she does this. Asuna was always switching her persona in and out from sadistic and malevolent to kind and warm-hearted. She stays in her cold sadist side towards everyone she's met his friends included. She's only caring towards those she's made friends with but with him…..it was different. She would do both personas with him…and that's the part that confuses him deeply.
"I'm fine." He replied before hearing her chuckle a bit.
"Oh please. Kirito I know you better than your sister does, you try and deny it all you want but….." she paused a bit as she walked towards and leaned into his ear.
"….you're still the killer that everyone remembers." She whispered causing to him flinch slightly before his breathing to get erratic.
"Shut….up…" he said silently as he clenched his fists in anger. He could tolerate her attitude and persona but she wasn't trying to tease him no…..she was trying to bring out his own dark half. She always would….for some reason ever since she saw him kill a few Laughing Coffin Members she's been trying to get that side out more often but he's not sure exactly why.
Asuna was enjoying herself watching Kirito's inner torment, as much as her caring side wanted to stop herself, her sadistic side wanted to see Kirito's dark side again. When she was on missions to killing Laughing Coffin Members, she was praise for taking out murderers while Kirito was looked at with hate and disgust and fear for killing people. It sickened her. Because of the first boss everyone took out and Kibaou just had to place the blame on beta testers for losing a friend, Kirito had to step up and make himself look like the bad guy in order to prevent chaos for everyone.
"Do you know what I want Kirito?" she asked him. That made him raised an eyebrow in question.
"What is it, besides tormenting my mental state and everything I thought you already have something you want." He asked.
"There's one thing that I want, and right now he's standing right in front of me. Problem is he's surrounded by his sister and friends preventing me from taking him." Asuna said as a twisted smile came across her face. Kirito was ready to retort until realization hit his mind from what the said girl wanted…..him.
"Me?...What do you want me for?" he asked her. Asuna walked towards him as he took a caution step back until his back hit the wall cornering himself. 'Dammit.' He silently cursed. He wasn't afraid of Asuna, he was afraid of losing himself. Asuna would always try to find a way to bring out his darkness, the pain and suffering he had to live with for two years but he resisted it.
"Kirito." She whispered as she placed her hands on his cheeks making him nervous not knowing what she would do next. "He's so cute." She commented mentally as she stroked her thumb over both his cheeks.
"Why do you fight it?"
"….what?"
"why do you fight the darkness that's inside of you? why do you not embrace instead of letting it control you?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
"…I have control over it." He said silently as he looked away from her only to be forced to look back into her eyes.
"No…..I'm afraid you don't. You've may had hid it well from your friends and sister but you can't hide that side from me. They only seen the remnants of those you've killed….what do you think they will feel when they see you completely kill someone with no remorse?" she asked him. Kirito didn't flinch on the outside but on the inside he was trembling. Asuna was right they've only seen him kill someone that was last survivor they never seen him kill head on…..if they did…..
"…How about this?" she said as she stepped back from him and removed her hands confusing him. He was about it to talk when he felt a sense of danger hit him and moved his head to the side on instinct. As he did he saw Asuna holding a small knife in her hands.
"What the hell? UGH!" Asuna thrusted her knee into his gut knocking the wind out of him. The impact caused him to cough up spit before getting hit with swift kick to the face sending him to the wall. The collision arched his back as he slid down to the ground leaning against the wall. He had a bit of blood coming out of his mouth while struggling to get back up.
Asuna was already in front of him as she sat down on his lap and spread out his arms stabbing a knife through his wrists into the wall pinning him there.
Kirito gritted his teeth in pain as he tried not to scream from the sharp objects in his arms. He couldn't fight back because his body was still out of it from the inactivity and his lack of sleep.
"Dammit." He silently cursed as Asuna placed a hand on his cheek enjoying the expressions of pain on his face. She then took out another knife and gently dragged it across his cheek cutting his skin and drawing a little bit of blood.
What happened next sent shivers down his spine, Asuna moved her head to his wounded cheek before dragging her tongue smoothly across his cheek tasting the blood. "Mmm. Your blood tastes so sweet just like I thought it would." Asuna said gaining a dark glare from Kirito.
"Oh right, I guess I should give you mine too. It only makes it fair right?" Asuna asked as she rolled down her sleeve on her left arm. She then moved the blade over the exposed skin and cut it open slowly as blood started to drip from her wrist.
"What the hell? Did she seriously cut her arm just for some blood to give, I am not drinking that." He thought as he tried to move his arms but winced in pain.
"Come on Kirito, you gave me a taste of your blood so it's only fair if I do the same thing for you." She encouraged as she nudged her arm at him but instead of accepting it he just turned away before muttering a few words.
"I am not drinking your blood. I'm not a vampire nor am I sick twisted in the head like you." he said heatedly trying to make her angry but all that did was make her smirk at him.
"I was actually hoping you wouldn't accept it that, so I decided to do something else." She said as she then bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
"Your right. You are not as sick in the head as I am…..not yet." She whispered the last part to him seductively making him shiver in slight fear.
"What are you—mmph!" Kirito asked but was interrupted when Asuna pulled him close and pressed her lips gently against his.
Kirito shocked at her actions felt like his body was in a trance and he couldn't fight back even if he wanted too while Asuna was enjoying herself in their little intimate moment.
As they kissed, Asuna massaged her tongue with his making sure that her blood went down his throat while the boy was still in shock. "Good thing, I pinned his arms to the wall otherwise he would've thrown me to the wall right now. Speaking of the said boy…." She brought herself back to reality as she parted her lips from his both dripping with saliva. She wiped off his saliva and her own with her fingers before sucking them dry.
"What….the…hell..was that for?" Kirito asked still in shock by her actions. As Asuna finished sucking her fingers she turned her attention back to the downed boy.
"You're mine and mine alone Kirito. I gave you a present." She said bluntly.
"A present!? I wouldn't exactly call this a present you know being pinned to the wall with knives in your wrists and then being kissed with someone's blood going down your throat! Yeah that kind a present really makes everything go perfect." He said sarcastically gaining a few giggles from the girl in front of him.
"Like I said earlier, only you can humor like this. But I do mean what I said earlier Kirito…." She paused as she removed the knives from his wrists and put them back in her pockets ignoring the fact that they were blood soaked and took out a few bandages from her purse.
"…..you're the only one that can fully endure both sides of me. Everyone else may as well be damned." Asuna said as she wrapped some bandages around his right wrist like a mummy before switching to his left. After wrapping up his left, she put the tape back into her purse and turned her attention back to Kirito.
"I'm afraid I have to leave you for now Kirito. I have other…..matters to attend to but until then…" Asuna paused again as she placed a hand on his cheek.
"Try not to die on me again." She kissed him again on the lips before parting and stood up. "See you later, Kirito." Asuna waved as she walked out of the alleyway and into the city leaving the said boy alone in his thoughts.
Nothing made sense to him right now, Why the hell did Asuna kissed him? More importantly what did she mean when she said he was hers? All these thoughts brought him out of his slump as he remembered that his friends were waiting for him at the restaurant.
"Right….guess I better get back there. Tch, dammit my wrists hurt like hell." He cursed as he picked himself up and rubbed his wounded wrists.
"She is going to be so pissed when she sees my arms." Kirito said to himself referring to his sister who is about to have a rampage as soon as he walks in.
As he walked in the restaurant, he found the girls standing in the far back with Klein who probably came in while he was talking to Asuna. As soon as he walked up to them, Suguha approached him with a worried look on her face.
"Kazuto what happened? Kotone told us about you talking to Asuna and-" Suguha stopped talking as soon as she saw what looked like blood on his wrists. She quickly grabbed his left wrist ignoring her brother wincing in pain as she looked at blood soaked sleeve. The girls also saw his wrist as gasped in horror while Klein looked at his friend in worry.
"What the? Dude, why are your wrists all bloody like that?" Klein asked worriedly.
"It's nothing, I'm fine." Kazuto replied. The last thing he wanted was to get his sister and friends involved with his problems with Asuna. She may be smart but she also has a short fuse if pushed the wrong way and he could not take that chance with his friends.
"Could you excuse us for a second?" Suguha asked before walking off tightening her hold on her brother's wrist not letting go. While the two headed outside, the others looked at each other in worry.
"So, anyone wanna take a guess on why his wrists are cut open?" Klein asked.
"You don't think he started cutting himself, do you?" Sachi asked completely worried about Kirito once she saw his blood.
"No, no, no Sachi. Kirito's strong, there's no way he would try to end his life or cause himself self-harm like that." Strea said sternly. If she only knew.
"Then why is he-?"
"It's because something happened in his conversation with Asuna." Kotone pointed out as she looked at them.
"What do you mean?"
"She may have attacked him." Kotone muttered heatedly as she clenched her fists.
"What? Why would she do that?"
"I don't know but she told me that she would like to talk to her old partner." She retorted.
"Partner!?" Sachi and Strea exclaimed in unison.
"There's no way Kirito would partner up with her unless he was forced to…..he was forced to wasn'the?"
"Either that or they bumped into each other."
"It's not us she wants, her objective is Kirito himself."
"Geez, what does that girl want with him?" Klein asked.
"I could never figure her out, she always talks about how he was the only one who could truly understand her, the only person she felt so comfortable being around with." Kotone said.
"What about her friends?"
"Them too but for some reason she's always had her eye on Kirito. And that worries me" she finished.
"I don't get it though, whenever we hear about Kirito it's when he has taken out another group of Laughing Coffin on a different floor or has completed a quest. I've never heard of him forced to work with Asuna." Sachi stated.
"I think Kirito didn't want anymore chaos spreading like the beta testers when the game first started, so he kept people in the dark." Strea said.
"Wouldn't the Blood Knights have known about him working with Asuna?" Klein asked.
"They probably didn't care about it, remember the news update from 6 months ago. They were put out reports of having under a leash to keep him grounded from killing people."
"And Asuna just let it happen?"
"Like I said her objective was Kirito, if she wanted him she would go after him herself."
"And I'm guessing things didn't end well when she found out about it?" Klein asked them. All girls nodded no because they met up with Kirito and Asuna back then only to find out that they were on the run.
"Someone wasn't. A few days later and entire guild raid directed the Blood Knights was ambushed when they going to a boss fight on the 40th floor…or was it the 50th?" Kotone wondered.
"I think it was the 50th."
"Who were they ambushed by?"
"Probably Laughing Coffin, they do killing quests remember?" Klein reminded them only for Strea to shake her head in disagreement.
"No it wasn't them….it was one person." All them stood still shocked that an entire guild raid was taken out by one person.
"How many?"
"100."
"W…..what?"
"All those people."
"Who has enough skill and power to take on that many people?"
"I don't know. All I remember is that was why Kirito and Asuna were on the run around that time."
"But aside from all of that, what does Asuna want with Kirito?" Sachi asked looking at her sister who was thinking the same thing, Klein just grunted while Kotone just sighed to herself."
"I don't know."
Same Time with Kazuto and Suguha:
"Oni-chan what happened back there?" Sugu asked him with her arms crossed. She pulled them back to the same alley where Kirito talked with Asuna not noticing the blood on the wall….yet.
"Nothing much. I'm fine okay."
"Kazuto you are not fine, what aren't you telling me?"
"Can we just not talk about this right now Sugu, I'm a little exhausted?" he asked her. She wanted to protest but she could see that his conversation with Asuna took its toll on his brain and he was starting waver a bit.
"What the hell did she do to you Kazuto? Why did she talk to you and what was it about?...is she responsible for this?" She asked rapidly before pointing to his bloody wrist.
"I honestly don't know what she wants but *sigh* can talk about this at home please?" he asked her again. This time instead of arguing she sighed in acceptance. "Okay….i'll go tell the others that we'll have to meet up again another time, come on." Both siblings exited the alley with Suguha's hand holding Kazuto's refusing to let him go until they were home. After telling the others that they would meet up again, Sugu dragged Kazuto home wanting to know what had happened to them.
At Night:
It was around 9 o'clock and the two teens, after getting into their pajamas, were in Kazuto's room on the bed silent. Suguha wanted him to tell her his conversation about Asuna but she also didn't want to rush him. As far as she knew his mental was still a little unbalanced because of his nightmares so she was willing to wait until he was ready. Speaking of which…..
"Okay Kazuto, I want you to tell me everything you talked about in your conversation with Asuna." She said as she sternly looked at him. Kazuto sighed.
"Alright, so this is what I remember. While I was chatting with Kotone, we were interrupted when Asuna came out of nowhere and started talking. I didn't want her to antagonize Kotone so I sent her to meet you guys before I resume talking.
"As soon as Kotone leaves, Asuna starts playing games with me. Her voice was filled with concern and kindness for a moment before she reminded me of who I was…..a killer." Sugu slightly flinched at that before recomposing herself and motioned him to continue.
"She then told me there was one thing that she wanted ever since she entered SAO."
"And what would that be?"
"Me."
"…what?" Sugu asked dumbfounded at his answer. 'What the heck could she want with my brother? Is she trying to use him or something or….does she actually see him that way?' Sugu asked herself mentally. She didn't want to think that the girl that toyed with Kotone and basically caused her friends problems was either falling or possibly is in love with her brother.
"A little later we talk for a bit more and then all of a sudden she attacked me out of the blue by kneeing me in the gut and sent me crashing to the wall, afterwards she embedded her knives into both of my wrists." He explained as he held up his wrists that were wrapped up in bandages.
"She attacked you?"
"More like she caught me off guard but what she did next completely put me in shock…" he explained.
"What did she do?"
…..
"Kazuto….?"
"She kissed me. Twice." He said bluntly
"She DID WHAT!?" Sugu shouted with anger as her cheeks burnt red. As far as she knows, Asuna was nothing more than a dangerous teenage girl who knew how to push their buttons and antagonize them…but to KISS her brother like that when she wasn't around…..all bets were now off.
'Note to self, kill Asuna the moment I see her again' Sugu thought with an evil glint in her eyes while her brother just sweatdropped at her.
'Note to self, make sure my sister doesn't kill someone for kissing me.' As much as Kazuto was conflicted, he knew that Asuna was dead as soon as Sugu finds her. Now if the chestnut-haired girl didn't have an insane personality like him than she would be scared a bit but he doubted that as well…..that woman has no fear whatsoever.
"I don't know why she did it but right now….everything's just a little confusing." He sighed as he rubbed his forehead in frustration. He avoided to tell her about
"Alright Kazuto, I want you to stay away from Asuna, avoid her at best because right now she's causing you to act a little different right now."
'If she's also part of the reason why my brother is losing himself then its best I keep her away from him. I'll inform the others tomorrow to do the same thing.'
"Ok. Can I just get some sleep?" he asked her as he felt himself fall, before he could go any further Sugu caught him and placed him back on the bed.
"I think we both need it." Suguha laid in bed with him before pulling the covers over them both. "Kazuto you awake?" she asked before she heard soft snoring. She sat up and looked over at him seeing him knocked out.
"Looks like your conversation drained your energy a lot more than I thought it did. *Sigh* this is gonna be a long road to recovery." She said as she brushed her hand through Kazuto's hair.
'He already has enough trouble dealing with his nightmares, now Asuna comes in and makes it even worse? I have to keep her away from him no matter what, there's no telling what else she's got plan for him.' Sugu thought as she wrapped her arms around her brother and kissed his forehead before she herself fell asleep.
Outside the house there was a figure leaning against a pole across the street with her arms crossed. Asuna smiled as she gazed upon the full moon thinking about what the events that are about to unfold in the near future.
"You can't protect him from his nightmares Suguha but the real question is….how long can you protect from not just me…..but from himself?" she asked as she started walking away from the house and down the street into the foggy atmosphere.
She stopped and whispered a few more words before she continued walking. "I look forward to our next encounters in the future…Kirito." She then walked away her figure disappearing as silence filled the air.
Okay now that was longer than expected. Anyway guys sorry for not updating this for so long, I've been busy updating Universal Fragments and rewrite RWBY: Team CMSN chapters that I forgot about this. Hope you enjoyed this origin because the story will take place in SAO Family Bonds later on within a few weeks. If you have questions about the characters, I will answer them on how I'm portraying them in the story. Until next time, I'll see you in HELL.
