Teehee, I decided to keep going with it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.

Chapter 13. A Little Longer

Asuna could feel her consciousness slip away as she was surrounded by Kazuto's warmth.

She felt she was on the borderline of REM sleep while still being vaguely aware of what was going on around her; Kazuto's soft breath, the blast of warm air from the heating ventilation, the rough shaking of the bus as it headed toward their stop... She listened to that rhythmic click-clack-click-clack as the vehicle rumbled along over the pavement, providing somewhat of a lullaby for her.

She felt like she slept for an hour when she finally blinked her eyes open to find herself still on the bus, slightly surprised that it was still driving. Did I space out? Because it felt like I really fell asleep...

She pondered for a moment while staying where she was until she realized something. Her eyes widened as she quickly lifted her head and looked up at Kazuto.

He was happily asleep with his head leaning toward one side and a small trail of drool on the corner of his mouth.

"K-Kirito-kun!" Asuna immediately shouted his name, but was not embarrassed about it because they were now the only passengers on the bus. He instantly awoke and looked around with a startled glance.

"Wuh-what?" He promptly wiped his mouth on his coat's sleeve.

"Dummy! You weren't supposed to fall asleep, too!" Asuna cried, landing a light punch on his chest. "I was just supposed to rest for 5 minutes until we got to our stop, but you fell asleep, too!"

"Ahaha... I guess I did..." he scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile that quickly faded into an expression of 'oh boy, this is bad'.

"I can't believe this..." Asuna groaned. "What time is it?"

"Ah... Almost 6." He replied, glancing at his cell phone.

"What?" She cried. "You mean we left the skating rink at 5 and it should have only taken us 10 minutes to get home but then an extra 5 because of the detour but now you're saying we've been on here for almost an hour?!" She was so incredulous that she said everything in one breath, which left Kazuto faintly impressed.

"It looks like it." He shrugged. "But it's a Saturday night. There's nothing bad about being home at 6 o'clock." He pointed out, smoothing down her ruffled hair with his hand. The panic that was in Asuna's eyes then faded as she realized the legitimate reasoning behind his words. She let out a long breath as she regained her composure.

"You're...right." She agreed. "It's not that late. Mother and Father won't be upset."

"Of course not." He soothed reassuringly. He was glad that she was finally getting the opportunity to stay out what would be considered 'late' for her on a weekend night. Since she had officially started dating Kazuto months ago, her parents' strictness had gradually began to dwindle into a form of respect for their daughter's choices.

Once Asuna had calmed down, she looked out the window.

"I wonder how far from home we are..." she mumbled.

"I'll go check." Kazuto stood on the rickety bus and moved up to the front to speak with the driver for a few moments before returning to her side. "I guess for all of our misfortune, we're pretty lucky." He chuckled. "Apparently he didn't know there was anyone else left on the bus, so he was just about to head back to the station until we started talking."

"Uwah. That would have been bad..." Asuna cringed just from imaging all the trouble they would have to go through in order to return home if that were the case.

"But he said he'd take us back to our stop now. It shouldn't be any longer than 15 minutes." Kazuto finished.

"15 minutes." She repeated experimentally. "Okay, that sounds good. I can stay awake that long."

"Me, too." He nodded. "But until then, how about I help you out with what we were doing before?"

"E-Eh? What do you mean? You're not being very specific." She blinked in confusion.

"I mean this." Kazuto slumped sideways to lean on her shoulder just as he had been before. Asuna jumped a little and he laughed. "Why are you getting so embarrassed? Like I said before, you're my girlfriend. You don't have to be so shy about it."

"B...But I can't help it." She muttered. "We're in public..."

"Not... really." He whispered, jerking his head sideways to indicate the empty bus, aside from the driver who was a good distance away.

"O...Okay." She took a deep breath and tried to relax herself, straightening her posture, her hands balled into fists on her knees.

"Dummy." He repeated her name-calling from earlier. "Your posture's too rigid. This shouldn't be torturous for you just so you can make it comfortable for me, you know." He reached forward to place his gloved hand on top of hers. He could feel the tension in her stiff knuckles and wordlessly squeezed her hand to get her to loosen up.

It was not often he got to see her shy side, so he made sure to periodically glance up to glimpse her blushing expression. Asuna seemed to be battling her emotions of embarrassment with the fierce desire to enjoy this crucial alone time with him and to make the best out of this experience.

After a few seconds, she slipped one of her hands from under his and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, just as he often did to her. She relaxed her posture and timidly pulled him closer to her.

Pleased with her efforts, Kazuto took the subtle invitation and nestled up to her side. She gasped lightly, but soon relaxed again as she finally brought herself to gaze down at him, a fond smile on her face. That's right. She thought. This is how I wanted it to be. This is how it should be. She then boldly pulled him as close as she possibly could to herself before leaning down to kiss his hair, causing Kazuto to blush in turn.

The remaining minutes of their ride home were spent in this position, both lightly breathing and enjoying the heat from the bus as well as from one another.

At last, the bus came to a halt. Regrettably, the couple broke apart as they stretched briefly and Asuna gathered her basket. They stood and exited the bus after Kazuto paid a bit extra for the inconvenience they had caused.

The familiar setting reassured them both as they began to walk toward Asuna's street.

"Ahh..." she sighed, her breath puffing into white clouds. "Now I kind of wish we could have stayed on the bus longer..."

"Me, too." He pouted a bit. "But at least you know for next time how to relax."

"Mm!" She nodded cutely as she imagined what "next time" would be like. Where will we be "next time", I wonder?

Just as a light flurry was beginning to fall again, they reached Asuna's house.

"Thank you so much for coming with me today, Kirito-kun." She said, spinning on her heel a little to face him. "I had so much fun. Almost too much!"

"I did, too." He agreed. "We'll definitely have to go back sometime. Is that place open in the spring and summer?"

"Of course! And there are also other places like for skiing and water parks." She added.

"Sounds awesome." He said, getting excited just by thinking about it.

"But that's for later." She stopped her thoughts before she could get ahead of herself. "Valentine's Day is coming up soon, so I've got to prepare myself." She winked.

"But you just finished making me this scarf!" He protested. "You don't have to do so much for me-"

"Of course I do!" She cut him off. "Because I'm Kirito-kun's one and only girlfriend and you're my one and only boyfriend." She declared triumphantly, loving the sounds of the phrase. "Plus, I'm not doing it because I have to; I'm doing it because I want to."

"Alright then." He grinned hopelessly at her before placing his hands on her shoulders and pulling her in a bit. Asuna closed her eyes as their lips met, overriding the freezing air around them as time stopped for an warm moment until they broke apart. "Good night." He embraced her briefly before stepping away.

"Night." She replied. "See you tomorrow?"

"Of course."

Kazuto watched her go until she vanished into her house, missing her warmth as usual as he headed home to wait until tomorrow when he could hold her again.

A/N: If I had a nickel for all the cheesy ending lines I've written...

Next week's is the Valentine's Day chapter!

Please review!