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Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.
Chapter 26. Hiccups
Asuna groggily pushed herself up from her mattress, blinking her eyes against the bright morning sunlight.
She sat up in bed and stretched her arms above her head for a moment before leaning forward to stretch out her back in a catlike motion. Wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve, she got out of bed and tidied it before freshening up.
After changing into her school uniform, she commenced brushing her hair with long strokes of the brush. She sighed as she immediately remembered 3 days ago when she had been at Kazuto's house overnight, and when he had combed her hair for her.
Now, as she did it herself, she tried to remember his gentle hands that would occasionally brush against her back, his clumsy motions of how he brushed through her tresses with uncertainty, his cute, periodic queries of whether he had hurt her. "Ah, that sure was nice..." She sighed aloud. "I wish we could do that every day..."
Although she voiced her regrets as such, she realized something inside her head. But then...if we did things like that every day, I guess it wouldn't be as special as it is during those few, rare occasions.
Still, she could not help but long for she and Kazuto to be able to sleep over together every night. B-But then... wouldn't that be like...getting m-married...? As the rush of blood inflamed her cheeks, Asuna vigorously shook her head to scatter the thoughts. A-Anyway. Time for school.
Tying a portion of her hair into its usual braid, she took her bag and went downstairs for breakfast, wishing her family goodbye before she headed out.
Seeing Kazuto standing on the sidewalk outside of her house set her heart aflutter; even though it was a scene she saw every day, it always made her so happy. This is the best kind of relationship. She thought happily as she bounded over to him. The kind where everything is exciting, even if it's something you've done a thousand times already. "Good morning, Kirito-kun!"
"Yo. Morning, Asuna." He waved briefly before placing his hand on her shoulder and kissing her cheek. Asuna giggled as she found his hand with hers and they began walking to school.
There was still a bit of debris such as tree branches lying about on the streets due to the slight flooding brought on by the storm a few days ago, but there had been no major damage aside from some loss of power in some areas. Although I think it would have been quite nice to have had a bit more time off from school to spend alone with Kirito-kun... Asuna thought, a little bitterly.
As they walked idly and slowly on their path to school, Kazuto and Asuna both recalled several nights ago when they had walked much the same way, only on the train tracks in the woods instead of on the sidewalk.
Asuna was remembering with a dreamy look on her face, and got so distracted in the memory that she did not notice a small blossom fluttering toward her in the breeze. It collided with her nose, causing her to give a short shriek of surprise as she jumped, sputtering. The unexpected event cause her to swallow incorrectly and she coughed.
"Geez, what happened?" Kazuto tried to hold back his chuckle as he glance sideways. "We've only been walking for three minutes." He reached over with his free hand and brushed the blossom off of her nose.
"T-Thanks..." she coughed again. "Sorry. That really surprised me." She then turned her head quickly away from him to let out an impressive sneeze. "S-Sorry..." She wheezed, turning back to him with a guilty look on her face.
"Dummy." He smiled, patting her head and thinking how adorable she looked with her hair slightly sticking out and her nose slightly red.
But once they began walking again, Kazuto stopped after only a few steps after he heard a small sound coming from his side. "What was that?" He tilted his head questioningly.
"W-What?" Asuna blinked. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
"I could have sworn I just heard-"
"-Hic!-"
"..."
"Uwaaahhh..." Asuna moaned as she hiccuped again. A huge grin broke out across her boyfriend's face.
"You have the hiccups." He mused.
"N-Nooooo -hic!-" She wailed.
"What's the matter?" He asked, still smiling. "I've never heard you hiccup before."
"But it just -hic!- sounds so weird!"
"I think it's adorable!" He stated.
"...R-Really?" She mumbled. "B-But it's so -hic!- loud..." She muttered, covering her mouth.
"But it's with your cute voice, so I think your hiccups are great." He grinned.
Asuna felt her blush resurface as she quickly looked away.
"I just -hic!- hope they stop before class starts..."
The two of them continued to walk, but no longer in silence thanks to Asuna's hiccups. Each time one slipped out, which was about ten times every minute, she would give a little jump to accompany it, and each time Kazuto chuckled and squeezed her hand a little tighter.
When they arrived at school, Rika and Keiko greeted them as usual, but immediately burst into laughter when Asuna's reply was interrupted with a squeak.
"Buwahaha Asuna do you have the hiccups?" Rika guffawed. "That's the cutest thing I've ever heard!" Tears were clinging to the corners of her eyelashes.
"L-Liz..." Asuna mumbled, her face flushing.
"Why don't you drink some water?" Keiko suggested. "Otherwise you'll be hiccuping all during homeroom."
"I know. But there's not -hic!- enough time!" Asuna fretted.
"I guess you're just going to have to try and hold them in." Kazuto shrugged, but Asuna glared at him because he sounded like he was looking forward to her inevitable predicament.
"Welp, best of luck to ya!" Rika slammed her palm against Asuna's back, making her cough. "If your hiccups aren't gone by lunchtime, just let us know and we'll come give you the scare of your life!" With that final statement, she and Keiko headed off to their classroom.
Rika's words left Asuna trembling, as they all knew how she felt about scary things; Kazuto could easily imagine the other two girls dressing as ghosts with table cloths and scaring Asuna out of her mind to get rid of her hiccups.
The couple went to their own classroom and sat in their designated seats, which were several rows away from one another. Kazuto kept glancing at her, hunching over her desk as she tried to suppress the hiccups, her shoulders occasionally jumping.
As the teacher entered and the chatter died down, she tried even harder to keep quiet. Kazuto could tell she was a little more relieved when the teacher would speak and she could let the hiccups slip a little, but when a pop quiz was announced, Kazuto could not help but sputter with laughter from the look that appeared on Asuna's face.
Throughout the quiz no one spoke, and despite her very best efforts, Asuna could not silence her hiccups. Every time she squeaked, her classmates chuckled, and she would mutter an apology with her cheeks bright red.
Even after the pop quiz was over and the lecture continued, her hiccups still did not stop for another hour. However, just before lunchtime, Kazuto realized the lack of little noises coming from her direction, and Asuna let out a long sigh of relief.
When the teacher left the classroom and their fellow classmates all dispersed for lunch, Asuna quite literally popped out of her seat and ran over to Kazuto grinning.
"They're gone!" She beamed. "Now Liz and Silica-chan won't come to scare me!"
"That may be true," he grinned with a taunting tone. "But I wouldn't be surprised if they could hear you from their classroom during that pop quiz."
Asuna's demeanor immediately switched to a pout again. "Don't remind me..."
When they found out Asuna's hiccups had gone, Rika and Keiko did seem a bit disappointed.
"But you know hiccups tend to come back more than once in a couple days, right?" Rika winked. "If you ever need us, just let us know!"
"A-As if!" Asuna stuck her tongue out at her friend. "Come on, Kirito-kun. Let's have lunch at our usual spot." She took his sleeve and stomped off in a bashful rush with him in tow.
They retreated to their secret base, the bench outside by the small, blossoming gardens, and sat down to open their bentos. They ate in content silence, Asuna sending off a particularly bubbly aura now that she was freed from her hiccups.
After a few moments, she put down her bento box and slid closer to Kazuto.
"Neh, just a little one?" She said softly, tilting her head up.
Kazuto smiled as he put down his bento as well, wrapping one arm around the small of her back to pull her in. They closed their eyes as their breaths collided lightly, mere centimeters away.
But just as their lips were about to meet, Kazuto felt her jump slightly in his arms, and at the same time she was thrown off course to his mouth and ended up bumping into his nose as she squeaked. Despairingly, she reopened her eyes.
"Noooo -hic!- Not aga-hic!-in..." Forgetting the nice kiss they had been about to share, she dropped her face onto his shoulder as Kazuto let slip another chuckle.
"I guess Liz was right about them coming back."
"Uguuu... -hic!-"
"My aunt knows the best way to get rid of them. Do you have a water bottle?" Asuna limply brought a bottle out of her bag. "Okay," Kazuto continued. "Now you need to plug your ears and hold your nose and drink as much as you can. I'll hold the water for you, okay?" Asuna nodded as she lifted her hands to her face, plugging her ears with her index fingers and holding her nose with her pinkies.
She nodded again with a determined expression as she took a deep breath and Kazuto opened the bottle. Holding it to her lips, he slowly tilted it toward her a she leaned her head back and began gulping it down. Before very long, she ran out of breath and Kazuto pulled the water away as she dropped her hands back into her lap, panting.
"Don't breathe through your mouth!" He said quickly, and Asuna immediately closed her mouth.
Once she had regained her breath and calmed down a bit, Asuna realized her hiccups had stopped. She opened her mouth experimentally, but nothing slipped out.
"They...They stopped!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around him.
"It's a shame." He sighed. "Your hiccups were so cute..."
She lifted her head and gave him a little glare before straightening up, leaning closer to him again. Kazuto pulled her in again as he leaned down to kiss her.
But just before his lips met hers, Kazuto jumped while making a short sound.
"Uhh..."
"Ppft! That was so cute, Kirito-kun!" Asuna giggled, embracing the irony.
"Damn it." He groaned. "Do you have any more water?"
"Nope~" She sang.
"Fine. I'll go buy one from the machine. But first..."
He leaned down again and this time they managed to kiss.
Their lips met for several seconds before Kazuto hiccuped again, and Asuna was forced to pull away, laughing.
"Go and buy the water." She smirked. "If it doesn't work, I'll give you a good scare!"
A/N: Hope you liked it! (Just FYI, if you've never tried the water method to get rid of hiccups, I suggest it! It works with me every time!)
Please review!