Got a suggestion for kendo, since Kazuto did learn when he was young. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.


Chapter 56. Practice And Perfect

The grass underfoot was crisp with cold, enough for Asuna to feel it through her shoes as she watched Kazuto in the yard before her.

On the weekends, he would often take time to practice his kendo for about an hour or so, honing the skills his grandfather had taught him all throughout his childhood. Often, he would spar with Suguha, but she had been going over to friends' houses recently, leaving Kazuto to practice alone.

However, Asuna did not allow him to be too lonely. She would try to come by the Kirigaya residence on the weekends whenever she and her boyfriend did not already have plans. She would watch the two cousins spar, always in silence, fascinated by their chemistry; it was obvious they had been trained together since they were very young.

But today, she watched Kazuto as he practiced his strikes against an imaginary opponent.

Within the first thirty or so minutes of his routine, he would not wear his face or chest gear, only the traditional, flowing blue pants and white top that swayed with excess sleeves every time he lowered his arms. He would step up and back in turn a few dozen times, first with the left foot, then with the right.

Asuna knew her boyfriend was rather skinny, but that did not draw away from the sheer power he harbored within his body. His arms were taut and steady as he lifted the wooden sword above his head and swung it back down in the usual motion. When he stopped the move, the sword never wobbled, and this demonstrated just how much control he had over both his body and his weapon.

His technique spoke of many years' practice, and as she watched him perform the routine he had grown up with, Asuna could recall that she had seen this style leak into his fighting style in both SAO and ALO.

Even though his in-game swords were incredibly different from the wooden kendo sword, she still caught him occasionally holding the handle with both hands, or swinging it vertically to bring it down atop a monster's head much the way one would do in kendo. The places he struck on his adversaries in the games were more often than not the places she had seen him strike Suguha during the sessions a few weeks prior.

As she reflected on all of this amusedly, Asuna realized she must have been smirking to herself, as Kazuto stopped what he was doing to quirk an eyebrow at her.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" He wondered.

"Oh, nothing." She waved off his suspicion. "Just thinking how you use the same style in-game sometimes."

"Really?" He had not noticed that for himself, but when he gave it a moment of thought, he could imagine what she declared was true. "I guess you're right. That's kind of amazing, actually, considering I never really had the talent for kendo in the first place. That was Sugu's forte."

"Nonsense!" Asuna stomped her foot a little bit into the cracking grass, her breath forming a small cloud of white. "You're an exceptional kendo student. And I'm not just saying that." She added matter-of-factly.

"Really?" She could see his cheeks running a bit pink, and not just from the chilly breeze.

"Of course! What good would lying to you do?" She reasoned. "In fact, you're such a great student, I want you to teach me!"

"...Pardon?"

"Teach me kendo!" She repeated.

"Ah... Are you sure?"

She returned his puzzled look with a deadpan one. "No, Kirito-kun. I'm just asking for no reason. Of course I'm sure!" She shook out her legs that were beginning to grow stiff from the cold. "If we can't spar together, at least teach me the strikes."

"Uh... Okay." He agreed at last. "Wait here, I'll go get Sugu's sword." Leaning his own weapon against the side of the garage, Kazuto darted inside. He returned a moment later to hand Asuna another wooden sword. "It's a little beat up..." he grimaced. "Actually a lot beat up. She's a lot more into it than me. But it's definitely still usable. I don't think she'll mind your using it."

"Sorry, Suguha-chan." Asuna offered a quiet apology as she accepted the weapon and followed Kazuto back over to the center of the yard. She shifted the handle around in her palms, trying to find an effective grip.

"It's nothing like a rapier." Kazuto warned her. "Kendo is a lot clumsier."

"No it's not! It's just a totally different style." She copied how he gripped the handle of his sword, and finally found a comfortable hold.

"Okay." He began. "Let's go over the basic exercises first."

"Alright. Lead the way, Kirito-sensei."

He blushed a bit at that.

First, Kazuto led her through the steps he normally began practice with, the stepping up and back in turn. "Keep a steady pace." He told her. "Each step should last about two seconds."

As he expected, she caught on very quickly, stepping even better in her skirt than he could manage in his long pants. She beamed up at him triumphantly after a few minutes of copying his movements perfectly.

"Great!" He grinned. "Now I'll teach you the strikes. First, for a head-strike, you lift it above your head like this." Kazuto raised his sword above his shoulders to demonstrate.

"Like this?" Asuna's motion was close, but slightly lopsided.

"No more like this. Hold on, let me help you." Kazuto put down his sword and stood behind her, placing his arms over hers and having her raise the sword. Asuna tried to ignore the wonderful warm feeling that resulted from this action as she focused on the weapon.

Kazuto, too, had to do his best to ignore her alluring scent of warm springtime evenings as he led her through the swing. "Just lift it up, not too high or you'll end up making a long build-up which will leave you open. This is good." He said, stopping her arms just a bit above her shoulders. "And then, you just bring it down in a straight line, but as you bring your arms down, pull your elbows together a bit."

Asuna nodded, and he let go of her and stepped back to let her swing. She brought the sword down quickly through the air, making sure to stop at her stomach's height, trying her best to keep it from wobbling just as Kazuto always did.

"Was that okay?" She wondered.

"That was great!" Kazuto picked up his own sword again. "Okay, let's practice that a few more times."

Asuna followed suit as he led her through the motions again, staying in sync with him as they stepped forward and brought down their swords simultaneously.

Once Asuna felt she had gotten the hang of it, she smiled. "I know it takes years of practice," she said. "But I'm having a lot of fun!"

"You have a natural talent, like Sugu." Kazuto observed. "I imagine your body picked up a few things from all that time in-game."

"You, too!" She replied. "I think you could make your own fighting style combining kendo and your in-game fighting techniques."

"Haha, maybe." He laughed. "Okay, next I'll teach you the horizontal strike..."

He went on speaking as he demonstrated the proper stances to use and angles at which to swing the sword. Asuna watch, intrigued, but also fairly amused; she could see the sparkle in his eyes when he talked about his pastime, and even though he denied his talent in the field, it was clear that the sport held a special place in his heart.

Asuna followed his lead as she practiced the swings, imagining she was in SAO fighting wolves.

For about another hour, Asuna listened intently as Kazuto taught her the ways of kendo that he had learned from his grandfather. She knew he had not particularly liked the sport when he was younger due to his relative's borderline-forceful teaching methods, but Asuna was relieved to see that sparkle remain in his eyes.

At last, the pair performed their final swing before lowering their swords, panting slightly so that the air filled with white.

"Wow..." Asuna wiped her sleeve over her forehead. "That was pretty intense!"

"I'll say..." He agreed. "You're really good at the steps and strikes."

"Maybe next week I'll have to spar you." She winked playfully.

"Spare me." He wheezed. "You'd be too good. Remember the first time I met you in SAO and I told you you had a natural skill for this kind of thing? Well it holds true in this world, too, evidently."

"You really think so? But I messed up the steps a lot..." She reflected.

"You've only been learning for an hour!" He chuckled. "Plus, practice makes perfect. Although..." he came up to embrace her from behind again. "As far as I'm concerned, you're already perfect."

"Oh, you..." She hugged onto his arms for a moment and closed her eyes, smiling.

Then, they put away the swords back into Kazuto's garage before returning outside.

"Now for the lunch I brought!" Asuna declared. She sauntered to the picnic basket she had prepared before she left her house that morning before sitting down in the grass next to him. She shivered as the cold grass tickled her legs.

"Why don't you come here?" Kazuto crossed his legs and offered her his lap.

"W-What? No, I'm fine..."

"Asuna-"

"Okay!"

With unconcealed delight, she scooted over to him and sat in his lap, the thick material of his kendo attire effectively shielding them both from the cold. He slipped his arms around her waist as Asuna snuggled back to him, handing the sandwich she had made.

Kazuto made absolutely certain not to get crumbs on her shoulder as he ate, as Asuna happily chewed on her own sandwich and likewise tried not to mess up his clothes.

Their closeness protected them from the chill of the air as they finished eating, and Asuna let out a satisfied sigh as she leaned back into his embrace. Kazuto squeezed her to him, resting his head on her shoulder.

"So how is the tutoring going?" He wondered.

"It's going great!" She replied. "A-Actually..." She trailed off a bit, as though debating something.

"What?" He prompted.

"I was holding off on telling you because I wasn't sure it would really happen but... I've been tutoring Liz a lot on the evenings for various subjects, and her mother runs a day care center for children, and well..." She turned around to look into his eyes. "She wants to offer me a job."

Kazuto was silent for a minute after she said this, looking down into her hazel eyes that were sparked with uncertainty. He realized she was waiting for him to say something, so he quickly leaned in to peck her cheek.

"That's great!" His lips broke out into a wide grin. "Asuna, that's amazing! I knew you had a way with teaching, and now it's gotten you this far! What did you tell her?"

"W-Well... I wanted to talk it over with you first. Because having a job like that might mean... you know...less time with you." She mumbled the last part unhappily.

Kazuto resisted the urge to hug her tighter. "Asuna." He stated firmly. "I'd be an idiot if I let you pass this opportunity up! You've got an amazing talent for teaching, and if you can get a job from that, then I say there's nothing to think about!" His excited voice softened. "Tell her yes." He said.

"B-But-"

"Tell her yes." He repeated. "If it means one less hour a day of seeing you, I'll manage. We'll just have to make sure to see each other even more on weekends, okay?"

Asuna considered for a few minutes, weighing the validity of what he had said.

At last, she nodded her head resiliently. "Alright. I'll accept the job." She said.

In response, Kazuto kissed her warmly.

"I know you'll be the best teacher Liz's mom has ever seen."

"Well, I won't be teaching too much. Just babysitting mostly."

"Still, I know you'll be amazing." He smiled. "You always are."

He pressed his lips against hers again and felt her smile as well.


A/N: We're winding down. I've been getting requests for Christmas chapters, and even though the time of the story doesn't match, I'm willing to ignore that and skip around.

Please review!