Chapter 40: The Future With Me
21st June 2023. Aincrad, Floor 22, Southwest Corner of Coral Lake, 10:32 AM, Aincrad Standard Time.
"Don't worry, we're almost there." Sachi smiled and looked back at Kirito, who she had been leading by the hand since they left Synethia.
"Ok. You're not planning to kill me, right?" Kirito joked, remarking they had passed by Coral Lake.
"I...I-I'm surprised you can joke about that." Sachi was somewhat taken back by Kirito's comment.
"Sorry."
"N-no. It's good." Sachi replied with a smile.
A few more minutes of wandering through the forest, the pair came across a clearing. Set in the center of it, was a single story log cabin. The cabin sat on wooden posts lifting it off the ground ever so much, and a stone path led to a small staircase that rose up to a cozy patio space that had two chairs and a tiny yet quaint wooden table, and subsequently the front door. A square spire sat extending from the roof on the left side of the house, indicating the cabin had an attic, and a chimney extended from the right side of the roof.. Sunlight was reflecting off of two vertical windows on the right wall of the cabin.
The two walked closer. Kirito observed some patches of moss on the wood texture of the exterior, which gave the illusion of the cabin being an extension of the forest. The oak stairs didn't creak or buckle under Sachi and Kirito's weight. The two approached the front door, and a menu prompted Sachi.
"Want to take a look inside?" Sachi asked.
"Sure."
Sachi activated the "Touring" option, which would grant them temporary access to the house's interior for thirty minutes. After tapping the option, and unlocking sound effect was heard. Sachi turned the handle and opened the door.
The two were greeted by the sight of a basic yet beautiful and comfortable albeit cozy interior. They walked into part of the living room, but directly in front of them was a kitchen space, which blended into the rest of the living room space to the right. To their left, was a door concealing a single bedroom. The house was already furnished.
Kirito separated from Sachi and began walking to the end of the living space, running his hand across the large wooden table that occupied a rather large portion of the area. The wood felt just as real as it did in the real world. Further into the living space, set just aside the vertical windows, was a smaller coffee table with two, two person seats sat on either side of the table, facing each other and standing on an area rug. Other furnishings adorned the room as well.
Sachi was busy wandering through the kitchen space. "I...don't really know how to cook." Sachi giggled.
"That's ok."
The two met back up in the kitchen, before making their way over to the bedroom door. Kirito opened the door and the two entered. The bedroom followed the same theme as the rest of the cabin, that is cozy yet spacious. The bedroom had two beds in it, their headboards both against the right hand side wall of the room. Sachi was convinced one was smaller in width than the other, while Kirito held they were both the same size. Two nightstands both adorned with lamps were in the room. One on the left side of the furthest bed, and one on the right side of the neared bed. Against the left wall, and centered at the gap between the two beds, was a small freestanding cupboard, with a cloth dressing on top of it just like the nightstands. A short vase of pink Hibiscus flowers sat on top. Two smaller, vertical rectangular windows were cut into the left wall as well, both aligned with the respective beds.
At the opposite end of the room were pale white curtains. Sachi and Kirito both opened halves of the curtains, revealing a sliding wooden door. Opening the door revealed a small balcony space, enclosed by wooden railing that was supported by vertical trusses extending down to the deck of the balcony at the edge. The balcony was just large enough for the two of them to comfortably stand together. The balcony had a direct view to Coral Lake, and the two of them took in the view, the sun shimmering off the lake.
"What do you think?" Sachi turned to Kirito and asked, the two of them still standing on the balcony overlooking the lake.
"It's...nice. Peaceful, I guess."
"Yeah."
"How did you find it?" Kirito asked.
"I...shortly after that night. And you were gone on a boss fight, I came back to the lake and started wandering around. I came across this, and wanted to show you. But, I was waiting for the right time."
Kirito took both of her hands, and the two turned to face each other. "Sachi, that was dangerous. The area around the lake isn't a safe zone."
"I know. But, Floor 22 doesn't get too much traffic. I believe what happened that night was...an accident."
"How so?"
"L-like, it didn't have a high chance of happening."
"I see."
"Is this too close for you? Does the l-lake bring back-"
"No." Kirito cut her off. "Sachi...I only think of my time with you that night."
Sachi smiled. "I-I'm happy to hear that."
"What are you wanting to do?"
"W-well. Tomorrow the guild is moving into an official hall. I thought, that m-maybe tomorrow. We c-could leave."
"Leave what?"
"The G-guild."
"Sachi…"
"K-Kirito. I d-don't want this life. I don't want to be fighting. I know it'd be impossible to ask you to stop doing boss fights, so I'm not going to. We c-could leave the guild. I'd always be here for y-you, and you could just f-focus on your fight."
"I-" Kirito was cut off by Sachi.
"You could come h-home every night, and be with me. Not b-be out late. I know sleep here is f-fake, but I-I'd imagine you'd feel better."
Kirito admitted to himself that the constant daily grind with guild was beginning to get tiresome. He had realized long ago that no matter how high their stats and other numbers get, they just weren't going to hit the level necessary to be a frontline tier guild.
"So, what do you think?" Sachi asked.
"I...I'm not sure."
"Do you really want to stay with the guild?"
"No it's not that it's-"
"M-me?"
"Well no, but kind of yes. But also-"
"Kirito…"
"I..I'm not sure how to say it. Sachi, this is a big commitment. For us."
"Even if, w-we don't stay together. For w-whatever r-reason…" The thought began to make tears well in Sachi's eyes. "You c-could still be h-here. I w-want to see us l-leave this world. And no m-matter what, meet you in the r-real world."
"Sachi…" Kirito struggled to find his words. "I wasn't trying to say our relationship would end. I'm sorry." He squeezed her hands harder.
"T-then w-what is it?"
"I...I don't know. It's hard for me to put into words." Thoughts began swirling in Kirito's head. This commitment. How would it affect him? Asuna? Sachi? Agil? Argo? His fighting? His life?
"Kirito...I w-want you to ch-choose a future with me." Sachi gently asked, pressing her forehead to his chest.
"Ok. Let's do it." Kirito smiled. Sachi looked back up at him.
"A-are you s-sure? If you're h-having doubts, please t-tell me." Sachi pleaded.
Kirito pushed away the intrusive thoughts. And chose to follow the feeling that was telling him to say yes right now to Sachi. Ignoring and overriding his feelings of doubt.
"Yes. It'll be ok."
Sachi quickly raised her head, and kissed Kirito. After pulling her lips away, she tenderly exclaimed "I love you, Kirito."
"I love you too." Kirito replied. The two turned to face back towards the Lake.
"So, how do you want to do this tomorrow?" Kirito asked. "Us leaving, that is."
"Well…" Sachi stopped and thought for a moment. "We can go to the meeting in the morning, where Keita will announce where exactly we're moving to. Then, as we planned, while he's off purchasing and setting up the guildhall, you'll take us to a lower level Labyrinth and we can fight there for a little while. Then, when it's time to actually move to the guildhall, we can say what we're doing."
"Ok. We can still afford this place after our contribution to the guild hall, right?"
"Yes." Sachi smiled back. "If we split the cost evenly, the game will allow us full access to the house."
"So it will be like we're both just the individual owners then."
"Yes." Sachi grew more and more excited talking about it.
"Do you think the others will be angry?"
"N-no." Sachi's expression began to drop slightly. "W-well. Maybe. K-Keita, he m-might be a-angry."
"I'll deal with it if I have to then. Don't worry." Kirito assured Sachi, and remembered back to the condition Sachi was in when she told him her and Keita's past.
"B-but the others. I'm sure they'll b-be fine."
"Ok. That sounds good. We should probably leave before our times up." Kirito suggested.
"Ok. Kirito...Kazuto...I'm so happy."
Kirito turned to Sachi. He didn't think he had seen her smile that brimmingly until now.
22nd June 2023. Aincrad, Floor 15, Synethia Inn, 01:37 AM, Aincrad Standard Time.
Sachi lay awake next to Kirito, so excited she could hardly sleep. She turned to look at him. He was lying on his side, his back facing Sachi. She gently ran her hand across his upper back, repeating the motion as she thought to herself. 'Kirito, you'll come back to me every night. I'll be home waiting for you.' 'One more fight.' Sachi thought to herself. After today, she wouldn't have to live in fear of dying in combat anymore.
She wrapped her arms around Kirito, her arm and hand going over his side and onto his bare chest, she pressed her chest against his back. She fell peacefully asleep, a slight grin on her face.
