A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter. This chapter was the longest I've written and the most difficult one to write yet. It turns out that I need some practice in efficiency for writing drama. Plus, I was feeling a bit sick for a few weeks and I still do now… But I couldn't stay away from this for too long, so I worked on the story whenever I could.
Now as for the story itself, a lot of you guessed that Asuna was headed to Kazuto or Rika's place, which was what I predicted you would say, but I'll tell you now that that's not where Asuna is headed. So where is she going? Read on and find out for yourself!
On another note, I can't believe it! In one month, the views have grown to 8000! I'm at a loss for words, guys, thank you so much! I wonder how much longer it would be before the views reach 10,000? From the looks of things, not too far!
Lastly, I'm sure you SAO fans have all heard the project: SAO, The Beginning! IBM is working for the project to bring the fantasy of SAO to real life! I can't wait and see what the 'beta testers' have to say for it! And hopefully the real product won't be a death game, lol. And I'm excited also because VR is one of my pursued career options…
Now without further ado, on with the story; as always, please leave a comment after you've read this chapter.
To 'Jordan (Guest)': As much as I'd like to email you, I can't when you're a guest. Please make a fanfic account and I'll answer.
Disclaimer: I don't own SAO, its characters or the OSTs! They belong to Kawahara Reki-sensei and Kajiura Yuki-san respectively!
Chapter 10 – The Fallen Angel
As soon as Asuna exited the Yuuki manor, she broke off into a run with speed that she never knew she had in the real world. The wheels on her bag were rolling noisily, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get away from that prison of a house as much as possible.
Right now, she felt so betrayed, so angry. All the consolation, all the comfort that her mother had given her for the past few months and few days; they had all been just a façade. They were all an act to soften her up so that she can meet more pompous suitors, and discredit all her friends from SAO, especially Kazuto at the same time. It even got her thinking: when she told her the story about Yuuki two days ago, did she truly even feel pity towards her, or did she just disapprove of me because I befriended a group of 'lowly' terminally ill patient like Yuuki? And everything she had said to her during the night two days ago; did she really mean what she said, or were they just insincere lies? She didn't know what to think anymore. All she knew was that she no longer wanted anything to do with that witch anymore.
Just when she turned right that lead to the open street however, her brother's voice shouted out to her, not too far away.
"Asuna! I know you can hear me! Come back home with me! Please!" She heard. But as soon as she heard him, she started running even faster towards her destination.
"He's no longer your brother… They are no longer your family…" The despicable voice continued to whisper to her mind.
The only thing on Asuna's mind currently was to get away from everything that related to the Yuuki family. So, ignoring her brother's plea, Asuna continued to run. But she knew that at this rate, it was only a matter of time before he caught up to her. The only way to lose him was by catching a taxi, so she rushed on, hoping to get into the busy streets and lose her brother long enough to find transportation out of there.
Luckily, just as she entered the main street, she saw a taxi approaching her, so she quickly signaled the taxi to stop. And it stopped right in front of her.
"Asuna! Asuna!" She heard her brother's voice from behind her, getting closer to her, so she quickly shoved her luggage into the back seat and got herself into the taxi and by the time her brother reached her, the taxi had already taken off.
"Where to, miss?" The driver asked. She almost said the Kirigaya's address, but then a thought occurred to her.
Her first choice to go to in the current situation would of course, have been Kirito's place. He and his family would understand her current situation better than anyone. And Liz's place was another option. But as much as she wanted stay at Kirito or Liz's place, going to their place would be far too predictable. She wanted to be somewhere that her parents, particularly her mother would never think of looking. Her mother, having investigated on Kazuto before, would definitely know where their house is. And something told her that it wouldn't be too hard for her mother to find out where her other friends' place are. If she did go to their place, her parents may come for her and that could cause unnecessary drama. She couldn't risk that. But then, a solution came to her. She did know of someone who was still a friend, but so far as she knew, she hadn't mentioned that person's name to her family. It was perfect.
So Asuna requested to the driver to go to a specific address, which was the dwelling place of a certain friend. She then took out her cellphone and called for the person in mind.
"Moshi moshi? Sinonon?" Asuna answered.
"Asuna? Hi… how are you feeling?" Shino's voice asked in concern.
"Not so fine… but before anything, I need to ask you something, Sinonon… Can I come over to your place to stay?" Asuna requested.
"Eh? You mean sleep over at my place? Why? Did something happen?"
"It's hard to explain over the phone. I'm on my way to your place… I know this is sudden, but please… I need your help… Onegai… (Please…)" Asuna pleaded softly.
"Etto…, oh alright. But you better tell me what this is about when you get here." Shino said, her voice now containing confusion as well as concern.
"Mm… arigatou, Sinonon. I'll see you soon." Asuna said gratefully before hanging up.
Just moments after she hung up with Shino, her phone began ringing again. But when she saw that it was from her mother, she furiously selected the 'ignore' button for the call and turned off her phone.
The cab driver, who seemed to be a kind man, asked what was wrong in concern. But Asuna chose to ignore him, not wanting to talk about anything right now.
Asuna stared out at the window of the cab, dumbfounded. It was only now that the fact that she had even dared to run away from home sunk into her mind. She was angry, yes; angry, sad, and resentful to her family. But after a few minutes, a new set of emotions began to fill her mind: fear and shame; regret even.
She had done it… she'd really done it. All the resentful feelings she had to her family had all exploded at them in one go. But as she started to remember her original purpose of talking with her mother in the first place, her feelings of shame and regret only accumulated. Yuuki had played an indirect, yet decisive role in improving her relationship with her mother and family. But now, she realized that because of her impulsive action, she had just botched up Yuuki's efforts so thoroughly that there may be no chance of reconciliation. She had just turned her late friend's legacy into worthless foam. Because of what she had just done, Yuuki may as well have died for nothing.
"Gomennasai (I'm sorry)… gomennasai… Yuuki…" Asuna wept in her mind, as a new wave a tears began to fall down her cheeks. She stayed silent for the remainder of her trip to Shino's, her feelings of guilt and shame eating her mind away.
"When the taxi arrived in front of Sinon's condo, Asuna paid the taxi fare and approached her friend's place.
Looking at the apartment number on the door to check that she was indeed at the right place, she rang the bell to notify Shino that she was here. A few seconds later, a familiar bespectacled face greeted her.
"Gombanwa (Good evening) Asuna, I…" Shino started, but when she saw the big suitcase Asuna had brought, her expression turned into shock.
"Asuna?! What… what's with that bag? Wait… when you said stay at my place, it was because you ran away from home or something?" Shino asked, trying to understand just what was going on with her friend.
"To answer your question, yes… I did run away…" Asuna sniffled and hiccupped.
"But why… Actually, come inside first… it's pretty chilly outside. Come on, I'll get you some tea ready. You can explain afterwards…" She said, inviting her inside.
So, Asuna entered her friend's place and settled down in the center of the room. She had been to Shino's apartment once before shortly after she met her. Of course, being a simple condominium, its size was nothing in comparison to the spacious manor of her former home. But this was exactly what she needed. Even though the room was small in comparison to her own room, it was much warmer than her entire house combined; both literally and emotionally. Of course, the emotional warmth the room emitted was still lacking in comparison to the Kirigaya's home in Kawagoe, but it was still far more welcoming than the manor in Setagaya.
Asuna waited patiently until her friend returned with the tea. Soon enough, Shino came into the room with two cups of warm green tea on a platter. She offered one cup to Asuna, which she accepted gratefully. Asuna sipped on the tea to feel some warmth come back to her cool body.
"Alright… now, can you explain what exactly happened?" Shino asked Asuna.
So, Asuna began her story of her discovery of her parents' underhanded suitor business, the fight it ensued, which then led to her decision to cut all ties with the family. Of course, in order for Shino to completely understand the reason behind the fight, she had to explain the ALO incident that happened shortly after the end of SAO; of Sugou's illegal experiments and his plots to alter the minds of her and 300 other test subjects, and how Kirito, Leafa, and Yui put a stop to them, rescuing her and the other trapped test subjects from his clutches, as well as the aftermath of the whole incident. After she finished explaining the situation, Shino was shocked.
"So, let me get this straight: That psychopath, Sugou Nobuyuki who was arrested a year ago for the inhumane experiment using the VR technology for mind controlling was actually your fiancée, chosen by your parents, and even after that, they still insist on choosing someone for you, even after everything Kirito did on your behalf?!" Shino asked, disgusted. She had of course, heard about the ALO crisis and the man behind it all; it was kind of hard not to, seeing as the media was in a complete uproar because of the incident. But she had no idea that he was engaged to Asuna by her parents at the time before his arrest. Just the mere thought was enough to sicken her and understand Asuna's fury.
"Mmm… My mother in particular endorsed the engagement before they found out about Sugou's crimes. And she never trusted Kirito-kun in the first place. Although, not trusting Kirito-kun is something that I can understand, because of his gaming background… but what I can't stand is the fact that she never listens to me. She judges him just by his family background! Social standings and that kind of nonsense! I've put up with it since I was young, but this time, she's gone too far! Looking for suitors behind my back, and trying to force me into things I don't want to do, just because her plans for me went to ruins because of SAO… and what's worse, she has the nerve to compare me with my brother! If she saw me as a failure from start, then why didn't she just throw me out in the first place?! And then again, even if SAO never happened her plan would have been to have me married off to Sugou! Can you imagine: What he would have done to me when he did marry me? Why can't that witch just admit for once that she made a mistake and leave me be?!" Asuna lamented. Shino just listened quietly, not knowing what to say to make her feel better.
"But you know what the strange thing is? After I ran away, I thought I would feel a sense of satisfaction or accomplishment after letting my anger out on them, but all I feel is… regret." Asuna told Shino.
"Well, I mean that's the way it should be, no? Yes, your anger to your family may be justified but still, it can't feel good, running away like that…" Shino reasoned with her. This was something Shino could understand far better than any of Asuna's other friends. Her relationship with her family wasn't exactly normal either, especially after the post office robbery. There was no ill-feeling or tension between her and her family of course, but Shino found herself wishing that she could improve their relationship to what it was before the robbery. Someday, she will… when she was completely rid of her old fears and her scars heal, would she go back to the town where her family resides and be like a family again.
"Yes, there's that, but… mostly, I regret blowing up at them because of Yuuki…" Asuna said. Shino's expression changed to a surprised one.
"Yuuki? What does she have to do with this whole mess? I thought this was just a family issue…" Shino questioned.
"Do you remember when I first introduced Yuuki and the Sleeping Knights to you in that barbecue party in ALO?" Asuna asked. Shino nodded. How could she forget that day? That meeting had started a unique and enjoyable adventure for them all for the past few months.
"Well, before that but after I found out about Yuuki's condition in the real world, after Yuuki's first day in our school, she asked me if I could take her to Tsukimidai. When we went there, it turned out that it was where Yuuki and her family used to live. After she told me a few of her anecdotes during her family's stay in their home there, I started to tell her about my own relationship with my family and my mom. She encouraged me to have a real talk with her to try to have her understand my motives, and so I did. The result was that she allowed me to stay in my current school to pursue what I wanted to do. I thought she was finally giving me a chance to do what I want to do for my life… but now, I found out that she was just talking about my academics, not my whole life… she'd been contacting other rich families to choose a suitor from and arranging a meeting with them, even though she has an idea of how much I HATE it. So, when I found out about that, I just… blew up at her… And we fought over the entire subject… then, I don't know, I just wanted to get away from them as far as possible. And so, here I am…" Asuna trailed off with a tinge of regret. Shino tried to make sense of the new information. She had known of Asuna's relationship with her family and the progress she had made with them in the past few months, but she had no idea that Yuuki had played such an important role in it.
"So, Yuuki was the reason that your family's relationship was starting to get better for the past few months?" Shino asked and Asuna nodded, confirming her deduction.
"Yeah… but, I don't know what came over me today… I was so angry about this whole arrangement that I just lost my temper completely. And just when I thought things were starting to look up with them… but now, because of what I did, Yuuki's efforts, her legacy… it may have been all for nothing… Yuuki may have died in vein…" Asuna said, tears welling up in her eyes again.
(A/N: Play the OST: "Goodbye, Again and Again")
"Asuna, don't be so hard on yourself. Yes, you lost your temper at them and no one can blame you for that after what you explained. And, about Yuuki dying in vein, you don't have to think of it like that… there may still be chance for reconciliation with your family." Shino reasoned with her.
"How? How can I go back to them, after everything I said to them?" Asuna said.
"What you said to them?" Shino asked.
"I explicitly declared to cut all my ties with the family before I left… I even shouted how much I hated them so loudly that I wouldn't be surprised if the whole neighborhood heard… They don't have to disown me anymore; I did that for them! I don't know what to do, Sinonon…! What would Yuuki think if she saw the kind of things I did and say to my own family? She told me that she admired my strength and my pure heart and Kirito-kun even said the same thing. Ha, he even refers to me as an angel! But… angels, they can't hate, can they?! I didn't know… until today, I didn't know that I was capable of harboring so much hatred in my mind… I'm not strong… and I'm no angel either…! I'm just a pathetic excuse of a weak little girl who just destroyed her relationship with her family and tarnished her friend's memory…!" Asuna wept. Shino pulled Asuna into a hug, attempting to console her.
"Asuna, don't give up… There's… there's still got to be a chance… there's got to be a way for you to make up with your family again…" Shino said, not knowing how else to comfort her friend.
"How…? How can I make amends after everything I did today…? I don't know what to do…! What would Yuuki have done in this situation…?! Why did she have to go like she did…?! What do I do, Sinonon…?! What do I do…?!" Asuna wailed despairingly. Shino took a moment to think of an answer.
"Well… before anything else, I think Yuuki would never have given up until she found the answer and not wail about it. And above all, she never would have lost hope… She never did even though she was faced with the cruel reality. So, don't lose hope, Asuna… If you do, then Yuuki really did die for nothing…" Shino advised. Asuna thought about Shino's answer and knew that she was right.
"Yeah, you're probably right…" Asuna sniffled, trying to wipe her tears away. "I'll try and think of something… I just don't know what…"
"And about you being weak, I don't think that's true… you've always had this unexplainable strength. Yuuki said it herself, didn't she? Getting to know you in the past 3 months was enough for me to feel that… If I had half the strength the two of you had… maybe… maybe I could have overcome my fears sooner…" Shino trailed off. After meeting Asuna and Rika, as well as the lady from the post office and her daughter in the aftermath of the Death Gun incident, Shino had made significant progress in overcoming her fear and guilt. She no longer had panic attacks when she saw guns in real life, although she did flinch and fell tense from time to time when she did, and she was now able to hold the plastic gun model that she had gotten from Zasker, the company that ran GGO without much problem. What was more, she was pretty much a loner and not too social, even before the fateful event at the post office. But after meeting Kirito, Asuna, and the rest of their friends, she found herself wanting to interact more with them shortly after their first encounter. All in all, her life had changed for the better, all thanks to Asuna and her friends.
On Asuna's part, one of the reasons that she and Shino got so close in the past few months was because they had quite a lot of similarities: They had both experienced a haunting past, and had to deal with people who were obsessed with them to the point they were willing to kill. But of course, comparing Shinkawa Kyouji and Sugou, the latter's crimes were far more hideous and made Shinkawa look sane.
Although Shino knew that Kyouji had committed a serious offense by being the Death Gun's accomplice and tried to sexually assault her, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The Shinkawa brothers' father was a director of a hospital, meaning that their family was quite rich. But Shino deduced that the pressure their family gave them for studying to go to a medical school was one of the main reasons of what drove Kyouji to insanity. And so, she did have an idea of what extreme pressure from a rich family could do to a person. That was why Shino was glad that her new friend, who also came from a rich and reputable family, was able to handle the pressure from her family well for the last few months… but now, it was apparent that the similar pressure Asuna faced was starting to take its toll on her… someone who was so strong willed.
"No… I'm not strong… not at all…" Asuna denied. It wasn't like her to be so pessimistic, but given her current circumstance, no one could blame her.
"Yes, you are… you just don't know it yet…" Shino said, trying to comfort her. She decided to give her some time to cry and let her emotion out. After Asuna had calmed down considerably, Shino decided to ask a question that she was wondering about.
"Asuna? I was wondering: Why did you decide to come to my place instead of Kirito or Liz's place? My place is pretty much a dump compared to their home, you know… and I would have thought you'd have gone to Kirito or Liz's place without a second thought in this situation." Shino asked.
"Well… it was mainly because my family already knows where they live, and I didn't want them to barge into their place and cause a scene trying to bring me back… As far as I know, my parents don't know anything about you. And besides… your place isn't a dump, it's just… smaller, and warmer too, compared to my place…" Asuna answered. Shino gave a small smile at this
"Thanks. And well, if you decide to stay here for a while, I have no problem with that." Shino said.
"Really? Can I really stay here for who knows how long?" Asuna asked.
"Of course… I've never had someone sleep over at my place before, but I'm glad it's happening. Although, I wish that it was under better circumstances…" Shino trailed off sadly.
"Me too… but, thanks, Sinonon… for understanding." Asuna thanked her.
"Just promise me two things: that you'll help me cook and shop while you stay and that you'll try to make up with your family at some point…" Shino stated her conditions.
"The first one, I'll help gladly! The second… I'll give it a try..." Asuna promised.
"Good enough for now, I guess. By the way Asuna, did you tell anyone else that you've run away from home?" Shino asked.
"I was going to call Kirito-kun at some point, but… I can't talk to him right now, not in this pathetic state…" Asuna said sorrowfully.
"It's okay, then… I'll call Kirito and Suguha for you." Shino said.
"Arigatou, Sinonon…" Asuna said. Shino then picked up her phone and dialed Kirito's number.
Kawagoe, Kirigaya residence.
The Kirigaya siblings were currently in Kazuto's room, discussing what they could do to cheer Asuna up from her current state of depression. They came up with several ideas but none of them seemed too practical. When they were discussing about it, they decided to have Yui join the conversation as well using the prototype VR probe. It was still being tested but it would work fine nonetheless for the time being. When their discussion so far proved to be unfruitful after a while, they decided to call the brainstorming for the day.
"Well, let's think more on this tomorrow, with Liz and the others too. They may have a better input for this." Kazuto suggested.
"Yeah. Thanks for being with us, Yui-chan." Suguha said to the little pixie, who was invisible to their eyes.
"Of course, anything to help cheer Mama up again!" Yui chimed. But then she remembered something.
"Oh, and before I go, Papa? Before you called me, I sensed Mama logging in to ALO." Yui informed them.
"Really?! What was she doing in there?" Kazuto asked, surprised.
"That's just it… she didn't do anything… rather she logged in very briefly using her sub-account and logged out temporarily. But then a while later, her account just, disconnected…" Yui said.
"Huh… is that so? Maybe there was a blackout where she lives?" Suguha suggested, but for some reason, Kazuto was getting a bad feeling about this. Kazuto at this searched the internet about blackout occurrences throughout the districts of Tokyo, but neither Setagaya nor any part of Tokyo for that matter had a blackout throughout the entire day.
"I don't think that's the case. There hasn't been any report of blackouts for the entire day." Kazuto informed his findings to Suguha and Yui.
"Well, it's probably nothing…" Suguha tried to assure the both of them, although she herself was getting a bit concerned as well. Then their house phone started ringing loudly.
"I got it!" They heard Midori's voice from downstairs. The ringing stopped a second later. Kazuto responded to his sister's question.
"I guess so… anyway, thanks Yui, we'll be in touch with you again soon. Ja na (See you)." Kazuto said to Yui.
"Okay, good night, Papa! Leafa-san!" Yui said sweetly to them.
"Good night, Yui-chan." Suguha waved to the probe. Then she looked at her brother to see him thinking, probably on what Asuna was doing.
"Onii-chan, don't worry too much… it's probably nothing…" Suguha attempted to assure him once again.
"Yeah… probably…" Kazuto said somewhat doubtfully, unable to shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Unfortunately for them, his hunch would be proven true. Seconds within his response to Suguha, they both heard footsteps sprinting towards his room with a sense of urgency. Then, the door to his room burst open, revealing a frantic looking Midori.
"Kazuto! Suguha! Has Asuna-chan called you in the past 30 minutes?!" Midori asked urgently to them.
"Asuna? No, she hasn't contacted me by phone at all today." Kazuto answered.
"Me neither… Why are you asking this, Kaa-san?" Suguha asked.
"Asuna-chan's father is on the phone… He said that Asuna-chan… she ran away from home!" Midori delivered the shocking news.
"Eh?!/Nandatte (What)?!" Suguha and Kazuto exclaimed almost simultaneously.
"How did this happen?! What did he say?!" Kazuto asked frantically.
"He said that there was a big fight between her and her mother regarding some family matters, and apparently, it got out of hand pretty quickly! He said that she ran away from home about 30 minutes ago and she's turned her cellphone off! But before she turned the phone off, it seemed like she was calling someone, so he was thinking it would be one of her friends!" Midori explained.
"Here, give me the phone!" Kazuto said to her, which she did so hastily.
"Moshi moshi? Yuuki-san?" Kazuto said to the phone.
"Kirigaya-kun, thank goodness! Did Asuna call you at all today?" Shouzou's voice asked him in obvious distress.
"No… and the last time I saw her was at school today… and she seemed just fine, other than looking sad… Listen, Yuuki-san, can you please tell me what exactly happened to make her run away from home? Was it just the fight with her mother that triggered this? Or does this have something to do with Yuuki?" Kazuto asked, trying to stay calm.
"I'm afraid it's both… and apparently Asuna was still holding a grudge against us for the whole ALO incident and that certainly didn't help things either." Shouzou answered regretfully.
"Have you tried calling any of her friends yet?" Kazuto asked him.
"Not yet. I thought that Asuna would have called you or her friends at this point. I was going to try and call her other friends afterwards." Shouzou explained.
Kazuto thought on the best course of action. Then, he remembered what Yui had informed them: that Asuna's account disconnected all of a sudden no more than an hour ago. Maybe Asuna took her Amusphere with her?
"Yuuki-san? I just had a thought: Did Asuna take her Amusphere with her? If she did, she's probably planning to fulldive at some point. My friends and I could try to reach her online." Kazuto asked.
"Her Amusphere? Let me check…" Shouzou said. He went to her room to see if Asuna had indeed taken her Amusphere. What he saw in her room, however, was a heartbreaking sight. Her closet was open with most of her clothes cleared out and other necessities were missing in her room as well. But what was worse was what lay on the floor: A shattered picture frame of their family with some glass shards lying around it. It was evident that Asuna had thrown it in frustration, seeing that there was a visible dent on the wall right beside the frame. He was caught up in unpleasant feelings that he was brought back to his task at hand only when Kazuto asked him if he was still there.
"Yuuki-san? Yuuki-san!" Kazuto raised his voice a little, but not enough to sound rude.
"Oh, sorry, Kirigaya-kun…" Shouzou replied, snapping back to reality. "Yes, it looks like Asuna did take her Amusphere with her." Kazuto was slightly relieved at hearing this.
"Then I'll dive into ALO and leave her a message. If I hear back from her, you'll be the first to know. I'll try and call everyone that she knows too." Kazuto assured Shouzou.
"Thank you, Kirigaya-kun." Shouzou said, grateful. With that, he hung up.
"Alright, it looks like Asuna took her Amusphere with her. That probably means that Asuna's planning on fulldiving again soon. Okay, Kaa-san, try calling Rika and Sugu, call Keiko. I'm going to try and call her cellphone and if that doesn't work, I'll go to ALO and try to see if I can reach Asuna there.
"Alright/You got it." They answered simultaneously and did as he asked. In the meantime, he dialed Asuna's number, pleading in his mind that she would answer. But the phone soon gave out a message saying that the recipient's phone was off. He tried again, but the result was the same. Realizing that calling her wasn't going to get him anywhere, Kazuto quickly lay down on his bed after he put his Amusphere on his head.
"Link Start!"
When Kirito spawned in their log house, he immediately brought up the menu and checked if Asuna was online. Disappointingly, Asuna wasn't online. So, he decided to send her a message.
'Asuna, I know that you ran away from home. Please, tell me what's going on with you. Everyone is worried sick… Please contact me as soon as you see this message.'
As soon as Kirito sent the message, the 'Recipient is offline' message popped up. This was, of course, expected.
"Yui? I need to talk to you." Kirito said, knowing that Yui could hear him through the system. And of course, less than a second later, Yui materialized out of thin air with a sparkling light.
"Papa! You're back, and so soon, too! What do you need?" Yui asked.
"Listen, Yui, I'm afraid I've got some bad news to tell you… It looks like Mama, she ran away from home." Kirito explained. Yui's reaction to this was predictable.
"Ehh?! Why would Mama run away from her own home?! Did something happen to her?!" Yui asked frantically.
"I'm trying to figure that out too, but from the sound of it, she had a big fight with her family regarding some private matters. So listen, Yui. Sugu and I are trying to find out where she went and are trying to contact her, but Mama's turned off her cellphone, but it looks like she took her Amusphere with her when she left. So there's a good chance that Mama will log into ALO at some point. So when she does, I need you to inform me immediately, and to Liz and the others as well, do you understand?" Kirito asked, trying to remain calm for Yui.
"Hai, wakarimashita (Yes, I understand)!" Yui answered. Kirito ruffled her head in response.
"Good girl. I'm going to leave now… I'm going to keep trying to find Mama, alright?" Kirito said.
"Mmm, gambatte (good luck), Papa!" Yui said encouragingly. With that, Kirito logged out.
As soon as Kazuto opened his eyes again, his aunt and cousin just finished their calls.
"Kazuto, you're back! Rika-chan said that she hasn't heard anything from Asuna since they left school today." Midori informed them.
"Same with Keiko-chan! If Asuna-san was planning to go to one of their places, she should have been there a while ago!" Suguha said, starting to panic.
"Okay, calm down, Sugu! Panicking isn't going to get us anywhere. I tried to contact her online too, but she's offline. Alright, so where else could Asuna have gone?" Kazuto thought out loud.
"Well, we tried Rika-san and Keiko-chan, those two are her closest friends other than us! So who else could she turn… too…" Suguha trailed off as her mind registered an answer. Kazuto's mind also came to the same conclusion as Sugu's answer.
"Wait… could she have gone to… Sinon's place?" Kazuto deduced.
"I was just about to say the same thing! Hayaku (Hurry), onii-chan! Call Sinon-san!" Suguha said. Kazuto wasted no time picking up the phone to dial Asada Shino's phone.
"Sinon? That new friend you made just before Christmas last year?" Midori asked her children.
"Yes, and Asuna-san's gotten pretty close to her as far as we know, so there's a good chance!" Sugu said. Just then, Kazuto's cellphone began ringing. He looked at the phone to see that it was Shino. Speak of the devil… He immediately answered the call and didn't give her a chance to talk in panic.
"Sinon! Good, I was just about to call you! Listen, has Asuna contacted you today?!" Kazuto asked.
"Kirito, calm down! Actually, that's exactly why I'm calling you… Asuna… she's here, with me…" Shino answered. Hearing this, Kazuto released a huge sigh of relief. He had been holding his breath without even realizing it.
"Is Asuna-san there? With Sinon-san?" Suguha, who was watching her brother's reaction, asked him. Kazuto only nodded in response.
"Yokatta (What a relief)… Her family is in panic right now… Listen, Sinon, let me talk to Asuna." Kazuto requested, his tone noticeably calmer.
"Actually, Asuna said that she doesn't want to talk to anyone right now… She just barely managed to stop crying. I think it's better to try and talking with her tomorrow… She said that she's planning to go to school tomorrow. So I think for now, it's better to just leave her be…" Shino said, glancing over at Asuna, who was lying down on the floor in silence.
"Okay, then tell her that I'll be waiting for her at the school rooftop before class starts." Kazuto asked, a little reluctantly.
"Alright, I'll tell her. And, it looks like Asuna intends to stay here for a while, which is just fine by me. So, don't worry too much about her safety. If there's anything else, I'll let all of you know." Shino said.
"You're a lifesaver Sinon… Thanks, and please take care of Asuna for us." Kazuto said in gratitude.
"No problem… and don't worry. If she decides to go over to your place later, then that's fine too." Shino said.
"Yeah… but did Asuna tell you why exactly she ran away from home? Her father said that it was because of some family matters and didn't say much more than that…" Kazuto asked her, thinking that Asuna may have said something to her.
"Well, that's…" Shino hesitated for a moment about telling him, but decided that if anyone had the right to know about Asuna's current predicament, it was Kirito. So she went to the kitchen and closed the door so that Asuna wouldn't hear her explanations. She then summarized what Asuna had explained to her earlier. When she finished, Kazuto couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. He had expected this from Asuna's mother, but her father…
"For them to pull this kind of stunt now of all times…" Kazuto sighed in frustration.
"You can say that again… Hopefully this can be resolved with her family… but until then, Asuna can stay with me for the time being…" Shino assured him.
"Yeah, thanks again, Sinon. We'll talk later…"
"Alright, good night."
"Yeah, good night…" With that, they hung up.
"Well? What did Sinon-san tell you?" Suguha asked her brother. Their mother was also anticipating the answer.
"Well, Asuna didn't want to talk to anyone for today, but Sinon said that she's planning to come to school tomorrow, so hopefully we can get some answers then. And, as to why she ran away, her mom was apparently planning for another suitor meeting and her dad had a hand in it too…" Kazuto explained the gist of Asuna's reasons for leaving her family.
"Wow… if Asuna-chan is refusing to talk even to you, than this must be serious…" Midori commented.
"Well, when she does show up tomorrow, then maybe I can find out more about it." Kazuto stated, hopeful.
"In the meantime, you should call the Yuuki's; tell them that you found where she is." Midori said.
"Yeah, but, I think I should tell them not to try and talk to Asuna right now. Who knows how she'll react when they try to do that now." Kazuto thought out loud.
"I think so too… they really should wait a bit and let Asuna-san calm down before trying that again; especially her mother…" Suguha noted, with slight anger at the last part.
"Alright, I'm going to call her family… so, you two call Rika and Keiko too and tell them we found her." Kazuto told them as he dialed the Yuuki's home phone number.
When Shouzou picked up, he proceeded to explain to him where Asuna was and assured him that she was safe with her new friend, but advised against trying to speak to her now, since she had refused to talk even to him. During the whole explanation, Kazuto tried his best to hide his disappointment towards him and his wife, but he had a feeling that Shouzou could tell anyway. Kazuto also wanted to ask him why he had allowed his wife to look for more suitors, but ultimately decided that that question could wait; they had a bigger problem to worry about. Besides, Asuna may be able to provide a better answer than her father could at the moment.
"Thank you, Kirigaya-kun… I really don't know what to say other than that…" Shouzou said gratefully.
"Of course… we'll all try and talk to her after school and… see if we can convince her to go back to you. But until then, Asuna's probably planning to stay at her friend's place." Kazuto informed.
"Alright… We'll try to reach her again later tomorrow and see if she'll listen to what we have to say then… Once again, you have my thanks…"
"Yes… well then, good night."
"Good night."
With that, they hung up. When Kazuto looked at his adoptive sister and mother, it was clear that they had finished informing Rika and Keiko before him. They all looked at each other with grim expressions. They wished they could do something for Asuna now, but knew that trying to speak to her now was probably not the best course of action.
"I know it's frustrating to just wait, but let's let Asuna-chan cool her head down a little and try and speak to her again tomorrow at school, Kazuto, alright? Okay, I know that you two probably don't have much appetite after what just happened, but come downstairs in 10 minutes. Dinner's almost ready." Midori ordered before she stood up and left his room.
"Gambatte onii-chan… try to cheer Asuna-san up tomorrow, okay? It's sad to see her like this, especially after Yuuki-san…" Suguha encouraged her brother.
"Yeah… arigatou, Sugu. I'll talk to her tomorrow, I promise… Now come on, let's get something to eat." Kazuto said as he stood up to go downstairs and Suguha complied; both of them hoping that they could find a way to restore Asuna's spirits again.
A/N: There it is guys; the end of the 10th chapter. I hope you're stoked for what I have in store for you guys! And to give you guys a clue for that, the broken family picture frame was a use of symbolism for the future. But it's not gonna end up badly, so don't worry.
I'm probably gonna get busier with my work on March, but I'll try my best to upload as fast as I can. Again, thank you so much for your support and see you soon, hopefully.
Yours truly, KiritoIRL.
