A/N: Hello guys, I'm back with the 15th chapter. I got this chapter done sooner than I thought. This chapter and the next few future ones will focus more on Asuna's parents' perspective and also trigger another major event that will make Kyouko see her mistakes.

Also, this story's views have finally gone beyond 20,000 views! I love you guys all! Thank you so much for your support and will continue to enjoy what I have in stored for you all!

And lastly, I hope that the readers that live in America had a good Thanksgiving weekend (as well as Black Friday). Now, happy reading!

Disclaimer: I don't know SAO, its characters, or it's OST's. They belong to Kawahara Reki-sensei and Kajiura Yuki-san respectively!


Chapter 15 – A Castle of Sand


April 1st, 2026, 5:00 PM - Setagaya, Yuuki manor.

It was very quiet inside the mansion; a little too quiet. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been so unusual, seeing as they came late from work quite often, and even if they were home, the chances were that they were working on something for their work. But the uncomfortable silence wasn't due to that this time. Right now, among the Yuuki's, only one person was inside it, and she was in no condition to do any kind of work.

(A/N: Play the OST: "A Sad Quirrell")

Yuuki Kyouko sat in front of the desk of her room, but her computer wasn't on, nor did her desk have any paperwork on them. The only things on her desk right now were a nearly empty bottle of sherry and wine glass. She had gotten the most alchoholic variant of the brand of sherry she usually drank, and before she knew it, she'd downed the whole bottle almost entirely. She had never been one to drink heavily, but right now, she felt like she would lose her sanity if she didn't.

All of her hard work, her life's work, not just for herself, but for her children, her family, had crumbled down into virtually nothing.

Asuna and Kouichirou leaving were bad enough, but now, even her husband had practically turned his back on her. She began to lose herself into her own thoughts for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She started to recall the argument that happened earlier in the day, which was probably the breaking point for her resolve. And at the same time, she picked up her bottle once again to fill her glass with sherry.


Flashback: Earlier that day, 12:00 PM.

After her son's furious departure, Kyouko had locked herself away in her work room, refusing to come out, even though she was expected at her workplace. Right now, that hardly seemed to matter.

She was seriously hoping that her husband would bring Asuna back home. Then they would be able to focus on convincing Kouichirou to come home; once she figures out how to face her daughter when she gets here. Speaking of that, she really wasn't looking forward to telling her husband about Kouichirou's departure. Even her gentle natured husband wouldn't take too kindly at adding another problem to the list.

Then, she could hear footsteps approaching her room, but it was a heavy one; that of a man's. That could only mean one thing: her husband came back. Before she could gather any further thoughts, the door to her room burst open. There, her husband stood, looking very upset. What was more, what was worse, was that he was the only one standing there; he was alone.

"You and I need to talk." Her husband said, in a low and clearly dangerous voice, closing the door behind him.

"Wh… where's Asuna?" She asked, afraid that she already knew the answer.

"She didn't come with me. She refused to come back…" Shouzou answered, confirming her worst fear.

"Why…? Why is she being so bull-headed all of a sudden?" Kyouko asked in disbelief.

"Oh, you of all people are saying that? And besides, don't you have anything else to say? About Kouichirou, I mean?" He asked. Kyouko swallowed, already not liking where this was going.

"When I came back here, I at least expected for all three of us to discuss together to bring her back, but what do I find when I get back? I find nothing but a letter in our son's room, saying that he's had enough and that he's leaving home to look for Asuna on his own, without US getting in the way!" Shouzou said, his voice rising slightly. It was only then that Kyouko noticed that her husband had the said letter in his hand.

"But enough about that… Kouichirou can handle himself. He's a smart boy. But our most pressing matter right now is Asuna. Before that, though, answer me: yesterday when you were arguing with her, did you talk down on her friends; the SAO survivors? Call them killers, specifically?" Her husband asked in detail.

"Well, that was…" Kyouko tried to come up with an explanation, but was cut off.

"I don't want to hear explanations; just answer me, yes or no." He said.

"Y… yes…" Kyouko answered quietly. Her husband gave an exasperated sigh at this.

"Seriously? I thought you would know that Asuna is sensitive when it comes to the SAO survivors, because she is one too. Why would you say such a thing in the first place? Only a select few of the SAO survivors were killers, not the whole group; or could it be that you were suggesting, that our daughter was among those criminals?" Shouzou implied, seriously wanting to hear what she had to say about it. Kyouko's eyes widened at this.

"How… how could you say such a thing?! I would never do that...! How could I?" Kyouko defended herself.

"Well, as far as Asuna's concerned, I'm quite sure that's not the case. She already had enough grief as it was; why did you have to make things worse by saying something like that?!" Shouzou asked sharply. Shouzou had always tried to avoid lasting arguments with his wife, but this was something that even he just couldn't let slip by.

"I didn't mean to! If only Asuna hadn't found out about the meetings we arranged this soon, this whole thing might not have happened…! If… if I wasn't so careless…" Kyouko trailed off, who for once admitted that she made a mistake. But that wasn't the problem about what she said; the problem was that she seemed to think that things would've worked out well if the meetings had gone according to plan.

"And what makes you think that Asuna, and Kouichirou, for that matter, would have acted any differently if they found out about this then?" Shouzou asked.

"What…?" Kyouko questioned.

"I mean, after what Asuna went through because of Sugou, do you really think that she would've understood your reasons for doing this? I for one don't think so. Do you want to know what Asuna told me when I went to her school today? She wished that she never came back from that death game if this was what we had instore for her." Shouzou delivered the news. This shocked Kyouko so much that whatever she tried to say was all but forgotten.

"What… she said what…?" She stammered.

"Do I have to say it again? You heard me! She wished that she had DIED in SAO!" Shouzou bellowed uncharacteristically.

"Why… why would she want that? When she managed to come back from it alive…?!" Kyouko asked, her voice starting to shake.

"It's most likely because Asuna… She knew…" Her husband stated.

"What…?" She asked, needing clarification.

"She knew everything, right from the start; about your attitude towards her during her time in SAO!" Shouzou finally declared, and Kyouko could've sworn that her heart stopped.

"What… you mean… she…" Kyouko stammered, praying that it wasn't so.

"She knew that you'd stopped visiting her during the death game, and treated her as if she'd already died! And what's more, she's somehow reached the conclusion that you never truly cared for her; what do you have to say to that?!" Shouzou asked sharply, recalling Asuna's tearful revelation. Kyouko on the other hand, hearing her husband say the same thing that her son had told her earlier that day, began to lose control.

"I NEVER stopped caring for her! And she doesn't know everything! You know better than anyone that the reason I couldn't visit her was because of an entirely different reason! So why didn't you explain that to her when you were at her school today?!" Kyouko asked, her voice now audiably shaking in both sadness and anger.

"You really think that I didn't try?! I did, but she wouldn't listen to me! She said that she couldn't believe anything that we say to her anymore! Just how miserable was she to wish that she never came back from that death game?! And just how little trust did she have in us to say that Sugou's words were more believable than ours?!" Shouzou asked, raising his voice. Kyouko's eyes furrowed. Did he say Sugou Nobuyuki's words?

"That man's words…? What does she mean by that?" Kyouko asked. Though, she could already tell that she was NOT going to like what she was was about to hear.

"Sugou… he was the one that told Asuna about your behavior. When he held her captive after the end of SAO, he had told her about that to make her give up any hope of escaping!" Shouzou said, wishing that he could turn back time to set things right. Kyouko froze where she was, horrified. She was seriously hoping that her ears were deceiving her; that they were starting to go bad with age.

"No… curse that monster!" Kyouko said, feeling intense hatred once again for the man who she once trusted to give Asuna a better life.

"And after Kirigaya-kun rescued her from him, imagine what she thought when she found out from the nurses that you almost never showed up on her ward during her captivity…" Shouzou said. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was implying.

"Is she… is she serious…? Does she really think that I'd given up on her…?" Kyouko asked weakly.

"Well, with the way I saw her crying today, I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes." Shouzou sighed. Kyouko put both of her hands on her forehead, as a fierce headache started surface.

"Look, I know that you did everything you did with our family's best interest at heart. But you can't deny now that all we did have done more harm than good. So, we need to stop… stop all of this and salvage what little trust Asuna and Kouichirou has in us." Shouzou suggested. But Kyouko wasn't too keen on the idea.

"No…! There's… there's got to be another way to bring them home. We've been doing all of this for those two since they were children to give them a better future. We can't stop now!" Kyouko reasoned, but her husband seemed to disagree strongly.

"Enough! Don't you get it? That's exactly the reason why Asuna left! You may have been acting out of concern for her, but your stubbornness and the fact that you don't care what Asuna has to say about it makes Asuna think otherwise! She thinks that you see her as nothing but a tool for your career record!" Shouzou reiterated.

"Actually, since we're at that topic, let me ask you a question: If you had to choose between your career and reputation and our daughter's happiness, which one would you chose?" He asked, even though he knew the answer to the question already.

"What do you mean, of course I'd choose our daughter's happiness; I'm her mother after all!" Kyouko answered with no hesitation.

"I know you would. But then let me ask another question: If I asked that very same question to Asuna, what do you think her answer would be?" Shouzou asked again.

"What… what exactly are you trying to say?" Kyouko asked. Although, she had an idea of what it was about.

"What I'm trying to say is that with the idea that you 'gave up' on her in her head right now, Asuna's answer would most certainly have been that you would choose your career over her!" Shouzou said angrily. Again, this information shocked her.

"You can't be serious…" Kyouko moaned.

"Oh, I'm dead serious, which is all the more reason for us to stop! What's the point in doing all of it if our own daughter hates us for it? It's not worth it!" Shouzou yelled, emphasizing the last sentence. But being as stubborn as she usually was, Kyouko still seemed unconvinced.

"Well, was it not too long ago that you agreed with me that the arrangement was a good idea?" Kyouko countered. Her husband HAD agreed to go through with the whole suitor business after all.

"A decision which I regret very much right now! And besides, I should add that I didn't fully agree with the idea from the start. I only agreed to give the boys in question a chance for her. Though, I should've known that Asuna wouldn't have even given them a second look. She had Kirkgaya-kun after all… If I knew that all of this was coming, I never would've agreed to have you arrange these meetings!" Shouzou sighed regretfully.

"Look, I know what I'm doing! Asuna and Kouichirou may not like it at the moment, but they'll come to accept it in time! I'm just doing what I believe is the best for them!" Kyouko said stubbornly. Shouzou at this point had lost his patience almost entirely.

"Do you actually believe what you're saying right now? That's basically what you said when you arranged Sugou to marry Asuna during her time in SAO! Of course, I know I have no right to say anything in the matter, since I agreed at the time too. But the point is, Asuna had lost faith in us from that time on and secretly resented us starting then. We both thought at the time that it was the best for her. But it turned out that we were making the biggest mistake of our lives! Imagine what we would've sentenced our own daughter to if it hadn't been for Kirigaya-kun! And what's worse, we repeated that mistake again and yesterday and today's events are a clear evidence of that! I refuse to make the same mistake a third time!" Shouzou declared.

"But… even so…" Kyouko tried to counter, but her defenses were weakening and they both knew it. Shouzou again cut her off.

"All it took for Asuna to lose faith in us was just one event, one decision: Sugou... Just how fragile was Asuna's trust in us, when all it took was a single push to have everything we worked for come crumbling down? When the trust between our family was no sturdier than a sand castle?!" Shouzou asked, distraught. Kyouko at this point was really out of things to say.

"Listen to me. Asuna gave us plenty of chances to redeem ourselves from the moment she came back to us. She tried to stomach the fact that we had arranged an engagement that she hated; she tried to forgive us of that… and yet… what did we do for her in return? We tried to drag her back into a hell that she thought she had escaped from. So let's stop… I can't stand seeing our daughter suffer like this…" Shouzou finished. But it seemed right now that Kyouko was just as unrelenting as Shouzou currently was.

"No no… there has to be a way…" Kyouko said. It was obvious that she was reaching her limit and they both knew it. Seeing her stubbornness reach another level, Shouzou finally lost his temper.

"If you keep being this way, neither Kouichirou nor Asuna will come back of their own accord! Wasn't it always you that was telling everyone to be realistic? Well, take your own advice! I'm telling you, it's not going to work, and it is NOT WORTH IT!" He shouted.

This lead to a fully blown heated argument that continued for what seemed like hours and it could only be described as the worst domestic dispute the couple could remember since their marriage. And honestly, they had both thought that they had seen the worst during the exposure of Sugou's crimes and the subsequent turmoil both the family and Recto had to face.

After some time, realizing that their arguments were going nowhere, Shouzou turned to leave his wife's work room, brilliantly red in the face.

"Where are you going; this discussion is not yet over!" Kyouko asked, equally red from the heated argument.

"Yes, it is! I think it's clear at this point that our views on what's for the best for our family differ greatly. I'm leaving to get some air and gather my thoughts. I suggest you do the same! And while you're at it, decide whether doing something that Asuna hates us for is really worth it!" Shouzou declared and left, heading to the main entrance of the manor.

"Anata… Anata…! (Dear… Dear…!)" Kyouko called out for her husband to come back, but he ignored her calls and left, slamming the door shut on his way out.

Flashback End


Honestly, she had never expected things to sprial so out of control like it did. Maybe she had been naïve when she thought that nothing worse could happen after the SAO and ALO incidents. The problem coming from the outside world was one thing, as she was used to handling those kinds of problems, but somehow, like her husband had said, all it took was one event to have the bond and trust between their family to come crumbling down. And it was clear that the problem was not as simple as she had made it out to be. She was no fool. If what her husband had said about Asuna's discussion was true, then even she couldn't deny that she was partly to blame.

She wanted to turn back time… go back to the past and SHOW her that she had cared, not just convey it through seemingly cold and empty words; to tell her that it was all a big misunderstanding.

She may be a serious and prideful woman by nature, and some may describe her as cold, heartless even. But before all that, before she was a high standard professor, she was a mother with a heart.

She had never expected their relationship to be this fragile. She kept thinking and thinking, what could be done to gain back her family's trust? Under normal circumstances, she would've been able to find a solution relatively quickly by thinking through the cause and the effect. But right now, there were so many questions and confusion in her head that she couldn't even think straight, mainly because of the apparent fact that she now knew that Asuna had gravely misunderstood her intentions and actions for her throughout her whole life. There were so many things to tell her; to explain, but Asuna had left by her own accord, feeling so much misplaced resentment and anger towards her no doubt.

She picked up the sherry bottle again to pour into her glass, but she soon realized that she had emptied the entire bottle of it. Sighing, she put the bottle down; or maybe toss it was a better word for it, because the bottle soon lost its balance and fell to its side with a clunk.

Kyouko slowly got up from her chair. She then exited the room and headed to Asuna's room, which she hadn't been to since Asuna left.

When she got to her daughter's room, she opened the door and went inside to see it in a bit of a mess. Some of the items on her desk were in scrambles. Kyouko opened her daughter's wardrobe to see a good amount of clothings missing, and what was worse, on Asuna's bed lay a picture frame of their whole family together, which was broken with some of the glass still visible on the edges of the frame. The rest of the broken glass had been, of course, cleaned up. She had seen the small but visible dent on the wall beside the wardrobe, meaning that Asuna had thrown the frame to it, breaking it in the process.

Kyouko picked up the picture frame from the bed. She started by taking the picture out of the broken frame. Once she did, she took a closer look at the picture in her hand. She had seen the same picture in the family's album she looked at several days ago, but for obvious reasons, taking a look at the picture now was far more heartbreaking compared to that time. It only served to remind her that the happy moment in the picture was now nothing but a distant memory, unable to come back, especially now.

It only made her wonder even more: where did it start to go all wrong? They had been a happy and enviable family back then, but now, their family bonds were clearly on the brink of breaking completely.

Where did it start to go all wrong? Did it start from that cursed death game? Or did it start from the day they met Sugou Nobuyuki? Or was it the decision to give Asuna's hand in marriage to that monster of a man, without her knowledge or consent? Or was it something else entirely, or did all of those events lead to the current catastrophe? She could no longer say with confidence that she knew the answer to that question anymore. The questions continued to swirl around in her mind, tormenting her constantly.

Unable to take it anymore, Kyouko stood up, trying to leave her daughter's room. But she didn't have a chance to; it came out of nowhere.

As soon as she got to her feet, a seering pain suddenly assaulted the back of her neck, and at the same time she felt as if the entire room was spinning around her. Her hand instinctively shot to the back of her neck, to where the pain was coming from. It just happened so suddenly that she couldn't even scream from the agony. The combined pain and dizziness made Kyouko stumble on her feet for a few seconds before collapsing onto the floor with a loud thud. The picture in her hand fell to the floor as a result and landed where she could still see it, but out of reach of where she collapsed.

(A/N: Play the OST: "At Our Parting (VC only)")

Even as the pain and the giddiness worsened, Kyouko weakly attempted to move to where the picture was. After crawling painfully to where the remnant of a now distant happy memory laid at, the mother grasped and held onto the picture as if her life depended on it.

"Asuna… Asuna…" She moaned weakly through the excruciating pain. "Please… don't leave me… not again… not again…" She lamented before feeling her consciousness slip away from her. She lay on the floor, unmoving.


A/N: Alright, that ends this chapter. It may have been a bit abrupt, but I thought that it was appropriate. This chapter's purpose was to clearly show that Kyouko isn't heartless and that she really wanted what was the best for Asuna. Was I successful? Let me know.

Now you know why this chapter is titled Castle of Sand; it represents the currently fragile bond between Asuna's family.

Next chapter will continue from where it left off this chapter. But brace yourselves; the next few chapters will be another emotional ride, or at least I hope you find them to be emotional.

As always, thank you for reading and don't forget to follow, favorite, and/or review.

Next Chapter: A Mother's Love – Part 1: Regrets.

Yours truly, KiritoIRL.