HELLO MY DISAPPOINTED FRIENDS

It has come to my attention that I have let many of you down as much or more so than I've let down myself. Before I've even realized it, we've gotten so close to the 1 year anniversary of this story, and I haven't even gotten through all of the dates.

As for an explanation for that, I will include it before we start, skip if you want to.

My life has taken a few turns since the last update in May. For example, I moved out of my parent's house into a house with my cousins. That also came with switching colleges. Much of my time has been spent building my life back together after some months of extreme anxiety and depression. Who am I kidding, I'm still in those months. But that's no excuse to not write stuff for you guys. I've written many one off stories that were never posted. Such as 86, to love ru, Darling in the Franxx, High school of the Dead, two hololive stories, no game no life, some rent a girlfriend stuff, Trinity 7, worlds finest assassin, gotham, and a new star wars story. Chances are that none of those will ever be posted.

I've also been streaming the Resident Evil series on twitch if anyone is interested in that. You can already guess the name to look up.

THAT BEING SAID, I am rewatching SAO in order to be up to date before reading Unital Ring. Hopefully I can find some time to work on this even more.

THE TIME IS HERE. TODAY IS THE DAY THAT SWORD ART ONLINE LAUNCHES. I HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL IN THE GAME. LINK START!

Chapter 8: Lambent Elucidation pt2

With the new invention of 'Zekken' completed, Kazuto and Asuna got ready for their day out. Both Yuuki and Aiko were still in Kazuto's office talking to Yui about what all Yuuki missed in the time she's been... gone. It wasn't a whole lot to catch the twins up on, really just the events of Underworld and whatever Kazuto and Asuna were doing in those 200 years which neither really remembered. Yui went into detail about the date plans for the week. She told them how Shino had her day at the movies and how her own date was at the amusement park. Yuuki made a snarky comment about how she wanted a date too.

While Yui recounted the past few days, Kazuto and Asuna had finished preparing for their day. Asuna had at first said she wanted to hang out at home with her husband and daughter, but she had a few things she wanted to do. First, she wanted to go and actually see Yuki's grave and pay her respects. She could talk to the twins at home now, but she still wanted to go.

Once downstairs again, she placed on her Augma and grabbed her house keys. Kazuto soon came up behind her. "Ready to go?"

"Mhmm." She leaned back into him like a trust fall. "I'm ready for our date."

He wrapped an arm around her and swayed a little side to side. "Hey, you alright? Seem a little tired."

"I'm alright. But I am a little tired."

They swayed a little more before he stopped them. "So, go see Yuuki, grab lunch, and then come back and hang out here, right?"

"Sounds nice."

After letting Yui and the twins know they were leaving, they set off on the bike. The wind was chilly and snow still lined the roads. Even with Asuna's sweater and fluffy white jacket on, she was still freezing cold. She wrapped her arms against her husband's back and squeezed against him for warmth. The two continued on their bike ride for another 20 or so minutes before reaching the destination. A cemetery.

Asuna stepped off the bike and pulled her hair out of her jacket. She took a second to brush it straight again whilst Kazuto locked the bike up. Once he was done, she grabbed his hand and they strolled off towards where she wanted to go. It took about 3 minutes to reach the snow covered set of grave markers. Part of her felt odd for wearing white to a gravesite, but she had no reason to be sad. She had Yuuki and Aiko right at home now. Nevertheless, she was here to clean their tombstones and leave flowers. Kazuto finished brushing the winter snow off of the tops of the twins' graves and made sure that no dirt or mold had started up the stone. Asuna was clearing off the concrete pads that contained the names of the twins. She then cleared out the flower pots and placed two new white roses in each.

"I miss being able hold her." Asuna sat on her knees and looked down. "D-Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful you brought her back to me, but I wish I could hold her again. Both of them. I want to really be their older sister."

Kazuto placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "What if I told you that was the next step?" She looked up to him with wide eyes. "Hehe. The 'Zekken' box was just he beginning. With Dr. Kyojuro and Kikuoka's help, I may be able to trap them each in a light cube. Then they can play in games with us in their physical forms. They can join ALO, and even GGO, again. I bet that, with Yui's help, we can recreate Tokyo for them to experience for themselves. That's my goal."

Asuna stood up and quickly hugged her husband. "Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you." She rubbed her watering eyes on his shirt. "I know you don't know them that well, but thank you for going through all these lengths for them."

"Of course. Why wouldn't I try to help my sister in laws?" He chuckled as he stroked her back.

They both stood for a moment, but the wind's chill seemed to make her shiver. "K-Kazuto-kun. I'm cold."

"The wind is picking up. How about we stop at the café you like? Grab a warm cup of hot cocoa and head back to the house." She nodded and they started back towards the bike. He put her helmet on her head, before gently strapping it to her. "Ready?"

"Yes."

The two then rolled off to the small café down the street from their home. The cold air was blowing her chestnut hair behind them as they pulled off to the side of the road in front of the small restaurant. He helped her off and locked the bike down. "It really is cold out today." He rubbed his arms before pulling her to his side. "Let's hurry inside, okay?"

She nodded and shivered under his jacket. "K-Kazuto-kun. I love you."

"Where did that come from?"

Asuna sat down across from him in the booth. "I was remembering all the times where I've had with you.. When we first met, on floor one, I was so weak from fighting nonstop, and you saved me. And even after that, you showed me such kindness by letting me use your bath."

Kazuto rubbed his neck nervously. "Oh, I do remember that. You were still hanging around with Misumi. How is she doing by the way?"

"She's good. She said she was sorry for not being able to make it to our wedding."

"It's fine. No one in the gaming industry works as hard as she does."

The waitress came and took their order. They agreed to each get a cup of hot cocoa and share a cupcake. Kazuto tapped his augma, using a coupon to pay for their meal. Afterwards, he playfully kicked Asuna's feet. "So you were thinking about SAO?"

Snapping back, she tapped his shoe with her own tan boot. "Yes. You've done so much for me. You've almost lost your life four times."

"Eight times."

"That's eight times too many!" She noticed a slight glance from the girl behind the counter. "Kazuto-kun, you've always been one to defend those who can't defend themselves. It's part of why I love you." She then looked at the table. "Wait, why do I only know about four times?"

"Do you really want to know?" She nodded.

"Okay. The first time was when I lost Sachi. I know I've told you that story."

"Yes, you did."

"After that, I almost died to Gleam Eyes. That bastard was going to kill you."

Asuna kicked his foot and put her head in her hands. "I don't want to be reminded of that day."

He chuckled a bit and held her hands. "You told me to tell you." Once she was looking up again, he continued. "Then there was the day I killed Kuradeel. You saved my life that day."

"That's what started all of this. That day was the day you asked me to marry you."

"Yep, that's the day. Then there was when I beat Kayaba. I was so mad. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to run my sword through his face. But when it sunk in that you were gone, I just wanted to die. Then I remembered your smile, and all our good times together, and with Yui. That's what made me push back. I cheated death and killed Kayaba."

They both leaned back to allow the waitress to place their cups down.

"Still, I know about those. What are the one's I don't know?"

"The night after I saved you from your prison in ALO, Sugou attacked me in the parking lot outside the hospital. He tried to kill me, but I was able to disarm him thanks to Sugu getting me back in shape with kendo practice."

"Sugou tried to murder you!?"

"Tried to, yes. Succeed? No." She then tapped him to keep going. "Let's see. Next is the night I saved Shino's life. Death Gun's counterpart was going to kill her, but I was able to stop him in time. He did stab me with that stupid plunger filled with succinylcholine. Luckily he managed to hit the little node from the hospital. After that, I was good for about six months when you were hanging out with Yuuki."

Asuna sighed and leaned back into the booth cushion. "I'm sorry that I was pretty much ignoring you that time."

"It's fine. Yuuki was running out of time and you wanted to be there with her. I get it." He sipped his cup. "You were there when I was attacked by Johnny Black. I like to think that was the closest I've come after Kayaba killed both of us. I think the last time would be when I almost died in Underworld."

"That is still way too much. From now on, please be careful."

Kazuto kept lightly kicking her foot. "Would you also count Sunday?"

"What happened Sunday?"

"Uh, Shino and I were almost mugged."

"What! You didn't tell me that." She sighed again, then got up to sit beside him. "Don't do that again. I can't lose you."

He wrapped his arm around her and squeezed her close. "You won't, Asuna. I promise."

After their meal, they returned home to find Yui still talking to Yuuki and Aiko about Alice and her lightcube. The twins seemed enthused about the idea of getting back into the virtual world. Once they were sure that Yui was good, Asuna all but dragged Kazuto to their bedroom.

"What's the rush, Asuna?"

She then locked the door. "I had an idea. The only thing that made you careful in the past was Yui, so..." She pounced him down onto the bed. Her lips slammed into his as her body weight kept him from moving. "I kind of regret not doing this back in the game all those years ago."

Kazuto just went with it. It was her day and he was at her mercy. "Alright, I guess we're doing this."