Disclaimer: This story is set in a sort of alternative universe in which Alice and Eugeo are real people and Yuuki is still alive.
Asuna Yuuki looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She particularly liked the outfit she was wearing that day: a pale pink sweater, a black miniskirt, tights and low-heeled ankle boots. She smiled at her reflection, then she grabbed her bag and her coat and she left her room to go downstairs.
When she reached the first floor of the house she went straight to the living room, where she knew she'd find her mom: and sure enough she was there, sitting on one of the armchairs, watching the news while sipping tea, like she did every morning. The woman looked up when she heard her daughter approaching.
"Mum, I'm going out" Asuna announced.
Her mother nodded. "Don't…don't get back too late. And be careful."
Asuna tried her best to suppress a sigh. "Sure. Don't worry."
Mrs Yuuki had always been a strict woman and Asuna knew it would probably take her some time to get used to the fact that her daughter went out so often; to tell the truth, Asuna had never been the type of girl that stayed out for hours, but things had changed since she'd found real friends and most of all a boyfriend. Luckily, her mother seemed to have loosened up a bit and she let her go out almost everytime she wanted. She still had a curfew, though.
Saying goodbye to her mother, Asuna headed for the door; once she was out of the house she walked down the driveway towards the gate. It was Saturday morning and Christmas was exactly a week away. Her long hair swayed in the sharp December air and the girl pulled her coat tighter around herself; luckily it was a beautiful day and the sun shone in a cloudless sky, making the winter cold more bearable.
When she reached the gate she walked past it and then she stopped just outside the house, waiting. After a few minutes she heard a familiar roar: she turned toward that noise and she glimpsed an approaching motorbike. The boy who was riding it stopped right next to her and she smiled.
"Good morning, Kirito-kun" she greeted him, beaming.
"Good morning, Asuna" her boyfriend replied. Are you ready?.
She nodded and took the helmet that he was handing to her, placing it on her head.
"Let's go, then" he grinned. She didn't need to be told twice: she got on the bike and wrapped her hands around his waist.
"Let's go" she echoed.
Kirito stopped his motorbike in the parking lot of the mall and then let his girlfriend get off it before turning off the engine. Judging by the number of cars and other bikes there, the place was very crowded: he'd expected it, given that Christmas was just around the corner.
The two of them walked towards the double sliding doors at the entrance of the building, where two persons were already waiting for them.
"Alice! Eugeo-kun! Good morning!" Asuna greeted them with one of her big smiles. "Sorry if we kept you waiting! Have you been here long?".
"No need to worry, Asuna. We've just arrived" Alice reassured her, reaching out for her hand and squeezing it.
"Good morning" said Eugeo.
"Morning" Kirito replied, giving his best friend a playful tap on the arm.
Alice and Eugeo were Kirito's childhood friends and Asuna got to know them when she started dating Kirito in the real world; Alice and Eugeo hadn't endured the infamous Sword Art Online experience, but they'd met all the friends that Kirito had made since, as well as his girlfriend, and they had actually joined all of them in the world of Alfheim Online. Asuna had gotten along with these two longtime friends of Kirito's immediately and so the four of them often spent time together.
"Well, shall we go in?" Asuna asked the other three. When they nodded, she took Alice by the arm and walked with her past the sliding doors, followed by the boys.
As soon as they were inside, they were enveloped by a pleasant heat; it was a very nice feeling, considering the crisp air outside. The spacious, bright halls of the mall were obviously decorated for Christmas; every shop had a wraith placed right on top of the entrance and their windows showed an array of colourful lights, fake snow and small Christmas trees in addition to the different merch on display. From where they were they could even catch a glimpse of the huge Christmas tree that adorned the main area of the mall, where customers usually stopped to take a picture. Christmas songs rang out from the speakers, adding up to the festive mood of the building.
Asuna and Alice set off down one of the halls, merrily chatting with each other and stopping occasionally to take a look at the shops' windows, leaving Kirito and Eugeo behind.
Kirito took advantage of that moment to say to his friend: "I'm sorry we arrived so soon, Eugeo. I'm sure you could have used a little more time alone with Alice" he smirked.
"Yeah, you're right…w-wait! That's not true!". Eugeo fidgeted. He threw a quick glance at the two girls ahead to make sure they hadn't listened, then he continued in a low voice. "I mean…I guess it is true. But you shouldn't make fun of me for it!".
Kirito couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, at least you admit it! There's nothing wrong with it, anyway. I took every opportunity to be alone with Asuna myself, before I started dating her".
Eugeo sighed. "I know. I know it's normal, but…". He threw another glance at the girls before speaking again. "Listen, Kirito…I think I've finally made up my mind". He looked really nervous. "I wanna confess my feelings to Alice".
Kirito turned toward him, taken aback. "Seriously?". It was definitely unexpected news. He obviously knew that Eugeo had been in love with Alice for ages, but his friend had never had the slightest intention of confessing to her until now; honestly, he'd started thinking that he would never find the courage to do it. And so Eugeo's words came as a shock to him. "It's great! Have you already thought about how to do it?".
"I…no. I mean, I wanna find the perfect occasion but, above all, I wanna be completely ready when that time comes. So… I don't think it's happening anytime soon" Eugeo admitted, then turned his eyes to the floor, visibly embarrassed.
Kirito sighed, a bit disappointed but not surprised, then he smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Well, at least you've finally made up your mind". He really hoped that that confession, whenever it would happen, would lead to a happy ending, otherwise Eugeo was going to suffer unbearably. His feelings for Alice were deep and stubborn and Kirito really wished for the girl to return them. No one deserved that kind of happiness more than Eugeo. Kirito himself had tried to understand what Alice really felt for his friend but, unfortunately, he'd never been that good at understanding other people's feelings. And so he'd tried – with discretion, that is - to get Asuna to tell him more about it, but the girl never had. Even if she did know something, though, he doubted she would ever tell him: he was her boyfriend, true, but Asuna was too loyal a friend to blurt out Alice's secrets to anyone, including him. It was one of the reasons he loved her, after all.
"Kirito-kun!".
He shoved those thoughts away when he heard her call his name. He noticed that she and Alice had stopped outside a women's clothing shop. When he and Eugeo reached them, Asuna said: "Alice and I wanna go take a look inside. Can you wait for us here?".
Kirito replied at once: "I think we'll go to the videogames store instead. Is that okay, Eugeo?". He walked up to his friend and made a show of talking in a cospiratorial tone, perfectly aware that the girls were hearing him loud and clear. "You better follow me if you don't wanna spend the whole morning staring at this shop's window and waiting until Asuna is done taking a look. Trust me".
Asuna shot him an irritated look. "Do as you please. Let's go, Alice". She walked toward the shop.
Alice and Eugeo shared a giggle: they were used to their friends' bickering by now and they honestly found it funny.
As soon as Alice got inside the shop too, Kirito turned to the other boy. "Shall we go?".
Eugeo nodded and started walking down the hall.
Before following his friend, though, Kirito looked once again toward the shop where his girlfriend had gone. He immediately met her eyes, just as he'd expected. Asuna stuck out her tongue at him, but then she couldn't help an amused smile from lighting up her face. Kirito smiled right back at her.
Then he turned, hurrying to catch up with Eugeo.
"What do you think?". Alice pushed aside the curtains of the changing room, allowing Asuna to take a good look at the dress she was trying on. She'd eyed it soon after she'd gotten inside the shop and she'd instantly fallen in love with its color, a beautiful cobalt blue. She liked it very much, but she required her friend's opinion anyway.
Asuna's eyes lit up. "You look stunning, plus that colour suits you perfectly. I think Eugeo-kun might like it, too". She winked at her.
"W-what does Eugeo have to do with this?". Alice hastily looked away. "But…d-do you really think he'll like it?".
Asuna couldn't help but chuckle, noticing that Alice's cheeks were getting redder and redder. Her friend had revealed to her that she was in love with Eugeo months ago but talking about it still embarrassed her, it seemed.
Of course, she'd also noticed that the blond-haired boy fully reciprocated Alice's feelings. In fact, she thought that literally everyone but Alice was aware of that, so she tried to encourage her friend to take the big step everytime she could, but to no avail.
"I really think so. Eugeo-kun seems to like blue very much, since he wears it often".
"I-if you say so…"Alice muttered.
Asuna had the distinct feeling that her friend had noticed that particular fact already, but she didn't inquire further. "You should wear that dress on Wednesday night. You look beautiful in it, regardless of what Eugeo-kun may or may not think" she suggested instead.
"Alright, I'm buying it. I really like it, too". Alice smiled happily at her, then she drew the curtains to change.
While she waited for her friend, Asuna's mind drifted to all the things she still had to do in preparation for the dinner she'd arranged for Wednesday night at her house. She wanted everything to be perfect, since it was the very first time she invited all of her friends over. She still couldn't quite believe she'd gotten permission to do so, given that her parents and her brother would not be there but in Kyoto, where they had some business obligations to take care of, and they would stay there until New Year's: the Yuuki family were to spend the holidays at her grandparent's house that year and so Asuna would reach them there as well.
However, instead of leaving with the rest of her family on Tuesday, she'd asked her parents for permission to stay in Tokyo just a day more: she wanted to take advantage of the fact that nobody else would be home to invite her friends over for an early Christmas dinner. Her dad had immediately said yes, but Asuna had known that the real obstacle was her mother; however, a fair amount of pleading and reassuring had done the trick and her mom had finally given in, provided that she wasn't completely alone, especially at night. To tell the truth, Asuna had already asked Kirito to stay with her, but she suspected that her mom would have abruptly changed her mind if she'd known that: she was very strict and her accepting her plan had already been a miracle in itself, so Asuna hadn't felt like testing her luck further. Instead, she'd told her mom that Sinon and Alice were going to be the ones to stay the night. Obviously her mother had immediately asked Asuna to let her talk with the two girls; luckily, Asuna had already warned them about her scheme and they'd played along.
To tell the truth, Asuna felt guilty for lying to her parents, but she knew that that was the only way she could be alone with Kirito; she thought it was absurd that she had to go to such lengths just so she could get Kirito to spend the night at her house. She really hoped that one day her mom would loosen up once and for all. After all, it had taken the woman some time to accept Kirito as her daughter's boyfriend and Asuna knew it would take her a little more to let her come to terms with the idea of the two of them alone in the same house. And so she'd been forced to lie to her, but she faithfully believed that one day she wouldn't need to do so anymore. One step at a time, she told herself.
In the meantime Alice had come out of the changing room, her new dress carefully folded in her hands. "I'm going to pay. What about you?" she asked Asuna.
"I didn't find anything, so I'm coming with you" she smiled.
When they were finally out of the shop Asuna called her boyfriend on the phone to warn him that they were going to wait for Eugeo and him near the big Christmas tree.
Once reunited, the group decided to take a picture with the huge, decorated tree and then went on to enjoy their day at the mall.
They had a wonderful time, filled with laughter and cheer, while Asuna secretly counted the hours that separated her from the dinner with her friends and most of all from the time she was going to spend alone with Kirito. Her earlier conversation with Alice about colours had actually given her an idea and now she just couldn't wait to act on it.
