A Big thank-you to ilikewaffles and SchoolSenpai for helping me with this chapter. Without their input I would likely still be agonizing over this piece.
Caring For A Rat: Book 2 Epilogue
Every year, usually during March, the Sakura trees would bloom across the country in a wave that swept north from Kyushu to Hokkaido. This year, they were a little early, coming at the end of Feburary.
The perfect time for our newly established triad's second date.
We had met up on a Friday to go out on a picnic, each of us grabbing a dish to be sampled by everyone. Amid the falling petals, in a park between a river and a road, within easy walking distance of the trains, we set our blanket down and tried each other's dishes.
"I have ta say, Aa-chan," Tomo began, making Asuna wince as she looked at the heavily singed and clumpy fried rice she had attempted to cook. "Ya need ta work on yer cookin' skill."
My first girlfriend whimpered and let her shoulders collapse. I reached out with a hand to rub her shoulder.
"It's okay," I said, casting an eye over the dumplings that were almost as heavily burned, and worse, rather tasteless. "I didn't do that well either." It had probably been a mistake to try and cook these without anyone else's help, but both Asuna and I had fallen into the trap of wanting to prepare a dish for our partners ourselves and reached beyond our skill levels.
Asuna shrugged. "I should have expected this," she said, reaching out and grabbing another rice ball from the pile of store-bought appetizers that Tomo had brought. "Of course there were going to be differences between cooking in Aincrad and cooking IRL; I should have gone with something easier."
"Well, we can try cooking something easier next time," I said, as Tomo reached out and grabbed more of the fried rice, brushing a few sakura petals away from the edges of the bowl.
"Eh, it's still pretty good," The info broker shrugged, taking another bite. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. "Just a lil' more crunchy than I was expectin'."
"Still," Asuna said, picking up one of my dumplings. "It could have been better."
"Yeah, but it also coulda been warmer today," Tomo countered, gesturing to the somewhat heavy coat she was wearing. "School's startin' up again soon, yer parents finally let ya out o' the house, and the world don't even have the integrity ta be about three degrees warmer?" My girlfriend raised a fist and shook it at the sky. "Fer shame!"
"I don't know," I said. "I kind of like it cold."
"Why's that?"
I wrapped my arms around my two girlfriends, pulling them to lean down into me. "It gives me an excuse to hold you close," I murmured into the gap between their heads.
"Kazuto~" Asuna whined playfully, her cheeks flushing.
"Wow now, when'd ya start takin' lessons in ladykillin' Kii-bou?" Tomo riposted, tapping on my face with one finger even as her cheeks colored red.
"Ever since I started up a relationship with such amazing women." I rubbed my head against Tomo's, making her giggle.
"Flatterer," She said, reaching out to grab the plate of onigiri she had brought. "We need to do something to shut you up."
"That we do," Asuna agreed. "Who knows what sort of things he'll say if we let him keep talking?"
"You mean you don't want me to wax luridly about your hair?" I asked as Tomo lifted an onigiri towards my face. I reached out and grabbed her hand around the wrist, gently guiding the rice ball into my mouth.
"That can come later," Asuna said, running one hand down my back. Then she gasped and pulled away, tapping on my back in a pre-arranged signal. I unwrapped my arm from around Tomo, Asuna straightened her vest, and our girlfriend spun so that she was sitting facing us.
We could pass for a group of friends out to enjoy the falling cherry blossoms again.
Half a second later, I saw a car coming to a stop on the street next to the park we were in. It was the same car that we had taken to the library almost three weeks ago. Shortly after it came to a stop, the front doors opened, and a vaguely familiar woman wearing a black suit jacket over a pale yellow shirt emerged from the driver's seat then immediately set off towards us, her face set in a disapproving frown.
A few seconds later, Asuna's father emerged from the other side of the car, hurrying to catch up with the woman who was looking more and more likely to be his wife, and Asuna's mother.
My girlfriend rose to her feet as they approached and moved to intercept them while Tomo managed to somehow look like she was observing the falling cherry blossoms approximately fifteen feet to the left where they were falling rather regularly. I knew she was really observing the unknown woman.
Asuna's father looked angry; almost like he had at Sugou's sentencing a week ago. He was arguing with what was seeming more and more like Asuna's mother.
"You can't make her leave now!" Mr. Yuuki said, half-turning and walking sideways to talk at the woman. "This is the first time she's spent with her friends in over a week!"
"She's behind on her studies," The woman responded, "There will be time for socializing when she's caught up."
I disliked her immediately.
Asuna faced her parents, remarkably calm given that at least one of them was threatening to take her away from us, and spoke. "Hello mother. How nice to see you today." Her voice was carefully controlled, the anger that I could tell was brewing inside her tamped down beneath a level of faux civility.
"It is nice to see you as well," Her mother responded brusquely, before pointing at the blanket. "Pack your things up, we're going."
"Kyouko—" Asuna's father began to speak, but fell silent when Asuna raised her hand.
"Did something happen?" My girlfriend began, "Or is the first time you have come to see your daughter in years to tell her that she should have been studying when she was fighting for her life and not sure she would live another day?"
I dropped the rice ball I had just picked up, the snack falling to the picnic blanket with a faint thud.
This was the first time Asuna had seen her mother since she woke up?
That… I exchanged a glance with Tomo, who looked about as shocked as I felt. Asuna's mother paused for a second, almost rocked back by the force of her daughter's words. Then she steadied herself.
"I'm not upset with you not studying while you were… indisposed," Mrs. Yuuki said, her eyes flashing with anger. "But that is no excuse for lounging around with these… miscreants, when you should be working on your studies. There are precious few universities that will accept someone who missed two years of schooling, no matter the cause and the sooner you can get started the more likely it is that one of them will accept you." She paused, then laid a hand on Asuna's shoulder. "And for what it is worth, I am sorry I was unable to see you before now."
"You should be sorry," My girlfriend said, "Now, why should I be studying now, instead of later? I remember my schedule for studying being much later in the day than this."
"That was when you were in school," Asuna's mother responded. "As you are not bound by that commitment for now, I would rather you do not spend your evenings and nights studying."
"So you'd rather I spend my afternoons cooped up indoors?" Asuna riposted, making what I thought was a rather valid point. My mother had been rather excited about me and Tomo going to watch cherry blossoms, even if she had been put out by our request for privacy.
"If it will ensure you get into a good university, yes," Mrs. Yuuki said, her face carved from stone.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Asuna took a deep breath. "Five minutes."
"Five minutes for what?" Mrs. Yuuki tilted her head slightly as Asuna stared fearlessly into her eyes, not even flinching under the weight of the glare leveled at her.
"Five minutes to pack up and say goodbye," My girlfriend responded, and I felt my heart sink.
"Asuna—" Mr. Yuuki began, only to be silenced once again by his daughter's raised hand.
"Five minutes," Mrs. Yukki said, "And no longer."
"Thank you for your… graciousness," Asuna said, every word honed to a fine point. It was a wonder that her mother didn't flinch as they struck home.
When she turned around, my girlfriend's eyes were tight with tension, and her hands were clenched with barely-restrained anger. Tomo and I moved to help her pack away the fried rice, her dishes, and the picnic blanket.
"Hey," I began as we started to clean up the dishes, only to be cut off by Asuna.
"Wouldn't be worth it to try and stay," she said, slamming a plate so hard down into the basket that I thought she might break it. "She'd just loom like some kind of vulture."
"That sucks," Tomo said, placing a lid on the container of fried rice and passing it to Asuna. "Any way we could try and meet up again?"
"Yes," My girlfriend nodded, once again putting the container down with so much force that I feared something would break. "If I finish my studies. Kouichirou should be able to stop her from assigning me too heavy of a workload."
"Well, if you need any help with math," I said, still a little numb from the suddenness of it all, "I can provide assistance."
"I'll keep that in mind," Asuna smiled, nudging me playfully as I finished packing up the remains of mine and Tomo's dishes. Then I lifted them off the blanket as Tomo moved to fold it up.
"Kiss before I go?" Asuna asked me as we moved to either end of the picnic cloth.
"Maybe," I returned. "Not sure how your mom would feel about it."
"She knows I'm dating you," Asuna said, shrugging. "My father mentioned telling her a few weeks ago."
I glanced over at Tomo, who gave a quick nod. Good, she was okay with it.
"One for the road, then." I said, grabbing the fold that Asuna offered me and laying it down atop my own bit of folded cloth. Two folds later, and the blanket was placed in the basket Asuna had brought, and everything was done.
As we stood up, Asuna leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. It was chaste and quick, but it still felt somehow vulnerable, especially when I caught Mrs. Yuuki raising an eyebrow at the sight.
"I'll see you soon," Asuna said, letting her hand brush against Tomo's as she walked past.
"Don't burn yourself out studying," I called after her, helpless as her mother pivoted to follow. She raised a hand in acknowledgement, but made no other movement.
Tomo stepped in beside me, And I had to restrain myself from reaching out and taking her hand. It would be too suspicious, especially with the kiss Asuna had given me.
All we could do was stand there helplessly as Asuna was taken away.
Mr. Yuuki cast a regretful look back at us as Asuna and her mother entered the car together, my girlfriend in the back. As the car pulled out of it's parking spot, I could see Asuna through the window, looking forlornly out towards us.
I lifted a hand, not to say goodbye, but as a promise to see her again.
And with that, I am officially putting this story on Hiatus. it has been a labor of love for me this past year, and I've learned a lot about myself through writing this. But, I have also learned that I need time away from this story to let ideas percolate in my brain, and to work on other stories that people like. I have other stories in the works that may appear sometime in Feburary, so look forward to that!
In the meantime, if you're looking for more fanfics to read, the folks on the SAO Central Discord ( 53GkCDzdkU) are always happy to help, and I'll personally recommend Merchant Prince of Aincrad, by Agent 94, which features a Kirito who prefers the clinking of gold to the clashing of swords.
Thank you all for taking this journey with me, this is not the end, merely a rest, and I will see you when it is time to begin again.
