Sword Art Online

After The Incident

Chapter 8 – The Consequence of Fear

~Later that night, Kazuto´s POV~

I was currently walking down the streets, which at the time was mostly dead and free of people. I had just dropped Asuna off after one of our most romantic dates we had ever had in the year we had been together. It had been one of the best evenings of my life up till now. But now, that Asuna´s warmth and reassuring smile wasn´t near me anymore, worried and dark thoughts began haunting me once more.

Sugou and his assistant began appearing in my thoughts again. He had haunted my dreams and filled my head for over a year now. He kept coming back, night after night, and when he was finished destroying my dreams, he had set out to threaten me to hurt all I loved. Asuna, my mom, my sister, Klein, Lizbeth, Scilica, Agil… Everyone was in danger because of this man and his sick obsession of me.

I didn´t know what kept the man going either. If it was the thought of revenge of pure madness that drove that man to keep pursuing me, I didn´t know. But he certainly wouldn´t give up on me. He would chase me to the end of the world, and kill me, even if it was the end of him. And he would make sure to enjoy it when it finally happened. I had understood that much from his sick torture sessions.

I didn´t even know why he had captured me in ALO a year ago in the first place. Why he suddenly started torturing me out of nowhere. He was a complete stranger to me, and I had never even seen him before. His purpose for these complete insane and evil things he had done to me, was, for me, unknown. But one thing I did know was that he had to be stopped. I couldn´t live with these nightmares anymore. And I knew that they would only stop when Sugou was gone for good. That was the only time I would feel safe.

I finally arrived home after walking home from Asuna´s place, sloppily walking up the porch steps to my house. I slowly turned the doorknob and stepped inside, lazily kicking off my shoes as I made my way into the living room. It was 3 o clock in the morning, so I didn´t expect my family to be awake at the time, but I thought wrong.

"Kazuto?" A soft voice called out from the sofa, and suddenly the lights flickered on in the kitchen and the living room.

My aunt was sitting in the sofa, arms crossed and she was staring at me with a mad expression.

"You´re really late you know.." She mumbled softly as she looked away from me.

I sighed a bit and nodded softly.

"I know mom, and I'm so sorry…" I mumbled as I looked away shamefully "I know you´re worried about me… But the time ran away from us"

"It´s ok Kazuto." She mumbled as she got up from the sofa and hugged me close. "But next time, at least send me a text ok?" She said as she looked into my eyes.

"Oh god. Mom you´re crying!" I felt a sting in my chest as I realized my aunt was crying.

"Y-Yeah. I was so worried" She said as she sobbed a bit "I was worried something had… S-Something had…"

"i´m so sorry!" I said as it now was my turn to hug her close, trying to comfort my no sulking mother "It won´t happen again I promise!"

"That´s good to know honey" She said with a nod as she smiled at me and wiped her eyes "Now go to bed. You look like you´re sleepy"

I nodded a bit and sighed as I hugged her one last time before walking up the stairs towards my room. On the way there I passed Suguha´s room, stopped and looked at the half open door. I took a quick peek inside and saw Suguha, lying on her bed in her nightgown, with a worried expression on her face.

"She must have been just as worried as my aunt" I said as I looked downwards in shame "Better apologize to her tomorrow"

And with that I closed her door softly, to not wake her up, and walked the rest of the way down the hallway, closing my door behind me.

I lied down on my bed and sighed as I looked up into my roof.

"What a day…" I mumbled softly before I closed my eyes and instantly fell asleep.

~Another Nightmare~

I was lying down when I opened my eyes. A soft and mushy underground was lying under me, twigs and leaves prickling all over my body. I sat up and looked around as I rubbed the back of my head. I was in a forest of some kind. Dark and dank, a rotten smell in the air, irritating my nose. Just being here made my stomach curl up in disgust and fear. I gulped a little and looked around as I stood onto my feet.

The trees around me was rotten and dead, their bark lying just as dead and rotten by their roots. Bugs and filth was lying everywhere, and above my head was dark clouds and only a hint of moonlight through them every now and then,

I instinctively walked around to get the hell out of this creepy place as fast as I could. I walked along a narrow dirt road between the many dead trees. In the far distance I could hear a lone wolf howl for it´s pack, and in the trees I could hear an owl cry out in hunger.

After about five minutes of walking in the creepy forest, I suddenly arrived at a familiar place. It was me and Asuna´s log cabin from SAO! Everything was there! The lake and the mountains behind the cabin, and the wooden walkway along the shore of the lake. On the porch the wooden rocking chairs and the beautifully carved table was still standing, and the book we had been reading together on our last day of our vacation was still lying in our rocking chair.

Finally I had found something I recognized. I slowly walked up the steps to the porch, running my hand along the wooden surface of the railing. It was good to be back here again. But something felt off. Not only was the forest around our cabin completely dead from plant and animal life, but there was no one here besides me. The area that normally made me happy, now creeped me out completely.

I slowly made my way inside me and Asuna´s virtual home, walking into the living room. The furniture we had bought together for the remaining col we had saved up that day we bought the cabin was still standing where they had always stood, everything looked normal, down the smallest detail.

But I still had a nagging feeling that something was off.

"What is happening here…?" I mumbled to myself as I slowly walked upstairs, walking towards Yui´s room.

"Asuna? Yui?" I called out as I made my way down the hallway. "Where are you?"

I finally made my way to me and Asuna´s bedroom, which seemed like it took forever to reach. I hesitated a bit as I reached out for the doorknob. That feeling again. That ominous and dark feeling. It was much stronger than before. I had a bad feeling about entering my bedroom, feeling dread about what I would find there.

But I was too curious, and I had gone too far to back down now. I had to find my family, and this was the last place I could think of they had gone to. Going back wasn´t even an option any longer. I realized this as I stared down at the round doorknob, wondering if I should turn it or not. Finally I pulled myself together and turned the doorknob, slowly opening the light wooden door as I peaked inside our bedroom.

"Asuna!?" I smiled a bit and opened the door completely as I saw my girlfriend and virtual wife standing inside the room with her back turned to me, wearing a beautiful and light white silk nightgown. I smiled and gasped a bit as I finally found what I had been looking for all this time. The dreadful feeling was gone. At least for a while.

"Asuna, you ok?" I asked softly as I realized she didn´t respond to my voice like she usually would. I stepped up to her completely and took hold of her bare shoulders. Her skin was ice cold, and she seemed lifeless, almost like some kind of doll. What the hell was happening?!

I shook her shoulders lightly, almost as If I tried to wake her up.

"Asuna! You there!?" I said a bit desperate, scared of what might have happened to my wife.

She slowly turned around and revealed herself to me. And I was scared out of my mind.

She had a blank expression in her eyes and her skin was pale as a ghost. She was ice cold, like if she was…

"No.. No it can´t be true!" I yelled as I shook her shoulders in desperation "Asuna! Asuna wake up!"

My desperate plea was of no effect. She sighed and collapsed, falling into my arms with one last breath. Tears ran down my face and hit her cold cheeks, giving her face a slight warmth for just a moment. I hugged her close to me in a desperate attempt at getting her back but it was too late. She had already stopped breathing.

I cried so much that I didn´t even notice the looming figure approaching me from behind. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder, and I cried out in pain as I dropped Asuna´s dead body, falling down beside her, winching in pain. I looked up at my shoulder and realized it had been pierced by some kind of knife, with thorn like blades.

I widened my eyes at the bloody mess that had once been my shoulder, and winched as I sat up against the bedframe behind me. The shoulder cap was probably broken now. Moving my arm the slightest would send extreme waves of pain throughout the entirety of my arm, making it feel like my arm had been torn off instead of being stabbed. But this wasn´t the worst pain I had gone through. Not even close.

I stared up at the looming figure with blank and tearful eyes, my tears coming from the intense pain in my arm, and the pain of the thought I would never see my princess alive ever again.

"W-Who are you…?!" I asked weakly as the figure approached me with a chuckle, stepping out of the shadows.

When I saw the figure´s face I growled a little of anger, not able to do anything else as I was beginning to feel weak.

"Of course it´s you…" I mumbled as my vision began to blur. "Sugou…"

Sugou smirked a bit as he raised his dagger.

"No… I can´t let you…" I whispered as my consciousness began fading "Get away with this…"

As he was about to strike down towards me my eyes closed and I lost consciousness, rescued from the gruesome pain that I surely was about to experience.

~Reality~

I screamed loudly and yanked my head off my pillow, sweat running down my forehead in streams.

"ASUNA!" I yelled loudly as I sat up in complete terror, having yet realized that I was now back in my own world.

I panted violently and my hands was shaking as I heard a soft and delicate voice call out to me in surprise and fear.

"K-Kazuto!? What´s wrong!?" I turned my head and realized Asuna was sitting next to me, looking at me with a worried expression.

"A-Asuna? What happened!?" I asked as I looked down at my hands and fingers, realizing it had all been another terrible nightmare. I should have known from the start.

My skin was ice-cold and my hands were shaking so violently I wouldn´t have been able to hold a spoon If I wanted to. The sweat pearls on my forehead felt like they were burning, and my body wouldn´t keep calm whatever I did to calm down. I was about to break into tears as I looked over at Asuna.

"Please.. I don´t want any of this anymore…" I mumbled as I finally broke into tears, sobbing into my hands.

Asuna gasped a little and grabbed me as she held me close to her, soothingly running her hands through my hair like she always did to calm me down.

"Shh it´s ok. It´s ok" She whispered into my ear as she rocked us back and forth, like a mother would her child.

I desperately tugged at her clothes for her to come closer and she immediately obliged, hugging me closer and closer as the time ran by. I softly wept onto her shoulder, my tears staining her clothes as she lied us down, carefully to get as close to me as she possibly could.

She softly began humming a tune. A tune I immediately recognized. A soft and beautiful melody that would follow you around almost everywhere on the 22th floor in SAO. One I would forever remember as Everyday Life.

I sobbed softly as she hummed into my ear, softly and slowly calming me down as I breathed in her scent and listened to her heartbeat.

As I finally calmed down, I wiped my tears and looked at my girlfriend with an embarrassed blush.

"I-I´m sorry about that…" I mumbled embarrassedly as I wiped my face.

"It´s ok Kazuto." Asuna mumbled as she ran her fingers through my hair delicately "We all have nightmares from time to time. And yours are more severe than normal"

I nodded a bit and sighed.

"Kazuto. Lie your head in my lap" She mumbled softly and I looked at her in surprise.

"Huh? Why?" I asked confused as to what she was going to do.

"Just do it…" She mumbled as she looked at me with a soft smile.

"Uh o-ok" I mumbled, still confused.

I lied down on my back and did as she told me, softly lying my head in her lap as she sat behind me. She softly continued Everyday Life from floor 22 as she caressed my cheeks softly, her delicate and warm hands giving me a relaxed and fuzzy in all of my body, which finally had stopped shaking. I sighed a bit as I smiled up at her and she smiled back at me warmly.

"Better now?" She asked as she let her hair form a curtain around our faces.

"Much better" I said as I looked up at her with a smile.

She nodded a bit and leaned down, softly kissing my forehead. I smiled and moaned a bit of bliss as I took one deep breath after another, allowing my breathing to calm down along with my body control. I sighed a bit as the world surrounding us disappeared, leaving us to enjoy this one, blissful and silent moment with each other.

"Hey Asuna? " I asked softly as I looked up at her with another smile.

"Yes Kazuto?" She answered as she smiled back at me, sending shivers through my spine with whatever little thing she did to me and for me to calm me down and make me feel good.

"Not to be rude or anything, but," I said softly as I made myself more comfortable "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you kind of forgot your jacket at my place" She answered with a smile "So I came here to deliver it to you. Your aunt told me you were asleep so I came up here, and when I arrived her you were tossing and turning in your bed"

I sighed a bit and smiled.

"I´m ok so don´t worry about it ok?" I said as I looked up at her.

She pouted a bit and caressed my cheek with her hand.

"But I want to worry about you" She said as she looked at me with a sad expression "Don´t you remember our promise? The one we made after you saved me from Kuradeel?"

"Of course I do" I mumbled softly as we continued to phrase our promise in sync "To help and protect each other forever, whatever might happen"

"Exactly." She smiled a bit and kissed my forehead "And I want to hold up on my promise I made that day. To help and protect you. But I can´t do that if you don´t let me involve myself with this"

"I know Asuna but…" I said as I looked away from her with a worried expression "I don´t want to burden you"

"Kazuto I keep telling you," She said as she cupped my face in her hands. "You´re never a burden. I want your problems to be my problems."

I looked up at her with a surprised and dumbfounded expression as she spoke softly to me.

"And if you´re scared something might happen to me, you don´t have to worry" She said as she giggled adorably "I´m the lightning flash, remember?"

"And if anything might happen" She whispered as she brought her face closer and closer to mine "I have my black swordsman to protect me"

With this she completely closed the small space between us as she kissed my lips gently, yet aggressively. I moaned a bit as I smiled and kissed her back, feeling how all our passion was transmitted to each of us in this wondrous moment.

"If that´s the case" I mumbled as we parted for a moment "Then i´m going to rely on you as well Asuna"

"Always my prince" She mumbled softly as she kissed me again, and I smiled as I kissed her back, softly caressing her cheeks with both my hands as the moonlight outside shined upon us.

A/N

There you go guys! Another chapter done!

You like it? I hope so. Kind of had writers block again. Stupid brain xD

Well nothing else to say then, see you next week guys!