Sword Art Online
After The Incident
Chapter 17 – The Unforeseen Enemy
I didn´t close a single eye on the plane that night. I had tried calling my family several times, but no one picked up the phone when I tried. Asuna tried her best to contact her family as well, but those attempts only had the same results. We had been in such a hurry to get home, that we even left our baggage in Himalaya.
On the plane back home I got more and more anxious. I wanted to believe that what the guy had said was nothing but a prank, or a joke, but deep down I knew it was not. Sugou was back, and he was targeting our families and friends.
When we arrived back in Japan, the wheels of the plane barely even touched the ground before me and Asuna jumped off, much to the flight attendants dismay. We sprinted through the airport and out to the two taxis we had called for in advance, making the drivers race each of us back to our respective residences.
Me and Asuna had agreed that we would save time, and manage to save more people, if we split up and went home to our separate homes.
So when my driver arrived at my house, I sprinted up to the looming building in front of me.
Normally this was a place I would happily return to. This place was a place I considered my home, my safe heaven. But now, I was afraid to step onto that familiar porch, and push open that familiar door. Never before had I been so afraid.
I could feel my heartbeat increase merely from the looming atmosphere around me, when I almost slipped on the porch step when I sprinted up to the front door.
I panted slightly and ripped the door open, stepping inside in a panicked hurry.
"Mom!? Suguha!?"
I yelled their names desperately as I stepped into the dark hallways.
"Something is wrong! Sugou must have…"
I didn´t dare to even finish the sentence. I stepped from the entranceway to the living room, when I suddenly heard a muffled moan from somewhere nearby.
"Suguha!? Mom!?" I yelled loudly as I listened intensely.
I followed the muffled moans to the kitchen where I found my mom and my sister, bound by the hands, my mother leaning against a wall with a bleeding from her head, and Suguha with a bullet wound in her leg and a wound from a knife in her hip.
"Oh god…" I mumbled as I hurried over and unbound my family, my sister sobbing silently as she kept holding onto my arm.
"Kazuto…" She said softly and moaned as I unbound my mother, who was currently unconscious.
"I-It´s ok Sugu" I mumbled, barely able to contain my tears "E-Everything will be alright"
I hugged my sister tightly.
"What happened Sugu?"
"I-I can´t remember everything" She mumbled as she rubbed her head "The doorbell rang, so I opened it. I remember the guy on the other side opened it harshly and I hit my head… He forced both me and mom into the kitchen… He hit her… And, he shot and stabbed me… But I can´t remember his face…"
My gaze shifted from her face to her forehead, and only now I noticed the deep bruise she had by her eyebrow.
"It´s ok" I mumbled as I ripped my jacket in order to make a makeshift bandage "I´ll make the bleeding stop"
I bandaged her wounds and looked her deep in the eyes.
"Is mom okay?" I asked softly as I began tending to my mother´s wound.
"I think so, he only hit her" She mumbled as she winched slightly from pain.
"Good, I don´t want to lose any of you right now" I said with a frown.
`Come on Kazuto, you need to be strong right now` I thought to myself `Your family and friends depend on you`
"Kazuto…" Suguha suddenly mumbled.
I looked over at her and was confused by her terrified expression. She pointed up behind me at fearful silence, and I turned and saw what she meant.
"You…" I mumbled silently "You just had to come back didn´t you"
Sugou stood there, with a satisfied smirk and dark chuckle, as he cleaned the blade of a blood dripping knife with a finger. In his belt a small handgun sat, smoke silently rising from it.
"I must say Kazuto," he said as he stared at me "when you want to protect something, you certainly get some speed in those legs. I can´t believe you made it back so fast"
"Not fast enough" I said with a silent growl "You managed to hurt my family before I caught your rat of an employee at our hotel in the Himalaya"
"Yeah, it´s most unfortunate" he said with an arrogant shrug "I had big plans for him. Though I don´t have use of no good employees"
"I don´t care about that" I growled as I stood up "I only care about killing you, or setting you behind bars"
"Well, you seem confident at least," he said with a chuckle "I like that"
"Shut up!" I yelled in anger as I stepped forward aggressively "How dare you hurt my family!? They have nothing to do with it!"
"Oh yeah?" He said with a sudden hateful expression "As I remember, your friends, AND your sister, helped you out of the ALO, if I´m not mistaken"
"The prison, YOU, decided to keep me in!" I growled in fury "You were the one torturing me, day after day!"
"Because you absolutely had to ruin everything!" He yelled back as he swung his knife around "You absolutely had to make Asuna fall in love with you, didn´t you?! All that money, all those opportunities, gone in an instant!"
"You´re a monster!" I yelled in disbelief "You only wish to use her for your own selfish needs!"
"That´s right you little worm…" He mumbled with a hysteric laughter "And that is the only reason I want to kill you, and everyone you love as well. I want to have my bloodlust satisfied"
"You evil bastard.." I growled angrily, keeping my eyes at his knife "If you dare touch my family again… I will kill you"
"Hehe, says the same guy who was pleading for mercy at my hand" Sugou said with an arrogant smirk "If you´re so confident, why don´t you just go for it?"
I knew he had an advantage right now. Not only did he have a knife, but if things would get bad for him he would definitely use his gun. He was dangerous right now, and he knew he had all the best advantages.
"I will not let you hurt my family again Sugou" I growled threateningly "I can guarantee you that"
"Oh really?" He mumbled selfsatisfied "And how will you do that?"
"With the help of the people that stand me near" I mumbled, thinking about my friends.
"Oh, right, them" He mumbled "I planned to kill those maggots too, didn´t I?"
"That´s what your henchman told us, yes" I mumbled, not sure where he was going this.
"Well, you remember my assistant right?" He said with a smirk. "The one who helped me torture you in the real world?"
Oh no. I had completely forgotten about her.
"no.. You´re not saying what I think you´re saying"
"That´s right" He said with a smirk "She´s currently at Asuna´s house, making short work of her AND her family. And soon, it´s your friends turn"
I widened my eyes a bit as I heard what he said. Asuna and all I held dear was still in great danger, even when Sugou was here, with me.
"Damn you…" I growled angrily "I´ll just have to trust Asuna to stop your assistant, then"
"We´ll see if that trust is put in the wrong place then" He said with a smirk "Now, come here so I can kill you!"
He dashed forward and swung his knife at me, and I dodged. He laughed maniacally as I kept dodging his attacks left and right, the blade lightly gracing my skin from time to time, making blood drops fall onto the floor and the kitchen counter.
"Kazuto!" Suguha yelled as she watched our battle go on.
"Suguha!" I yelled back "Take mom, and get out of here, now!"
"But what about you!?" I heard from her as I barely dodged another swing from Sugou´s knife.
"Don´t worry, I´ll be fine!" I yelled, desperate to get her out of here "I just need you to trust me!"
"I-I trust you Kazuto…" She mumbled as she watched us with horror in her expression.
She stood up and pulled her mother onto her back the best she could, before starting to move towards the door. She looked back over her shoulder and back at he as I fought against Sugou.
"Good luck Kirito"
Before she ran out of the house.
"Good, nothing to distract me from you now" Sugou said with a smirk.
He didn´t even think about anything else but me.
"Come at me. I have a failsafe system ready" I said with a smirk.
"Huh? Failsafe system?" He asked, stopping his attacks for a moment "What the hell do you mean by that?"
"You see" I said with a smirk "Before I got here I called my friends and told them all about this. Klein has called the police, and their on their way"
"You stubborn little brat" He hissed through his teeth, a smirk forming on his lips "I´ll just have to kill you before they arrive then"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone knocked the knife out of Sugou´s hand with a stick. Sugou hissed slightly as he rubbed his sore hand, as he looked at his attacker.
"Hey Kirito, long time no see"
I smirked slightly as my backup had arrived, and just in time. Klein stood there with a smirk on his face as he looked over at me.
"Good to see you too Klein" I said with a smirk "Would you mind helping me kick this guy´s ass?"
"With pleasure" He mumbled as he sprinted towards Sugou.
He pushed Sugou against the kitchen wall, fighting with him over control of the long, staff-like stick. They fought for a while but as I had expected, Klein seemed to be stronger than the office worker that was Sugou. Klein quickly gained dominance and smirked as he looked over at me.
"Take the gun, before he has a chance to use it" He yelled with a frown as he almost was pushed back by Sugou.
"Got it!" I growled as I dashed forward to help Klein fight Sugou.
Even though he was a creep, Sugou was surprisingly strong. He still managed to battle with both me and Klein for about a minute or so before I managed to grab the gun in his belt and pulling out the magazine, before throwing both things across the floor.
Sugou´s confident, psychotic and arrogant attitude changed as soon as he realized he was outnumbered as well. He turned scared and begging, which let me get much more dominance, enabling me to take him by myself. I grabbed his collar and slammed him towards the wall, as he offered no resistance what so ever, having lost his confidence and will to do anything.
"Klein, give me that knife" I growled, focusing intense on staring down Sugou.
"W-What!?" Klein said surprised "W-What are you-"
"Just give me that damn knife!" I yelled in a commanding tone.
Klein was taken slightly aback by my behavior, but did as I said.
"Geez, you didn´t have to be like that" He mumbled as he handed me the razor sharp knife.
"Thanks" I mumbled silently as I felt the handle of the knife in the palm of my hand.
I closed my hand around the knife´s handle and growled, trying to seem as threatening and dangerous as I possibly could.
"If you ever, EVER, touch my family or friends again," I growled loudly "I swear to god I will make sure you wish you never met me! Do you understand what I´m saying!?"
He nodded quickly and I let go of his collar, letting him drop to the floor. I growled softly and threw the knife along the ground, making sure it was long out of Sugou´s reach.
"I hope Asuna is doing as well as I am" I mumbled softly as I watched the crying Sugou with an angry huff.
"Go find her man" Klein said with a smile "I´ll keep an eye on this guy"
"You sure you can do that Klein?" I asked as I looked at him "I mean, he is a really sneaky snake you know"
"It´s fine" he said with a smirk "Go protect your girlfriend. I can take this guy if he tries anything funny"
"Thanks man" I said sincerely as I bumped my fist into his.
"No problem" He said with a confident smirk "we´re best friends after all"
I nodded at him appreciatively before making a mad dash out of the door and into the street, taking off towards Asuna´s residence.
"I hope nothing has happened when I get there" I mumbled softly.
~Asuna´s POV~
I looked up at my home, a sickening feeling of worry and nervousness filling my stomach, twisting it around itself.
I gulped a bit as I silently stepped up onto the porch and slowly pushed the front door to my home open, my fear of the sight I would possibly find inside making me not want to go inside. I knew I had to though, if I wanted to confirm my family´s safety.
"I wonder how Kazuto is doing…?" I mumbled silently to myself as I stepped into the entranceway.
I didn´t even bother to take off my shoes like I usually did, my focus completely set on finding my family.
"Mom? Dad?" I called out, hoping they would answer me "Big brother?"
When no one answered though I nervously gulped again, and silently made my way further into the house, the floorboards creaking slightly under my feet. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down as I made my way into the house, my nervousness rapidly growing with every step that I took.
"Geez, this is giving me the creeps" I mumbled silently to myself "And in my own house"
Suddently I heard a loud, female voice from behind.
"That´s exactly what I'm going for, so great!"
I spun around and looked at what seemed to be the same female person that I had watched torture my boyfriend along with Sugou, maybe a month ago.
"You!?" I exclaimed angrily as I watched the girl intensely, to make sure she wouldn´t be able to surprise me.
"Yes, it´s me" She said with a giggle as she approached me slowly "It´s quite a nice home you have Asuna. Shows what can happen when you own such amounts of money as your family does"
"Thanks, but I´m not here to discuss interial value" I said with a growl "Where is my family?"
"Oh you don´t have to worry about that" she answered with a giggle "I have taken good care of them"
"Where are they you psycho!?" I yelled loudly, her attitude pissing me off.
"Relax princess, I haven´t hurt them" She said with a laugh "At least not yet. I wanted the main target to arrive first"
"I would be guessing I´m the main target then?" I said with a huff "You people are sick in the head!"
"Yeah we are, and it´s fantastic" She said with a smirk "You should try it sometime. It´s great"
She pissed me off the more she talked. She was so arrogant and confident in herself. She didn´t expect I had any kind of chance against her. I´d show her who´s boss.
"Alright, let´s just get this over with" I mumbled as I stood in a battle stance, resembling the one I normally took when I was about to fight in SAO "Come at me!"
"Oh, the princess is confident is she!?" she hissed through her front teeth "Let´s go then!"
I stood in battle position and waited. Waited for her to make a move. I had to keep watch at every little movement she would make, if she would shift position on her foot I needed to see it, cause it could indicate that she was about to attack.
I didn´t even know if she had any weapons as well, so I had to think about that as well.
"DIE, DIE, DIE!" She yelled suddenly as she dashed forward, thrusting a blade at my face.
Lucky I decided to take those self defense classes when I did. I knew exactly what to do at such an attack. Her attack was so predictable and easy to dodge, it was easy to tell she hadn´t had any kind of martial arts training.
I dodged to the side and grabbed hold of her arm, using her own weight against her as I stood on my tip toes and throwing her over my shoulder. I smirked a bit as she slammed onto the ground hardly, and I twisted her arm unnaturally as I quickly locked her arm in position, making her unable to get out of this position.
"Aow, Aow, aow! She yelled loudly as she struggled to get out of my arm lock "Let go of me you bitch!"
"Hehe, not about to happen!" I yelled as I grabbed hold of the hood on her shirt "Now let´s see who you actually are!"
I pulled backwards in her hood and gasped when I saw who it was. The shock of the reveal made me let go of her arm and she stood up and dusted herself off, before turning around to face me. It was Ichido. Sachi´s sister. Me and Kazuto had both interacted with her in SAO, after Sachi died, but I never thought she would do something like this.
"I-I-Ichido?" I mumled silently.
The girl smirked a bit and chuckled softly as stood and looked at me.
"Oh Asuna" she mumbled as she swung her blade around "There´s still a lot you don´t know about me"
A/N
Aaaand I´ll have to let it end there guys! Hope you haven´t gotten too mad at me for leaving it at a cliffhanger! :D
And just to be clear, Ichido is an original character I have created myself, and she isn´t actually a part of the canon story.
Again guys, thank you so much for 50 followers and 49 favorites on my SAO fanfic. You guys are just amazing!
Without further ado, I bit you farewell. See you guys next week!