Sword Art Online
After The Incident
Chapter 31 – Calming My Nerves
~Kirito's POV, inside GGO~
I hadn't gotten any sleep last night. I had been too angry to do so. I had spent most of the night trudging around between the kitchen, to the living room and through the hall and back to the kitchen, Cursing at myself for being so stupid as to think that Sugou wouldn't go to such lengths.
I cursed at my own stupidity. I was so angry that I felt like destroying everything around me. Asuna had somehow managed to calm me down at some point, but I couldn't remember how, or how late it was when I was finally in a taxi and on my way home to my own place.
On the way there, I had checked my phone, and realized I had gotten texts from both Scilica, Agil, and Sascha, that they had all received either emails or normal letters with either no return address, or a corrupted return email, that pretty much said the same thing that Klein's letter had warned him. Stay away from Kazuto or else. It seemed like the same email was spreading through my entire social circle.
Even now I couldn't stop the strong shaking in my hands from anger, and I just couldn't get my thoughts off of those letters and emails.
To think that Sugou would threaten my friends like that. I would not let him get away with this!
I widened my eyes a bit and was ripped out of my thoughts as I heard someone cough just nearby. I looked up and saw Sinon, a small and a little embarrassed smile crawling onto my face.
"Oh, hey Sinon" I said with a smile "I didn't see you"
"Yeah, I noticed" She said with a soft smile "You seem bothered. Something the matter?"
"Oh, you think?" I felt a frown on my eyebrows "I-It's nothing really. Just trouble with Sugou again"
"Huh? What did he do this time?"
I sighed a bit and explained everything that Klein had explained to me, and what had happened until now. She already knew about Sugou and how he had treated us the last two years, so I didn't find any reason not to tell her.
When I was finished explaining everything she was only left with a shocked expression and clenched angered fists. I could even see how her pupils in her eyes were shrinking from anger.
"That asshole…" She mumbled silently, and let the tenseness in her body calm down "So, what are you going to do?"
"Win the tournament, lure Sugou out, and kill him" I mumbled coldly.
As I mentioned "Kill" Sinon looked at me even more shocked than before. She seemed like she couldn't even believe what she was hearing.
"K-K-Kill!? Are you insane!?" She yelled loudly.
The few people on the plaza looked our way when she yelled but I didn't pay attention to them. It was true, it might backfire if I actually killed him. I might even end up in prison if I did that.
"No, but I'm going to go insane if he isn't dealt with" I mumbled coldly and stood up "I need him to be gone, and not able to come back Sinon"
"How can you say that?" She asked in a bit calmer tone now "How can you be so calm about you wanting to kill someone?"
"I'm this calm about it because I've made up my mind" I said without hesitation "We've tried to keep him in prison before and it failed. Killing him is the only option, or he'll surely come back"
"But, what if you go to prison!?" Sinon asked in an angry tone "Think about how your friends would feel! How Asuna would feel!"
I sighed a bit as we began walking down the road, talking in a bit of a hushed tone.
"I know I can get imprisoned for it Sinon" I mumbled, a bit taken aback about how persuasive she was on the subject "But I don't see any other way"
She sighed a bit and shook her head at me, before falling silent for a while. To change the subject of the conversation, I looked over at her and cleared my throat to break the awkward silence between us.
"A-Anyway, what do you want me here for?" I asked softly as I looked over at her "I mean, I didn't come here an hour earlier for nothing, did I?"
"No, of course not, dumbass" She mumbled softly as she took a left down an alleyway "You need to follow me. I need to show you something cool"
She said this with that smile of hers again. Somehow, I didn't know if she was being serious or teasing. I sighed a bit and pouted as I followed her down the alleyway.
"I'm not completely sure if you're being serious or not" I mumbled as I followed her.
"You don't always have to be though" She said with another smile back at me "Don't you worry, I'm being serious here"
I decided to keep shut from now on. I didn't want to annoy her, and to be honest, I didn't feel that much like talking. I was too angry at the circumstances to have all that much care for small talk anyway.
When we reached the outskirts of town, I couldn't help but wonder why we were hear. I knew she had to show me something, but what could so important to show me in the dead wasteland around town? Crumbled buildings and skeletons of animal!?
When we reached the gate to the outside world, we walked outside and took a right along the wall of the city. What the hell was going on here?
We walked along the wall for a moment before I couldn't contain my curiousity anymore, and I spoke up to ask Sinon.
"Sinon? Where are we going?"
"It's just a little further, don't worry"
She smiled a little as we began to reach the stonewalls of the caves that stood beside the town. When we reached the stonewalls, we began to follow them, until we found a small cave, which I thought was a low level dungeon.
It turned out it was only a small safe spot for players to rest. The cave ceiling was an open hole, leading out to the dark grey skies of the wasteland outside. In the middle of the cave was a hill made out of a dirt, and a single fruit tree stood in the middle, dead and lonely. It seemed pretty lonely here, but a sense of tranquility also rose through the air as we entered the small cave entrance.
I looked around me at the dark grey stone walls, and then over at Sinon with a questioning look.
"Sinon, what are we doing here?" I asked as she led me up to the tree by the wrist.
"Well, I wanted to show you this place" She said with a smile as we reached the dead tree "I always come here when I have something in my mind"
"I can see that it's a good place for you to think things through" I admitted as I looked up into the sky "But what is the point about showing me this place?"
"Well, I wanted to wish you good luck" She said with a smirk as she sat down against the tree trunk "This place is special to me, and it always calms my nerves if I'm nervous about something"
She smiled a bit and patted the space beside her, signaling for me to sit down beside her. I did as I was told and smiled softly as I looked up into the sky through the hole in the top of the cave.
"I wanted to wish you luck," She said softly "and since this place always keeps me at ease, I thought maybe it would help you to concentrate and relax at the tournament next week"
"Well, it's a very nice gesture" I said with a smile "Thank you Sinon but, why only me?"
"Well, I think you're going through a lot" Sinon said with a small smile "Asuna and your friends might be going through a lot too, but they haven't actually been physically tortured"
"That's true I guess" I mumbled quietly as I looked over at her "I think Asuna would need to relax at the tournament too though"
"That's what you're there for, Casanova" Sinon said with a snicker "I can tell she loves you a lot. And as long as you're there with her, I'm sure she's going to do fine"
"Geez, now you're just buttering me up" I said with a blush and an embarrassed chuckle "But thanks. Hearing you say that cheers me up at least"
"It better" she said with a smirk "You need SOMEONE to cheer you on in the tournament. If not your friends, let me cheer you on"
"You're my friend too though"
I didn't know where that came from, it just sort of blurted out by itself. The effect was crystal clear though, as a blush slowly crept onto Sinon's cheeks.
"T-Thanks" She mumbled with a small smile, and a still deepening blush "Well, we should get back to the plaza. There's not much time left before Asuna logs in"
"Oh yeah, you're right" I mumbled silently as I glanced at the clock on my HUD "It's almost 15:50. We should hurry up"
And with that, with Sinon in the lead, we made it back towards the city.
~Asuna's POV, back at the plaza~
"Geez, where are they?" I mumbled as I glanced at my clock "They should have been here 10 minutes ago… And Kazuto logged in early, so why isn't he here at least?"
I sighed a bit and tapped my foot into the concrete tiling of the plaza, until I spotted them walking down a nearby alleyway, Kazuto in front. I smiled softly as I saw them and walked over to them with a clear of my throat.
"What are you guys doing huh?" I asked, and glared at them "And why are you coming out of an alleyway, just the two of you huh?"
I could see how the colour drained from Kazuto's face, in contrast to Sinon's which basically inflamed in a dark red blush. I smirked internally as I glared at Kazuto, crossing my arms over my chest.
Of course I knew he didn't cheat on me or had done anything with Sinon. I knew he was faithful. But since they had gotten here late, for whatever reason they were late for, and had made me wait for them, I decided to tease them, just a little bit at least.
"Oh uhh, hi Asuna, uhm" Kazuto mumbled as he stared at you wide eyed "now I know this looks, and sounds really bad, but nothing really happened I swear! Right Sinon?!"
I tried to stifle a giggle as he looked back at Sinon and she promptly nodded.
"T-T-That's right! Nothing really happened Asuna!"
"Pfff, Hahahaha"
I couldn't keep from laughing anymore and I wrapped my arms around my stomach and bent forward in laughter. The two looked at me with a confused expression, and I wiped a tear as I finished laughing.
"Of course nothing happened" I said with a soft chuckle "I know nothing happened. I'm just teasing you guys for being late"
"O-Oh, uhm…." Kazuto quickly fell silent as he realized "geez, you scared the hell out of me"
"That was the plan, dummy" I said as I bonked his forehead, followed by a kiss "Don't you worry, I would never suspect you for something like that"
"Aww" He mumbled with a small smile "I know now"
He smiled softly and walked over to my side as he turned back towards Sinon.
"So, are we going training today or what!?" He asked with an excited smirk "After yesterday's success, we've got to do even better today right!?"
"Damn straight we are" Sinon said with a smirk "We can go to the north this time. There's a village to the north of here in the mountains, and in case the arena uses a snow area, you'd have to be used to terrain like that"
"Makes sense" I said with a smile "The next couple of days we'll be training right?"
"That's right" Sinon said with a smirk "And at Wednesday next week, we're competing in the tournament"
"I'm looking forward to kick some parasite ass" I said with a confident smirk "He won't stand a chance against me"
"My friend, Shinkawa, is fighting in the tournament too" Sinon said with a competitive smile "I'm looking forward to settle the score with him too"
"You sound excited Sinon" Kirito said with a smirk "Just know that we are going to woop your ass as soon as we've dealt with Sugou"
"I take that as a challenge you know" Sinon said challengingly as we all laughed "Sounds good. I look forward to putting a bullet in your skull"
"Not a chance" I said as I chuckled softly "I'll protect him so that doesn't happen"
"I know you will Asuna" Sinon chuckled softly and spawned her sniper rifle onto her back "Let's get going guys, there's still quite the walk until we arrive at the northern territory"
"How do we get there?" Kirito asked softly as we began moving down the street.
"By moving north, cluts" Sinon said with a laugh as Kirito glared at her with a pout "We'll take one of the warpers there. We can't get across the sea if we don't"
"Isn't there a ferry or something more common like that?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Yeah there is, but the warpers takes much less time" Sinon said with a smile "And more time training, means more EXP, loot and ability points"
"Couldn't be more true" Kirito said with a chuckle "Alright, show us the way captain!"
Sinon chuckled softly and gestured for us to follow after her, and I smiled softly as I took Kirito's hand in mine as we walked down the street.
~One week later, Kazuto's POV~
I gulped silently as I twisted my VR helmet between my hands. It was old and scratched, no doubt a result from my movement from home to hospital back when I was held captive in SAO.
I was sitting in my bedroom in my home, nervous and afraid for today's tournament. I remembered everything it had brought with it. So much pain and suffering for the people I held dear and for myself.
But at the same time, it had brought along so many wondrous gifts to me. If I hadn't gone through what I had gone through, I would never have met Asuna, or had our wonderful daughter with her. I would never have met Klein, Scilica, Lizbeth, or any of my other friends that I had today. And now, I was going out to protect them again, risking my life for, hopefully, the last time.
I sighed a bit and put my VR helmet back onto my shelf and stretched my arms. Yui was sitting on the ground in the computer program I had made for her, looking at me with a worried expression.
"Are you okay daddy?" She mumbled silently "You seem nervous"
"I'm okay Yui" I said as I smiled over at her "I'm just a bit nervous for the tournament"
"I understand why" She said with a soothing and sweet smile "I would be nervous too. You're practically going to war in this case"
"That's right" I mumbled silently as I looked up at the ceiling "I just really hope we can catch that bastard"
"Yeah, me too" She said with a sigh "No one is going to hurt my daddy and mommy"
"That's right" I said softly as I went over and sat in my office chair in front of the computer screen "Hey Yui, I've been wondering something"
"Hm? What is it daddy?"
"Have you been lonely lately?"
"Huh?! Where is that coming from all of a sudden?"
"Well, I know we haven't spent all that much time with you lately"
"Oh, so that's what you mean"
Yui cocked her head to the side and put a finger to her lips as she thought about her answer.
"Well, no I wouldn't say I've been lonely" She said with a small smile "After all, you made me an avatar I can go play ALO with, and I have a lot of friends there, so it's no problem"
"Okay, I was just checking if my little girl was doing alright" I said with a small smile.
A small blush crept onto her cheeks and she smiled shyly.
"Daddy! I am not a little girl" She mumbled as she fiddled with her hands "Technically, I am only four years old, but my body is designed to be ten!"
"Aww don't be like that" I said with a chuckle as I poked the screen above her cheek "You'll always be daddy's little girl"
"S-Stop it!" She giggled and twirled around the spot "I won't be daddy's little princess forever you know"
"How do you know that?"
"I literally slayed a dragon today with the others" She said with a confident smirk "I'm a refined and young swordswoman now"
"Well, I look forward to the next time I can go online with you darling" I said with a chuckle "How about we spar a bit when I come back online?"
"That sounds fun daddy" She said with a giggle "And I'll make sure to see if mommy can finally beat you completely"
"I'm the black swordsman, of course she can't" I said with a chuckle.
I looked at the small clock sitting on my desk. Ten minutes left.
"Okay sweety, daddy has to go now" I said with an apologetic smile "But I'll log on afterwards and tell you how it went, okay?"
"Okay daddy" She said as she placed her hands on the screen and kissed it gently "Kick some butt out there, for me and your friends, okay?"
"I will honey" I said as I put my hand on the screen as well "See you later okay?"
I logged off and sighed. She had been very patient, and waited for her parents to come back to her. I swore that I would spent as much time with her as possible after this. I promised.
After going downstairs and putting on my jacket and boots, I shouted back towards the kitchen from the entranceway.
"Okay, I'll be off!"
"Good luck honey!" I heard my mother yell from the kitchen "Kick some butt!"
"I will!" I chuckled a bit at my mother's encouragement.
I was about to walk out the door as Suguha came running in her training gear.
"Wait, wait, wait!" she said with a laugh as she enveloped me in a hug "Good luck big him down okay?"
"I will Sugu, thank you" I said as I squeezed her body "I'll help you make your favorite hamburger steak tonight as a celebration of my victory, okay?"
"R-Really!? You'll do that!?" She said excitedly as she bounced up and down "Alright! Time to get some salad!"
She chuckled and squeezed me again before sprinting back into the kitchen like a little kid excited for Christmas eve.
I chuckled a bit and walked out the door, wrapping my jacket around me extra tight to protect me from the cold wind. My smile soon fell to a serious expression as I walked down the street towards the train station.
"Let's get this over with"
A/N
And there you go guys! Another chapter completed!
Man I love writing this stuff. At least as long as I'm not hit with FRICKIN WRITER'S BLOCK! *sigh*
Oh well, I'm having fun writing for you guys and that's what counts, right?
But something else has also hit me today. The fact that as of last week, this fanfiction hit 20.000 views! That is insane!
I just want to thank you guys ever so much. I had never expected that this would get so much attention, and it is all thanks to you guys!
Thank you so much guys! I love you all!
See you guys next week, i love you, and for god's sake, keep reading okay? Here's to 30.000 views! Hurrah!