Chapter 2

June 13th, 2018

"Get in the car, Asuna."

Mother's voice was calm and controlled, but Asuna knew that she was upset. It made sense. She'd missed her stop, which ended up in Mother having to drive all the way out to the Kirigaya's house to pick her up. So, without saying a word, she climbed in the back seat and pulled the seat belt across her chest, buckling herself in.

Asuna's mother got in the driver's seat and started the car again. Asuna looked out the window as the car pulled away from in front of the Kirigaya residence. She kept watching all the way until the car turned, erasing it from view. Hiding her small disappointment, Asuna turned around again and faced front.

Her mother didn't say another word until they were on the highway. Streetlamps blurred by, causing shadows to appear, cross through the car, and then disappear over and over again. The almost hypnotic pattern was lulling Asuna back towards sleep when her mother finally said, "I'm glad that you're alright."

"...I'm sorry," Asuna said. "I didn't mean to miss my stop. It's just, I fell asleep and didn't wake up until the end. I was tired after taking the test and I didn't mean to-"

"You were lucky that boy was kind," her mother said, interrupting Asuna's excuses. Asuna ducked her head, staring at her hands folded in her lap. She knew that. If Kazuto hadn't been kind enough to sit next to her and say something, or if someone else had stumbled on her while she was crying... "I hope you'll be more careful in the future, Asuna. I can't afford to drive an hour out of my way to pick you up every time something goes wrong."

"Yes, Mother," Asuna replied like a good girl. She didn't want to disappoint her mother any more than she already had.

Dinner that night was cold by the time she and her mother arrived back at their home, but she carried her plate to the microwave to heat it up. It was still good, even if the pasta was a little dry. Her father was on a business trip and her big brother had already finished eating, so Asuna sat in the dining room across from her mother silently, being careful to use good table manners.

For some reason, the quiet - a familiar thing these days, and something she'd accepted until this very evening - irritated Asuna a little bit.

...

Asuna nearly bounced up and down in excitement before catching herself. Big girls didn't get excited because their friend was coming to visit. Even if this was the first time she'd had someone visit her home. Just to be sure, she glanced at the reflection in a nearby vase to make sure she hadn't missed some stray hair or something. She nodded once, satisfied with her appearance, before hurrying to the nearest window and standing on her tiptoes to stare out the window.

It had been two weeks since she'd missed her stop and met Kazuto - and she'd made sure to get off at the right stop every day those last two weeks, too! - and he had called the day before to ask if he could come visit her house sometime soon. Naturally, Asuna was thrilled and insisted that he come the very next day.

"Ah!" she gasped when she saw a familiar boy approach the door nervously. "Kazuto's here!" She hurried down the hall to the front door and waited for the doorbell to ring, staring expectantly at the door.

He was gonna knock soon!

...He was gonna knock soon, right?

...What was taking him so long?!

Asuna stepped over to the door and opened it a crack, enough that she could see through. Peeking through, she came face to face with a somewhat surprised Kazuto, his hand raised in the air to press at the doorbell. Instantly, she smiled widely and opened the door the whole way. "Kazuto!" she exclaimed. "Hi! Come on in!"

"Um... Hi, Asuna," he said hesitantly. His eyes were wide as he stepped inside. Asuna closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it properly as Kazuto said, "Wow... Your house is huge."

It really was. Two whole stories with a bunch of rooms, and she even got her own room all to herself. Asuna giggled. "Your house is really neat too, Kazuto." She noticed he was carrying a small bag in his hands, and asked, "Is that bag..."

"Oh! I, uh, Mom said I should bring a gift, so here," he said, thrusting the bag towards her. "Thank you for letting me visit your house..."

Asuna giggled. "I'm the one who invited you, silly! You didn't need to get a gift." Kazuto stared at her, before laughing a little sheepishly. "C'mon, my room's upstairs. I'll show you."

She made sure to put Kazuto's gift on the table by the door so that her mother would see it if she returned home, and then headed up the steps. The hardwood floor creaked a little bit under the footsteps of both children as Asuna led them to her room. It was even labeled with a little display hanging from the door. She'd picked it out herself. "P-Pardon me," Kazuto said nervously as he stepped in the room and looked around.

Asuna's room was nice; her bed sat against the far wall, with a headboard with a few drawers in it. A mirror sat near the foot of the bed, where she could brush her hair in the morning. The closet - closed, just in case! - was on the left wall, and her desk where she did her homework was on the right. There were a few shelves with little knick-knacks Asuna had taken a liking to along the walls, too. "Have a seat," Asuna said, gesturing to the pillows she'd set up around the short table she'd set up in the center of the floor in preparation. "I'll go get us some tea, okay?"

"Okay," Kazuto said.

Asuna hummed happily to herself as she swept outside and back downstairs to the kitchen. Dragging a footstool over, she carefully prepared a tray of tea with a few snacks, just in case. She wasn't sure what Kazuto would like so she decided to go with her favorite type of tea as well as some chocolate chip cookies. Everyone likes chocolate chips, she thought, so I'm sure he'll love it.

She brought the tray upstairs carefully and set it down on the table before pouring some into each of their teacups. "Help yourself to the cookies," she told Kazuto. "And there's more downstairs, so let me know if you want anything."

"Woah, this is really fancy," Kazuto murmured. Asuna tilted her head in confusion. Was it? she wondered. It was just a set of teacups and a few dishes for snacks, that was all. "Thank you for the snacks."

The two of them sat and sipped at their tea for a bit. Occasionally, Kazuto reached over and grabbed a cookie, munching on it. Eventually, he sat his teacup down. "Ah, Asuna," he began.

Asuna brightened. "Yes?"

"I, uh..." He scratched the back of his head. "...The tea and cookies are really good?"

"Thanks! The tea's my favorite," Asuna said.

The two of them fell silent again. It was a little awkward, but Asuna wasn't really sure how to break it. Small talk came easily at school, when it was just her and her classmates, but that hadn't prepared her for this. "...Sorry I'm a bad guest," Kazuto finally blurted out. "It's just, your room's so nice and everything's delicious, but this is the first time I've ever been at a friend's house, so..." Asuna stared at him, before she burst out into giggles. "Hey, it's not funny," Kazuto protested.

She wiped at her eyes and took a breath to calm herself down. "I'm not laughing at you," Asuna assured him. "Really. It's just, this is the first time I've had a friend over, so I thought I was being a bad host."

"No way," Kazuto said. "You're cute, so I thought you had a lot of friends coming over."

Asuna blinked before shaking her head. "Uh uh," she replied. "I don't really talk with the girls at my school all that much. Besides, I'm usually busy studying anyway."

"Studying?"

"Mm-hm! I have to do well, so I make sure to study a lot every day. Sometimes, when there's a test, I'll stay up late."

"Ah!" Kazuto exclaimed. "Is that why you fell asleep on the train? Because you were staying up late studying?"

Asuna blushed and looked away. "...Maybe," she admitted. "Mother was upset with me, but I think she's forgiven me by now."

When she looked back, Kazuto was scratching his cheek. "Well, I... I think I'm glad you fell asleep on the train," he said. "Because I got to meet you, Asuna! And now we're friends."

Asuna stared, before a huge grin spread across her face. "Yeah!" she said. "Friends!"

A few weeks later, Asuna was visiting Kazuto's house. The two of them were sitting on the couch together in the living room, watching some anime that Asuna didn't recognize. It was the show Kazuto had been watching when she showed up, so she decided that it would be best for her to just sit and watch. It seemed to be about a guy and several girls that were really good friends, going on adventures together.

It was pretty clear to Asuna that all the girls had a crush on the one guy, but that he was oblivious.

Glancing over at her friend, Asuna realized that while Kazuto was looking at the TV screen, he didn't seem to be watching it. Naturally, she decided that the best thing to do in this case was to bug him until he talked about it. "Hey, hey, Kazuto?"

"Yeah?"

"Is something wrong?" He looked at her, and she leaned forward, staring into his eyes. Staaaaaare... "I can tell something's wrong," she told him. "You're worrying about something, aren't you?"

Kazuto looked away, scratching at his cheek. "Um... It's Sugu," he admitted.

"Your little sister? Is she okay?" Asuna gasped. "Oh no, did she get hurt?"

"Sugu's fine, she's fine," Kazuto insisted. Asuna smiled in relief. "It's... It'd probably be better if I started from the beginning. Sugu and I have always been close. I shared a room with her until I was eight, and even though we have our own rooms now, I'll still poke my head in from time to time to talk to her." He fell silent, but Asuna waited patiently, smiling in encouragement whenever Kazuto peeked her way. Eventually, he said, "So... You know how I found you at the train station?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... The reason I was out in the first place was because I'd... found something out," he admitted. Asuna tilted her head curiously. Kazuto glanced at her, briefly meeting her eyes, before looking away again. "Sugu's... not really my little sister. Or it'd probably be better to say I'm not really her big brother. She's really my cousin. I asked Mom about it last week. She says that my real parents died in a car crash when I was a baby, so since she was my mom's younger sister she adopted me."

Asuna reached out and gently rested her hand on Kazuto's clenched fist. After a second, it relaxed uder her touch and flattened out again. "I'm sorry," she said, meaning it. "How did you find out?"

"Erased records from the internet," he said. "I've always been good with computers, I guess..." Asuna giggled a little bit, even though the subject was serious. "So, I was hoping you could help... Should I tell Sugu the truth, or do I let her think we're still brother and sister? I know she really looks up to me, but now that I know the truth it feels like it might be hard to keep pretending." He hunched his shoulders.

"Well..." Asuna closed her eyes and thought about what would happen if her older brother suddenly stopped talking to her for no reason. Of course, it was different for her, her big brother was already in high school, and the gap between their age was more than the one year between Suguha and Kazuto. "Well, I don't think you're really pretending to be anything," she said in the end.

"Eh?" Kazuto asked.

"I mean... You've been her big brother this whole time, right? So what difference does it make if you're actually her cousin? You're still family."

Kazuto stared at Asuna, blinking in shock. "Huh... I never thought of it like that..." He fell silent, staring into space, before he grinned at her. "Yeah! Thanks, Asuna. That really helps a lot! But, um... Could you keep this a secret from Sugu? I don't want her to worry."

"Of course," Asuna said. She was definitely going to help her new friend any way that she could.

In any event, though, back to the show for her! She wasn't really sure why the girls were fighting over the guy, though. No matter who won, the rest would all be so upset!

September 10th, 2022

Meeting and befriending Asuna had definitely been something new for Kazuto, but other than that, his life didn't change all that much afterwards. Sure, he ended up going to her house a few times to play - the first time he visited, he was worried her mom would kick him out - and she would routinely drop by to spend time with him and Suguha, but that was what you did with friends, right?

Well, he was happy that he hadn't drifted apart from Suguha. He had a feeling that if he hadn't miraculously run into Asuna, things might have changed for them. As it stood, the siblings were even closer than before. They would play games together all the time, and Kazuto would always try to make time for his little sister whenever she asked him for help.

At first, it was usually about games. Suguha tried her best, but sometimes she would get stuck on a level, or run into a hard boss. When that happened and she got frustrated, Suguha would go out and swing her shinai, glaring at the empty air, until she calmed down. And then she would go and pull out the big guns.

The big guns, in these cases, were Kazuto. He wasn't quite sure what got Suguha into games in the first place - she'd usually watched him play back when they were both little kids, but even when he had a multiplayer game she'd never joined in - but about a month or two after they met Asuna, Suguha had marched into his room, sat down on his bed, and informed him in no uncertain terms, "That game you're playing is two-player, right? I want to play too."

Kazuto, of course, was thrilled. His little sister was playing games with him! As the two of them laughed and sat on the couch and struggled against bosses together, it was almost enough for him to forget the truth, that she was really his cousin.

Even though he pretended nothing was wrong, though, it had been hard for him to keep the secret all on his own. That was why Kazuto confided the truth to Asuna. She'd taken it well enough, and even agreed when he asked her to promise not to tell Suguha about what he'd learned. He knew that Suguha cherished him as her big brother - even more so than before, somehow - and hadn't wanted to take that away from her.

Overall, things were... Well, usually he'd say his life was pretty good.

Of course, that had the implicit understanding that he wasn't spending the entirety of his Friday afternoon waiting somewhat patiently while Asuna and Suguha went shopping. The stack of bags on the bench next to him were a towering testament to how many purchases they'd made already, and it was only two in the afternoon. Right now he was waiting in one of the stores that sold girls' clothes, doing his best to ignore the occasional whisper from the female shoppers while Asuna and Suguha tried on the next outfit.

Seriously... He'd known Asuna for four years by this point, and he was still occasionally surprised by the amount of money she was willing to spend. Then again, he and Suguha lived in a nice house, but it was still nothing compared to Asuna's...

"...to. Kazuto... Kazuto!"

Kazuto blinked in surprise, halfway through idly calculating how many of his bedrooms would fit in Asuna's house, and looked up. Then he jerked back. Asuna's warm, brown eyes were staring into his from far, far too close for comfort. "...Yeah?" he asked eventually.

Asuna sighed and straightened up from where she was leaning over to stare at him. "You didn't listen to a thing I said, did you?" she asked, before shaking her head. Her long, chestnut-brown hair swished around. "Of course you didn't, you were staring into space again."

"Sorry, sorry," Kazuto sighed. "But you two have been shopping for hours by this point."

"That doesn't mean you can ignore us," she replied, planting her hands on her hips. "Anyway, like I was saying, I'm done changing. What do you think?"

Kazuto looked Asuna up and down. He didn't know much about fashion, but she looked nice in the white summer dress. It had ruffles around the neckline, and slightly puffy sleeves. "I like it," he said in the end. "You look nice."

Asuna smiled. "You said that about the last outfit, too," she reminded him.

"I don't know what else to say. It's the truth." At first, he'd been embarrassed going shopping with the girls; the first time Asuna came out of the changing room and posed for his opinion, he'd just blushed bright red and looked away. A few years of giving his opinion, though, had eventually gotten him used to the embarrassment.

Asuna blinked at that comment, before shaking her head and turning on her heel, causing the hemline of the dress to flare out a bit. "I'm going to get changed," she said, smiling over her shoulder. "Sugu should be out in a minute."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever... I'll still be here..."

"One 'yeah' is enough, mister," Asuna said primly. After a second of pretending to glare at Kazuto, the two of them laughed cheerfully.

In the end, though, Kazuto still had to wait patiently for the girls to finish shopping, so he resigned himself to losing the rest of the day. It wasn't too bad, really, he told himself. It was only a few more days.

Only a few more days until he'd finally be able to return to Sword Art Online. The beta, running the entire month of June, had been fantastic to play. The NerveGear was an amazing piece of technology, and playing the game had felt like nothing he'd ever experienced before. It was like he was in the game, and now other games just felt hollow and stale. But today was September 10th, which meant that there were only two more days until the game would launch. As a beta tester, he had the game already; it and the NerveGear were sitting by his bed, waiting for the day they could be used.

In lieu of playing the game, Kazuto had been devouring as much information about the game as he could find. That meant reading articles, listening to press releases, and reading the single interview Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of the NerveGear and SAO, over and over again until he could nearly recite it from memory. Plus, he was really looking forward to meeting up with Argo again. The info broker was probably the best friend he'd made in the beta.

Even if she did tease him incessantly.

Motion in front of him caught Kazuto's attention and, remembering how Asuna had sneaked up on him, focused in the here and now instead of two days from now. As a result, he was treated to the sight of his little sister walking out of the changing room and doing a little twirl in front of him. Suguha had picked out a red top and a black skirt, and Kazuto frowned a little bit. The top's neckline plunged dangerously low, and only the black shirt Suguha was wearing kept her modest. Plus, the skirt was a little short, revealing a thin line of creamy skin between the top of her tights and the bottom of the skirt.

Kazuto cupped his chin and hummed, and Suguha frowned. "What?" she asked almost defensively.

"No way," Kazuto said with a firm nod. "That shows off way too much."

"Oh come on!" Suguha exclaimed, folding her arms under her chest. "Asuna wears stuff like this all the time, and you don't complain about her!"

"Asuna's not my little sister," Kazuto said with the implacable logic of the Protective Big Brother.

Suguha huffed. "You should treat me like you treat her," she muttered.

"Asuna is Asuna, Sugu's Sugu." Kazuto shrugged. "Of course I won't treat you two the same."

"Mrrr..." Suguha grumbled under her breath for a few seconds before she headed back to the changing rooms. "I'm buying this anyway, Kazuto!" she called out.

Kazuto just sighed under his breath before calling back, "It's your allowance!" Suguha seemed bound and determined to make his life difficult, didn't she? Still, he knew he wouldn't have her any other way.

"Alright," Asuna said brightly as the three of them walked out of the store. "What's next on the list, Sugu?"

While Suguha and Asuna figured out where they wanted to visit next, Kazuto tried to keep his sigh of resignation quiet. Just two more days, he told himself, and then he could Dive back into SAO. Not that he didn't want to spend time with the two girls - the exact opposite, he loved being with them - but it was a bit tiring. He wasn't much of a people person, and ordering online was good enough for him.

"Oh, by the way," Asuna smiled at Kazuto. "You're going to come over next weekend, right?" she asked, putting a deliberate emphasis on the last word. "You promised, after all."

"I know, I know," Kazuto grumbled. "I'm going to come over, don't worry. It's just kinda awkward. It feels like your mom's appraising me."

"Father likes you, you know," she continued. "And Mother is... coming around."

"Doesn't seem like it sometimes..."

Asuna smiled weakly. "She is," she said, sounding a little uncertain. "And you know which trains to take?"

Kazuto stared flatly at her. "That was two years ago, Asuna. And I only got on the wrong train once." That train happened to not have any stops for several hours, but still.

"Don't give me that," Asuna replied, planting her hands on her hips. "You ended up in the countryside! I was worried sick when you didn't show up!"

"I was twelve."

"And it's only been two years, your point?"

...

"Ready, Kazuto?" Suguha asked.

Kazuto nodded and raised the blocking pad. "Ready whenever you are, Sugu."

The two siblings were standing across from each other in their dojo. Both of them were wearing identical kendo gear, the heavy pads and masks covering their body to protect from accidental injury. An outside observer would barely be able to tell the difference between the two; Suguha was a little shorter than Kazuto, but other than that most of their differences were hidden. Kazuto's face was a little feminine normally, and the face grill blurred the line even further. Of course, there was one obvious difference. That is, Suguha was the only one with a wooden sword in her hands. Kazuto, on the other hand, was holding a thick pad made for blocking strikes and thrusts.

When Suguha had started playing games with him and involving herself in his activities, Kazuto had been thrilled. He'd been less thrilled when she insisted that he come help her with kendo training. He'd complained at first, but by now Kazuto was used to acting as her training dummy. He didn't even mind; it was good training for SAO, he just told himself.

"Here I go!" With a shout, Suguha raised her shinai over her head and stepped forward, lunging towards him. Kazuto braced himself and brought the block up just in time to meet Suguha's heavy downward strike. The blow thumped heavily on the pad and Kazuto let out a grunt as he shoved to the side. Suguha nearly overbalanced, since she'd put too much weight to the blow, but recovered nicely and brought the sword up in a horizontal slice.

Kazuto had already stepped to the side and back, however, and the tip of the shinai whistled just past the front of his chest. "Haah!" he shouted, pushing forward with the block pad and smacking it into Suguha's side.

She hopped a few steps to keep her footing. As soon as she had her balance back, Suguha widened her stance slightly and tightened the grip on her weapon. Kazuto grinned as the two carefully circled around each other, eyes watching for the other's movement. This was fun! Just like dueling in SAO. His body felt heavier in this world, and the protective training armor was nothing like the light cloth armor he preferred in there, but the thrill of combat was the same.

Well, almost the same. His role wasn't to act as an opponent, but as a target for Suguha to aim for. So, instead of lunging forward while his little sister was gathering herself, Kazuto brought his guard back up and waited. He wasn't quite sure he liked using this sort of shield. Back in the beta, he'd used a pair of longswords and -

"Hah!" Suguha shouted, stepping forward in a textbook approach. Kazuto's eyes widened as he realized his attention had slipped for an instant, and she'd capitalized on the mistake instantly. His reaction speed was faster than hers, but he still had to move; he barely managed to get the pad between his side before her shinai slammed into it, and he was left wide open for her second strike, a blow directly to the crown of the head.

Crack.

"Ouch..." Kazuto mumbled, backing up and shaking his head. He pulled off the protective mask and rubbed at the sore spot. "You hit hard, Sugu..."

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Suguha exclaimed immediately, rushing over to his side. "Are you okay, Kazuto?! Let me see!"

As Suguha fussed over him, rubbing the spot where her training weapon had impacted, Kazuto grinned. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he said. "You're doing really well, Sugu."

"Plus, it'll take more than that to get through his thick skull."

Both Kirigaya siblings looked over to see Asuna standing at the entrance to the dojo. "Oh, hey Asuna," Kazuto said with a small wave. "We're just finishing up."

"Honestly, I just don't see the appeal," Asuna sighed as she entered. "But you two seem to have fun smacking each other around..."

"It's mostly just Sugu hitting me," Kazuto pointed out. "She's violent."

"I am not!" Smack.

"Ow! Then why'd you smack me?"

Asuna giggled, and Suguha stuck her tongue out at Kazuto playfully while he rubbed at his arm where her palm had lightly struck him. "We weren't expecting you to show up, Asuna," Suguha said after backing away from Kazuto a little bit and helping him to his feet. "Is there something special today?"

Asuna smiled and clasped her hands in front of her body. "Actually, yes," she said. "But it can wait until you two clean yourselves up, I can smell you from here."

"Okay," Suguha said, stripping off her equipment until she was only wearing the traditional white training gi. Kazuto was right behind her, hanging what he was wearing on the rack. "We won't be long!"

Kazuto let Suguha take the first shower, so she was done and heading downstairs to speak with Asuna while he headed in. Since he wasn't the one doing most of the training, he was out after only a few minutes; Suguha, on the other hand, had taken a good fifteen minutes. In any event, he walked downstairs to see Asuna and Suguha sitting on the couch, laughing together at something. "When did you two get so close, anyway?" Kazuto asked idly. It had happened seemingly overnight, about a year ago; one day they were all but clawing at each other's throats, and then the next Asuna was brushing Suguha's hair and humming happily.

Asuna gave him a secretive smile, the kind of smile that said 'I know the real reason but I'm not going to tell'. "Oh, we just had a nice conversation and sorted a few things out."

Girls, Kazuto sighed internally. They never make any sense. "So," he continued, taking a seat between the girls, "why did you come by, Asuna? I mean, not that you need a reason, we like having you, but, uh..."

Both Asuna and Suguha waited patiently for him to finish stumbling over his words before the long-haired girl replied, "I have something to give Sugu!"

"Me?" the black-haired girl blinked in surprise.

"Of course, you." Asuna smiled and moved over to the side of the room, where she picked up a large wrapped package. Kazuto blinked in surprise; that hadn't been there this morning, he thought, before realizing that Asuna must have left it there before coming to find them in the dojo. "Here you go! It just got in yesterday afternoon, or I would have given it to you when we were shopping."

"Uh, okay..." Suguha accepted the package and held it on her lap, staring at it. "Do you mind if I open it now?"

Asuna smiled. "Go ahead, that's why I brought it."

Suguha ripped off the wrapping paper, not needing any more invitation, until she stared in surprise at what Asuna had just given her. Kazuto stared in surprise at what Asuna had just given her. "A NerveGear?!" the boy yelped. Then Suguha shifted the box, revealing a game case with very familiar box art. "...And a copy of SAO?!"

"That's the game you were playing two months ago, right?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah, but how did you get a copy? The lines were massive since, like, yesterday evening!"

The long-haired girl threw up a V for Victory sign and grinned at him. "Don't underestimate my contacts," she said smugly.

"I guess..."

Suguha carefully put the NerveGear on the floor before crossing the couch and throwing her arms around Asuna. "Thank you!" she exclaimed. "Thank you so much!"

Asuna patted the girl on the back as she returned the hug. "It's no problem, Sugu," she said. "But you have to promise that you'll play with me this afternoon, okay?"

That comment made Kazuto freeze for a moment as he tried to understand exactly what she had just said. "Wait," he finally blurted out, "you have SAO too?"

"Of course I do," she said, glancing at Kazuto. "This way all of us can play together."

"But you never wanted to play before..."

Asuna glanced to the side. "Well, before you didn't spend a whole month doing nothing but lie on your bed and play," she muttered. "This will be my first game, so you'd better take good care of me, okay?"

"Sure, sure," Kazuto sighed. At least he'd have Sugu with him to help out, since she knew a little bit about how to play games...

Asuna frowned. "Why do I feel like you're thinking something mean about me?"

"Because Kazuto always gets that little wrinkle on his forehead, right here," Suguha said, poking Kazuto right above his nose.

While Asuna giggled, Kazuto sighed. "I do not," he muttered, rubbing where Suguha had poked. "Anyway, Asuna, you didn't have to do this, really."

"It's fine, it's fine," she said with a beautiful smile. "I don't mind, after all."

Wow. Kazuto realized, again, this was what it was like to have a rich friend. "Be my friend forever," he blurted out without thinking.

"Eh?" Asuna stared at him in surprise, cheeks going a little red. "I, um... Of course," she said after a second, recovering admirably. "W-Well, I'll be going now! I don't want to be late for lunch. Ah, send me a message once you decide where we're meeting up in the game, okay?"

"Sure thing," Kazuto said, walking Asuna to the door. Suguha peeled off and headed up the stairs, carrying her NerveGear and copy of SAO with her. He'd go help her out with the calibration after saying goodbye to Asuna. While he hadn't expected this, playing SAO with Asuna and Sugu... That was going to be pretty fun.

September 12th, 2022

"Hello world," Kirito said, looking up at the sky. Reaching out a hand, he clenched a fist. "I'm back."

The virtual world was exactly as he'd left it. Thanks to being a beta tester, he hadn't had to recreate his avatar. It saved him some extra time, since he'd had to help his sister create a character. Speaking of his sister... Kirito looked around until he finally spotted the avatar he'd watched her create. A tall beautiful blonde, her long hair tied up in a ponytail. It still fell down her back, highlighting the, ah... Kirito looked away from her chest quickly.

The blonde was standing by a nearby wall, hands clasped in front of her as she waited patiently. Kirito walked towards her, studiously ignoring the looks other players were giving her as they passed. "Hey," he said, raising a hand.

"Sorry, I'm waiting for someone."

"Leafa, it's me," Kirito said.

Leafa blinked before her eyes widened. "Kazuto! I..." She tilted her head as she studied him. "I didn't expect you to look like that." What was wrong with how he looked? He thought he'd pulled off the handsome look pretty well. "Hmm... I don't know why, but I half-expected you to have a really girly avatar."

"Nah," Kirito said, carefully not thinking about one of the avatars he'd almost selected. That one was all Argo's fault anyway! "This one's the one I'm most used to. As soon as Asuna gets here, we'll get -"

"Ah!" Leafa exclaimed, looking over Kirito's shoulder. "There she is."

"How can you tell?" Kirito asked, turning to look. "We're all using..." He trailed off as he saw the girl somewhat nervously approaching them. While Leafa had been earning the occasional look, everyone was turning to look at the long-legged girl. Her long hair swished against her back, emphasizing the starting skirt and red vest she was wearing.

And all this was based on Asuna's real-life appearance. She didn't look any different than she did when she was visiting the Kirigaya house, aside from the one-handed straight sword strapped across her back that she was obviously unfamiliar with.

Beside him, Leafa nudged his shoulder and Kirito blinked, remembering not to stare. He gave the third member of their party a wave and she smiled, moving towards them a little more confidently. "Kazuto? ...Sugu?"

"It's us, Asuna," Kirito said. "How come you didn't make an avatar?"

"We were supposed to change that?" Asuna asked blankly. "I thought we just used our real appearances in the game."

Kirito's sigh was a little weak, but he rallied. "Okay, it's... fine. Don't worry about it, people are pretty cool about that sort of thing most of the time." Sure, there were some people who'd be creeps about it, but she'd probably only be playing with the Kirigaya siblings anyway. "So, first things first, I'm going to make a party and invite you two, okay? Asuna, what's your name?"

She folded her arms. Kirito barely noticed, absorbed as he was in opening his menu and creating a party. It wasn't the first time, but definitely not something he did often. "You know my name."

"No, the name you're using in here. What you put in the username field."

"...We were supposed to use a different name?" Kirito froze at that and stared at her. Asuna fidgeted awkwardly, the toe of her boot scuffing at the ground. "I wasn't sure what username meant, so I just put down Asuna..."

Kirito held in a sigh. Newbies, he grumbled internally. "Alright, but for future reference, you shouldn't use your real name when playing online games, okay? Do you want to remake your account? Leafa and I can wait."

Asuna shook her head. "It's fine," she said. "Now c'mon, let's go! I want to learn how to play this game."

"Just accept the party prompt I sent you," Kirito told her, "and I'll lead you to the boar fields. They're the best place for new players to learn the ropes, since the pops really aren't that dangerous. They're introduction mobs, so probably on the level of slimes in other RPGs." Asuna blinked at him, staring blankly. Leafa was a little bit better, but there was still the slightest look of confusion on her face. Kirito just sighed. "They're weak, and good enemies for training."

"Ahhh," both girls said at the same time. "That makes sense."

...

Kirito stared at the blood-red robed figure hovering in the sky above him. That wasn't... It couldn't be possible...

But everything fit. Kirito had read everything he could get his hands on about Sword Art Online and its creator, Akihiko Kayaba. All about how the system, Cardinal, was designed to run autonomously with no human intervention. And how they'd run into a few problems in the beta with players cross-playing as the opposite gender. And why the Logout button was removed from the menu, leaving only the empty slot.

While the rest of the crowd was sitting in stunned silence, Kirito looked around. Both his avatar and Leafa's had been changed back by the mirror, and Asuna's appearance hadn't changed. Even though the Game Master... Even though Kayaba had finished the 'tutorial' of SAO and disappeared, everyone was standing in a shocked, frozen silence.

Until a mirror shattered on the ground.

That sudden noise set off a chain reaction that rippled through the entire crowd, turning their silence into screaming panic. Kirito's eyes darted to the left, where he'd picked out the closest exit from the Town of Beginnings's main square. Once they were out of the town, they could probably run to the first town and get a headstart on the important quests that would get them all better equipped and able to face the game. Gritting his teeth, he turned to his sister and Asuna to start chivvying them towards the exit -

...Only to see that Asuna had collapsed to the ground, staring blankly at nothing at all. It looked like her entire world had been shattered, and Kirito knew that even if he could get her on her feet, running all the way to Tolbana, much less fighting Little Nepents, was out of the question. Leafa was handling the news better than Asuna, but not by much; she was still on her feet, but her face was pale and her hands hung limply by her side, twitching occasionally. If Kirito pressed her, he had a feeling she would be able to fight, but it would be dangerous in the long run.

In the end, he decided that no matter what, the girls would come first. He knelt down and gently wrapped his arms around Asuna. Her breathing quickened and he was worried she was going to have a panic attack right then and there, but Asuna slowly raised her hands up to rest them on Kirito's hands. She trembled in his embrace for several seconds, before the tremors slowed. "Do you think you can stand?" he asked her.

"...I-I think," she murmured hollowly. Kirito slowly and gently helped her get to her feet, maintaining the hug the entire time. Once Asuna was on her feet again, swaying back and forth, Kirito looked over to Leafa. His sister had seemed to recover a little bit while he was taking care of Asuna; when he looked to the side, he met her gaze. Silently, he freed one hand from Asuna's terrified grip and offered it to Leafa.

She took it and squeezed once. She didn't need the touch, but he knew it would reassure her.

Like that, one hand clasped with Asuna's and one hand clasped with Leafa's, Kirito pushed his way through the panicking crowd. He weaved through the crowd fairly well, only accidentally nudging other players a few times. Once they were out of the plaza and in the strangely-deserted roads, it was easy to fall into a rhythm. Left step, wait for Asuna to take a step forward, right step, wait for Leafa. One step at a time, Kirito led the two of them to the closest inn he could find.

Fortunately, killing boars for training had earned him just enough col to spring for two rooms. He opened the first door on the right and entered, leading Asuna and Leafa inside. Once Asuna was sitting on the bed, he straightened up and gently worked his hand free. "You two can sleep here," he said to Leafa. "I'll be right across the hall."

"Okay, Kazuto," Leafa replied. Her voice seemed firm, and she wasn't as pale as Asuna was. When he gently patted her head, she smiled at him. "I'm okay."

"Just making sure," he said. When he turned to leave, though, a tug on his shirt stopped him. He turned to see Asuna clutching at his shirt desperately, eyes staring firmly at the floor.

"...Stay?" she asked quietly. "Please?"

He'd rented two inn rooms for the night, but there was no way he could possibly say no. Not when Asuna seemed so fragile. Not when it was his fault his sister and his best friend were trapped in the game.

"Of course," he said.

Yes I know I said 3 to 4k chapters, guess I lied whoops.

There's a little bit of a time skip at the beginning; about two between the first and second chunks, and then four years to present day. Kazuto was 10 in the first chapter; now, he's 14. And yes, SAO is starting September 12th instead of November 7th. There's no real reason for this. It's fine, don't worry about it.

Most of the chapter was devoted to the kids interacting. Slower, but these dorks just kinda refused to shut up a bit. I also like the mental image of Kazuto not really knowing what to say about Asuna's dress, but being super protective of Sugu (Fun fact: the outfit Sugu tried out, that he rejected and she bought anyway, is what she's wearing in her ending in Hollow Fragment. Unrelated fun fact: I recently beat Hollow Fragment). I also imagine that having to deal with the Kirigayas has made Asuna a little bit more 'big sister'-y.

And yeah, I imagine that if Sugu decided she's going to play games, she's also dragging Kazuto into her kendo training. As someone who does martial arts, having a 'willing' practice partner would be super great, even if all that partner does is block. Essentially, having Asuna around means that the siblings actually share a friend which means they're going to talk. Plus, Kazuto talked to Asuna about the whole cousin thing instead of just diving into gaming.

Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed.