Ch. 14

As the man in front of me sent the request, I felt a knot in my stomach unroll. I had been worried about how to find Akira. Without knowing her real life identity, we could never reunite. That was why I was so obsessed with getting to Japan quickly, when programs like this would make things easier.

"You go for today, I will let you know the response when I get one." the man said.

"Thanks for everything."

"Don't mention it. This is my job afterall. Anyway, have a good day."

As I walked out of the building, I prepared myself for a very nerve racking day. I couldn't focus on anything, and in the end just sat in my hotel room thinking about what I would say when I finally met Akira in the real world. With that, at one in the morning, I passed out.

I woke to the sound of my cell phone. Glancing at the time, I wondered who would call at five in the morning. I answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is Harry Aki there?"

"He is speaking."

"We regret to inform you that the player Akira's guardians have turned down your request."

"Thank you for letting me know."

"You're welcome. Have a good day, bye."

"Goodbye."

As I sat on the mattress in shock, I realized what the person had said. The player Akira's Guardians. Not Akira. The guardians. Then I shook myself. In this world, we kids didn't make the decisions, the adults did. It was going to take some serious getting used to. I thought about Akira, what she was doing this very second.

"YOU WHAT!" I shrieked. My father jumped in fear. He heard the anger in my voice. However, it went right over my mother's head.

"Nemu, you need to remember, that was a net game. A net game with people you knew nothing about. You can't just trade real life identities-"

"YOU IDIOT! I DECIDE WHO I TRADE MY IDENTITY WITH, NOT YOU!"

My, dad, ever the mediator, jumped in.

"Nemu, calm down. Please explain who this Neko person is to you. We have never heard of him before today. Please inform us."

I somehow managed to get my temper under control.

"His username was Neko. He was an incredible fighter, especially against other players, which is harder than the mobs. He had one of the unique skills. Within the game, we were married, and-"

"M-MARRIED!? Nemu! You can't just-" my mother exclaimed.

"In game the married status meant that your item storage and money are shared. That was all. As a matter of fact, Neko forced me to buy two beds when we got an apartment on the sixty first floor. Now, back to what I was saying earlier. Neko had a bad habit of pushing himself to the edge and then needing to be drug back by force, on many an occasion. I saved his life several times, and he saved mine several times. He… he was a vigilante, forcing red and orange players to TP the the jail on the first floor. "

"Red and orange players?" asked my dad.

"Refers to the player cursors. Normal is green. If you have harmed a green then you turn orange for a bit, and if you kill a green then your cursor turns red permanently."

"Still, I mean, I am worried about the married thing." my mother muttered. I drew breath to talk, but my dad beat me to it.

"Honey, from what I hear, the married status could have been called Merging, and you wouldn't give it a second glance. As for anything in that realm, Nemu did say that Neko made her buy two beds, so we can assume, considering that there are no underage laws in SAO, that that was his true colors."

"Well, when you put it that way..." my mother seemed reluctant to back down.

"I do put it that way. So what do you say we give the government people a call and tell we said yes." My dad said.

"Alright." my mom said. I released a pent up breath. I was safe. For now.

It has been two hours since that phone call. I haven't moved an inch. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of a way to meet Akira in real life without her guardians getting in the way. I shook my head in frustration. Ugg. Then my cell rang again. I read the number. Same as before. I considered not answering. But something made me do it.

"Hello."

"Is Harry Aki there?"

"Speaking."

"Harry, we are delighted to inform you that the guardians of player Akira have given consent to allow an identity trade. Would you like to trade?"

I stood in shock for the second time today.

"Y-Yes please."

"Ok, the identity will be sent to you via email. Have a good day."

"You too. Goodbye."

I hung up and just stood there for a second. Then it hit me. I would be meeting Akira in real life.

"YES!"

Author's Note: Sorry for missing yesterday. I got sucked into a second idea for a fanfiction. I may post it. I want to see if I can give it enough content. Anyway, I'm really sorry for missing yesterday. Hope this long chapter makes up for it. Have a good one!