Ch. 21
(POV:Neko)
"What on earth was I thinking?" I said to myself. The time was two in the morning. Nemu has been forcing me to play a VR game, called ALfheim Online, or ALO for short, into the wee hours of the morning ever since she got the game a week and a half ago. It happened to be the game surrounding the debacle with the trapped SAO players. However, it was under new management. Both me and Nemu had loaded our SAO data, courtesy of the ALO GMs, to the game. The result was incredible. However, because the SAO gamedata had a different ear type, we were recognized everywhere. As a result, we spent most of the time in-game running from those who would love to just ask us every question on the planet. It was a good thing we had high max speed levels for the flight engine. SAO players, in general, could go faster than normal players, because we were used to the environment and how it responds. However, all thoughts of this were cleared instantly as my door blew open, and Nemu came charging in. As I had just logged out without her consent, she was quite ticked.
"Why?! Do you not enjoy playing with me?!" she said in a forcefully suppressed whisper. Her parents were asleep, after all.
"I do, however, I also enjoy having a proper amount of sleep." I replied.
"That never stopped you in SAO!"
"And I almost had my head taken off by you, and reduced to shards by a mob. Not-so-fond memories. As a result, I now try to get the proper amount of sleep each day."
Nemu visibly sulked.
"Fine! But you will be playing in the morning!" With that, she stomped out of my room. I fell asleep almost instantly, forgetting to even take off my Amusphere.
(POV:Nemu)
Right after I walked out, I stood in front of his door. He was out less than ten seconds later.
"Jeez, he was tired." I said to myself. Maybe I was pushing him too much. But, I couldn't help it. The more time I spent with him, the more chances I had to see what his feelings were. But as of yet, I felt like I was trying to understand the rosetta stone with knowing any of the languages on it. On top of that, I had begun to worry that forcing him to spend time with me would just push him away. As such, I decided to let him off for a few days.
(POV:Neko)
"What is going on with her?" I asked myself. Right out of the blue, Nemu switched to a always-ready-but-never-asking mode. And then, she went right back forcing me to play day and night. There seemed to be no pattern whatsoever. But the biggest question surrounding her was one of my own creation. How did I feel? Clark had made some back-handed remarks about dating during the last video call. Since then, I had begun to consider the chances of such an event happening. And that led me to my feelings. Which were a tangled web of thoughts, emotions, memories, and instincts. Did I care about her? Yes. Why? We had been through to much not to be. Do I love her? I don't know. If she expressed feelings in that direction, what would you do? I don't know. I don't know. That was the crux of the matter. I just didn't know. And that drove me nuts. I had always been able to identify my feelings, and understand why they were created. But this was the first time I didn't know. It's like knowing how to read for your entire life, and then one day completely forgetting it. It was terrifying. But other than continue to analyze, what could I do? So that's what I did.
(POV:Nemu)
As I layed on my bed, I thought about what I was going to do. I knew my feelings, but I didn't know anything else. However, that was going to have to wait. The school for SAO players would be open soon, and me and Neko were going to enroll. But then life decided to throw a brick in my face.
A young man about my age stood in front of me. My father had asked me to come with him to the door a few minutes ago. When I came out, he had an apologetic expression on his face. I was a bit confused as to why he had that face. But then I found out why.
"Nemu, this is Yamada. He is your..." My dad seemed to have trouble saying the next word. Then he managed to say it.
"Finance." Everything seemed to stop for a second. My whole world collapsed itself. What the hell is going on? Then the worst possible thing happened.
"Nemu, who is this? I haven't met him yet." Neko said as he came up behind me. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT!
"Uh.. well. I just found this out myself but… um… well." My father filled in for me.
"This is Yamada. Nemu's finance." He looked at me with surprise, then a mask of emotionless appeared.
"Well, in that, case, I will leave you alone." With that he left the room, heading for his. Shit. Why did this have to happen to me!
"Nemu, who was that? I mean, I doubt that was his real name. So who is that. Besides, you never had a brother, so I know that he is a stranger." I felt my face get hot with anger.
"He is not a stranger! Yes, that is not his real name, but he responds to Neko so I call him that! Besides-" Then Yamada cut me off.
"How is a man that moved from america not even four months ago not a stranger? I mean, when I looked at the records, he is in the same grade as he was two years ago. He is obviously failing in school and-" Now it was my turn to cut him off.
"I am also two grades behind. You want to know why? Because I was stuck in SAO. Clearing. Neko is the same. In fact, he had a even worst time of SAO. You want to know why? Because he ended up with a player death count of 43! He has to live with that! He is probably twenty times as skilled and smart as you. He, unlike you, had to fight for his life! In fact, if he didn't exist, I would not be standing here right now! He saved my butt more times than you could ever imagine! So dont give me that crap about him being a lesser being! Now get!" With that, I slammed the door in his face. I fell against the far wall, and slid to the ground with my head in my hands.
Author's Note: Ok, I feel really bad about not writing. The combo of writer's block and summer break caused me to completely forget to write. However, I finally got an idea to continue on, and so here I am. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading!