New chapter up. By far the longest for this story, if I'm not mistaken. Take it as compensation for my inconsistent updates.

Chapter 6: Under the Stars

He'd always felt like hospitals were suffocating.

The countless visitors milling around, the educated professionals calling out names and carrying out procedures...it was repressive. Despite the initial purpose behind having a hospital, Kazuto was under the mindset that hospitals were where you went to die, and not necessarily in the traditional sense. Of course, lives had almost certainly been lost under the roof he was currently sitting. But there was something about the sensation of waking up to find a hard, unfamiliar bed beneath you, an IV drip in your artery, and a support system set up to your side. Like existing without aid was no longer going to be an option. There had been no end to Kazuto's ecstasy when he'd first been declared physically and mentally healthy by the physicians, but at the same time his own physique had felt clunky, underused, and rusty. Not to mention that, having lost two years of his life, it felt like he was to live a less fulfilling existence than those who had not been trapped within the death game.

So yeah, hospitals kind of irked him.

Yet his own well-being wasn't the issue this time. Kazuto was currently situated on a bench opposite a closed metal door, eyes trained on the status display fixed to its side, tracing the various glowing statistics and numbers shown there. Asuna was in that room at this very moment, a small team of doctors surrounding her prone form. The small screen glowing next to the door only provided basic vital signals for visitors to see, but it was all Kazuto had at the moment, and he had devoted himself to watching while he waited.

Most people would be under the impression that the minor use of an old prototype NerveGear was far from cause for panic, but said people would only consider that single event. Despite the NerveGear's especial prowess in its ability to sustain extended gameplay time, there is a limit to everything. Two years went way past the pre-set maximum of one hundred hours, at which point overexposure to scanner rays and lack of life-supporting substances taken from outside sources would lead to inevitable death. Only countless tubes and supplements had kept people like himself and Klein from dying. Once all of the surviving SAO victims had awoken, they were all taken into brain therapy as soon as possible. They were given treatments to combat the effects of overexposure and regrow damaged or destroyed nervous tissue that had been lost over the process of time; as well as provided with one essential rule: no VR. No virtual reality gaming, especially full-dive equipment, for at least ten months, to allow for total brain recuperation. Repeated exposure before this period of time could very well result in massive strokes or memory loss.

Asuna had been utterly unconscious when he'd torn the old NerveGear off her head, and she was still dead to the world now, as quiet men wearing rubbery gloves and masks went fervently to work in order to save the life of the girl he loved. He'd only just been able to tell Asuna that he loved her; how could he lose her now? Kazuto had learned from countless incidents that there were some things beyond his power. He could never reach the top of the World Tree in Alfheim, or defeat Heathcliff on the seventy-fifth floor when everything depended on it. For years now, it seemed like Kazuto's abilities could achieve anything unless everything hung in the balance. After which he would often fail, and end up with some sort of half-compromise that left him feeling hollow.

Kazuto's gaze flicked upwards to observe the status screen by the door and watched the heart monitor blip along at its steady pace. He was well aware that the heart slowed in its activity when one was unconscious or asleep, but the sluggishness with which Asuna's moved made his own triple in speed.

"Good evening."

In different circumstances, the hair on the back of Kazuto's neck would have risen, but the rather depressing atmosphere he'd wrapped around himself negated this. Turning, he raised his head and took in the miniature, imposing form of Yuuki Kyouko, Asuna's mother.

Nodding curtly, all thoughts of appeasing to the woman banished at the moment, Kazuto returned, "Evening," hating how his voice wavered from underuse.

Wordlessly accepting the reciprocation, Asuna's mother walked over to the bench and sat at the end farthest from him, although Kazuto still inched a bit towards his own end in a rather stiff manner. Several minutes passed like this, and not a word was spoken between the two of them, and Kazuto was content to let it stay that way.

But of course, Mrs. Yuuki had to shatter that dream. "Is my daughter in there?" She asked rather abruptly, gesturing at the metal door across the hall.

It was beginning to enter the deep part of the night now, and less visitors were now roaming the halls. Their entire portion of the hallway was actually empty aside from themselves. Glancing in a cursory manner towards the short woman, Kazuto said briefly, "Yes."

The woman nodded in understanding and let the silence lapse over once more, but broke it soon enough for a second time.

"And what happened, exactly?" Yuuki Kyouko prompted at last, apparently losing what little patience she had. "Out with it, young man. I must know."

Kazuto sat up a little straighter and finally turned his entire body to face the woman, who looked at him expectantly with that same passive expression she always wore. It was impossible to read.

"A young boy, by the name of Takashi, set up some old prototype full dive equipment and lured Asuna into his trap. He forced her into a dive and trapped them both within a world of Takashi's own creation, mainly through the capabilities of the World Seed Agil and I released a while back. Do you know about the World Seed?"

Mrs. Yuuki narrowed her eyes at him. "I do not care for the apparent hobby you and my daughter seem to share, but yes, I have heard of it."

"Takashi used the World Seed to replicate a location within Sword Art Online in order to introduce an emotional factor to his plans."

"And what, pray tell, were his 'plans?'" Mrs. Yuuki asked stiffly, nerves obviously at their edge. Kazuto usually hated to drive people past reason, but he was feeling ugly after the day's events and there was nothing left that he could do for Asuna.

"Takashi was the younger brother of a man I killed in Sword Art Online. This man, named Kuradeel, made an attempt on my life and came very close to killing your daughter as well. I took the only possible choice and attacked him, consequently lowering his health to zero and ending his life. Takashi wanted revenge, and rightfully so I suppose; I would have wished for vengeance as well. So he captured your daughter in order to lure me into his grip."

The tight expression on the older woman's face relaxed just a fraction when she finally got the information she wanted. "So I assume you came in time to save her?"

"That's the thing, Mrs. Yuuki. I did come to save her, but that was exactly what Takashi wanted. He wired all the available NerveGears to kill us if we were to die inside his virtual reality, and by equipping himself with every possible advantage, proceeded to try and kill us both. I was, however, able to use the abilities I gathered during my stay in SAO and use them to protect us through technological means. I didn't defeat him, but I stalled Takashi out long enough for our friend Rika to hack into the computer's system. She forced Takashi to wake up from his dive and ejected the rest of us as well."

The watch on Kazuto's wrist beeped when the hour turned, announcing that the time was 10 PM. Only silence followed as Asuna's mother mulled over what she had just been told, and he felt that the woman was analyzing the information in order to ask even more questions that he really did not feel like answering. All he wanted to do was sit here and think while he waited for Asuna, so that he could hold her and never let anything get to her again.

"I see," she said at last. "And what happened to this boy? Takashi?"

Ah, now came the difficult part. Making sure to establish eye contact, Kazuto said firmly,

"I'm afraid I cannot divulge that."

Kyouko's gaze sharpened a hundredfold at the refusal and demanded, "And why not? This lunatic tried to kill my own daughter. He deserves to be brought before the law and punished for his crimes. Do you not feel anything yourself for what he has done to Asuna?"

He tried to kill me too, you know. "You're right, and I do feel that way, but I can at least assure you that Takashi will never bother either of our families again. I made sure of that by giving him an opportunity to act like this had never happened. I think it's going to be fine."

Kazuto expected for Asuna's mother to begin some sort of heated debate regarding the due process of law, but surprisingly enough she just sighed and sat back in her seat.

"As long as my daughter is safe," She said blandly.

That's true, Kazuto though, leaning his head back to stare at the lights shining in the ceiling until spots danced in his eyes. In the end, we both want the same thing, for Asuna to be safe and happy. We just clash over who is more capable of providing that well being, is all. Like a game of golf where I've been handicapped for no reason.

By now, the entire west wing of the hospital was virtually abandoned. The only people left were himself, Asuna's mother and the doctors inside the room working on Asuna.

"But you entered another virtual reality game, ALO, soon after the SAO incident," Kyouko said suddenly, making Kazuto blink. "Yet Asuna is being operated on when she hasn't been exposed for several months. Why didn't you fall into a serious medical condition?"

Oh, so she cares after all. "Well, it is rather complicated, but basically I took a pill that quadrupled brain cell production for twelve hours. It was just barely enough from keeping my brain from cooking, seeing as the NerveGear was frying my newly-grown nervous tissue constantly while I was under full dive. Not to mention that Asuna was under for a longer continuous period than me. I did lose a very, very minor percentage of brain matter in the end, but all of my primary mental faculties came out of it unharmed. Although I do have some difficulty wriggling my pinky toe every now and then."

"I see..." Kyouko said, her voice trailing off as she, too, began staring at the status monitor on the wall opposite.

"Thank you, Kirigaya."

Kazuto's eyes widened when the meaning of those words registered in his brain, and turned to stare at the person who had emitted them. Asuna's mother just pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at the status monitor, refusing to make eye contact.

Thank you, huh...he thought, turning his head back and leaning against the wall. Well, it's a start, I guess.

"Yuuki-san," he asked suddenly, causing the woman to look up at stare at him. "Can I ask your something?"

Kyouko frowned in her usual manner and gave her wordless consent.

There was a gap between replies as Kazuto mulled over what he was about to say.

"Do you dislike me?" He blurted out then, immediately hating how he'd gone about it. Rarely was he ever so forward with people, adults especially, and Asuna's mother never. Such a shallow inquiry was almost guaranteed to provoke a disgusted response from the uptight woman, and Kazuto nearly flinched as he braced himself for the inevitable tongue lashing.

It never came. Instead, the older woman simply sighed, her shoulders sagging just an inch.

"No, Kirigaya. I do not dislike you."

Kazuto looked at her out of the corner of his eye, waiting for Kyouko to elaborate.

"I am even grateful that you have saved my daughter's life," Yuuki continued. "And although my daughter and I clash over the topic of your relationship with her quite often, and in a detestable manner, I cannot deny the fact that you make her happy. Now, there is no guarantee that this means you are a good influence on her, but I appreciate that you seem to bring more light to her days."

"Why this...detachment, then?" Kazuto pressed, gesturing at the space they'd forced between themselves on the bench. After his previous blunder, he'd thought it best to continue the rest of the conversation in a roundabout way, but this now seemed foolish. He'd already asked an incredibly direct question; he may as well stay consistent in form.

Kyouko flitted her eyes briefly at the space between them. "All the emotional happiness in the world couldn't make up for the safety and security finance can bring," she explained. "Of course, I would never allow Asuna to marry an abuser or lunatic simply for money, and I did make a mistake with Sogou in that regard. To put it bluntly, you have missed two years of your formal education, I am not aware that you are pursuing any sort of commendable career, and you seem to have an unhealthy involvement with virtual reality gaming. On the whole, Kirigaya, I fear that the circumstances you bring to the table will not benefit my daughter in the end."

"Well, I am planning to applying to the University of Tokyo," Kazuto replied in a lame attempt to defeat some of the woman's arguments. "I'll probably major in software programming, and that's obviously in incredible demand these days."

Mrs. Yuuki smiled drily at him. "Let us not be glib here, Kirigaya."

Kazuto humped and fell silent.

For once, the older woman's smile did not immediately fall off her face. "In any case, Kirigaya, I will not have to replace you immediately." He couldn't tell if that was a joke or not. "I do intend on having Asuna pursue a proper college education, and I obviously cannot have marriage interfering with her studies. So for now, she is all yours."

Although it hadn't been said out loud directly, Kazuto felt like he'd suddenly received some sort of go ahead. He turned to look at Asuna's mother, but she just smiled again and looked away at the door.

"Kirigaya, wake up."

Awareness. Flitting his eyes open, Kazuto squinted up at the harsh lights shining down from the ceiling, raising a hand to protect his vision. Blinking to banish the sleepy tightness from his eyes, he focused on Mrs. Yuuki and raised an eyebrow in question.

The older woman gestured at the status monitor, bringing his attention to the fact that it had turned off. Kazuto's heart skipped a beat at seeing this, because it only meant one of two things; either the procedure had been fully successful and Asuna was fine, or the patient had died and was gone. There was a tense moment suspended mid-air as the two of them waited, praying fervently for the favorable outcome to become a reality.

Finally, the titanium door slid open on smooth aeromotors and out stepped the head doctor of the procedure. Kazuto recognized him partially, since he'd spent plenty of time in this particular hospital and had had more than enough time to get to know the staff. This particular physician had short cropped, balding hair, and deep lines set into his forehead that foretold years of medical pressure and stress. He was still pulling the sterilization gloves off his hands when Kazuto and Mrs. Yuuki rushed up to him.

"Is Asuna alright?" Kazuto demanded, completely removing the need for courtesy in favor of getting information now.

The doctor smiled tiredly at him and replied, "Your friend is absolutely fine. She's awake now, if you wish to speak to her. Just be gentle."

A collective sigh left both of their mouths at the news, and Mrs. Yuuki said, "We'll be going inside, then." The physician nodded his consent and left to clean himself up.

It felt like a sick bout of deja vu when Kazuto walked into the room and saw Asuna lying quietly on the hospital bed with the pale moon filtering in through the window to shine on her face. Her long, honey locks cascaded down the sides of her face, curling at the ends to wrap gently around the ends of her hips and frame her slender, delicate body. The bed she was laying on differed from the standard set, seeing as an operation had to be performed with it, and it was stored with more features and high end tech than its more mundane brethren. Nevertheless, Asuna dominated his field of vision, and her eyelids fluttered open when they drew near.

"Kazu...kun," She whispered tenderly, reaching out to twine her fingers with his. Kazuto saw a shade of sadness fall across her mother's face at that, and felt a pang of pity for the older woman. It must be disappointing to see your daughter reach for someone else in her time of need.

Smiling though, Kazuto squeezed her fingers lightly and said, "Feeling well?"

Asuna closed her eyes and smiled faintly. "Okay. Sleepy..."

"That's probably the anesthetic," Kazuto murmured as Asuna struggled to use her tired muscles to bury her nose into his shirt while Kyouko looked on. She muttered something.

"What?" He asked, reaching down to stroke Asuna's hair.

"Love you," She yawned, sighing as she allowed herself to fall back to the bed. "Love you, Kazuto..."

Kazuto blushed when he noticed Mrs. Yuuki staring at them after this particular exchange. Patting her head slowly, he said, "Rest," before watching Asuna fall into the depths of slumber.

"Stargazing?"

An involuntary smile tugged at the corners of Asuna's mouth when Kazuto breath tickled her ear after he asked the question, reaching up to rub at the area of skin there and calm the giddy tingling. It was her second day at the hospital, second of two, as Asuna was due to be release the very next morning. Looking outside, she saw the gloomy clouds overshadowing the city the sprawled out from her view of the tenth floor window. Although the sky was overcast, today was supposed to be the last of a series of days exhibiting rather unsavory weather, something Asuna was grateful for; maybe the sun would be waiting for her when she left tomorrow.

"Yes," She answered to the boy sitting behind her after her slight pause. "I thought it might be a good idea."

Kazuto was sitting on a tall stool as Asuna faced away from him towards the window, pulling a small brush through her hair. Since that first time he'd opted to brush Asuna's hair for her, she'd found herself employing his services more and more often. There was something about having him run his fingers through her locks, and although the comb was the one doing most of the work, this was what Asuna focused most on. Kazuto was always gentle when brushing, never pulling to hard for fear of breaking any tightly coiled hairs. It made her feel cherished. Unfortunately, her enjoyment of this was often cut short by embarrassment, because at some points these situations had become rather intimate. Asuna didn't know how to handle intimate properly.

"Stargazing, huh..." Kazuto murmured, twirling a chestnut strand around his fingers. "Sounds nice. When would you like to go?"

Asuna perked up at Kazuto's consent and said, "Maybe on Friday, right after school? I'll be released by then, and have my strength back, plus we'll need time to prepare."

"Prepare?"

"I...I'd also like to camp out wherever we go," Asuna finally added, blushing at her own suggestion. The thought of sleeping close to Kazuto...

The boy behind her laughed and asked, "Why the sudden obsession with nature?"

Asuna took a moment to think before replying. "A lot's be going on lately," she said. "Rika and Keiko both want to spent more time with you alone, and that's alright, but I miss just being with you. Plus Takashi...I just want you to myself, and I wanted to do something special..."

The smooth strokes of the brush halted for a moment. "I understand," Kazuto said. "I've missed you, too."

Asuna smiled, and a comfortable silence lapses between them.

When it was broken, it was with a more delicate subject.

"About Takashi, though..." Asuna began, turning her head just a fraction to catch her boyfriend's attention.

"What happened to him?"

She didn't have to look to know that Kazuto was frowning. "Well..." He said uncertainly.

"He wasn't there when I was pulled out of the VR," She pressed, seeking answers in a manner similar to her mother's. "I remember. I was conscious for just a moment before blacking out, and he wasn't there. Where is he?"

When Kazuto didn't answer immediately, Asuna turned around fully to face him.

"Kazuto," She said seriously. "What happened to him?"

"Do you really need to know?" The boy sighed, pulling his hands out of her hair. "Do you really want revenge that badly?"

"This isn't a question of vengeance," Asuna shot back. "I'm just curious to know where he is. Isn't that a natural curiosity?"

Kazuto closed his eyes for a moment, obviously in deep thought. She remained silent, knowing it was best to let him think.

"I let him go," Kazuto said finally.

"What?"

"I let him go," He repeated, locking their eyes together. "The way he went about trying to make us pay for what we did was over extreme and crazy, but his motives were understandable. And I can't say this for sure, but I think he was mentally unstable. I hated the fact that he tried to hurt you, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to hurt him back. So I let him go."

Asuna blinked at the sudden revelation and asked, "So where'd he go?"

A shrug. "Somewhere," Kazuto answered vaguely. "We might meet again, or maybe not. That'll probably be up to him. But I made him promise not to try and hurt us again."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How do you know he'll uphold that?"

Kazuto breathed heavily out of his nose and reached out to stroke her face. "He had a breakdown once he realized his plans had failed. His mental stability, or what little of it was left, was shattered. From what I saw, he isn't capable of trying to come after us anymore. I know I could have brought him with me and gotten him some attention, but then I'd have to explain the circumstances behind our meeting and that would only convict him in the end. The best I could do for him was let him go.

"Besides," he continued, looking past Asuna to stare at the roiling clouds outside. "I love VR, but not the connections I've accumulated from it. It started out as a pure and simple hobby. Now it plagues our lives and endangers us in some cases. It's best to cut those things off."

Asuna smiled and leaned forward to bury her nose into the crook of his neck. "Okay. I understand," She said, making goosebumps rise on Kazuto's flesh when her lips moved against his skin. "Thank you for saving me."

They stayed like that for a moment, intertwined. Asuna felt like she could have stayed that way forever, but the moment was broken when Kazuto's phone buzzed.

Force to end their embrace, Kazuto irritably dug the device out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hello? Oh, hi mom. No. Really? Well, alright then. On my way." He keyed the phone off and told Asuna, "My mom wants me to go run some errands. I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Alright," Asuna said, offering a small smile in farewell. Kazuto turned to leave, but she seized by a sudden need and called his name.

"Yes?" The boy asked, turning back to her.

Asuna stood up on her knees and held her arms out. Kazuto grinned and went in for a hug, but this was negated when she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted their lips together.

Kisses between them were relatively rare, as they weren't the most intimate of couples, their bond having been forged by endless hardship faced together. But this only meant that when their lips did meet, the sensation was spectacular. It made Asuna wish they could be more physically intimate every time they embraced in such a manner, but she'd always been too shy to ask for such a thing.

Kazuto sighed and allowed their lips to meld together, entranced as usual by the supple softness Asuna's mouth offered. His hands reached up to tangle in her freshly combed hair, using this technique to pull her head closer and deepen the kiss. It was a method he'd learned only recently, and though basic, he hadn't had much experience. So he learned when he could. Asuna breathed in sharply at the assertiveness of his actions, gripping his shoulders just a bit more tightly. Kazuto barely repressed a rather embarrassing groan when he observed this and tried to think straight, but failed rather miserably.

Afterwards came the point at which both of them always stumbled; when the kiss crossed the "simple" stage and turned heated. This was an atmosphere they'd only ventured into once or twice (they really were miserably inexperienced at kissing), and neither really had the ability to lead the other. As a result, this caused their lips to fumble for a just a moment, allowing their tongues to dart out and brush together.

Asuna squeaked at the contact and tightened her grip further, and for a moment Kazuto was afraid she would pull away. Sure, it had been an accident, but he'd wanted to know what it would be like...

She didn't recoil from him. Instead, she relaxed and let their tongues slide together, catching him off guard. Both of them had to suppress a gasp when their flexible tongues slid together and mixed saliva with saliva, still too shy to express their feelings in the heat of the moment. Eventually, the need for some air forced them to break apart, where they stood, panting slightly, blushing profusely as they stared into each other's eyes.

"I..." Asuna stuttered. She hadn't intended for this kiss to go so far, and now...

Kazuto just smiled. "Thanks for that," He said softly, and kissed her again, this time licking her bottom lip in a teasing manner. A half-gasp had just escaped Asuna's throat when the door was pulled open.

"Oh. Am I interrupting something?" The nurse asked blandly, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Asuna went beet red in the face. "H-Hitomi-chan!"

The aforementioned nurse chuckled at the girl's reaction and teased, "Really Asuna, I never thought you to be the type. Have you been at this behind my back for a while now?"

Asuna pulled her arms away from Kazuto and waved them around in front of her to deny this. "Of course not!"

Hitomi just shook her head in exasperation and proceeded to enter the room. "In any case, Asuna needs rest, so shoo, young man," She commanded sternly, although there was amusement hidden behind it.

"Ah...right. Of course," Kazuto agreed, who had done a better job of retaining his composure, although he was also blushing. "Bye, Asuna," He said, ruffling the girl's hair before the leaving the room as quickly as possible.

There was a moment of silence as Asuna engaged the nurse in a staring war, each trying to force the other to look away.

Asuna lost. Sighing, she fell back and plopped onto the bed. "That was so embarrassing," She groaned.

Hitomi genuinely laughed this time, the sound bringing a smile to Asuna's face. Hitomi had been the main nurse in charge of taking care of her after she'd been freed from the clutches of Kayaba Akihiko and Sogou, and the two girls had formed a solid friendship over time. Hitomi was a university student and had a few years of Asuna, but this hadn't stopped them from chatting endlessly when time allowed it and Kazuto was too busy to visit. The nurse would often bring things from her home to entertain her patient, feeling sympathetic because she knew how boring the hospital life could be sometimes.

This was one of those times. "Look, I brought some books for you to read!" She said cheerily, causing Asuna to perk up.

"Hooray!" The girl cheered, sitting back up to receive the volumes. Hitomi plopped them into her hands and she eagerly examined the covers; Asuna always loved reading the stories her friend brought for her.

This time, however, there was something off. Frowning, Asuna read the title a second and third time, trying to make sense of it all.

Hitomi was grinning at her when Asuna asked flatly, "Hitomi, why is the title Fiery Conquest: Lover's Bite?"

The nurse howled in laughter, but recovered quickly when Asuna glared at her. "Oh come, my child," She chided her, using her favorite nickname for her patient, as if three years really warranted her being called that. "You're a grown up woman now, you've got to be able to enjoy things like this."

"But this is erotica," Asuna huffed, rapidly flipping through the pages in order to confirm this. "I know nothing about them. And it's embarrassing!"

"Exactly," Hitomi cut in. "You're too shy, Asuna. I swear, you can be incredibly stubborn and brave, but when it comes to intimacy you balk like a cat."

"It's not my fault," Asuna complained. "I never know what to do in those situations."

Hitomi reached over to tap a finger on the cover of the aforementioned volume. "So read, and learn. Sure, these kinds of stories are way over-exaggerated, but it'll at least give you some sort of awareness. You want to try these things with Kirigaya-san, don't you?"

Asuna blushed at the rather accurate guess and spluttered, "Why do you have these, anyway?"

"I'm a university student. Wait a few years and you'll see."

"That terrifies me."

"Read the book."

"But..."

"Look, I won't force you, but I think it'll help," Hitomi negotiated. She got up off the bed. "I have to go check on my other patients now, so I'll be leaving. Just give it a shot, okay?"

Once the nurse had left, Asuna frowned down at the small pile of books sitting on her lap. It'll be the end of the world if Mother or Kazuto find this on my besides table, she thought. The books seemed to be staring back at her too, and she resolved not to read them.

But then Hitomi's words flashed through her. You want to try these things with Kirigaya-san, don't you? Then she remembered the awkward elements of the kiss she'd shared with him. Did she really need to read things like this to understand how to go about it properly? Wasn't practice enough? Although, Kazuto was obviously unsure of what to do as well, so it wasn't like practicing with him would help much.

Asuna blushed again when she imagined what "practicing" would look like, and forced herself to focus, namely on the books. Biting her lower lip, she allowed herself to use a finger to lift open the top cover and reveal the first page. Deciding to skip the introductions that all books had, she flipped to the fiftieth page and decided she would only read that. Then at least she could tell Hitomi that she'd tried.

Seeing as it was only the fiftieth page, Asuna wasn't expecting to see any sort of erotic content just yet, probably only minor kissing and such at most.

Her expectations were promptly swept aside when the first sentence of the fiftieth page read,

Aika moaned loudly when he pushed her against the wall and nipped affectionately at the exposed skin of her neck, the cries becoming more intense in volume when he reached up to caress her-

Asuna blushed so hard that her ears flamed when she read the words sensitive mounds and slammed the book shut, pushing the entire pile away from her person. She stared at them for a few moments more before groaning in frustration and falling back to lay on the bed again. "I'm hopeless," She muttered to herself, turning to lay on her side and face the wall. "How am I supposed to do things with Kazuto...? Maybe I don't have to. Heck, I don't need to...well, maybe not, but I want to...does he want it too? Or is he just indulging me?"

Frowning now, she shut her eyes and imagined that Kazuto was there with her. That was how she'd gotten herself to sleep during the nights when she was restless, just envisioning his arms wrapped around her, the scent of him, his warm heart beating...

Only this time, due to her frame of mind, the vision took a totally different direction. For a moment, she could almost feel his teeth on her neck. But then she opened her eyes, too shy to continue her fantasies. Even to herself, this felt ridiculous. She was Yuuki Asuna! Shirking away from things was entirely out of character for her.

Then why the hell couldn't she think like this?

Am I gay? She wondered briefly. Then she laughed.

The amusement faded quickly, however, when Asuna continued to wonder. If I could just stop doubting, and asking questions...she thought, closing her eyes again.

"You're warm, Asuna," She heard, and she hmmed in response.

"Do you...want me to touch you?" Kazuto's voice asked, and she nodded meekly, almost forcing herself to make the movement. Almost unconsciously, her hand traveled downwards to her knee and traced a thin line up her leg, her breathing becoming more erratic when Asuna's overactive imagination took over completely.

Asuna's fingers had just completed the journey up her thighs and reached the all-important regions when the door opened.

"By the way, I forgot-" Hitomi began, but she was cut off when Asuna shrieked.

"AHHH!"

The night air was cool against his skin when they reached the top of the hill.

"It's fortunate that the weather's so clear today," Asuna said when she climbed up to join him. They were standing on the crest of the largest hill Kazuto knew of that was within commuting distance, situated at the very outskirts of the city, and surrounded by woods and wildlife. It fit perfectly with what Asuna had dreamed of, and it brought a smile to her face.

"Yeah," Kazuto puffed as he set his pack down; he'd been forced to lug it all the way up. It contained a folded tent and a basket holding pre-made food by Asuna. Asuna herself was carrying the two sleeping bags, and they set their things down before standing to appreciate the stars winking into existence above them.

"Don't do anything naughty," Kazuto's mother had warned him teasingly just before he'd left. Kazuto had rolled his eyes and left with a promise not to do such a thing. Asuna had received a similar warning from her own parents and had responded accordingly, despite her intentions.

Asuna sat leaning back on her hands, staring at the heavens while Kazuto began setting up the tent. She'd offered to help, but he'd grunted that this was a man's duty.

Men and their egos.

As the night progressed, more and more stars began to appear. The city they lived in was relatively pollution-free thanks so some innovations made by the ecologists in the region, and this advocated stargazing. Asuna could recognize star patterns and constellations, or saiza, that she hadn't seen since she was eight years old and her parents had taken her stargazing. It made her happy to see it.

"Got it!" Kazuto shouted from behind her, and she turned to see that he had been successful in setting up the tent. It made her laugh to see how triumphant he was.

"Good job," She clapped. "Now, come join me."

Kazuto smiled and joined her, laying down on the grass so that he could properly appreciate the view the stars offered. Asuna laid down next to him and cuddled into his side, and they watched the stars for a while, exchanging conversation now and then.

It felt perfect.

Finally, the night became too cold to tolerate and Kazuto urged Asuna to retreat to the tent. She consented, and they got up and entered the small structure. After sharing the food Asuna had prepared herself, with the usual satisfying results, they decided to retire when it was almost midnight.

"This feels a bit like deja vu," Kazuto said when they slipped into their respective sleeping bags and turned to face each other. "I remember being in a position like this in Aincrad."

Asuna frowned. "I don't remember that. Who with?"

"Rika," He replied. "When we went to find minerals for my Elucidator."

"I see..." Asuna said, obviously put off by this information.

Kazuto laughed and reached out to grasp his girlfriend's hand. "Don't you worry, I plan to keep you around for a while," He teased, and she laughed.

With that, they closed the night.

As always, thanks a ton for reading, and review if you have anything to say ^_^