A/N: I know. This has taken a long time but at least I finally got it out. This chapter was causing me problems and summer homework is a pain. I'm trying, 'kay? Anyway, as you might have noticed, this is now rated T. That's mostly because of some of the language I use, like the cursing. I was thinking about changing the rating for a while now, I just wanted to see how far I could get with K+. I just really like curse words. Is that bad? Nothing adult will happen though, in case you were wondering. I don't write smut so don't worry about that and please just enjoy this sucky chapter.
Excuses
To put things bluntly, Kazuto was is some pretty deep shit.
Usually, he didn't use that kind of language seeing as how Suguha would get onto him and Asuna (when he was dating her) would also make a point to smack him whenever he used such words. So Kazuto didn't make cursing a habit.
That didn't mean that he never cursed though. He was human, and a teenager, so cursing was part of his everyday life whether he allowed it to be or not. His classmates cursed, the people he met online cursed, even his friends had an impressively extensive vocabulary. This being so, Kazuto couldn't stop himself from cursing every time a difficult or frustrating situation arose.
And this was one of those times.
Looking at the girl in front of him, his classmate and until-recently-friend, Shino Asada, Kazuto had the feeling that he was inevitably going to die today or at least regret ever being alive. The coldness in her now dark gray eyes made him freeze up inside and the way she just stood there in silent fury made him sure that she would explode on him any second. He knew that he was in grave danger of losing some of his body parts and/or enough blood to let him glimpse the gate into the beyond.
He just had one question though…
Why was he suddenly on the roof?
He could feel the diamond-patterned, metal fence pressing into his back as he stood there, trying to put as much distance between him and the intimidating girls in front of him as he possibly could. It was bad enough that Shino was now contemplating murdering him, but now Asuna and Rika had somehow gotten involved in this mess he had found himself in.
If Kazuto believed in a god or gods of any kind, he was praying now.
"Ok, Kazuto. Start talking." Shino demanded, her voice deathly calm. "You knew who I was didn't you."
"Um… well—"
"You knew all this time, so you've still been lying to me."
"Yeah…"
"Why?"
Kazuto looked at her, marveling at the fact that he wasn't dead yet and that Shino was actually giving him a chance to explain himself. "Well…" he began, eyes flitting to look at the two confused girls standing behind Shino, Rika and Asuna. He really didn't want them knowing too much about this, they would never let him hear the end of it. "I kinda already told you."
Shino raised an eyebrow. "So you pretended because you thought I liked you?" Then, a thought struck her and she suddenly exclaimed "Wait! Did you know who I was when we first met?"
The boy blinked at her. "You mean the first time or the second time?"
The bespectacled girl stared at him long and hard, rethinking her question. "Both."
"The first time, no. That was the first I knew of a Shino Asada. The second time… yes?"
"How did you know? Were you stalking me?"
"What? No! I-I wasn't stalking you—"
"Then how?"
Kazuto froze for a second. There were several different ways he could answer that question, but he didn't want to say anything embarrassing like 'your eyes.' He could also mention how he thought Shino and Sinon were so alike, but he would just start to sound creepy. Like a stalker.
"It was your journal… the sketches. It was kind of a guess at first." For a few seconds.
Shino's face turned slightly red and her eyes looked away from his. "Oh."
"Wait, wait, wait. I'm still confused." Rika cut in, her eyes going from Shino to Kazuto and back again. "What are you two talking about? Do you guys know each other?"
"Yes… and no." Kazuto answered, uncertain of how to answer that question. Each of them knew who the other was, but they didn't know each other, if that made any sense.
"Well can you please explain? Does this have to do with why you haven't logged in?"
At Rika's question, Shino felt something click in her head. Was it really that much of a coincidence that Kazuto had suddenly chosen to play GGO after meeting her?
Kazuto did not want to admit it was because he was trying to get closer to Shino, he would really start sounding like a stalker then. "I just got kind of tired of playing the same type of games over and over again. I wanted to try something different. I guess."
"I don't buy it." Rika immediately deadpanned. "If that was the case, why didn't you just tell us?"
Kazuto was also not going to say that he did it to save a girl. That just sounded corny and totally unrealistic. Not to mention extremely embarrassing. Besides, he hadn't said anything before because he hadn't known what to say. Was he supposed to have said 'Hey, I'm converting my account to another game because I'm obsessed with a dead girl who is actually just a figment of my imagination, see ya!' He wasn't even sure why he had converted his account in the first place when he could have just made another one. He had just used the same account on a whim.
"I… didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings." Kazuto mentally face-palmed. He really hated being socially awkward sometimes. The majority of the time, his words were so awkwardly put together that it made him cringe.
"Still not buying it."
"Well, what else do you want me to say?!"
"How about the truth, Kirito." Asuna suggested. Kazuto had almost forgotten how scary she could be too. Why was he surrounded by so many scary women in his life?
"That-That is the truth! I wasn't sure how to break it to you guys so I just did it!"
"Uh-huh." Rika said disbelievingly, smirking because she knew that he wasn't telling the truth. At least not all of it. He wasn't a very good liar when he didn't think things over strategically first.
"It is!"
"Sure it is, Kazuto."
"So. I'm not the only one who's been lied to." Shino stated, a glare falling over her glasses.
Kazuto felt a sense of foreboding then. He knew Shino and he knew Sinon. Knowing both of them, he had a feeling that he was in for it now.
"Looks like you've been doing some shady things again, Kazuto." Rika said teasingly. Said boy wasn't even going to ask what she meant by 'again'. And he was not shady, thank you very much. At least, not extremely shady… He had to admit, his favorite color being black was a bit shady. Not to mention that most of his wardrobe consisted of dark clothing… Ok, he really wasn't helping his case, but whatever.
"Well, I… you just… ugh." Kazuto grunted. Stupid social skills.
A smirk came across Rika's face. "You know what? I think you should be punished."
Kazuto felt a sick feeling drop into his stomach. He did not like the sound of that.
"What do you think, Asuna?"
"Rika…" Asuna warned, knowing that her friend might go overboard.
"Actually," Shino spoke from in front of them, still facing Kazuto, and the smallest of smirks pulled at the corner of her lip. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea.
A/N: Ooo. What are they gonna do? I will be impressed if any of you guys can guess. I'm actually kind of excited to write the next chapter just because of how I picture them punishing Kazuto. Wish him luck guys and I will try to get the next chapter out soon!
