[New Aincrad, Floor 22, Kirito's/Asuna's Cabin]

[Yuuki's POV]

It was coming up to 9PM and for a good portion of the afternoon, Malzeno had stuck with me to help me with my assignment. It was taxing, but with his, Yui's, and Asuna's help, it really stuck and I was flying through this compare and contrast coursework. Smiling happily to myself, I bobbed side to side as I stretched. "This really helped a bunch, thanks Kazuki!"

"Anytime, still a ways to go but not far from the end," He copied me, flicking through his menu, then his eyes flashed with surprise. "Ah, crap... dinner..."

"Mm? Go on, with Asuna, Siune, and Nori here I'll manage, really!" I assured him with a thumbs up, sitting back with a sigh. "No one said you had to help me constantly, so take a break, you've earned it,"

Nodding along, he moved down to the Log-Out button. "Yes ma'am, I'll be back in thirty, cee,"

I giggled at his way of saying 'bye'. "Cee~" And in a flash, his avatar was gone, leaving me to flick through my schoolwork before minimizing those tabs to relax too. Sooner this is done, the more time I can psych myself up for the tournament tomorrow.

According to the sign-up, the prerequisites were how they filtered out the average players from the best to avoid making the event unbalanced. So you had to have over 25 PvP matches on record, and had to have won over 80% of them, lastly, at least 100 Hours in-game, meaning only those with genuine experience could participate. That still left a bunch to sift out.

I know myself, Kirito, Asuna, that samurai called Klein, and Malzeno are participating, but I wonder how we'll be matched? If it's 1V1, which it probably will be, there's a good chance none of us will duke it out before the Final Ten, that would be difficult to achieve...

"Hey, what's with the slate face, Yuuki?" To snap me back to reality was Nori, the Spriggan flopping onto the sofa beside me.

"Nothing, just thinking..." I answered vaguely, leaning my chin onto the pillow, maybe there's a way to place ourselves at points on the bracket so that we end up competing earlier? No, doubt that, guess we'll just have to tear through the whole event. Either way, it'll be exciting.

"Oh? Anything in particular? A quest? Tomorrow's event? Or maybe someone special?" Nori wiggled her brows as I shot my head toward her.

"Eh? Who?" I asked as she rolled her eyes at me.

"Duh, Mal, who else?" She just stared at me incredulously.

"'Someone'..." That's about as far as I got before I realized why she was giving me that sly look. It took far less time for the blood in my digital body to flare hotly, and my cheeks started to burn up. "W-w-wait, what!? N-n-no, not like that!"

"Not like what?" My luck got worse, turning, we saw Asuna and Siune walking back from the kitchen with some snacks and tea. Asuna had asked, and I sharply looked to Nori, seeing that stupid grin of hers stretching.

"Don't you dare!" I yelled but she shoved her hand in my face to stop me pawing at hers in time to chuckle.

"Yuuki's becoming a blushing mess about hertotally obviouscrush on Mal-" I finally broke through to clamp my hands around her mouth, feeling her laughter vibrate into my palms while my whole face felt like it was melting, making my ears twitch.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I don't like-like that idiot!" I denied until I was completely red in the face up to the tips of my ears. But Siune and Asuna were grinning at me too, and I moaned a whine and fell backward onto the sofa, ruffling up my hair, rolling side to side to clear my head of this whole issue. "I hate you, now I-"

"Can't stop thinking about him?" Nori smugly remarked.

"No!" I snapped, throwing a pillow that she took to the face with little damage to be seen. "Stop making me think, it hurts my brain!"

"You two are always spending so much time together, I've never seen you laugh so much!" Siune didn't make it better by saying that. It was true too! Malzeno's stupid sarcastic drawls on almost anything get a small snort or chuckle from me; I just find his humour funny.

"H-he's funny, what's wrong with that!?" I yelled, pointing at Siune objectively. "You all laugh with him too!"

"Yeah, but alone, you can't take your eyes off 'im," Then, Nori leaned over to the girls with an impish grin. "I swore I saw Yuyu blushing when she caught a glimpse of his torso~"

"Oooh!?" Siune and Asuna were hooked further, and my whole face was steaming up 'cause this stupid game engine runs off the one SAO was built on, so it made people's facial expressions more dramatic, much to my growing discomfort.

"Yuuki, I didn't know you were so... brazen?" Siune blushed a bit behind her hand, and I waved my hands frantically to stop this before it got even worse.

"N-n-not like that, d-definitely not like that!" Stop thinking about his toned body, stop it brain, stop it, stop it~! I felt like crying now, this was the worst, I should just log-off now.

"So basically you like a dude's body, and?" Nori quipped, waving her hand nonchalantly. "What's wrong with that?"

"E-everything!" Came my shriek until my voice cracked, and I hid my face with my pillow. "Please, stop it... my head's getting dizzy..."

"There's nothing wrong with liking Malzeno, he's really nice behind that 'mercenary' persona he's made," Of all people, I had wanted the beautiful goddess of cooking, Asuna, to have my back. I was swiftly stabbed in the back yet again. "He always is the first to help you in school when I'm not able to, and even 'walks' home with you, you two are inseparable sometimes,"

"It's nothing," I kept protesting, even as my heart was starting to twist.

"Yuuki, come ooon, it's obvious to... okay, obvious to us, guys are clueless," Nori snorted a shrug, and I tucked my legs up.

"Please..." This doesn't matter, it doesn't, just shrug off their teasing and move on, Yuuki.

Asuna sighed a bit, "Yuuki, we aren't asking for every detail-" I heard a slap follow that to cut off Nori's exhale. "-it's your private life, but you can't tell us that in all your interactions, how you two have simply clicked so well, even your reactions just now... is there really nothing you feel is between you, can you honestly tell me that? If so, I apologize and we'll drop th-"

That wall I built crumbled without much effort at all.

"I... I like him, okay!" I said it... I couldn't take this anymore, lowering my head out of sheer embarrassment, hugging my pillow closer. "...I do... I can't stop it and..." Now, I felt so much pain in my beating chest, tears creeping into my eyes. "...I'm terrified of it..."

No one was laughing, I could feel them staring at me, silently waiting for me to answer why. I felt Nori's presence, pressing a hand on my shoulder. "...C'mon, Yuyu, talk to us," Her voice was tender, a rarity for her brash antics.

My chest wouldn't stop tightening. "...I'm dying, even if I had one extra month, I-I... I'm going to disappear; like Mom, Dad, Aiko... and for the first time in years... I'm so scared to, b-because I'll hurt him s-so much if he knew I did like him..." I kept my head bowed, trying to supress these painful, warm feelings that kept getting warmer.

I like him so much. He was so special to me, he knew what I was going through, he had spent so long in the virtual world too due to SAO, fearing he'd die someday. He kept chasing after me, fighting against and with me, he made my dream - our dream a reality. I got to spend so many fond days with him, at school or in ALO.

When I ran away the first time... I missed him... then he found me again, the same, stupid smile as always, and I needed him to say the things he told me under that tree. "I... I..." I couldn't say it for a second, feeling my throat close tightly, hugging my pillow so close to my chest, afraid it burst. "...I want t-to be with h-him forever..."

I heard someone kneel before me, two gentle hands cupping mine. Looking up through tears, I, for a split second, thought I saw Aiko looking back at me. Blinking once, I saw the blue-haired Undine, Asuna, smiling warmly back at me. "It's okay to be scared of love, Yuuki," She looked down for a moment, shaking her head. "I spent a long time trying to make sense of this brash, impulsive, loner boy that tried to take on everything on his own,"

"He taught me not just to survive, but what it meant to live, to treasure each day I had the privilege to see; I love him because he shared the same beautiful world he lived in with me," Asuna squeezed my hands. "Any day, one of us could've died, that scared me so much before and after I told him, and yet, I couldn't regret a moment I was with him, everyday, even if I didn't understand what tomorrow would bring, was a boundless gift,"

Hearing this, I think I get it now... the strange bond she and Kirito shared, it made sense, they were lovers born from adversity and common respect, they found fondness from what the other experienced and shared that. It's like a bond with a family member but... different, and unknown.

"Yuuki, when you think of Malzeno, what do you feel?" Siune asked me next, and I glanced to her, then back to my hands curled in Asuna's.

"...that he's an idiot, he always wants to cause trouble and actively pokes holes in everyone," I admitted, sniffing as a silly smile tugged at my lips. "...but he's insecure like I am; he feels responsible for so much that's out of his control. But he's fearless too, shrugging off danger with a smile, but he's kind, and warm, and cu..." I blushed darker. "...cute..."

They, of course, giggled at that, making my mortified state worse. "Even if it's only for a short time... do you want to be with him?" Asuna asked in a whisper. I nodded. "Do you want to spend more time with him?" Again, I bowed my head to her. "Do you love him?"

Love...

The word made my eyes widen a little. I wasn't one to jump straight to admitting that two people can be 'in love' in such a short space of time. But, that feeling was different for everyone. For Asuna and Kirito, it was over two years that bloomed. For others, it could've been months. And me? I've... never loved anyone like that, I did find a lot of things about Malzeno attractive, but did I love him?

"'I want to be with him forever',"I repeated that line to myself. I said it so plainly that it never registered. Thinking on it, lately, my heart just keeps going crazy around him for no reason, he didn't even need to be visible to me for that to happen. "...I..."

Love...

Three months is all I may have left, I desperately want more time. But, to do that, I'd have to fight tooth and nail against a disease that's ravaged my body, I might not be able to in this stage of my life. But he never would give up, would he? He's fighting all the same to give me that reason to live. And... I think he did.

Wiping my tears away, I was still a blushing mess when I met Asuna's ocean-blue eyes with crimson. And I said it so earnestly. "...I do... more than anything,"

Siune and Nori smiled at me, although I was still in deep thought over it. I wasn't sure entirely if it was, but I kinda hope it is. I just pray I can have enough time to figure it out.

And I wanted to fight to tell him that too someday.

[To Be Continued...]

[Author's Notes]

And she finally admits it! I feel Yuuki's reaction is pretty tame, she doesn't actually say the words but it's heavily implied she might very well have strong romantic feelings. Again, this is a girl who has kept everyone, bar the Sleeping Knights, at arm's length, even they don't have every answer to Yuuki.

So, what will happen between the Absolute Sword and Absolute Jackass? Well, we'll see, hehehe. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support; seeya in the next chapter, players!