S.A.O Project Alicization - OC/Male Reader Insert

Project Alicization ----- Chapter Seventeen

March 372 HE, Underworld Human Realm
-----------------------------

The air had a certain scent.

That was the first thing I noticed, through the fragmented thoughts I had just before awakening.

The air coming into my nostrils brought a wealth of information. The smell of sweet flowers. The smell of fresh grass. The bracing, cleansing smell of trees. The tempting smell of water to a parched throat.

Next I focused on my hearing and was overwhelmed by an instant deluge of sound: The rustling of countless leaves. The cheerful twittering of songbirds. The soft hum of insect wings. The distant trickling of a creek.

Where was I? Certainly not in my home. There were none of the usual features of waking there, like the sunny smell of dried sheets, the AC's dehumidifier's growl, or the distant traffic over on the Kawagoe Bypass. Plus, the shifting patterns of green light on my eyelids weren't coming from the reading light I forgot to turn off, but from the shade of branches.

I pushed aside the lingering temptation of sleep and opened my eyes.

Countless bits of light leaped into my sight, and I blinked rapidly. I had to lift the back of my hand to rub at the welling tears, and I sat up.

"...Where am I...?" I wondered.

The first thing I saw was clumps of light-green grass. Little white and yellow flowers appeared here and there, and brilliant pale-blue butterflies wandered among them. The carpet of grass ended just fifteen feet ahead, replaced by a thick forest of gnarled, decades-old trees.

I squinted into the gloom among the trunks, but as far as the light allowed me to see, the trees continued. The flowing, textured bark and ground were covered in thick moss that shone golden-green where the sunlight caught it.

Next I glanced to the right, then rotated my entire body. The ancient trees greeted me in every direction. Apparently I had fallen asleep in a little grassy opening in the middle of the forest. Lastly, I looked up and saw, among the reaching branches all around, blue sky and trails of white.

"Where...am I?" I wondered aloud again. No one answered.

No matter how hard I tried to remember, I had no memory of coming to a place like this and taking a nap. Was it sleepwalking? Amnesia? I shook my head to dispel the disturbing possibilities.

My name was Shi Saiko. Age Fifteen and eight months. Living in Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture with my sister near my friend Kazuto Kirigiaya.

The easy recollection of that personal data brought me some relief, so I reached for more.

I was in my first year of high school. The last Monday of June-it had been raining. After class, I went to Agil's Dicey Café in the Okachimachi neighborhood to talk with my friends Sinon-Shino Asada-, Asuna Yuuki, and my best friend and brother figure Kazuto, also known as Kirito.

"Asuna..."

I heard a voice and turned to see a familiar black-haired boy who looks to be completely unconscious,.

I took one look at him and tried to remember how we got here.

Struck by a sudden loneliness, I continued my recollection.

Kirito, Asuna and I said good-bye to Sinon and got on a train. We took the Ginza Line subway to Shibuya, then got on the Setagaya Line that would take us to Asuna's neighborhood.

When we got off, the rain had stopped. We walked down the brick sidewalk, talking about college. Kirito revealed that he was thinking of going to school in America and made a desperate plea for Asuna to join him. And then.....