SAO (FanFictions)

Issho ni Itai

Asuna shivered. Despite the fact that she wore only the plain white undergarments enforced by Sword Art Online's «Ethics Code», it wasn't from the cold; the fireplace on the far end of her room was activated and radiated a comforting warmth that she could feel on her exposed skin. It was fake, of course-like everything else in this world, it was simulated by the game engine; the heat was an artificial sensation transmitted to her brain by the Nerve Gear her real body wore. She knew this intellectually, but although the fidelity of the simulations in SAO varied from detail to detail, the simulation of temperature was indistinguishable from the real thing.

No, what raised goose bumps on her skin and sent an involuntary shiver rippling through her was the touch of the person sitting beside her on the edge of the bed as he reached over and brushed a few locks of chestnut-brown hair away from her cheek, allowing him to see her face and the blush rising there.

It was such a light, tentative touch; for all of Kirito's frightening competence at swordplay and survival, it was easy to forget that he was just a boy her age-possibly even younger. As she turned to look at him, her eyes met his, and she saw on his face that same gentle smile that she'd fallen in love with so long ago. She reached up and caught his hand, pressing it to her cheek as she closed her eyes and leaned her head into the touch.

"Is this... is this okay?" he asked, his voice betraying his nervousness.

Opening her eyes, Asuna looked back up at him with a smile and a fleeting touch of amusement in her expression. She'd misunderstood him earlier when he asked to spend the night with her-he'd only meant that he didn't want to be apart from her, that he wanted to stay in the same room. She'd been angry when she found out how wrong she was, but she knew the anger was mostly borne of embarrassment.

But out of that confusion had come the truth: she did want to spend the night with him, in every sense of the phrase. They hadn't spoken of love after their near-death experience that day, but she knew it was there-knew it as surely as she knew anything else in her life. She'd promised to protect him, and he'd offered her his life-and the kiss they'd shared afterwards had communicated everything that needed to be said.

Well... almost everything.

He'd asked her a question, and she was still staring silently into his eyes. She could see the worry begin to seep into his face, a concern that perhaps they'd misunderstood each other yet again-even though they were alone in her house, sitting on her bed in their underwear. So in lieu of words, she took his hand that she'd pressed to her cheek, and moved it down to rest upon her breast instead. As his eyes widened, she heard a sound that was almost like a choked-off gasp as his breath caught in his throat, and she simply nodded once.

Without taking her hand from his, Asuna reached up with her other and opened her game menu. Her hand trembled as she scrolled down and went into her «Settings» menu, touching a well-hidden option that she'd never even tried selecting before, not even when she was alone. A soft chime sounded in her ear when she answered Yes to the confirmation dialog, and for the first time in her two years in the virtual world of Aincrad, she felt the touch of air on parts of her body that had always previously been covered. She felt another touch as well; as soon as her bra disappeared with an electronic shimmer, Kirito's hand was on her skin there, resting on the firm curve of her breast. She sucked in a breath sharply at the heat of that touch, a flush rising to her face, and she looked over at Kirito with her lips parted slightly. He looked almost frightened by what had just transpired and the way she'd reacted to it, so she gave him a soft smile to show that it was okay, and leaned towards him.

When their lips met, everything else in the room disappeared. The Death Game of SAO vanished from her awareness, as did the lingering fears from earlier in the day and any concern for where this night might lead them. She knew where it was going, and that was what she wanted-and more than anything at that moment, she wanted his lips to never leave hers. Her skin burned where it touched his, heat moving across her back as he wrapped his arms around her and on her chest where it pressed against him. She let out a soft sound from deep in her throat and opened her mouth to him, tongue tentatively searching until it touched his for a moment before darting back in as his kiss moved to her cheek and then her neck.