Mysterious Guardian

1. A Heartbreak

"W-What?" Asuna stuttered, not knowing what to feel at the moment.

"I-I'm breaking up with you, Asuna," the black-haired teenage student standing in front of her spoke in a nervous tone. He rubbed his nape and took a huge gulp.

"I-I'm sorry," he looked at Asuna in her eyes and his next words only left Asuna broken,

"I don't love you anymore," His words were more than a thousand knives hitting her, it was more painful than that. She felt abandoned, weak and her heart was broken. Asuna couldn't believe her words but Kirito's expression convinced her that she heard the right thing.

The man she fell in loved with for three years, the man she could all think about for three years, the man she wished to marry and grow old with, just broke up with her, saying he doesn't love her anymore.

Kirito's words left her speechless that she couldn't even answer. Kirito only sighed, gave one more apology and left Asuna in the dimly lighted street.

That was the moment Asuna moved, but only one footstep back as her hands flew to cover her mouth. She felt hot liquids dripping from her face. She leaned on a wall and even if she wanted to cry aloud, she couldn't.

She had to hold it in and cry internally, then began asking herself.

What did she do wrong? Did she miss something? Wasn't she enough for him? Or... was she too much? Did she depend on Kirito too much that he felt burdened and decided to end their relationship?

She needed an explanation. She needed a reason but it was never given.

Asuna's shaky legs led her to drop on the cold ground. She was lucky it was late at night, so no one can see her in her broken state. 

Asuna clenched her fist, bit her lip and screamed, not aloud, but internally.

What went wrong?

- : - : - : - : -

It's been four months since that happened. Everyone heard about it and everyone knows about it. The black swordsman and the lightning flash are no longer together.

Klein, Agil and the others asked Kirito why he broke up with her but all he said is that he needed time. But Asuna didn't understand this, time for what?

The girls tried comforting and cheering  Asuna up and the comfort works but the cheering up? Nothing worked.

They also noticed how this greatly affected Asuna. She was mostly offline in ALO, she rarely joined the girl's hangout, she would sometimes be absent in school too and they noticed how she rarely eat.

Suguha was mad but she knew the break-up wasn't only affecting Asuna but also her brother. She also did try talking to Kirito alone but the black swordsman wouldn't tell any reasons why he did what he did.

After class, Asuna quickly heads home without waiting for the others. She stepped inside her home, took off her shoes and lifelessly yelled,

"I'm home..." and got no response in return. She slowly walked towards the stairs leading to her room but stopped when she saw the half-opened door of the dining area. She took a peek and saw her mother busily typing on her computer and her father talking on the phone.

She let out a deep and painful sigh, then went up to her room. She locked the door, dropped her bag on the floor and let herself freely fall on her bed. Remembering it again, made her curl herself up, hugging herself tightly and cried silently.

She hated crying because of it, besides it's been four months, but either way, she couldn't help it. It still hurts.

Asuna wanted to reach out, to talk to her girl friends but every time she stood in front of them, her lips zip unconsciously. But most of the time, she was scared or nervous to speak. Like, being silent was something she was now used to, something she now loved.

Asuna wiped her tears away. She slowly looked up and saw her AmuSphere. She slowly got up, decided to plug her AmuSphere and lay comfortably in her bed. She put on her AmuSphere, shut her eyes and sighed deeply.

"Link Start!"

She got logged in to ALO and found herself in the log house. Luckily, no one logged in yet. She gulped, trying not to cry and flew away. Asuna travelled to an island, north of Panareze, and settled there.

Yes, she travelled on the island where she last saw her late best friend, Konno Yuuki.

She touched the tree with her hand and closed her eyes. Memories began to flash, all about her late friend. She tried not to cry again and sat down, leaning on the tree.

Until the moonrise, Asuna stayed there. Simply looking up at the sky, watching the clouds move, the birds fly and feeling the breeze of the wind.

As she gazes at the thousand twinkling stars, she remembered that time she stargazed with Kirito and Yui.

"D-Damn it," she said as she scolded herself for remembering her little family.

Yui. Speaking of her, she also didn't take the situation lightly. She was heartbroken and two days after she heard the news, she disappeared. Asuna was worried at first but through Kirito's access to the game, he was able to find out that she still exists in the game, but just disconnected herself from the world for a while. She will come back whenever she's ready and wanted to.

Asuna dropped her head and couldn't help but cry again. Realizing, how she was alone, she screamed the big question,

"WHY?!?!" she said frustratingly. Her hands went to her chest, feeling her heart feel that same sharp pain. She began hitting herself lightly, not having enough strength to really hurt herself.

"Why... why..." the clouds cleared and the moon, which was once being covered by it, shone brightly, causing Asuna to look up.

She sniffled and wish upon the stars with tears still streaming down her face,

"S-Someone... help me..." she said— no, she begged.

"Someone... keep me away from remembering..." she got up and although her body was shaking, she gathered all strength she had and cried out,

"Someone keep me away from the memory!"

Then a star twinkled brightly.

And without Asuna realizing, someone was actually watching her.

The mysterious player eyed her closely, let out an intense sigh and muttered,

"Sorry... Asuna..."