War For Underworld

The Emperor's Tale

"You know, we're only going to Kyoto for a night, Koharu. Why did you pack so much?"

My new girlfriend and longtime partner in crime glares at me with scrutiny as I open her velvet suitcase to see the contents inside. I've been told once before in another world that my eyes turned from brown to red when I'm angry, but Koharu Honda's green orbs are not filled with envy. "You wouldn't understand how much a girl needs to pack."

I hold up four separate colors and types of bras, which only adds to her annoyance. "Explain this then."

"Choices. I never know which one I'd want to wear. Put them back!"

"Okay..." I drop them back in the case and zip it up, but without adding my opinion. "I like the purple one. Purple suits you well." I reference her Alfheim Online avatar, an Imp (she chose them because two of their special abilities, running on walls and night vision, reminded her of the Acrobatic and Enhanced Vision skills she had in SAO) and also the purple t-shirt she wears now.

"Dummy." The black-haired girl rolls her eyes and pats the space on her bed beside her. I get up of the floor and jump on the bed. As I fall back, I grab Koharu by the waist and pull her down. She screams and laughs as she settles on top of me, connecting our foreheads and nose tips. "Hey. I can't wait to meet your father."

""Top 10 Things A Guy Doesn't Want To Her From His Girlfriend.' I think that ranks number two. Number one is inviting Kazuto and Asuna to come with us."

"C'mon, I said I was sorry, and I'm serious. I owe him a lot from helping Mr. Kikuoka wake me up. You do too."

She is right. My father and my family's company worked with Kikuoka and Rath during last summer on an operation codenamed Project Artificial Labile Intelligent Cybernated Existence--ALICE for short. That project's main function is the production of a bottom-up artificial intelligence, but the lieutenant colonel managed to use it for medicinal purposes. Koharu and our friend Kazuto Kirigaya were both helped by the Soul Translator units and being present in the Underworld. I don't know how much involvement my father had, because though I personally helped with Project ALICE once summer break began, I never encountered Koharu until she dived down with Asuna Yuuki into the Underworld during the Final Load Test, known as the War of Underworld to me.

It's been around a month since Kazuto, Asuna, myself, and the Fluctlight we saved, coincidently named Alice, last ventured to the Underworld. There, we met descendants of people we knew from two hundred years prior and some of our accomplishments in the two century timeframe we were stuck under maximum acceleration at the war's end. Since Rath is now under RoboTelligence's control, I do have some permission to return, and I have a great desire to do so, but two reasons keep me from doing so.

One, I don't want to go without Kazuto, Asuna, and Alice. In my mind, it's only fair they come with me.

The second, whenever I think of the Underworld, there's a deep feeling of regret in my heart, centered on one of my friends there. She's long dead at this point, I've met her descendant, yet there's something that continues to hit my soul whenever I see her red hair and blue eyes in my head. And when I think of her, I think of the other woman I met there and who still remains there today.

Her grey hair and red eyes make me feel more guilt, not the same source as the first girl. The second girl and I spent most if not the entire two hundred years together, but I have no memories of that time. When I met her again, even though nothing was ever said, I could tell she was searching for the person she spent those years with. I don't know exactly what happened, but I can infer because both women had feelings for me--well, the me that was there, and I do remember who I decided. I remember the exact wording.