Time Of Our Lives; Kirisuna

Chapter 67: Motivation

Kirito POV:

As I arrived at the empty school courtyard, the sports festival was bound to be at its climax by now, but at the moment it didn't matter.

I looked around the empty space when the sound of footsteps brushing past the grass from behind me caught my attention. I turned to face the man, who proposed to meet here.

"You're early. I thought you'd at least see the festival through till the end."

Satoru strode toward me, closing the distance between the two of us to only about one meter.

"I felt it best to show up early. Besides, my performance earlier was more than enough."

"Indeed. You came in first place in all your events, if I'm not mistaken. Your class should take at least second place. "

So he'd been observing me since we separated from the 200-meter sprint? I didn't see him, though.

I was once again shown the gravity of the situation. I had to get rid of this man before things took a turn for the worse.

"Answer me. You're Shiro's partner, aren't you?"

I was confident in my---no, Argo's assessment. Seeing the state she was in, even if she hadn't told me I would've come to the same conclusion.

Satoru closed his eyes, raised his head to the sky, and breathed in a long, deep breath.

"You know, I've always imagined what it'd be like. When you found out, I mean." He opened his eyes and faced me, "I'm guessing Argo's not in a coma then?"

His tone was so casual that one would confuse this as an everyday conversation. This ticked me off, but I maintained my composure. Losing my cool here would be to his advantage.

"I arrived just in time. Did you do it personally? Or did you have someone else do your dirty work?"

"There are some things better handled personally, after all. She dug too deep so she was bound to fall."

Argo must've found something that forced his hand. I decided against asking her since I wanted her to focus on recovering, but it seemed I didn't have a choice.

"Oh, don't worry. Feel free to ask her. You might even be surprised with what you'll find." Satoru said, reading my train of thought, "I felt it'd be a shame when you would've out either way so consider her condition as payment."

"I'll do that."

A brief silence passed us. Even without words, we understood each other well. Or maybe not. I had known him for more than a year, but I had only just discovered his true nature.

The silence was broken however when an announcement came from the sports field on the other side of the school.

[The festival will end in 5 minutes. Students, please finish your events.]

While it was faint, Sinon's voice could be heard clearly from where we were.

"We should head back. You got your confirmation, didn't you?"

He proceeded to turn around and walk away, but I wasn't finished with him just yet.

"Before that... Why?"

He came to a halt but didn't face me.

"Why?"

"Why are you doing this?" I clarified, "As far as I remember, I've never met nor known anyone named Katagiri."

After a few seconds of silence, he gave me an answer that took me off guard. 

"You're not my target." He said.