Sword Art Online - Kirigaya Love Affair

Chapter 4

It was difficult for Suguha to go to sleep that night. How could she when all she could think of was her dear brother?

What happened to you, Kazuto? Who were you fighting?

Questions kept floating through her head as she lay in her bed.

She wasn't sure when, but she had drifted off. When she finally woke up, she looked at her clock to see it was past noon and well passed her usual time to wake up.

With a groan, she got out of her bed, still thinking about Kazuto.

She was thinking so deeply about him that she didn't even realize when she bumped into his back.

Startled, he jumped back and turned around, putting one hand up in a defensive position while the other reached behind his head.

They looked at each other with wide eyes before they recognized each other.

"Oh, uh. Sugu..." he spoke nervously. "I thought you were out practicing your kendo already..."

She kept looking at him, noting his expression... he seemed almost disappointed to see her...

Were you trying to avoid me? She recalled how before he was trapped in SAO, he would be careful not to run into her, even in their own home.

She was certain that he was avoiding her all over again.

"I got up late," she said emotionlessly, unable to believe that he would do such a thing again.

"...Oh, that's too bad..." he responded as he turned away.

She noticed that he was fully dressed up, wearing a fully black attire with his pants, shirt and jacket all of the same dark colour.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked him. Are you going to visit her?

"I have a checkup today," he informed her without turning around.

"I can come with you," she offered. She tried to keep the desperation out of her voice, but it was difficult when she knew that he was avoiding her again.

"Sorry," he apologized. She felt her heart shatter. "But you have to practice your kendo today."

He turned to her with a somewhat forced smile. "You asked me to make sure you aren't slacking, remember?"

Blinking her vacant eyes a few times, she recalled exactly what he was referring to. It was a promise from a long time ago, from before she lost him to SAO. It was one of the few proper conversations they had back then.

"Right... I don't mind skipping it if it's for you..."

He smiled at her. Hesitantly he raised his hand and brought it close to her, but he stopped before making contact with the top of her head.

With a smile, she brought her head into his palm, letting him pet her head gently.

"Don't worry about me," he assured her. "You just worry about yourself."

I always worry about you.

She puffed out her cheeks to show that she was annoyed but decided to let it slide for now.

"Fiiiine," she whined.

Despite his body language telling her otherwise, she accompanied him to the door.

She noted his movements; they betrayed nothing about his mental state.

As he put on his shoes, she noticed that he would occasionally glance at her nervously from the corner of his eyes.