Sword Art Online - Kirigaya Love Affair

Chapter 8

Quite some time has passed ever since Suguha had made her resolve.

Unfortunately, by this point, she has made little progress on getting Kazuto to open up... or even for her to express her feelings...

Carefully observing him, his routine was hardly different from any average teenage boy.

He hardly left the house other than to build his body back up at the gym while she was at school, otherwise they would be at the house at the same times. The only time he did leave while she was at home was when he went for a single doctor's appointment which he insisted on going alone again.

He'd spend hours on his computer.

For some reason, she found him in the dojo, practicing some movements that he must have seen from her. They were advanced kendo moves, so he couldn't have been practicing what he used to learn all those years ago.

I wonder how much he actually watches me train, she thought bashfully.

When she first found him there, she was able to convince him to participate in another kendo match with her, which she handily won.

Seriously, what is up with those weird poses?

At this point, it was easier for her to duel with him than it was to hold a conversation with him without her turning into a stuttering mess.

He'd act like a total househusband with his insistence that he does most of the cooking.

Throughout it all, he was far friendlier than he had been before SAO, but he was still so distant...

"So tonight I'll confront him directly!" she said to no one at all.

In spite of joking that Kazuto had no friends, Suguha herself was alone when it came to this, as there was nobody she could talk to about what was going on.

She hardly trusted any of her school friends with a secret of this magnitude.

Forget the moral ambiguity of it all, she couldn't even talk to them about love.

Her mother?

...No... no way in hell could she talk about this with her...

Although, regarding her mother, strangest thing is, recently Kazuto has been going out of his way to greet her whenever she got back home. It was not only strange for a boy his age to care for his parent, but especially for Kazuto to do so.

Back to the subject of who she could talk to, eliminating them, ironically that would've left only Kazuto himself to talk to. After all, before they had trusted each other with some secrets...

...Of course now, he was her big secret.

"MMMMM," she let out a guttural sound.

She was so nervous!

She kept telling herself that she'll go "now", continuously... Which she repeated for an hour.

"I can't," she moaned as she lay in her bed.

I'd probably just make him feel bad again and we'll end up where we started...

She closed her eyes to think as a thousand different scenarios played out in her head.

You need to have courage, A voice seemed to speak to her. Please, for him.

"Courage, huh?" she repeated aloud.

She recalled what Kazuto had said after their kendo match. She let out a small scoff as she smiled bitterly.

"I'm the one who has no courage."

As she lay there quietly, there was almost no sound around...

And then she thought she heard something... or rather her special someone.

It was barely a whisper, but she was certain that she heard someone say 'Sugu'.

That helped her shake off her reservations.

She immediately got up and darted to Kazuto's room.

Her hand was on the handle to his door, but she stopped before turning it. Somehow she knew that she would be horrified by what she would see when she entered.

I have to! For Kazuto!

With a firm hand, she turned the handle.

She gently opened the door...

And as soon as she turned to his bed, she felt all of the strength leave her body.

For a second, she had a flashback to a horrifying sight from a year ago.

Looking to the corner of his room, she saw Kazuto laying on his bed... and on his head was that damned machine which took him away from her! The «NerveGear»!

"No... No... No..." she cried desperately.

Before she knew it, she was at his bed, looking down on his supine figure.

"Maybe he's just playing another game," she tried to rationalize. "Maybe he's just in ALO..."

But she couldn't bring herself to believe that.

To her, the NerveGear was an evil device which took family away. If he was using it then...

...Why Kazuto...?

Suddenly, she noticed a white rectangle on his chest - A folded piece of paper.

With shaking hands, she gently picked it up. Despite the darkness, she was able to make out what was written in messy handwriting on the front of the paper:

[To My Family]

Kazuto...

Slowly, she stepped over to his desk and turned on the lamp he had.

In the now illuminated area, she carefully unfolded the letter and read his typed-out message.

***

Dear Sugu, Mom, Dad.

If you're reading this, then my plan has worked.

I'm sorry that you have to find out like this, but I know that you would have stopped me if I had admitted what I was planning. After all, nobody, not even the people who I'm looking for, would approve of what I'm doing.

I'm trying to go back into the SAO server to find my friends.

The truth is, this is probably pointless and even if I successfully logged in, nothing would change... But if there's even the smallest chance of making up for what I've done I have to take it.

All I can say is, please don't worry about me, I'll be back for sure.

I love you all so much... my beloved family...

I'm sorry. Thank you. Goodbye.

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