what is real anymore?

chapter four: Kirito

I groaned as the sunlight burned through the window. Rolling over, I brought the blanket over my head, trying to get more sleep.

'Hmm,' I thought happily, 'I've never felt more alive than I do here in Aincrad. It was just two days ago that Yui woke me up to eat breakfast.'

My involuntary smile immediately fell at the thought of Yui. Yes, she wasn't dead, but she was gone. Not to mention that she was technically deleted in front of us, but I wouldn't let them take her from us forever. I had to save her, so I saved her to my Nerve Gear helmet.

It would be hard to continue life in Aincrad without Yui. All that was left of her were our memories and a small blue gem; her heart.

I felt more alive here, I had known that much since day one, but I would have to return back to the real world one day, so I could see Yui again.

My time in SAO was slowly coming to a stop, Asuna made me realize that harsh reality: none of us had much longer. We were all fading away in hospital rooms, slowly dying. With 25 floors left, it seemed unlikely that the game would be completed before we all die out, but I had to have hope that I would make it out of here alive with Asuna... and our two twins now. Although, if it turns out that they can't leave, I could always save them onto the Nerve Gear, and Asuna and I could raise them virtually until I developed technology that could bring them into the real world.

I sighed, and got out of bed, it would do me no good to stay in bed thinking my situation over. It would only make me depressed, and I didn't want to be that way around Asuna.

My stomach growled, and I found myself walking into the kitchen. I opened the fridge, and looked for something that I could cook. Unfortunately, my cooking level was too low to be able to make anything edible.

"This sucks," I said, groaning.

That's when I noticed the plate of food on the counter, along with a note that Asuna had left:

Kirito, I went grinding on floor 70, don't worry, I'll be fine. Take care of the twins, okay? I should be back soon!
-Asuna

I sighed, not knowing whether to be grateful for the meal, or angry at the fact that she went out putting herself in danger without me there to watch her.

I ate quickly, as I usually did, and messaged Klein to come over. He arrived in ten minutes, and the twins were still fast asleep.

"Hey, Kirito, you in there?" He yelled from the porch.

"Yeah, come on in, the door's unlocked."

He opened the door, and stepped inside, "Hey bud, what's up?"

"Asuna went grinding without me," I said, sighing.

A smile broke out on his face, "I'm sure she's fine. She's Asuna of the KOB guild!"

"No, no. I'm not worried about her, I'm worried that she left me here alone with the twins," I responded, groaning.

"Oh yeah, you did say something about twins last night, so who's the other one?"

"A girl, Kokoro. She's sleeping right now."

"Cute name."

"Yeah, Asuna named both of them. I was too shocked, but she told me these two names as if she had been expecting them."