Sword Art Online: Faithful Hymn

Chapter 11: The SAO Survivor School

Only a bunch of minutes have passed since almost everyone in the cafeteria was staring at Shoji and Yuna. It appears that Yuna's presence, as well as her difference in uniform caught quite the attention. Not only did the two of them get a bunch of attention gifted to them, two well-known SAO players also received their attention.

"Your name is Ruby? That's a cool name!", says Lisbeth to Yuna. It didn't really feel right to give Yuna a different name for the people she meets from now on, but it might be the only solution to hide the fact she shares the exact same traits Yuuna did back in Sword Art Online. Since both Lisbeth and the smaller girl next to her, Silica, obviously are SAO survivors, they might recognize Yuna's appearance. Since she really has a lot in common with Yuuna, they might remember her from all the way back in SAO.

"Thanks! Lisbeth is a nice name too!', Yuna responds to the brown-haired girl. "Oh please, you can call me Liz! By the way, Ruby is not a Japanese name at all. Where are you from?" If Yuna wouldn't be able to respond properly at Lisbeth's question, it could definitely blow her cover. So instead of Yuna who answers that question, Shoji quickly intervenes with their discussion before Yuna even gets the chance to say anything.

"Ruby is originally from the United States, but she and her parents moved to Japan for their work here. She took a break from the school she is on, but since she felt quite bored she wanted to tag along with me today.", Shoji tells the two girls sitting in front of him and Yuna. Yuna appears to be quite amazed by the interpretation he just gave the two. Was he able to tell such a lie out of nowhere or did he prepare for a question like this? After his explanation, Silica speaks up.

"Are you from a wealthy family? You really do look like a prosperous person!", asks Silica, as well as complimenting Yuna. With Yuna's head getting a little red, she responds with her usual charming voice. "Well, I guess you could say that. And yeah, I definitely feel prosperous and lucky to have such a nice friend as Shoji here!", tells Yuna to the Dragon Tamer-titled girl. Shoji truly feels satisfied by Yuna's answer. As a reward, he caresses Yuna's back to make her feel better. With Yuna's explanation though, Lisbeth remembered why Shoji was so unwitnessed in the first place.

"By the way Shoji, you were quite unnoticed at school due to terrible events back in SAO right?", Lisbeth asked. Since Shoji isn't fully recovered from his trauma from back in SAO however, he stays silent as well as looking downwards instead to the two girls. Yuna, who understands what Shoji is feeling, holds him while looking quite furious at Lisbeth for her question about it. "Shoji may seem better, but he hasn't recovered from his trauma. Why would you remind him?!", Yuna asks Lisbeth who has clearly become angry. Silica also looks at Lisbeth with a disappointed face. It seems obvious that Lisbeth does not really know how to it feels to lose someone you love. Silica however, has experienced this kind of thing before. While it was not really a permanent loss, she saw her pet dragon, Pina, get killed in front of her while it saved Silica from the verge of death.

"I'm sorry, that's not how I meant it! I mean that I am very happy for you that you feel a lot better because of your new friend here! That's why Silica and I reached out to you, because of that trust you put in her!", Lisbeth says to both Shoji and Yuna.

Trust, Shoji is way too familiar with that word. It's the reason why he reached out to Tetsuhiro in the first place. In order to make yourself feel better, you first have to believe that you can succeed in it. You have to trust yourself in doing so. Barely able to hold back his tears, he looks forward again, looking at both Lisbeth and Silica.

"Yes, that's right. It's because of Ruby that I was able to find happiness in life again..."

Yuna, who is definitely pleased with Shoji's answer, holds him tighter than ever before. Lisbeth and Silica both found his reaction beautiful, almost having to release a tear from their eyes.

BRRRRRING

A noisy school bell can be heard, meaning that it's time to wrap up lunch in order to attend the following class. When both Lisbeth and Silica say their goodbyes, Shoji knows it's time for Yuna and himself to attend the next class.

"Shoji, do you know what class we have to attend now?", Yuna asks him. Shoji' who appears to have no idea, quickly checks his phone. After a couple of seconds he knows the answer to her question. "Geography, somewhere on the upper floor.", says Shoji to the white haired idol. The tone Shoji uses to say Geography isn't the most enthusiastic one, implying that he isn't too much of a fan of it. With everyone else leaving the cafeteria, it's time for them to depart as well.

30 minutes later

"And, also not interested in this subject?", asks Shoji Yuna after she is close to falling asleep. Yuna, who lays the upper part of her body on the table the two of them share, opens an eye while looking at Shoji. "Ugh, how do you survive this boredom?", wonders Yuna. It indeed is difficult to survive a boring lesson from a boring teacher. The teacher, who is rather old compared to other teachers in the school, talks very slowly and has a monotonous voice that wouldn't catch anyone's attention. What Yuna doesn't know though, is that many people find their shed of enjoyment from their phones during class. Even though it's not allowed, almost everyone around them does it. The only thing that was intriguing in the last 30 minutes, was Yuna's introduction to everyone as Ruby. With most eyes upon Yuna during the last 30 minutes, she is used to the idea of many people watching her and thus she wouldn't feel that awkward about it anymore.

"Here, check this out.", says Shoji to Yuna who reveals his phone, showing the idol a funny image. It's regarding their teacher, and the image says:

Million Dollar Question: Which of the following happens most during a day of teaching?

A: Your lesson is interrupted

B: You notice that students are doing anything except paying attention

C: Students ask if they can go to the bathroom

D: You have to warn people to shut their mouths

Yuna has trouble to maintain her laughter after seeing the image, resulting in her having to softly laugh. "Whahahah", is what her laughter sounded like. The teacher immediately got his attention caught, pausing the presentation he is giving about the average life in Mexico. The man looks at Yuna with an unpleasant face.

"What's so funny back there?", he asks. Yuna, who has no idea what to respond, falls into silence. Shoji however backs her up, saying: "There was a bird outside who seemed to dance or something like that.". It took a while for Shoji to come up with that excuse, as there is nothing much in class that is laughable at the moment.

"Well, pay attention to the presentation. It's important information for the upcoming test.", says the teacher. Shoji and Yuna who aren't that impressed by his suggestion, continue to watch memes on Shoji's phone after the teacher continues with his presentation. This goes on until the end of the lesson.

After Geography has ended, Shoji's most appealing lesson of the whole day would begin. He is very excited for it, and he can almost be certain that Yuna is too..