Heart Stitches ([SAO] Alice x [Female] Reader]

Chapter 25: Rotating cycle

As the main heroes began their journey towards the world tree, AKA Yggdrasil, another accompanied them.

After the small encounter of the slightly concerning Sylph friend of Leafa and real life named Recon, once they set off on their journey, it turns out Nova too was also aiming for Yggdrasil, so this will definitely be fun.

As the city of Swilvane ceased to only a mere dot behind them, they reached the forest floor of one just in front of mountains that stood between them and the center of the entire game world.

But due to how the monsters in the sky stalled their flying duration til they had to stop and land, that's the time they decided to put everything on hold. Once Alice's feet touched the ground after a long period of time of them becoming numb from cold air and not using it for hours, she collapsed.

Well, she was supposed to, until Nova caught her by her collar from behind as if he was standing there this whole time. He gently pulls her back up on her feet and even opens his arms out slightly for her to hold as Alice found her balance after a while.

She sighs in relief, looking up at Nova. Their eyes lock for a moment before Nova looked away with a look of disbelief and anxiety, but Alice almost missed it when she spoke.

"Arigato Nova-Kun"
"Doitashimashite.."

He gently shakes his arms off her grip and walks off and sits on one of the scattered groups of small patches of grass, leaving Alice in confusion and suspicion.

For a moment, she has mistaken that disbelief for fear, so her suspicions definitely grew larger than a while ago that it no longer just lingered at the back of her mind. Though, his tone sounded so familiar to her that her suspicious thoughts of him drifted away.

She was half convinced he sounded just like someone she once knew, and we all know who she's been thinking about, right? This made Alice sit down in slight disappointment that were made from her thoughts of (Y/N), looking down at her hands she interlocked together.

She squeezes them tighter, before looking up at the group.

"Will it be okay if I log out first?"

She spoke without a thought, earning everyone's eyes and ears before Eugeo leans back on his arms that he stretched out behind him with a small smile.

"Yeah, Leafa will too, so having our guards up when she's not around is enough for us to protect you too"

Alice scoffed silently with a small smirk, before she opened her menu and waves to Eugeo and Kirito. She looks at the back of Nova's head that was facing right at her a few feet away, her smirk ceasing to a small frown before she logged off with his practically white head of hair last in sight.

She opens her eyes to meet the familiar bedroom ceiling above of her, finding the need to stretch out her hand at it. She opens her palm widely and reaches out as if it was something else she's picturing, but like what life has done, it was just out of reach, just far enough where she lost, her.

She slowly brings her hand back onto her chest, grasping the center of her shirt in that hand as wild thoughts wondered once more.

She eventually got up before her thoughts overwhelmed her too much, taking off her Amusphere before she would pull it's plug off the outlet by keeping it on for too long that the cable pulled away with her.