A/N: yep I know I am so freaking late on my update (as always) I even missed a month…anyway to make up for it I am going to make this chapter 4000 words, that's the length of two of my average chapters so I hope you enjoy it and aren't mad at my inability to be on time.
Just to let you know, updating my stories may become a little harder for me to pull off frequently, I just started college. But fear not, I will continue writing. My updates just might become even slower…
Onward to chapter four my friends!
Chapter 4: Awkward Situations and Very Bad Timing
Kazuto had been moping all week.
Asuna was at a loss about what to do about it, at first she didn't even know why…but she quickly figured it out when she heard the now common occasion of Kazuto grumbling about parties and family.
Of course she didn't see what the big deal was, in actuality she would have cried in happiness if her family insisted on her being present to…well, anything really.
But it seemed Kazuto found such a thing horrendous and worthy of avoiding at all costs…
His family couldn't possibly be that bad…
Right?
"Kirito, won't you stop pacing for five minutes at the very least?" Asuna called as she watched him make his way back and forth throughout the whole house over and over again. She was getting tired just by watching him.
Kazuto paused for a moment to peer at Asuna from her perch on the couch; she smiled sweetly and patted the spot next to her.
"Why don't you come, sit down?" She called as he continued to stare at her for a moment more before shaking his head and starting to pace again.
Asuna huffed in annoyance, "Come on Kazuto, it's just one little party. It will be fun!"
"Asuna, you don't know my family…"
"I'm about to get to know them when we set out tomorrow." She answered patiently, "They can't be that bad, I know bad Kazuto…trust me, compared to my family; yours will probably look like something out of a great homes magazine."
Kazuto stopped pacing and turned to stare at Asuna suddenly looking for all the world; incredibly upset, "I'm sorry…" He spoke, breaking the new found silence that had passed between them in that moment. Slowly, as if he had to battle his own restlessness, he made his way over to her and plopped down heavily next to her on the couch with a long sigh to follow.
"Why are you apologizing? You had nothing to do with it."
"Yeah, but it always pisses me off that your family treats you like that." Kazuto started, as he stared off to one corner of the room, seemingly exiting to his own little world, for how deep in thought he was on the matter.
"Kirito…"
Kazuto almost seemed to jolt at the sound of Asuna's voice, caught off guard for a moment, before he turned to give her his full attention.
"Don't worry about it, I don't need them anymore, I have someone way better watching my back now." Asuna continued with a smile and nudged him as she spoke to make sure he got the message of just who she was talking about.
"Yeah, I'll always have your back." He agreed quietly as he met her eyes.
They were both quiet again for a long moment, just taking comfort in the others presence.
It was weird how they had only met a little over a month ago, yet they had become so close already, like they had known each other their whole lives.
They've become each other's structure…holding each other up when one couldn't stand on their own.
"You and I, we can make our own little family!" Asuna suddenly declared out of nowhere.
"Eh?!" Kazuto yelped as he quickly scrambled to the far end of the couch and glared at Asuna like she was a predator.
"No, not like that you idiot!" She responded as she too scooted away from him to the other end in horror at his assumption.
Neither spoke as the minutes seemed to tick by, both just sitting in awkward silence as they stared at their laps and wondered how the conversation went from support and vaguely corny friendship to awkward mistaken innuendos.
"Jeeze, I meant it as like good friends or maybe a brother and sister kind of bond, just you and me… you pervert." Asuna finally spoke as she shot a glare in his direction.
"Can't we just pretend that whole part of the conversation never happened? I was perfectly fine with the whole 'having each other's back' bit…" Kazuto cut in right as she finished speaking as he glanced over at the girl next to him in embarrassment.
"Sounds like a good plan." she mumbled after a moment of hesitation, before she hopped off the couch and made her way towards her room.
As soon as she was gone Kazuto let out the chuckle he had been holding in, the whole situation had been so ridiculous it was as funny as it was awkward and humiliating, but he paused abruptly when something major dawned on him…
"I am not a pervert!" He yelled as he got up to chase after Asuna.
"How far away do your family live again?" Asuna questioned loudly from her room as she finished packing the last couple items to her bag and zipped it up. She was convinced that packing things was a form of torture.
"About four to five hours' worth of driving." She heard him call back from his own room.
"You don't get car sick do you?"
Asuna nearly had a heart attack when he appeared in her doorway so suddenly to ask the question.
"It depends…" She answered once her heart seemed to slow back down.
"Ok…packing barf bags in the car then." Kazuto called as he left the room again.
"I don't get that sick!" Asuna yelled after him, thoroughly embarrassed.
"I'm packing them anyway, better safe than sorry!" Kazuto called tauntingly from down the hall.
The jerk just loved to embarrass her…
"I will kill you; I will kill you with my heavy and surely very painful luggage!" Asuna yelled back, tempted to run after him.
Kazuto just laughed.
"Are we almost there?"
"Are you three years old?"
"Shut up and answer my question."
"I answered it ten minutes ago and I think it stands to reason; not much has changed in that amount of time."
"I hate cars."
"I hate cars when you're in it."
The two pulled into the long drive way about 7 miserable hours later, many thanks to Asuna needing to stop at what seemed like every gas station they passed, claiming she felt sick and needed one thing or another.
The house came into view soon after, large and looming like a mini mansion over beautiful landscaping. Asuna stared in surprise and awe. It was a beautiful home.
"You didn't tell me your family was rich…" she commented offhandedly as she continued to take in the view.
"My whole family isn't rich, just my grandparents. The house was theirs originally." Kazuto answered stiffly as he parked the car.
"They don't live here anymore?" Asuna questioned as she hopped out of the passenger seat.
"No, they're currently six feet underground, and I'm no expert but I don't think they're moving any time soon." He replied grumpily as he walked towards the large double doors that served as the front entrance to the home.
It seemed the closer he got to the home, the more walls he threw up…the more grumpy he became too.
Asuna stopped mid-walk at the comment, "They passed away?"
"They were old." Was the only answer she received.
"Oh…I'm sorry." was all she could really think to say. Really, what was the proper response to hearing someone mention someone they lost to death? Sorry always seemed so pathetic and weak, yet it also tended to be the only response one could think up at such unexpected statements.
"It's ok, they were mean anyway."
Asuna was absolutely baffled, what an incredibly rude thing to say of a dead family member…
"You're being mean." Asuna stated bluntly as she glared at him for his heartless response.
He just shrugged before yanking open one of the doors, "I do that sometimes." He replied before he slipped inside, Asuna herself following soon after with a scowl upon her face.
'He can be so nice one minute then a complete ass-hat the next, why can't he make up his mind already.'
"Asuna your about to walk into a wall." Kazuto called as he watched her stomp into the room, very much so obviously lost in thought.
Too late…
Asuna smacked into the wall face first with a surprised yelp as she began to stumble backwards rubbing her nose in pain, only to trip on someone's shoes carelessly thrown on the floor. Now she was full on falling backwards and she suspected that when she finally did meet the ground her head would likely bash painfully on the hard wood flooring.
Only instead, to her surprise, she ended up landing comfortably in Kazuto's arms. Though it quickly became uncomfortable and awkward when she turned to meet him in the eyes only to realize how close their faces were.
'What is this?! A stereotypical love scene?!' Asuna's head seemed to scream as she turned bright red.
"Seriously watch where you're going, if you hurt yourself and bleed on this floor I'll never hear the end of it from my..mom." Kazuto stated bluntly quickly covering up his momentary stumble.
Moment officially ruined, really should she even be surprised?
"Let go of me please." Asuna spoke in annoyance.
"Jeeze, I save your butt and all you do is glare."
"Well excuse me but-"
"Kazuto! Welcome home honey!" A woman's voice cut in from the top of the nearby stairs.
"..Mom…" he answered hesitantly and let go of Asuna immediately, which was a shame…he had been enjoying watching her blush. The woman took no time dashing the whole way down the stairs and across the room before pulling him into her arms for a sudden hug.
Kazuto stiffened at first before relaxing and hugging her back.
"How have you been sweetie?"
"I've been ok." Was all he said in response quietly.
"That's good...Have you gone to the hospital to visit her recently?" The woman questioned after a moment.
"..No." He answered even more quietly.
Asuna narrowed her eyes, 'who are they talking about?' she wondered quietly to herself.
"And who might you be?" The woman questioned with a polite smile as she turned her attention to Asuna.
"I'm Asuna, a friend of your son. It's great to finally meet you."
"Oh…just a friend?" she teased.
"Mom!"
The woman laughed as both Asuna and Kazuto blushed bright red at her antics.
"Well I'm Kazuto's mother, but you can just call me Midori." She continued as if nothing had ever happened. "Kazuto why don't you two get settled, there are two guest bedrooms upstairs down the north hallway."
"Right…" Kazuto replied as he headed back out to the car to grab their luggage.
Asuna stood with Midori alone, feeling incredibly awkward under the woman's analytical stare.
"Um…"
"Are you really just his friend?" Midori questioned suddenly this time it was clear she wasn't just playing around.
"...Yes."
"Hmmm." Was all she responded as she eyed Asuna skeptically, "So in no way or form do you find my son attractive?"
Asuna laughed nervously, so what if she did? As far as she was concerned Kirito could be classified as eye-candy. Could anyone really blame her if she did?
"Asuna what did you stuff your bag with?! rocks?! Come here and help me carry this thing!" Kazuto called from outside.
"I didn't pack it with rocks, I just didn't know what I should and shouldn't bring!" She defended as she dashed out the door.
Midori smiled, the girl may think she avoided the question but in reality…she just answered it.
'About time.' She thought as she made her way back up the stairs to check on all the other family members who had arrived so far.
"What, did you pack your whole damn wardrobe in here?!" Kazuto complained, huffing in annoyance as they slowly made their way up the stairs, each holding one end of the huge bag.
"No…at most it just one-fourth of it, honestly your such a cry baby. Whining about everything."
"There are so many rude come backs I can make to that statement…"
"Excuse me?"
"Our entire ride here, all you did was whine and complain."
"That's different."
"Not really…"
"Kazuto is here?" a voice inquired from down the hall once they reached the top.
"Oh god no." Kazuto said under his breath as his eyes widened in horror almost comically.
"Yeah, Midori finally got him to come!" another voice answered
"What? Hey what are you doing?!" Asuna yelped as Kazuto suddenly dropped his end of the bag, causing her to drop her end as well.
"Kirito, what the hell?!" She nearly yelled in annoyance.
"It's been ages since he's come to a family get together! Let's go find him!"
Instead of answering he opted to grab her arm and race into the nearest room, which happened to be a towel and blankets closet so it seemed.
"What the hell-" Asuna started to say again but was cut off by a hand over her mouth.
"Shhh, Asuna please just be quiet!" He whispered back. Footsteps could be heard making their way down the hall, slowly nearing the small closet.
"What's with the random suitcase?" one of the voices could be heard right outside the door.
"Why are you asking me? Just leave it there. I bet he's down stairs."
"Humph, well if you say so." was all the other said as the two made their way down the stairs, presumably looking elsewhere for Kazuto.
Kazuto let out a sigh of relief before he felt Asuna tug on his hand, causing him to realize it was still over her mouth.
"Ah, sorry…" he whispered as he immediately removed his hand, she just shook her head in exasperation.
"What was that all about?" She questioned.
"Long story."
She hated it when he was vague. Any other time she would have pushed the subject but right now something else was distracting her.
"Hey um, Kirito…"
"Yeah?"
"This closet is really small…"
They both blushed as they finally took full notice of how they were literally pushed up against each other, close enough to feel each other's breath brush across the other's face as they breathed.
"Yeah." He agreed voice nearly cracking. Could anyone blame him? Asuna was undeniably beautiful…and her boobs were pressing up against his chest. Yeah…that didn't help at all. His heart was racing like crazy.
They both just stared at the other, it didn't seem to cross their minds that they could just step out the closet and the weird tension would be solved.
It also didn't occur to them that a new pair of footsteps was fast approaching the closet.
The door swung open just as their faces came closer, seemingly in a trance and about to kiss.
"Oh…well this is a surprise."
Immediately they both tried to jerk away from the other, but due to the small space they only managed to slam their heads into the walls behind them. It was quite the epic failure.
"Ow…" Asuna spoke as she rubbed her head in pain, which was definitely going to have a bump by noon.
"It's not what it looks like Suguha!" Kazuto tried to defend as he too rubbed his head with a wince.
"Right…well anyway I'm just going to grab a towel real quick and then you two can go back to making out." She replied with a smug grin as she leaned on her tippy toes and snatched a towel from the shelf just above their head. "Mom will be so excited to hear about this." She laughed as she backed up again.
"No, Suguha it really wasn't-" Asuna began, as Kazuto seemed to have gone into some kind of horrified state of shock.
"See you guys later~" she practically sung as she closed the door.
"Well shit." Was all Kazuto said as he just stood there for a moment more taking the whole situation in. "I will never hear the end of this…" he continued dramatically.
"Well, open the door, I don't want to have to reach around you, and I certainly don't want someone else to catch us in here too." Asuna stated as she squirmed uncomfortably.
"Right…" he stated as he twisted the knob and pushed the door back open, the two tried to get out so fast that they tumbled out landing awkwardly on the floor.
"Um…can't you two get a room? Seriously the hallway?" Someone else questioned casually.
Kazuto turned his head and stared at the person in recognition and he almost smiled, it's been to long since he'd last seen his favorite cousin, the two used to be inseparable. "Eugeo, what are you talking…" Kazuto trailed off midsentence as he realized what it must look like to anyone who had just walked in… Asuna landed on top of him. "I swear to god this is all a series of messed up and bad looking situations. We just fell."
"Right…"
"I'm telling the truth!" Kazuto yelped as Asuna rolled off him blushing bright red. This day needed to end now.
"Uh huh… anyway, have you seen Alice?" the blond headed 23 year old boy before them questioned.
"Uh…no." Kazuto answered as he stood up and brushed himself off.
"Bummer…If you see her, let her know I'm looking for her will you?" Eugeo continued as he sighed in exasperation, he seriously had been looking for an hour and a half now. Damn big ass house.
"If you don't tell anyone what you just saw…." Kazuto answered, though he knew it wasn't necessary. Out of all his family members there were two he was very close to and knew he could tell everything too, Eugeo was one of them. Alice was the other, all though technically speaking she wasn't blood related seeing as she was brought into the family by marrying Eugeo.
"Deal." Eugeo replied with a smile as he played along all the same, "Anyway, I still have about half the house to look through so; see ya at dinner." He continued as he walked around the two before heading down the hall to continue his search for his wife.
Kazuto sighed in exhaustion, "I swear to god if one more family member finds us in some awkward suggestive position I'm locking myself in the nearest room and never coming back out."
Asuna couldn't help the giggle that slipped past her mouth. "Oh well I suppose, they're only going to see what they want to see. No sense freaking out about it. He seemed nice though."
"Yeah he is, much more tolerable than the rest of my family. You know situations like this are why I avoid my family though. They're awkward, crazy, and quick to jump to conclusions."
"I haven't seen any crazy yet…"
"You will." He answered with a playful smile, "Now then, let's get your luggage to your room before someone stupid decides to make a game out of it."
"How is that even possible?"
"You'd be surprised."
Dinner made Asuna want to drink really badly.
She finally understood why Kazuto wanted to avoid his family so much. By now everyone who was going to show up, which was the entire family as it seemed Kirito was the only one with a burning passion to avoid these gatherings, had showed up by now.
And so far all she had gathered is that Kazuto's family absolutely loved to bicker and talk excitedly (and horribly loud) about stupid things.
Kazuto, Eugeo, Alice, and herself on the other hand sat quietly at the other end of the long table, enjoying their meal as peacefully as they could and talking like the normal down to earth people they were.
"Is it always like this?" She questioned.
"Yes." The other three answered in unison.
"This is why I was hiding all day." Alice spoke with a soft smile.
"You could have told me…or better yet taken me with you." Eugeo mumbled in defeat. He swore he lost a couple pounds walking all over the damned house.
"It's much easier to hide one person than two." Was her calm and collected answer.
"You're cruel." He shot back after staring at her for a minute in disbelief.
Alice just smiled and took another bite of her chicken.
Asuna giggled, she was finding she really liked these two. "When exactly is the actual party?" she questioned out of the blue.
The other three turned to look at her, "Tomorrow." Kazuto answered, "It starts at seven and goes ridiculously late into the night."
"Well what are we supposed to do till seven?" Asuna continued with a tilt of her head.
"Lock yourself in your room and prepare some sort of protection for your sanity." Eugeo stated bluntly, the other two nodded their heads in agreement.
Asuna wasn't sure if they were joking our not, "I see…" was all she said as she scooped up some more of her mashed potatoes and shoved them in her mouth.
They were starting to scare her; maybe she should have listened to Kazuto and stayed back at their house together like he had wanted to.
Just then, out of nowhere, a spoonful's worth of mash potatoes soared through the air and right over Asuna's head, hitting the wall behind her with a loud splat noise.
Asuna yelped in alarm and ducked under the table as she heard someone yell, "What kind of shitty aim was that?!" before dumping their drink over the head of presumably the person who had originally threw the mashed potatoes.
"Hey that's my husband jerk!" A woman practically screamed as she threw her macaroni and cheese at the man's face with point on aim.
"So it's one of those dinners…" Kazuto commented casually.
"Wha-What do you mean 'one of those dinners'?! Does your family just randomly break out into food fights at dinner often?!"
"Among other things…they really get into their arguments." Eugeo stated as he and Alice stood up from their chairs. "So, should we stay and join in, or run while we have the chance?" he questioned with a smile towards Kazuto.
"I think we should run." Kazuto stated as he stood up, helping Asuna up soon after.
He seemed pretty firm on that answer as they headed towards the door all the way up until a whole handful's worth of mashed potatoes struck him in the side of the head, covering half his face and getting tangled all up in his hair. Calmly he wiped the food off his face as he slowly turned around to walk back over to his plate full of food left abandoned on the table.
"I change my mind." Was all he said before he grabbed his chicken and threw it at the first person he spotted throwing mashed potatoes at other people with a murderous determined glare and a loud victorious "Ha!" when it hit them on the side of their head.
The person immediately responded by grabbing the ketchup bottle.
Kazuto took cover under the table immediately, unfortunately Asuna was right behind him by this point about to pull him back towards the doors as a last ditch effort to escape.
She also didn't duck.
She gasped in shock as the cold stream of ketchup hit her all over her neck and shirt, covering her and possibly ruining her shirt. A thirst for revenge followed quickly after and immediately she grabbed a handful of carrots off of Alice's plate and started chucking them at the person.
Eugeo and Alice soon joined in after they too were hit by horribly aimed projectiles of food.
Soon a full on war was raging about the dinning room.
Asuna quickly decided she had finally seen the crazy Kazuto had been referring to.
A/N: Tada! Yeah sorry that was crazy late, let me know what you guys think of about the chapter; review if you have the time please. See ya guys later! :D