A/N: Writing a fan-fic with cheating is tough. Well, the emotions run high. If you think some things should or shouldn't happen, let me know. Reviews do help and are appreciated.
Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online, and I really wish it was real.
'It's so hard to believe that this game was almost destroyed,' Kazuto thought idly. 'And no one will ever know…'
Ignorance really is bliss.
Despite the massive influx of gamers that had appeared after the Excalibur sword had been discovered and shown off on the news, and the consequential bad ending that almost happened because of the system's self-creating questlines, things seemed to be unchanged for the most part. Although there were certainly a lot more noobs around now. And it showed.
Kazuto glanced around the café slowly. Despite the near destruction of everything by the Cardinal System, life in ALfheim Online was continuing as normal. It was hard to believe that everything really happened. Well, he had proof of the event at least.
Opening his menu, Kazuto raised a hand to cover up his mouth like he was deep in thought. In actuality, he was doing it to cover up the shit-eating grin he had on his face at the sight of Excalibur sitting prettily in his inventory. Even its icon looked for it looked beautiful. Part of him, a small part, felt like crying at the sight.
"I love you." Kazuto whispered reverently to the icon of Excalibur.
"Should I leave you and your new sword alone, Kirito-kun?" A very familiar voice sarcastically asked from behind him.
"W-what?" Kazuto fought the urge to jump out of his chair. He sort of considered doing it anyway after seeing who was standing behind him. The reason he was here in the café. Particularly, a café that he and the others had never been in before, far away from their usual haunts.
Asada Shino.
It actually took him a second to realize it because of how she was dressed. It was as if she belonged to a different faction. She was wearing predominantly blue colored clothing, similarly styled to her usual clothes only with a bit more covered up. Although it still quite a bit of skin showing. The only new accessory was a straw hat covering up her ears.
Kazuto had a feeling that she would also have sunglasses on if they were an in-game item.
"Looking good, Sinon." Kazuto said. Not the best thing to say, considering. But he really couldn't think of anything else. And she really did look really good. His mind flashed to the previous night, causing his face to flush slightly.
"S-shut up!" Shino blushed, looking away from him. "I can't believe you showed up looking like you usually do. What if we ran into someone who knows us? Then what?"
"Then we'll say that we ran into each other and decided to hang out," Kazuto shrugged. Using his foot, he kicked out the chair in front of him. "So come on, sit down. It looks weird for you to just be standing behind me like that."
"Smartass." Shino muttered while walking past him to sit down in the offered chair. She sat down with a huff and glared at him. It would've looked a lot more threatening were she not blushing heavily.
Kazuto's opened his mouth to talk, but couldn't. Now that the banter was over, the reality came crashing down again. Seeing Shino in front of him reminded him of what they had done. What they shouldn't have done. And by the look on Shino's face, she knew that too. Neither of them were able to see each other normally anymore.
After a moment, Shino spoke up.
"Are you mad at me?" Shino asked quietly.
"Huh?" That wasn't what Kazuto had expected her to ask.
"Because I'd understand if you are," Shino gulped nervously, trying not to look at Kazuto's face. "After all, you have Asuna-chan, and yet I…"
"I am mad," Kazuto sighed forlornly. Seeing Shino freeze, he smiled bitterly and shook his head. "At me though, not you."
"Why?" Shino asked him. "I said all those things, and asked you to… to… cheat on Asuna." She finished with a whisper. Staring down at her hands, she felt the familiar empty feeling filling her up. This was it. After having no friends for so long, she finally got some only to lose them because of her own selfishness. She should have known better. Losing her friends wasn't the worst part though. Losing Kazuto was the worst part. Her eyes started to tear up at the thought.
Kazuto scratched his head nervously. This was a sight he was familiar with. A girl crying. Yet despite facing this scene so many times, he was still at a loss of how to stop it. He glanced around, grateful that he'd had the foresight to pick a secluded spot in the corner of the little café. No one could see Shino silently tearing up in front of him. Sighing at his uselessness, he reached over and placed his hand over hers comfortingly.
"It's not your fault, Sinon," Kazuto said firmly. "I should have stopped it. I'm with Asuna and despite that I gave in…"
"I pushed for it," Shino said, looking at Kazuto's hand on top of her own. Part of her wished she could turn her hand over to hold his. But she doubted Kazuto would like that. "I really wanted that to happen. And I…"
"You what?"
"I'm glad that it did." Shino admitted painfully.
'Oh.' There was nothing he could say to that. Gulping nervously, his face slowly turned red. His hand started to shake and he really wanted to let go of her hand but was worried that doing so may set send the wrong message. Not that there was exactly a right message to send in all of this but there was nothing else he could think of doing.
Shino seemed to sense his distress and started to move her hand away.
Kazuto tightened his grip on her hand.
"Kirito-kun, let go of me." Shino whispered. She glared at Kazuto's hand. A part of her wanted to stab it while the other part wanted to enjoy its touch. And the final part of her wanted to kiss him again. She bit her lip nervously as she weakly tried to pull her hand away.
"Not until we sort things out, Sinon." There was no way Kazuto could let her leave like this. For her own sake more than his own. But there wasn't a lot that he could do. And it's not like he could ask any one of their friends for help. For a lot of reasons.
"There's nothing to sort out!" Shino hissed angrily. Behind her, her tail whipped out and stood straight up. A sure warning sign of an incoming attack.
A few people nearby looked over curiously. A quick glare from Kazuto made them look away. A few people got up and left quickly.
"What do we do now?" Kazuto asked tiredly.
"What?" Shino froze.
"We did something we shouldn't have," Kazuto let go of her hand and leaned back into his chair. Looking away, he shrugged helplessly. "And now here we are. What do you want to do now? I don't want us to stop being friends over this. I mean, if we can keep being friends… I'd prefer that."
That wasn't what Shino had been expecting. But then again, it was a completely Kazuto response. Simple and plain. And not what she wanted to hear.
"You really are the worst."
"Huh?" Kazuto blinked, surprised at her response.
"Do you really think that I could forget what happened last night?" Shino accused him calmly. Her eyes were anything but calm though. She glared at him. Not quite hatefully, but it was a really strong emotion boiling in her eyes.
"I-" Kazuto started.
"Do you know what I hate the most about what happened last night?" Shino asked.
"We-" Kazuto tried to answer.
"That it will never happen again." Shino bit out.
Kazuto stared. Treacherously, his heart rate sped up at her admission. A part of him was ashamed to admit that he actually agreed with her to some degree. That one night with her had been more enjoyable that all of his nights with Asuna.
"What's wrong with me?" Shino had given up by this point. There wasn't anything more to say. She sighed and rested her head on the table. Looking off to the side at the wall in favor of not looking at Kazuto. "I ruined everything again."
Glancing down at Shino, Kazuto felt sad for her. After everything she had been through, now this happened to her. While he had been planning on admitting his unfaithfulness to Asuna after this. Now… he couldn't. If he did, he had no doubt that she, along with everyone else, would shun Shino. Possibly him too, if their years of friendship wouldn't help out. But still, Shino didn't have that with the group. So she was the one who would be hurt by this the most. And yet, in spite of that, she went for him. After he had advised her to, not knowing that he was the object of her affection.
Him and his bad luck.
Him and his wanting to help people thing.
Him and his Shino.
"I suppose I should get something off of my chest too." Kazuto said with a false sense of casualness.
"Hm?" Shino moved her head a bit in acknowledgement.
Leaning in closely, Kazuto whispered. "I hate that it will never happen again either."
Shino's head shot up sharply. She looked at Kazuto in incomprehension, her mouth opening and closing silently.
"Cat got you tongue?" Kazuto questioned teasingly. He was proud that his voice didn't crack considering how nervous he was.
Shino's eyes narrowed. "That wasn't funny the first time. It's not funny the 50th time."
"Someday, it will be." Kazuto promised.
"Did you mean that?" Shino asked anxiously.
"Mean what?" Kazuto smirked.
"Don't be an asshole," Shino glowered at him. "You know what, Kirito-kun."
"Yeah, I mean it." Kazuto admitted.
Shino breathed out heavily. Staring at Kazuto questioningly, as if looking for any signs of deceit. With her stats and above average eyesight, Kazuto doubted he could successfully lie to her even if he wanted to.
After a few minutes, Shino looked away embarrassingly.
"Oh." Shino said awkwardly.
Kazuto had to fight not to laugh. As it was, he chuckled into his hand in order to cover the noise up.
"Was that so funny?" Shino asked, without any anger. Instead, it seemed like all emotions had left her.
"A bit," Kazuto confessed. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Shino sighed. She couldn't stay mad at him. It never worked out or lasted long.
"So what now?" Kazuto asked again.
"I really don't know," Shino admitted. "Are you going to tell Asuna?" She seemed to deflate into herself somehow after asking that.
"I was thinking about it," Kazuto said. Seeing Shino freeze, he continued hastily. "But now I'm not."
"You're not?" Shino bit her lip. "Why?"
"I figure it would be in everyone's best self-interest if no one ever finds out about this." Kazuto said, trying not to stare at Shino's lips as she bit them.
"You're staring." Shino deadpanned.
"Sorry." Kazuto tried his best to sound sincere.
Shino licked her lips nervously.
Again, Kazuto's eyes couldn't help but watch.
"Ugh, this is too much." Shino pulled her straw hat down in order to angle it to cover her completely red face.
"I guess we're almost ok now?" Kazuto asked, trailing off questioningly.
"Almost." Shino nodded, finally starting to feel whole again. She hoped it would last once they were with the whole group again.
"Great," Kazuto then grinned and pointed over to the register. "Now how about you go and order some food? My treat."
"Really?" Shino's eyes flicked between the pastries lining the counter and Kazuto's face.
"Yeah, this place has some good stuff. Trust me." Kazuto got up and started walking towards the counter.
Kazuto stopped after realizing that Shino wasn't following him.
"Sinon?"
"You know… People might think we're on a date if they saw us like this." Shino said quietly, looking around nervously.
Most of the other patrons at the café were all in pairs. Not a good sign. And not something her heart could deal with right now.
"Maybe," Kazuto agreed readily. "They'd definitely think that if they knew what we did last night." He joked, grinning victoriously at Shino's scandalized expression.
"Y-you…" Shino stammered out.
"So are you ready to come and order something?" Kazuto stepped forward, holding a hand out for her.
Shino reached out and grabbed it without a second thought. She tightened her grip unthinkingly. This was fine. It would be enough.
Now if only she could actually believe that.
OMAKE
"So this is Pokémon Go?" Kazuto questioned. "What a horrible AR game. Don't you think that gaming took a huge step back with this?"
"So says the SAO survivor?" Ryōtarō asked incredulously.
"But look at this game!" Kazuto yelled, waving his phone in front of him as if to prove his point. "It's not immersive, we can't play with the Pokémon, there's no plot, no real characters, no trading, no trainer on trainer battles, and the updates suck."
"But at least we won't die by playing this." Rika pointed out.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Touché."
A/N: It's not fine. It won't be enough. lol
The next time they're alone, and in private… Well, you'll see.
Pokémon Go is pretty fun. Since my other continuing fan-fics had a Pokémon Go themed EXTRA/OMAKE, this one needed one too. I hope you liked it.
Next time, they'll be with the group again. Or at least, some of it. A quest may happen. Or maybe they'll do something else. I'm on the fence about that.
Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.