In the living room facing south, one could see a painting-like scenery that included a wide hall that was covered with a lawn, a small track, a gradual hill and a small lake behind it. However, there was a small garden full of weeds and a small stream to the window in the north where the utility room was. There was also a coniferous forest that was nearby. Also, in this season, it seemed everything was buried in snow, as only a uniform color could be seen.
But this was what Asuna wanted Kyouko to see.
Asuna opened the window, looked at the deep forest and said,
“How is it? Don’t you find it familiar?”
Kyouko frowned again, shook her head slightly and said,
“Like what? It’s just an ordinary coniferous forest—”
What she wanted to say next seemed to be taken away. Kyouko’s mouth was left half-open as she looked like she was looking at a scenery far away. At this moment, Asuna silently whispered to the side of her face,
“You remembered… Ojii-chan and Obaa-chan’s house, right?”
Asuna’s grandparents, Kyouko’s parents, were farmers in the hills of Miyagi Prefecture. Their house was located in a village past the hills, and the land were all terraces that were carved out from the hillside. They did not have any machines to help with the farming. The main produce they offered was rice, but the amount they could produce was only enough for a family to last through a year.
In such an environment, they were still able to provide Kyouko with a college education because of the coniferous hill her ancestors left behind. Their old wooden house was built at the foot of the hill. Whenever one sat on the edge of the corridor in the house, the little garden and river could be seen along with the deep coniferous hill.
But compared to the Yuukis’ main house in Kyoto, Asuna preferred to head over to ‘her grandparents house in Miyagi’ ever since she was young. During summer or winter break, she would beg the adults to bring her here, and she would then sleep with her grandparents and listen to them talk about many folk stories. During the summer, she would sit on the corridor and eat shaved ice, and during mid-winter, she would dry persimmon stems with her grandmother. There were all sorts of memories there, but Asuna remembered the scene most vividly; she hid under the old kotatsu in the middle of winter, eating oranges and staring at the coniferous forest outside the window.
Her grandparents didn’t understand what was so nice about the forest, but Asuna would just look like her soul was sucked in as she continued to look at the black branches in the white snowy scene. She would look like a little mouse hiding in a hole under the pile of snow, waiting for spring to arrive, surrounded by an inexplicable feeling that was of a little fear and warmth as she continued to stare into that coniferous forest.
Her grandparents died when Asuna was in second year. The terrace and the hill were all sold, and the house no one stayed in was also torn down.
Thus, Asuna bought this 22nd level wooden house in Aincrad that was very different from the house in the hills Miyagi, whether it was physically or virtually. After seeing the coniferous forest that was covered under the large pile of snow from the north window, she felt so homesick that she had wanted to cry.
Asuna was clear that Kyouko didn’t miss the poor farmer’s life at all. However, she wanted to let Kyouko see this scene from the window. She wanted to let her mother see this scene she could see every day and yet tried to forget.
Unwittingly, the promised 5 minutes passed, but Kyouko continued to look at the coniferous forest silently. Asuna went beside her and slowly spoke,
“Do you remember the Obon Festival in my first year in Middle school? Dad, Mom, and Nii-san all went to Kyoto, and I was the only one who insisted on going to Miyagi. Then I really ran there on my own.”
“…I remember.”
“At that time, I apologized to Ojii-chan and Obaa-chan that you wouldn’t be able to make it, Mom, that you were really sorry.”
“At that time…the Yuuki family had a legal matter we had to attend to no matter what…”
“No, I’m not blaming you, Mom. That’s because…when I apologized, Ojii-chan and Obaa-chan immediately took out a thick photo album. I was really shocked when I saw the contents. –everything was about you, Mom, whether it was your thesis in the beginning, or the documents you sent to all sorts of magazines, or the reports of your interviews, they were all archived neatly. Even the documents published on the internet were printed and stuck in. But both of them shouldn’t be able to use the computer…”
“…”
“Then, Ojii-chan showed me the contents of the photo album and said that you’re the most important treasure to him, Mom. He even said that he was really happy that you left the town to study in college, became a scholar and wrote all sorts of theses that were published in magazines and became even more outstanding. You would be so busy with your theses and studies that you couldn’t make it back during an Obon festival, and it was to be expected, yet they never showed any displeasure…”
Kyouko merely stared at the forest as she silently watched Asuna. The sides of her face didn’t show any emotion, but Asuna still continued to move her mouth,
“After that, Ojii-chan even added this. He said—Mom may end up being tired someday and need to rest or check where she went through. They will protect this home for that moment…when Mom needs assistance, they could still say ‘you can come back here’. They will continue to protect this house and hill.”
Asuna said as her mind recalled her maternal grandparents’ house that didn’t exist anymore. She then overlapped it with the white house she saw several hours ago. They were both spiritual homes. Even if it was physically gone, it would continue to exist in some people’s hearts forever. To Asuna, this virtual world’s ‘House of Forest’ was such a place.
This house would disappear one day, but in a certain sense, it would not disappear for real. That was because a so-called house wasn’t just a building with a form—but something that kept the souls, emotions and way of life, like her grandparents.
“—In the past, I couldn’t understand what Ojii-chan said, but recently, I could finally understand it. It’s not only about telling me to work hard throughout my life…using someone’s happiness as my own happiness is also a way of life.”
Asuna’s mind immediately thought of the faces of Kirito, Lizbet and company, Yuuki, Shiune and company.
“…I want to choose a way of life where the people around me can smile and live. I want to live a life where I can support people when they feel tired. Thus—I want to learn more knowledge and other things in this loving school.”
Asuna continued to ponder about her words, and finally said these words out.
However, Kyouko kept her mouth shut as she continued to look at the forest in front of her. Her dark green eyes showed a blank glow, and it was hard to read her inner thoughts.
The small room was shrouded in silence for a few minutes after that. Under the snowy field of large woods, two little animals that looked like rabbits were happily jumping about. Asuna’s gaze was immediately attracted by that, but once she looked back to see Kyouko’s face, she immediately held her breath.
A tear rolled down Kyouko’s white crystal-like face and continued to drip onto the floor. Her lips were trembling, but the voice was so inaudible it was impossible to hear what she was saying.
After a while, Kyouko found herself crying and frantically used her hands to wipe her tears.
“Wait…what is this. I, I didn’t want to cry out…”
“…Mom, it’s impossible to hide your tears in this world. Nobody can stop crying when they feel like it.”
“That’s really inconvenient.”
After letting out such words, Kyouko continued to rub her eyes, and seemed to have finally given up as she used both hands to cover her own face. After a while, a slightly sobbing noises could be heard from deep inside her throat. Asuna hesitated a few times before finally putting her hand lightly on Kyouko’s trembling sho
ulder.
The next morning.
Sitting in front of the table at breakfast, Kyouko went back to how she was before. She was looking at the news on the tablet monitor. Asuna said good morning to her, and both of them silently tucked in. Asuna was mentally prepared for her mother to order her to hand over the transfer application. However, Kyouko merely looked at Asuna with a slightly sterner expression than usual, and suddenly said,
“Are you mentally ready to support someone for the rest of your life?”
Asuna hurriedly nodded her head.
“U…un.”
“—However, you have to make yourself strong enough in order to support someone else. That’s why you have to finish your university education. You have to get better grades than now in the third semester so that you can get into a good one.”
“…Mom…that transfer…”
“Didn’t I say it? I’ll decide according to your grades. Do your best.”
Once Kyouko said that, she stood up and hurriedly left the dining room. Asuna heard the sound of the door closing loudly, and then lowered her head slightly, before whispering ‘Thanks, mom’.
Asuna changed into her uniform, took her bag, and was about to leave the house, keeping a solemn and gracious attitude. However, once she stepped out of the door, she started running at full throttle on the road as if it were a layer of thin ice, and her face naturally beamed.
She really wanted to immediately tell Kazuto that she could continue to study in the same school as him. She also wanted to immediately tell Yuuki that she had patched up her relationship with her mother.
Asuna passed through the crowd moving towards the station, and couldn’t restrain herself from smiling at all.
3 days later, Asuna followed up on the promise she had made with Yuuki and carried out a large barbeque in front of the house of forest.
The ones who took part were her own friends, Kirito, Lizbet, Cline, Lyfa, Silica, Yuuki, Shiune and the members of the Sleeping Knights. Also, even the leaders of the tribes, Sakuya, Alicia, Eugene and their aides came over. They even formed a small hunting group to fill this large group that had more than 30 people.
Before toasting, Asuna introduced the members of the Sleeping Knights to everyone. She hid the fact that they were asleep, but with Yuuki and company’s agreement, she told them that they were an elite squad that wandered through several VRMMO and what memories they hoped to leave in ALO before disbanding.
The rumors that a mysterious Guild of only 7 people defeated the boss on the 27th level and that the «Absolute Sword» managed to beat more than 60 people in duels seemed to be widespread in Alfheim, so Sakuya, Eugene and company immediately tried to invite them to join their sides. Yuuki smiled as she refused them, but if the Sleeping Knights really were to become mercenaries of a certain tribe, the balance of power between the 9 spirit clans would change greatly, and would affect the 2nd edition’s grand quest that was under way.
After a loud and rowdy toast, the party that stormed in like the wind started. Asuna and Yuuki started to eat and drink as they continued to talk. There was even a discussion of taking down the 28th level boss. Everyone then used this enthusiasm to take a tour into the 28th level dungeon, and just like that, a large group of people broke into the highest area of the 28th Dungeon to defeat the large crustacean type boss monster, but after that, it was just random talk and gossip.
Unfortunately, only Yuuki and Kirito, the party leader, and a few names were engraved on the Monument of Swordsmen. However, everyone agreed to let the Sleeping Knights challenge the 29th level, and so they disbanded.
Besides her adventures in Alfheim, Yuuki would use the two-way probe in the real world every day to attend Asuna’s lessons. They even visited the Kirigayas in Kawagoe, and they went to Egil’s café in Okachimachi.
At the beginning, Yuuki felt extremely wary when she faced the overly sensitive Kazuto. However, both of them were one-handed sword users, and after they talked to each other, Yuuki immediately opened her heart and started to talk passionately with Kazuto about the sword skills in ALO and the development of the probe in the real world. The way the two of them continued to chat with each other sometimes even made Asuna feel jealous. The other members of the Sleeping Knights also became friends with Lizbet and Lyfa, and started planning all sorts of interesting activities.
It was February.
As promised, Asuna and the Sleeping Knights took down the boss of the 29th level as one party, and everyone in Alfheim knew their name. In the middle of the month, there was a united dueling tournament. Kirito, who was on the east block, and Yuuki, who was on the west block, continued to rack up victories and reached the finals, where the net broadcast channel «MMO Stream» showed a live telecast, bringing the entire atmosphere in the activity to its maximum.
As numerous players held their breaths, Yuuki and Kazuto used high level sword skills, including their own OSS, showing an abnormally dazzling and intense battle. This battle lasted more than 10 minutes, and finally, Yuuki used a brilliant god-like skill to defeat Kirito in 11 straight hits, and the crowd immediately roared and cheered in a way where it could shake the entire virtual world.
Having defeated Kirito, who made lots of legends—even though he didn’t use his Dual Blades skill—«Absolute Sword» Yuuki was crowned the 4th champion of the tournament, and her name spread through the whole game of ALO, becoming a famed person throughout all users of «The Seed» Nexus.
Soon, it was March.
Asuna, who fulfilled the promise she made with her Mom through her end-of-term exams, was now on a 3 day 2 night trip to Kyoto with the probe on her shoulder, Rika (Liz), Keiko(Scilica), Suguha (Lyfa) and Yui in her phone. At this point, the information collected by the probe could be shared to multiple users, so aside from Yuuki, Shiune, Jun and the rest could join them on the trip. Asuna’s introduction to each tourist attraction was even more energetic.
They used the Yuukis’ spacious rooms fully at night for their accommodation, and the budget they managed to save allowed them to head to the bright Kyoto restaurants to feast in. However, the taste of the food couldn’t be passed through the probe to the people, and Yuuki and the rest continued to grumble that Asuna and company were too sly. Asuna could only promise them that she would make a similar tasting dish in the VR world, and Asuna herself ended up working hard in the VR kitchen for a few days.
Everything went by like a dream. Asuna and Yuuki went on a long journey together in both the virtual world and the real world. They had a lot of places they wanted to head to, and Asuna believed that they would have a lot of time.
On a certain day not too far away from April, the cold wind that came from the sea of Okhotsk caused Kanto to have a rare heavy snowfall in this season.
The thick snow that seemed to fully cover the presence of spring was starting to melt under the weak daylight.
At this moment, Asuna’s phone received news from Doctor Kurahashi, stating at Yuuki’s condition was worsening.
Chapter 11
Asuna stared at the short message on the little screen of her mobile phone and repeated the same words inside her heart.
How was this possible!?
How was this possible? Yuuki had been actively taking part in all sorts of activities, and Doctor Kurahashi even said that the tumor inside her head had disappeared. In recent years, there have been cases of people being able to hold back the inhibition of the virus after being infected by HIV for more than 20 years. Yuuki’s only 15…her life was about to begin! Her condition was worsening, but up till now, she had several opportunistic infections that caused her to fall ill, so Yuuki would definitely be able to hang on.
But Asuna herself had another premonition. This was the first time the doctor sent a message to her directly. In other words, this should be a notice—that the moment had arrived. Every night, she would dread that moment, but would always try her best to shake off that notion. Right now, the time has come.
The girl had two conflic
ting thoughts in her as she remained stunned on the spot for a few seconds before blinking hard and getting ready to send a new message. She sent a message with the same content to Kirito, Lizbet and company and also Shiune and the rest. After that, Asuna hurriedly took off her indoor clothes, and as she didn’t want to waste time choosing any clothing, she systematically put on her school uniform. She put on her shoes and ran out of the house. The gentle light of day in the afternoon was reflected on the remaining white snow on the road as they entered Asuna’s eyes.
It’s the Sunday on the last week of March, 2pm. The pedestrians on the streets looked like they were impatient and couldn’t wait for spring to come as they walked with a cheery attitude. Asuna went past them and rushed towards the station.
She couldn’t remember how she managed to check where the trains were going or even where she transferred. Once she recovered, Asuna found herself running to the gantry of the station. Deep inside her mind, it felt like there was a migraine, as her shattered thoughts continued to appear and disappear.
The girl grit her teeth and grimaced, “Yuuki, hang on.” And ran into the taxi that arrived at the waiting point.
It seemed that the inpatient counter was notified. Once Asuna opened her tense lips to explain her intents, the nurse immediately handed over the pass and told her to hurry to the highest level of the central ward building.
Asuna hastily waited for the number that indicated the floor number to increase, and when the door opened, she immediately rushed out. She clumsily used the access pass on the scanner of the safety door, and even though she knew that she was breaking the rules, she continued to run. She ran through the white monotonous passageway. Once she made the last turn, the door to the sterile room where Yuuki lay asleep entered her eyes.
—But at this moment, Asuna could only stare wide eyed at the scene.
There were two doors lined with each other, and this should be the entrance to the observation room. Deep inside with large words of regulations was the sterile room. Asuna went through the thick enhanced doors before, and now, they were completely open. As she looked at the scene inside, one of the medical personnel in surgical clothing inside walked over quickly.