Mother's Rosary

  She hurled fierce insults at his back: “Say what? When did I ever say I liked that stuff? The only thing I drink is finely aged awamori from Okinawa!”

  “In terms of their lack of charm, they’re basically the same thing,” Jun interrupted, prompting laughs from the group. Asuna joined in the laughter, glancing at Yuuki again. A smile was sneaking back onto the girl’s face, but the hint of sadness lingered in her eyes.

  They ventured into Rombal’s central market and bought a feast’s worth of alcohol and food, then teleported to the twenty-second floor. Asuna led the way, taking off from the little village and heading south over the snow-piled forest. When they had crossed an iced-over lake, a little clearing containing a small log cabin came into view.

  “D-down there?!” Yuuki marveled.

  Asuna nodded. “Yep, that’s it…Oh!”

  No sooner were the words out of Asuna’s mouth than Yuuki sped up, her arms wide. She dropped straight toward the front garden of the cabin, sending up a huge cloud of snow, as well as a flock of startled birds from the nearby trees.

  “…Good grief.”

  Asuna laughed as she shared a look with Siune, then spread her wings for a soft landing. She glided down and landed out front, where Yuuki grabbed her arm and impatiently pulled her in the direction of the door.

  If any of their friends were already home, she would have introduced them all, but the cabin was empty. It made sense that Kirito and Klein wouldn’t be back yet from the save point after helping them in the labyrinth, but the absence of Liz and the other girls was perhaps a sign that they anticipated this possibility and left them a peaceful place for the little team to celebrate in privacy.

  “Oooh, ahhh! So this is your home!” Yuuki bubbled, examining the table growing from the floor, the burning red furnace, and the swords hung on the wall. The other six gathered around the table and opened their inventories to remove the food for the feast. Soon there was a pile of mysterious drinks and snacks on the table.

  They opened up the wine—in a barrel, at Nori’s request—and poured the golden liquid into glasses, completing the preparations. Jun grabbed Yuuki to stop her from admiring Asuna’s spice collection in the kitchen and pulled her out to the living room table.

  Tasked with leading the toast, Yuuki held her glass high with a radiant smile. “So, to celebrate conquering the boss…Cheers!”

  With a group chorus and the clinking of glasses, everyone proceeded to drink. In no time, the party was fully underway.

  As Jun and Tecchi excitedly discussed the boss they’d just beaten and Nori and Talken got to talking about the various types of alcohol in ALO, Yuuki and Siune told Asuna about the VRMMO worlds the Sleeping Knights converted from.

  “The absolute worst one, without a doubt, was an American game called Insectisite,” Yuuki said with a grimace, squeezing her body with both arms.

  “Oh, yes…that one.” Siune grinned sourly.

  “So…what was that one like?”

  “Bugs! Bugs everywhere! Of course, the monsters are bugs, but so are the players! At least I was an ant that walked on two legs, but poor Siune—”

  “No! Don’t say it!”

  “—was a giant caterpillar! She’d shoot silk out of her mouth…”

  At that point, Yuuki dissolved into laughter. Siune pouted, and Asuna couldn’t help but join the giggles.

  “That’s great. So you’ve been traveling all over different worlds…”

  “What about you, Asuna? You seem like you have a long VRMMO history.”

  “I’ve been, umm, only here. It took a long time to save up the money to buy this house, you know…”

  “I see.”

  Yuuki looked up and examined the living room, her eyes narrowed. “It’s really a lovely place, this house. It reminds me…of the old days.”

  “Yes, exactly. I feel very comfortable and relieved when I’m here.”

  Siune was nodding as well, but then she gasped faintly, as if remembering something.

  “Wh-what is it, Siune?”

  “Oh no, I forgot! Speaking of money…when we made our deal for Asuna’s help, we said that we’d give her everything the boss dropped. And then we went and spent all that money on this stuff.”

  “Oh, man! I totally forgot, too!”

  Asuna laughed and waved her hand to indicate to the upset Sleeping Knights that it was no big deal. “It’s just fine. As long as I get something, that’s all I—Actually, no,” she finished, taking a deep breath.

  She realized that it was her chance to finally say something she’d been thinking about since before the boss fight. Asuna put on a serious look. “I don’t need anything after all. Instead, I have a request.”

  “Huh…?”

  “Listen…I know that our contract ends here. But…I want more time to talk to you, Yuuki. There are still so many things I want to ask.”

  Asuna wanted to know how she could be as strong as Yuuki was. She continued. “Will you let me join the Sleeping Knights?”

  She hadn’t joined a guild since being reborn as a fairy in ALO. There had been invitations, of course, and they’d discussed making their own small guild with Kirito, Liz, and the others, but they’d never gone ahead with it.

  It had to be because there was still a lingering sense of fear about guilds. For more than a year, Asuna had been the subleader of the guild that was considered the strongest in the game. The guild demanded ironclad order and a steel will from its members, and she upheld that attitude by never smiling at others. Back then, she was feared but never revered. And she was afraid that if she joined a guild in ALO, it would send her back into that mindset.

  But today, Asuna was completely at home among the Sleeping Knights and felt no consternation whatsoever about making orders. That was because Yuuki and the others had easily, comfortably eclipsed the barriers Asuna erected around her heart. The time she spent with them could only lower those walls. It would teach her true strength. Asuna herself didn’t realize she possessed that desire, but Kirito and Klein had given her support through action, not words. They hadn’t looked upset when she mentioned working with another guild; they had been perfectly supportive.

  Yuuki didn’t respond at once to Asuna’s request. She bit her lip. Her big, wide eyes wavered with indecision again.

  Suddenly, Siune and the four others were silently watching Asuna and Yuuki as well. For a long, long moment, Yuuki stared at Asuna without a word. When her quavering lips opened at last, her voice shook.

  “Um…um, Asuna, listen. We…the Sleeping Knights…are going to break up soon…probably by the spring. After that, we won’t really be able to play much of the game…”

  “Yeah, I know. Just until then. I…I want to be friends with you guys. We have enough time for that…right?” Asuna asked, leaning forward and looking into Yuuki’s purple eyes. But, for perhaps the first time ever, Yuuki averted her gaze. She shook her head.

  “Sorry…I’m sorry, Asuna. I’m…really sorry.”

  There was such open pain in Yuuki’s repeated apology that Asuna couldn’t push her any further.

  “Oh…okay. No, I’m sorry for pressing you like that, Yuuki.”

  “Um…Asuna, I…we…” Siune started, trying to fill in for Yuuki, but surprisingly, she was having trouble finding the right words as well. Asuna noticed that the rest of the group had similarly pained expressions, and she clapped her hands together in an attempt to fix the gloomy mood.

  “Sorry about getting weird on you guys. Let’s fix the mood by going to see the thing!”

  “What thing…?” Siune asked. Asuna patted her and the downcast Yuuki on the shoulder.

  “You’re forgetting something very important! I’m sure that by now, they’ve updated the Monument of Swordsmen down in the palace!”

  “Oh, right!” Jun erupted, getting to his feet. “Let’s go! We can take a picture!!”

  “Yeah! Shall we?” Asuna asked again. Yuuki finally raised her head and smiled weakly.

&nb
sp; Asuna surveyed the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings for the first time in ages, dragging the still-lethargic Yuuki by the hand.

  “Gosh, this place is so big…All right everyone, this way!”

  She wove her way through the flower beds until the rectangular Blackiron Palace came into view ahead. It was one of the most famous tourist destinations in Aincrad, so there were newbies and veterans alike milling about the castle.

  They headed through the main gate and into the imposing building, the interior air chilly on the skin. The sound of boots clicking on the steel floor echoed endlessly off the unfathomably high ceiling.

  Asuna and the Sleeping Knights headed toward the great hall in the back, adding to the din. They had to pass through two doors before they emerged in a space that was relatively peaceful. A huge, lengthy monument of iron sat in the center of the room.

  “There it is!”

  Jun and Nori ran past Asuna and Yuuki. They arrived at the foot of the Monument of Swordsmen a few seconds later. Asuna looked for the end of the sprawling list of names contained on the monument.

  “Oh…there they are,” Yuuki muttered. Her hand suddenly clenched in Asuna’s, and the fencer spotted it as well. Almost at the very center of the gleaming black monument, there was an entry reading HEROES OF THE 27TH FLOOR, below which there were seven names.

  “There they are…There are our names…” Yuuki repeated in a daze. Asuna noticed that the girl’s eyes were moist, and she felt a lump in her own throat.

  “Hey, time to take a picture!” said Jun from behind them.

  Asuna grabbed Yuuki’s shoulder and spun her around. “C’mon, Yuuki. Smile,” she said.

  That finally got Yuuki to crack a grin. With the others lined up in front of the monument, Jun used the pop-up menu of a Screenshot Crystal to set a timer, then let go. The crystal hung in place in the air, a countdown running over it.

  He trotted over and squeezed between Yuuki and Tecchi. They all smiled, and the crystal flashed with a shutter sound.

  “Okay!” Jun said, rushing back to check, as Asuna and Yuuki turned to look at the Monument of Swordsmen again.

  “We did it, Yuuki,” Asuna said, patting her on the head. Yuuki nodded and stared at the seven names for a long time.

  Eventually, she mumbled, “Yeah…I finally did it, Big Sis.”

  “Hee-hee!” Asuna couldn’t contain her giggle in time. “You did it again, Yuuki.”

  “Huh…?” Yuuki looked back at her in complete bewilderment.

  “You called me ‘Big Sis,’ remember? Back at the boss chamber. I mean, it’s very cute and flattering, but—?!”

  Asuna stopped in midsentence. She hadn’t meant anything serious by it.

  But Yuuki was covering her mouth with a hand, her eyes wide. The purple irises filled with clear drops momentarily, dripping down her cheeks.

  “Y…Yuuki?!”

  Asuna tried to reach out to the girl, but Yuuki took a few steps backward. Her lips opened, uttering a hoarse croak. “Asuna…I, I—”

  Suddenly, she turned away, wiping at her tears and waving her left hand. That brought up her menu window, which she touched with trembling fingers. Her small body was engulfed in a pillar of white light.

  And just like that, Yuuki the Absolute Sword, invincible warrior, disappeared from Aincrad.

  8

  Asuna looked down at the piece of paper in her hand to ensure that the string of letters written on it indeed matched the title on the side of the large building.

  She was in the Tsuzuki ward of Yokohama. The building sat nestled between hills rich with greenery. Given its fairly low height, the design surrounded by plants and trees, and the rolling hills, it didn’t seem like they were in a big city at all. But in fact, it was less than thirty minutes away from Asuna’s home in Setagaya, using the Tokyu Line.

  The building was still new, and the brown tiles on the exterior gleamed in the low winter sun. It struck Asuna as similar to the place where she had slept for so long. She put the piece of paper back in her pocket.

  “Are you in there, Yuuki?” she muttered. She wanted to see the girl, but she also hoped that she wasn’t in there.

  After a brief period of uncertainty, Asuna straightened up the lapels of the coat she was wearing over her uniform, and she started walking toward the front entrance.

  Three days had passed since Yuuki the Absolute Sword disappeared from Aincrad.

  When Asuna closed her eyes, she could still see her tears, just before she logged out at the Monument of Swordsmen. She didn’t think she would ever forget them, even if she tried. She needed to see her again so they could talk. But all the in-game messages she sent received a stock “this user is not logged in” response, and they hadn’t been opened yet.

  She figured that the other Sleeping Knights would know where Yuuki was, but when she visited their favorite hangout place, the inn in Rombal, only Siune was there. She had looked down and shaken her head.

  “We haven’t been able to contact Yuuki since then, either. She hasn’t been full-diving at all, much less playing ALO, and we hardly know anything about her real-life details. Plus…”

  Siune stopped there. She gave Asuna a somewhat anxious look. “Asuna, I don’t think that Yuuki wants to see you again. Not for her sake, but for yours.”

  Asuna was stunned into silence. She finally found her voice a few seconds later.

  “Wh…why? I mean…I could tell that Yuuki and the rest of you were trying hard not to get too close to me. If I’m just bothering you, I’ll leave her alone. But…I don’t understand what you mean by saying it’s for my sake.”

  “It’s not bothering!” Siune said vehemently, her perpetually serene attitude broken for this one instant as she shook her head. “We truly are very happy to have found you. The fact that we were able to create such wonderful memories here at the end is thanks to you, Asuna. We cannot thank you enough for your help with the boss and your desire to join our guild. I’m sure Yuuki agrees with me there. But…please, I beg of you, just forget about us now.”

  She waved her hand to call up a window. A trade prompt appeared in front of Asuna.

  “It’s a bit earlier than we expected, but the Sleeping Knights should be breaking up soon. I am putting together our payment to you here. It is the loot the boss dropped, as well as all of our items…”

  “I…I don’t want it. I can’t take them,” Asuna said, smacking the CANCEL button. She stepped closer to Siune. “Is this really good-bye? I…I like you, and Yuuki, and everyone else. I thought that even if the guild broke up, I could still be friends with all of you. Or was that just me…?”

  The old Asuna would never have said such things. But in just the few days that she’d been working with Yuuki’s party, she could feel herself changing. And that just made their imminent farewell that much worse.

  Siune looked down and shook her head. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry. But it’s for the best if we say good-bye here…I’m sorry, Asuna.”

  And she, too, opened her window and logged out to escape the scene. After that, it wasn’t just Yuuki; Siune, Jun, Nori, and the others did not log in to ALO at all.

  It had only been a few days together. Asuna had assumed they were friends, but maybe she was wrong about that. But the Sleeping Knights left a deep, unshakeable impression on Asuna’s heart. She knew she could never forget them.

  The third term at school had already begun, but even seeing Kazuto (Kirito), Rika (Lisbeth), and Keiko (Silica) in real life for the first time in weeks did not bring Asuna cheer. Behind her eyelids and deep in her ears, she saw and heard Yuuki. “Big Sis,” she had called Asuna. And when she realized that she had done it, she cried. Asuna wanted to know why.

  And then Asuna got a text message from Kazuto yesterday, saying he would be waiting for her on the school roof at lunch.

  There were no other students on the roof of the concrete building, exposed to the chill northern wind. Kazuto was leaning on a thick air circulation pipe as he w
aited for Asuna.

  In real life, he didn’t seem to be gaining any weight, even though it had been more than a year since he was released from SAO. His sister, Suguha, was making sure he ate properly, so there was no concern about his nutrition, but either he was working off all the calories with jogging or the gym, or his frenetic virtual battles were somehow burning off his physical energy.

  He had his hands in his pockets, top jacket button open, and long bangs waving in the wind, an appearance that was the same as in the old Aincrad days, just with a different outfit and height. Asuna rushed over to him and bumped her forehead right into the cradle of his shoulder as he looked up.

  She wanted to express all of the churning emotions that tortured her gut, but Asuna couldn’t even put what she was feeling into words. She squeezed her eyelids shut, trying to stifle the oncoming sobs. Kazuto gently patted her back. He murmured into her ear, “Do you still want to see the Absolute Sword?”

  That simple question encompassed all of Asuna’s desires. He was right: She wanted to see Yuuki again; she believed in her heart that Yuuki wanted the same thing.

  Asuna nodded, and Kazuto continued. “She told you that you shouldn’t see her again, didn’t she? And you still want to?”

  She had already told him all about the results of the twenty-seventh-floor boss battle, their unexpected parting afterward, and Siune’s final comments, so Kazuto’s questions were coming after he had formulated his own thoughts about the matter.

  Asuna nodded again. “Yes, even still. I just want to see Yuuki and talk to her again. I have to do it.”

  “I see,” Kazuto replied. He put his hands on her shoulders to put space between them, then pulled a small piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. “If you go here, you might be able to meet her.”

  “Huh…?”

  “It’s just a possibility, nothing more. But…I happen to believe that she’s there.”

  “H…how do you know that…?” Asuna asked in a daze, taking the folded scrap of paper.

  Kazuto looked up at the sky. “Because that’s the only place in Japan where they’re holding a Medicuboid clinical study.”