Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン 1. Past Demons

Forgive – Forget = Love

Chapter One: Past Demons

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**Author's Note**

**This was originally intended to be the tenth chapter of **_**Shoot to Thrill, Swing to Kill**_**. Honestly, it was up until about six-hundred words in. But then, while talking to a family member, I came up with an idea that turned this into its own story, with someone else as the main character.**

**Never fear, however, for the Kimiko/Shino pairing that I crafted in **_**Shoot to Thrill**_** will still have a major role in the story. I just decided to make Asuna the main character from this point on, while labeling the other story as complete.**

**Speaking of pairings, the true main pairing of this story will be quite rare – the only other fic featuring it that I know of is an unfinished Christmas story, with a title about cake, no less. If you can find it, check it out; though unfinished, it's still pretty good.**

**Unfortunately, this continuation/companion story puts off the idea to make a sequel on one-shots and short stories for a little longer. I hope you can forgive me for that, but I think a new drama fic with a different main pairing and a light, fluffy, happy, fluffy Kimiko/Shino on the side makes up for it regardless.**

**Well, I'd say that's it for now! See you at the bottom!**

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It was an average day. Nothing special had happened, leaving three girls to eat lunch on the roof without a care in the world.

Correction: two girls. A girl with waist-length chestnut hair seemed the most calm, eating her packed lunch with a soft smile on her face. Another girl, one with raven hair of a similar length, happily chowed down on her own meal with a certain joyous energy that only she could exude.

However, the third girl, one with ear-length black hair and a pair of rimless glasses with ovoid lenses, seemed quite nervous. Her posture was rigid, and she looked like she would jump three feet if anyone dared to touch her.

"Um, Asuna-san? Can I talk to you alone for a second?"

Finally, the bespectacled girl known as Shino Asada spoke. However, what she said caught the chestnut-haired girl off guard. Shino didn't use honorifics with her unless she was nervous, and the tone of her voice suggested that she needed help with something.

"All right," Asuna set her lunch box, which she had yet to open, down on the rooftop flooring. She then followed the bespectacled girl, turning back first and telling their raven-haired friend, Kimiko Kirigaya, that they may be a minute.

After they were no longer within the hearing range of the peppy city girl, Shino turned around, a nervous look in her dark eyes. For a few seconds, she said nothing, too scared that Kimiko might somehow hear them.

"What's up?" Asuna finally asked, getting slightly impatient.

"W-well…" the glasses-wearing noirette was struggling to find her words, as usual. "It's just… you know that I confessed… right?"

"Um, yeah," the chestnut-haired girl answered, though it sounded more like a question. "Why?"

"It's just that…" Shino's inability to articulate her point was really getting on her friend's nerves. "Even though I told her a week ago, she's never the one to initiate any physical contact. I'm always the one. It's been making me worry… is there something wrong with me? Do I not live up to her expectations?"

It was almost too much for Asuna. She almost burst out laughing. "Once again, you fail to see things from her side," she explained, putting a hand to her mouth to conceal the smile growing on her face. "Remember your first reaction to finding out about her preferences?"

"Y-yeah…" Shino whispered, looking down with a regretful expression.

"Well, she's probably afraid of you getting scared or mad because she tried something when you didn't want her to."

"Are you sure?" the bespectacled girl queried. She looked as if she didn't know how to feel about this revelation.

Asuna smiled at this; she might have a chance to see some adorable interactions between Shino and the girl she loved. Really, it was a double-edged sword that she was so close with her ridiculously cute first love's new lover. She couldn't even think about wanting Kimiko all to herself anymore, something she had felt ever since she met the bespectacled girl.

Maybe she had just gotten so used to hiding her feelings that were uncomfortably akin to jealousy that she couldn't even feel them anymore. But somehow, she didn't think that this was the case.

_I'm probably just really getting into my new role as the parent figure. It would explain why I have more fun looking at their interactions than actually interacting with them._

Whatever the case, Asuna decided she didn't want to think too much about it. She had never fancied seriously contemplating about the deeper, more depressing aspects of life, and she knew that overthinking things usually led to that.

Finally, the chestnut-haired girl decided that an answer was in order. The girl before her had waited long enough, although she wouldn't like the answer forthcoming.

"Not one-hundred percent, no," she said, smiling as she pointed over to where Kimiko sat in wait. "But that's to be expected. I'm not her."

The bespectacled girl sighed, finally realizing that she would never get a straight answer from the girl in front of her. "Well, what do I do, then?" she asked without thinking.

"Isn't that obvious?" for once, Asuna spoke in a serious, yet not sharp, manner. "You have to talk to her. She's the only one who knows for sure what she's thinking. And, as much as I hate to admit it as her best friend and ex-lover, there are times when she's a complete mystery to me."

"I see," Shino looked slightly demoralized by this information.

With a sigh, the chestnut-haired beauty put a hand on her friend's shoulder. When Shino looked into her eyes, Asuna gave her a gentle, almost motherly smile. "Let me tell you something that I think will make things easier for you in the long run."

"What is it?"

"Just because you love someone, it doesn't mean you understand everything about them," as she spoke, Asuna looked over her friend's shoulder at Kimiko. "But that's exactly what makes it exciting. You want to know them better, so you learn more about them, and you find whole new things to love."

After removing her hand from Shino's shoulder, she used her rarely-seen, almost superhuman strength to swivel the bespectacled girl around and push her back towards their raven-haired loved one all in one fluid motion.

"You can't solve anything without talking to her," she advised. "So go."

Asuna was glad that Shino didn't turn back as she walked over to her lover. After all, she didn't want the bespectacled girl to ask why she was crying.

* * *

The past couple of days had been hard for the chestnut-haired girl.

She was their friend. She thought she had come to peace with her new role as a motherly side character in their beautiful love story. She thought she could feel happy, just seeing the happiness of her old lover and new friend.

So why, then, did she always find herself close to tears when she saw them holding hands, or hugging, or kissing, or anything of the sort?

She wondered if she was too adept at hiding her own emotions for her own good. Her friends never noticed her sadness, though that could partially be attributed to the fact that they were dense as all get out.

But she had no right to complain. She had played a huge part in the shaping of their relationship, and she had been the one to give the final push to make them what they were. If anything, this was just the natural consequence of her not realizing the strength of her own feelings until it was far, far too late.

In the end, however, that was to be expected. Asuna had never been one to put her own selfish desires above the wants and needs of her loved ones, and this was no exception. This outcome was inevitable; even if she hadn't pushed Shino to the point of realizing her own feelings, the chestnut-haired girl believed that they would have somehow ended up together anyway.

_I wonder…_ she thought as she walked through the pedestrian traffic at a leisurely pace, aiming to reach the train station soon and escape her worries by heading for who knows where. She would decide where to go when she got to the station.

_Will I ever move on?_

"Come on, Shinocchi!" a voice shouted from behind her. "Let's get to the train station before the one we're trying to get on leaves!"

"I'm coming!" was the exasperated reply that rose above the noise of all the people around them. "But you don't have to yank my arm off, jeez!"

It seems that Asuna should have walked faster. Once again, she felt her heart tighten, as it had done so painfully often these past few days.

_Let's just hope they don't notice me._

"Ah! It's Asu-nyan!"

_Of course._

She pretended not to have noticed them before as she turned around, walking backwards to face them. "Hey, didn't expect to see you two here!" her cheer sounded perfectly genuine, much to her dismay and relief. "You on a date?"

Shino's face looked ready to combust at any moment, while Kimiko's shone with pure happiness. A radiant joy she had never seen when they were together. The sight both warmed her heart and crushed it to pieces, as if it were set alight and thrown into a trash compactor.

"Yup!" the positively glowing girl known as Kimiko Kirigaya affirmed. "We're going to hit the beach!"

"Good for you!" Asuna's cheerful tone sickened her; her dishonesty couldn't be broken when she was around her raven-haired angel. "Have fun, you two!"

But of course, she could at least tease them a little. "But don't ruin yourselves for marriage, you hear?"

It had seemed impossible before, but Shino's face got even redder. Kimiko just donned a mock-serious expression. "I don't need marriage if I've got Shinocchi!"

"Just make sure you're both mentally prepared, then," Asuna had almost had her fill of teasing, but not quite. "And please, be gentle with each other. I don't want to see any marks when you get back."

With a forced giggle that sounded for too real, she turned around just as she saw Kimiko's face show that she finally understood what her ex had been talking about.

"H-has Asuna always had such a p-perverted side?" the subject of this question heard Shino stutter it just before she was out of hearing range.

_I wonder what'll happen between those two?_ Were the last thoughts that Asuna had before she let them be.

When she was sure she was far enough ahead of the two, she broke into a run, tears warring with her eyes.

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Upon arriving at the train station, Asuna quickly found a bench out of direct view of the public, where she lay in wait for her two friends to come by. She wouldn't bother them; she just wanted to know what train they were headed to…

_So I can take one going the opposite direction._

As she waited, she noticed a train make a stop a fair distance away. The doors opened soon after, and amongst the crowd of people exiting the front car she saw a flash of violet hair.

_No… it couldn't be…_

The chestnut-haired girl closed her eyes for only a second. When she opened them, having fully composed herself, what she thought she saw had disappeared in the crowd.

_I must be so tired that I'm hallucinating,_ Asuna thought as she noticed Shino and Kimiko hurriedly make their way onto a separate train. Her eyes stayed trained on them until the door closed behind them not a second too soon.

A moment or two later, the train began to move south of the station. Well, Asuna supposed, there _was_ a beach in that direction, though it took a while to get to. The girls were lucky that the day was Saturday.

The chestnut-haired girl planned to get up in a few minutes and take a train north. After all, she couldn't really walk in a functional manner when her legs felt like Jell-O.

But, of course, this only gave her more time to think about what had been getting her down. She felt like she would cry at any moment; when had she become such an emotional wreck?

She heard the wooden bench creak slightly as someone sat next to her. She didn't look up to meet them, since they would probably just be gone on another train soon anyway. However, things did not go in the way she envisioned.

Just as she finally started regaining control – she didn't want to look so unstable in front of a perfect stranger, even if they would probably never meet again – she heard them say something.

"You know that it's bad to hold it in. You can cry if you need to; I won't judge."

"But… I'm in front of so many people," Asuna replied to this stranger, identified as a girl by her voice. "Everyone will thing I'm weird."

"So what?" was the soft reply of the girl next to her. "You've never seen them before, and you'll probably never see them again."

Her words made sense the chestnut-haired girl. She could feel her emotions slipping again, and another unexpected action was the final straw.

"All of us need a little comfort sometimes."

Those words and a comforting arm around her shoulder were all it took for the tears in her eyes to start falling once more. Against her better judgment, she buried her head into this stranger's shoulder as she sobbed; something about this girl made her seem like she wouldn't take advantage of the fragile girl.

Asuna had no idea how long she stayed there, wrapped in this perfect stranger's comforting embrace as she cried and cried, as if her tears were without limit. When she finally began to calm down, she withdrew herself from the girl's embrace with reluctance.

"Thank you…" Asuna said without looking at the girl who helped her. She got up, preparing to just go home after this exhausting ordeal. "You don't even know me, and you were still so nice to me, and you still comforted me."

"Who said anything about that?"

_Huh?_

The chestnut-haired girl couldn't fathom why, but that tone sounded familiar somehow. She turned around to finally see the girl who helped her in her time of grief.

Familiar violet hair came down to her waist, the bangs of which framed a perfect face and its magenta eyes. Her figure seemed quite nice, though it was a bit hard to tell with the unfashionable violet t-shirt covering it up for the most part.

She wore indigo denim jeans, the legs of which went all the way down to her black running shoes with a navy-blue trim. However, one thing stood out above all else.

The silver necklace hung around her neck. It had no decorations, but an amethyst crystal surrounded by two sapphires really caught one's eye. The necklace looked to have cost a lot of money, but to Asuna, it had more than just a materialistic value.

_That necklace… there's no mistaking it. It's the one that Kimicchi gave to…_

"Yuu-chan?"

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**Author's Note**

**Wow, twenty-three-hundred words of story! Nice one, inspiration! I owe ya!**

**Inspiration: "No you don't. I had nothing to do with this one."**

**Anyway…**

**This was started on 11/22/14, but I only got past the first six-hundred words a few days ago, when the change in plans for this storyline came into being. I thought I would be done with it by yesterday, but it turned out to be longer than I foresaw. I guess that's a good thing, though.**

**If the new main pairing isn't obvious enough by now, what with the pairing settings and the actual chapter content, we're going the Yuuki Asuna/Konno Yuuki route this time around. As I said and wrote above, the main pairing of **_**Shoot to Thrill**_** will still play a large role in the story, it just won't be the whole focus anymore.**

**Teaser: Yuuki has already been mentioned once in the Original _Shoot to Thrill_. Virtual Cookie goes out to anyone who can find the original reference!**

**The beginning of this story will likely be very depressing, in case you didn't catch the hints. I plan for some eventual lighthearted, sickeningly sweet fluff for the main pairing, but that'll be a while. Apologies to those of you who wanted something different from this, but I will have a **_**seriously**_** hard time coming up with literally **_**anything**_** else to do with this whole storyline until the second part, namely this story, is complete.**

**I suppose I should get to working on chapter two, but I must remind you that, with things in real life finally getting busy, I won't be able to "update soon" as so many people will undoubtedly request as the only content of their review.**

**All right, see you later!**


	2. Past versus Present

Forgive – Forget = Love

Chapter Two: Past versus Present

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**Author's Note**

**This… was too quick. I need to slow down to I don't use up all my inspiration in just a few chapters. I've got to retain at least enough to be able to eventually recharge, so I can't start writing too fast.**

**Well, it's short, admittedly, but I think it cuts off at the right place. You'll see what I mean… if you get to the bottom.**

**I'll see you there!**

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_"Thank you…" Asuna said without looking at the girl who helped her. She got up, preparing to just go home after this exhausting ordeal. "You don't even know me, and you were still so nice to me, and you still comforted me."_

_"Who said anything about that?"_

Huh?

_The chestnut-haired girl couldn't fathom why, but that tone sounded familiar somehow. She turned around to finally see the girl who helped her in her time of grief._

_Familiar violet hair came down to her waist, the bangs of which framed a perfect face and its magenta eyes. Her figure seemed quite nice, though it was a bit hard to tell with the unfashionable violet t-shirt covering it up for the most part._

_She wore indigo denim jeans, the legs of which went all the way down to her black running shoes with a navy-blue trim. However, one thing stood out above all else._

_The silver necklace hung around her neck. It had no decorations, but an amethyst crystal surrounded by two sapphires really caught one's eye. The necklace looked to have cost a lot of money, but to Asuna, it had more than just a materialistic value._

That necklace… there's no mistaking it. It's the one that Kimicchi gave to…

_"Yuu-chan?"_

* * *

"In the flesh and unfashionable outfit!" the violet-haired girl replied with a refreshing jubilance. It almost made it impossible for Asuna to get mad at her.

Almost.

With a huff, the chestnut-haired girl looked away, her earlier sorrow completely crushed by the intense anger she felt. The one person she could never forgive was standing right in front of her, after all this time.

"Hey, come on…" the subject of her anger tried to move into Asuna's line of sight, but was constantly avoided, again and again.

Eventually, the unfashionable girl grew tired of this little game. She grabbed the chestnut-haired girl's shoulder, but her hand was immediately swatted away.

"Don't touch me!" Asuna hissed, careful to keep her voice down. Even if she couldn't forgive the girl before her, she didn't want to cause a scene that would get her arrested in the middle of a train station.

"Why?"

The simple question caught her off guard; how could she not know why Asuna was so upset? She was dense, but not downright stupid.

"Aren't you _afraid_ of us?" the sharp question left the chestnut-haired girl's lips without another thought. "Doesn't it feel disgusting to touch us, Konno Yuuki?"

"What? N-no!" It was this girl, Yuuki's turn to get defensive. "That's not it at all!"

"Then what _is_ it?" Asuna couldn't believe that her ex-friend would spout such a blatant lie. "Please, tell me."

"I…" Yuuki seemed to be struggling for words, and the reason was obvious.

Or was it?

Tears began to build up in her eyes, shocking a good portion of the anger out of Asuna. _Why… why is _she _the one crying?_

"I'm not ready to say it yet," it seemed like it took all of her strength to say these words. "But I swear, that wasn't the reason I moved away."

"When will you be ready?" Asuna was more curious than angry at this point.

"When both you and Kimi-tan are in front of me," Yuuki said after a moment's pause. "She needs to hear it, too."

"No!" Asuna forgot to keep her voice low for that one word, and a few heads turned in their direction because of it. After everyone went back to their previous activities, she quieted down for her next words. "I won't let you hurt her again. She's barely healed from the last time you broke her heart."

"Please…"

The quiet desperation in Yuuki's voice shocked her ex-friend. Never before had she seen this jubilant girl even make a face like that before, let alone cry and speak with such desperation, such sorrow, such _regret_. It cooled the last of Asuna's burning hatred for her.

"I need to make things right."

_I… I don't know what to do,_ were the only thoughts running through her mind for a whole thirty seconds, repeating themselves over and over in different variations.

"Please, Asuna…"

"You… really aren't going to hurt her again?"

These words were barely above a whisper, yet they felt so loud to the both of them. Asuna searched her ex-friend's eyes for a hint of deception, anything to show that she hadn't meant all the pretty words she said.

She found none.

Yuuki averted her eyes to the beautiful necklace given to her what seemed like decades ago, bringing her hands up to hold it tightly.

"You know, I've worn this necklace all the time, as much as I could," she began speaking with a reverence that Asuna had never heard from her before, nor imagined her to be capable of. "I hold it when I'm feeling stressed, thinking of the one who gave it to me, and it calms me down. I hold it when I feel weak, and it gives me strength. I hold it when I'm afraid, and it gives me courage.

"Do you really think I'd want to hurt the precious person who gave this precious necklace to me?"

Asuna was taken aback by the intensity of her proclamation. She couldn't believe it; all this time, she'd hated the poor girl, thinking that she wasn't even capable of feeling so strongly about something like this. It was then that she decided…

Whatever Yuuki had to say, it couldn't be something hurtful.

But even so, she hadn't fully forgiven her. Yuuki had still caused both her and Kimiko a lot of pain, even if it wasn't her intent to do so. Well, she still didn't know the full story, but…

Asuna looked away, putting a hand up to cover the traitorous smile that grew on her face. "Your explanation better be good, Yuu-chan."

Out of the corner of her eye, the chestnut-haired girl saw her ex-friend — she still didn't fully trust her — smile through her tears. Not a mocking smile; a truly grateful one, a smile that fit someone who had just been given a second chance after a lot of horrible guilt.

_Well, maybe that's what it is…_

"Thank you!" the teary-eyed girl said, jumping on Asuna and delivering a fierce bear hug. Asuna could feel her tears dampen the shoulder of her white jacket.

At Yuuki's next move, she found her body betraying her. She let out a shiver as the violet-haired girl embracing her whispered something to her, her lips brushing over her ear as she spoke.

"I promise I'll make things right."

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**Author's Note**

**What'd I tell ya? Does it cut off at the perfect spot or what?**

**Anyway, sorry for the chapter being so short, and mostly dialogue-focused. I swear, they won't all be like that.**

**On the subject of future chapters, what do you guys think about switching the third person perspective over occasionally and showing more of Yuuki than of Asuna? I'm thinking of doing that next chapter, so leave your thoughts in a review if you'd like!**

**See you next chapter!**


	3. Intermission: Some Time to Think

**Author's Note**

**Short, yes. It's merely an intermission to let people know this story is still alive, so I didn't feel the need to exceed two-thousand words with it.**

**This is going to center around Kimiko and Shino, by the way. It'll be about the morning after their first date, when the gravity of what happened the night before finally reaches Shino. So yeah, have fun with interpreting that.**

**Anyway, I'll let you read now. See you below!**

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Forgive – Forget = Love

Intermission Chapter I: Some Time to Think

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There was a long list of bad or scary things that had happened right after Shino woke up, and this one certainly reached for the stars in the second regard. Even worse, she realized as she woke up and began remembering the night before, she was the one who put them in this situation, despite the protests of the girl sleeping softly next to her.

What exactly occurred on that particular Sunday morning to make it so scary for Shino in her early waking stages? It all started the night before, after they left the beach.

Really, the beginning was completely Kimiko's fault. Of that, the bespectacled girl was certain. After all, it was the raven-haired beauty's impulsive idea to hit the beach on a Saturday, without even thinking about checking when the train station in their destination town closed up.

It was a rural place, even more so than Shino's town, so it sort of made sense that they closed the train station earlier there. But really, did they seriously have to close the station at six o'clock? That was ridiculously early.

Kimiko had gotten the completely whimsical idea in her head to bring the glasses-clad noirette there on what was essentially their first date, yet had neglected to think about when they would need to leave the beach to get back home the same night. This had, of course, effectively left them stranded in a town that they knew nothing about.

When Shino realized this, she completely panicked, and (to her current regret) ended up lashing out at Kimiko. That raven-haired angel took it all in stride, however, and acted as exactly what her bespectacled girlfriend needed right then – someone calm to rely on, who would be able to fix things when they went south.

That is, until they found out that the hotel they found was somehow fully-booked. Apparently, a whole family, close and extended, had chosen to have their reunion at the small beach town, and they took up all the remaining hotel rooms.

This is when Kimiko started to crack. At the time, Shino had no idea why; there was another hotel right across the street. What was so wrong with that one that her girlfriend wouldn't even consider entering, let alone requesting a room?

Every time the city girl tried to explain, she ended up blushing bright pink, stuttering, and then fizzling out. That response, so unlike the usual, cheerful, yet outgoing girl she fell in like-like (Shino still wasn't sure if it could really be called 'love' on her end) with, made absolutely no sense to her.

It took some convincing, but the bespectacled girl eventually managed to get Kimiko to at least enter with her. She had to resort to the tactic of, 'If you don't come with me, I'll go by myself'. She wouldn't actually go through with that, and felt bad saying it, but she figured it was the only way to get her raven-haired girlfriend to move.

Once again, the city girl shocked her. The moment they entered, her demeanor completely flipped, and she calmly but purposefully told Shino to wait at the door before walking over to a juke box-like thing on the north wall.

Shino had never seen her girlfriend move so fast as she did while she messed around with the machine, nor had she seen Kimiko so flustered by one. She eventually pulled out the cash card she got from her mom with nervous hands (she said she got permission to take and use it, and the noirette wasn't about to question it so late in the game) and swiping it through a scanner that the bespectacled girl hadn't noticed before.

It was only after Kimiko led her to the room she had apparently purchased at the strange jukebox machine that the realization of what this hotel was hit the bespectacled girl. Their room looked too… romance-oriented. It looked like a room specifically designed for couples. It was then that Shino realized precisely why her girlfriend had been so flustered while trying to explain why they shouldn't go there – this was a love hotel.

The next morning, after waking up and noticing hot pink, heart-filled covers over herself and Kimiko, her first reaction had been to hit the girl sleeping peacefully next to her. Thankfully, she stopped herself just short of actually acting that out, redirecting her momentum into shaking the raven-haired beauty's shoulder.

Kimiko didn't even stir. She must have been quite the heavy sleeper, all things considered. That, or the last night's events must have really tired her out. Shino blushed as she realized how that sentence in her thoughts could be taken, given the situation.

"Kimiko, we need to get up," the glasses-less girl said as she shook her girlfriend's shoulder a little harder, still trying to rid herself of the traitorous blush adorning her cheeks.

"Five… five more minutes…" came the stereotypical response that the noirette really should have expected.

With a sigh, Shino spoke. "Fine," she resigned herself to five minutes of solitude.

Actually, this could be a good time to think. A good time to contemplate what the girl sleeping next to her really meant to Shino. The girl had offered to try dating Kimiko in order to figure out her own feelings for the city girl, right? Well, it was the morning after their first date, and she had five whole minutes to herself to think before her girlfriend got up.

_I know I have some feelings for her of some sort… and I definitely care about her more than anyone else. Despite the past, it's easier for me to be around Kimiko than anyone else… when I'm with her, I can be myself._

Were those things love? Did she love Kimiko? And if she did, did that make her a… a lesbian?

Shino involuntarily shivered at the thought. _Okay, back up a bit. Do I love Kimiko?_

The glasses-less girl thought back to something Asuna, Kimiko's ex, had once said to her.

"_Love is never pure. Love isn't just about feelings. Love comes hand in hand with _desire_."_

Did Shino desire the girl sleeping next to her? It was easy for her to think that Kimiko was beautiful – that's one of the first things she had noticed about the city girl, way back at their first meeting. But… was she _attracted_ to Kimiko's beauty?

She didn't know. Despite never having feelings for any of the boys she had ever talked to, the idea of being… together with a girl was so alien to her before now. It seemed completely different from what she had planned.

But despite the differences, there was one thing she was sure of. She definitely didn't hate it. The fear she had initially held had almost vanished the more she stayed with Kimiko, too.

Shino thought back to when she had promised to try being Kimiko's lover. Quite frankly, she hadn't been thinking entirely clearly when she said it. She had been absolutely terrified, and completely willing to do whatever it took to keep Kimiko to herself, regardless of the consequences of her actions. And yet…

_If I could do that day over again, I don't think I would change anything. I would do it all over again._

This, at least, was the truth. Maybe she wouldn't figure out whether she truly loved Kimiko for quite a while. But it's not like the raven-haired beauty was rushing her. She had waited patiently so far. She hadn't even mentioned it.

_I have time… I have time to figure it out._

Now that she thought about it… what time was it? She would need to be back home before the afternoon, or her grandpa's weekend call would reach voice mail.

She reached over to the heart-shaped mahogany nightstand, grabbing her ovoid-rimmed glasses and sliding them onto her face. She looked the time on the pink clock.

"It's… it's eleven-thirty!" she nearly shouted in distress. "Kimiko, get up _now_!"

* * *

**Author's Note**

**By the way, the next chapter is already almost longer than this. It'll probably be twice as long by the time it's done, though. And it'll be from Yuuki's point of view, so that'll be a nice change of pace for you all.**

**So, what did you think of this? I know it was short, but it was kind of set up in a way that made it impossible to lengthen any further without creating new events for the couple to go through, and this story isn't even supposed to focus on them anymore, so…**

**Well, I gotta get to work on my next chapter of whatever I'll update next! Probably I'd Rather Die, my M-rated Madoka Magica fic. Check it out if you're interested, since the M-rated stuff won't show up for a good seven or eight chapters, anyway.**

**See you next chapter!**


	4. School is a Wonderful Thing?

**Author's Note**

**So, this happened. I'm honestly not sure why I decided to work on this fic again, considering it was slated for termination after I decided to rewrite Shoot to Thrill and include this sequel in the rewrite. By the way, that rewrite is delayed until I either finish one fic of or get bored of writing for the Swordswoman Pentalogy. Probably the latter, considering I'll be working on the series for likely the next several years if I don't drop it altogether.**

**I guess you can either blame or be grateful for ForteDragon, who encouraged/pestered me numerous times about updating this. Although I have to say, it's impressive that it didn't backfire horribly; usually when someone tries constantly to get me to do something, I end up wanting to not do it. Blame my abnormal brain for that odd reaction, I guess, and be glad it didn't happen this time.**

**Anyway, that's enough out of me. See you at the bottom!**

* * *

Forgive - Forget = Love

Chapter Three: School is a Wonderful Thing?

_"Do you really think I'd want to hurt the precious person who gave this precious necklace to me?"_

_Asuna was taken aback by the intensity of her proclamation. She couldn't believe it; all this time, she'd hated the poor girl, thinking that she wasn't even capable of feeling so strongly about something like this. It was then that she decided…_

_Whatever Yuuki had to say, it couldn't be something hurtful._

_But even so, she hadn't fully forgiven her. Yuuki had still caused both her and Kimiko a lot of pain, even if it wasn't her intent to do so. Well, she still didn't know the full story, but…_

_Asuna looked away, putting a hand up to cover the traitorous smile that grew on her face. "Your explanation better be good, Yuu-chan."_

_Out of the corner of her eye, the chestnut-haired girl saw her ex-friend — she still didn't fully trust her — smile through her tears. Not a mocking smile; a truly grateful one, a smile that fit someone who had just been given a second chance after a lot of horrible guilt._

Well, maybe that's what it is…

_"Thank you!" the teary-eyed girl said, jumping on Asuna and delivering a fierce bear hug. Asuna could feel her tears dampen the shoulder of her white jacket._

_At Yuuki's next move, she found her body betraying her. She let out a shiver as the violet-haired girl embracing her whispered something to her, her lips brushing over her ear as she spoke._

_"I promise I'll make things right."_

* * *

"_That's not everything… you see, I… I like you…"_

"_Then… this necklace is… you gave me it because…"_

"_Yeah…"_

"_Aren't you _afraid_ of us? Doesn't it feel disgusting to touch us, Konno Yuuki?"_

"_No! That's not…!"_

"_She's barely healed from the last time you broke her heart."_

"_I never… I never meant to…!"_

"_We never want to see you again."_

"NO!"

The shout reverberated throughout the bedroom. Its origin bolted upright in bed like lightning struck her body. Although, given the situation, a more accurate description would be that lightning struck her heart.

Its frantic beating felt to her to be on a dangerous level. She felt like she would have a heart attack if she suffered any more of this.

It had been close to a week since her family decided to settle down in a small, friendly town they briefly passed over in their travels. The decision came from the combined begging of two sisters and one wife to finally settle down and stop traveling, but what they didn't foresee was that the oh so stern man of the house was a total pushover when it came to being begged by his family. They had never tried it before, but the effectiveness was certainly noted for future reference.

So, after finding and buying a house, they decided to head back to their home base (they left the things they couldn't take with them at a family friend's house) back in Tokyo, where they kept the objects necessary for living in one place while they traveled the country. It was there that Yuuki discovered that both of her old best friends had moved. She had no idea where to, and it crushed her. She wasn't going to get a chance to apologize to them, to tell them clearly her reason for disappearing from their lives.

Her family could tell she needed time to herself, but they couldn't just let her be a lump while they packed things up. And so, as a way to try to get her mind off her sorrows, her family sent her via train to go check out the town they would be living in. Check out their new house, meet the neighbors, that kind of thing. They basically decided to turn her into a scout for the day.

Of course, her luck had been down as of late. This fact was reinforced and amplified tenfold when she saw a certain someone sitting on a bench, just barely visible through the crowd. Due to its location behind a corner, she only saw it, and the girl sitting on it, for a solitary moment as she walked off the train platform.

But it was enough.

She thought about moving on. Of just pretending she never saw the girl. But then, all kinds of questions kept her rooted to her spot.

Why was she there? Why did she look so depressed? Did she live there – is this where she moved to? Was Kimiko there as well?

These questions, along with many others, prevented her from walking in any direction but towards the bench where her best friend sat, looking in dire need of comfort. And so she did, putting on her façade of happiness that she had grown so accustomed to wearing.

Even when she arrived right in front of her, the girl didn't register her presence. Silently and slowly, Yuuki took a deep breath before moving to sit down beside her.

Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest from the anticipation. She had no idea how she was going to go about doing this— or, at least, that's what she thought at first. Somehow, just like always, she found the right words flowing out of her mouth with ease.

The resulting exchange between the once-friends pulled heavily on Yuuki's heartstrings. For what happened to have affected them so deeply… she never expected that. She thought Kimiko's feelings for her were just a fleeting crush, not something so strong.

But, as she learned, her friend had recovered at least a little. The thought served as some form of small comfort to the violet-haired girl, though she knew that there were certainly still things that needed to be fixed.

Of course, several days later, when she and her family were finally settled into their new house, and she was finally registered to go to school again (during her family's travels, Yuuki had attended online high school), she had yet to figure out a way to set things right.

She didn't even know when she would next meet her two once-friends. She got Asuna's mail address again on her new cellphone, but they hadn't conversed at all yet.

_Wait a minute…_

"Oi! Sis, you gonna get up any time soon? You know you start—"

"Crap, I start school today!"

A certain sky-blue-haired girl clad in white fleece pajamas merely put her hand to her forehead as she felt a rush of wind pass by her from her spot in her sister's doorway. "'Go wake your sister up,' they said," she muttered under her breath as a blur of violet hair disappeared into the bathroom behind her. "'Don't let her sleep in on her first day of school,' they said."

The blunette known as Aiko Konno grumpily walked over to her sister's closet, knowing she would have to be the one to get her sister's clothes for her. However, she soon thought better of it. Her morning of sleeping in for once had been ruined because of her sister, when she was already awake in the first place.

"This'll teach her not to mess with my mornings off," she whispered. Granted, it was her parents who told her to wake her sister up, but if the little squirt had actually _gotten up_ when she was supposed to (why in God's name _didn't_ she if she was already awake?), then their parents wouldn't have come to her in the first place.

* * *

After a spectacularly embarrassing journey through the house in search of her clothes, which her sister had hidden for who knows what reason, Yuuki finally found herself on the way to school.

_There's only one high school in this town, so I might see Asuna right off the bat,_ she thought rather happily. Though a slight nervousness ran through her at the thought of seeing her friends, especially Kimiko. She still had a lot to fix, and a lot to explain.

But right then, those thoughts seemed so far away. She just felt ecstatic that she would be going to real school for the first time in months, if not a year! The thought excited her so much that she ended up leaving the house a full fifteen minutes earlier than she needed to. But she didn't mind getting there earlier; it meant more time to explore once she arrived.

Speaking of which, she could see her new school in the distance. She sped up without thinking, breaking into a full sprint towards the building – she always had been very athletic, but more than that, she was just excited.

_Oh, I can't wait! I finally get to go to a real school again!_

With those thoughts flashing through her head, Yuuki ran full-tilt towards the first school in over a year she'd get to enter.

* * *

As Kimiko and Shino walked through the halls of their school, the former couldn't help but get a strange feeling. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something felt… different, somehow. Nostalgic, she might say.

The raven-haired city girl didn't know exactly what this feeling was, but she did know exactly who it made her think of. It made her think of the one person she had spent months trying to forget, only to ultimately succeed after moving away from her home and meeting the girl next to her. That person… she was the reason that Kimiko and Asuna became lovers in the first place. Because the chestnut-haired girl felt sorry for her after what happened between them.

_I have to stop thinking about her!_ The raven-haired beauty shouted in her head, shaking it vigorously to add emphasis to her thoughts. _I have Shinocchi now!_

"What's up, Kimiko?" the object of Kiriko's most recent thought asked her with a slightly concerned face. "You don't look so good."

"Nothing, just… caught a chill," the raven-haired girl lied. "Hey, Shinocchi…"

"What is it— seriously, what happened?" Shino reinstated her question a little more forcefully as she felt her girlfriend grab her hand.

"Don't worry about it," Kimiko said as she intertwined their fingers and squeezed. "I just need some… reassurance. I'll be fine in a few minutes."

"Okay…" though she personally didn't dislike the fact that they were holding hands, the rather shy bespectacled girl still hadn't grown fully accustomed to public displays of affection.

During the rest of the walk to the classroom, their hands didn't separate once.

* * *

When Kimiko had randomly shaken her head in the hallway, Shino had suspected something was on her mind. When the long-haired girl grabbed her hand out of nowhere, suspicion turned to concern. Even when they reached their classroom and sat down next to each other, and the city girl finally let go of her hand, the feeling of worry didn't lessen.

Asuna arrived shortly after and the three began to lightly converse, though the raven-haired girl didn't seem to be paying it much attention. The feeling only grew as the short-haired girl discovered just how detached Kimiko was from everything.

Then, the worried feeling tripled when the teacher walked into the room, because right at the moment where he looked out the door, Kimiko grabber her hand again and squeezed it. Somehow, it didn't seem like a coincidence that on the same day that Shino's girlfriend suddenly started acting insecure, the first thing the teacher said was:

"Today, we have another first year student joining us! She's another one from Tokyo, but she's recently been travelling all around the country."

By the time he finished, the raven-haired beauty's hand had almost cut off Shino's circulation. The bespectacled girl had to wonder just what was making her girlfriend so agitated, but she didn't have much time to ponder it before her question got answered.

On the teacher's cue, a girl walked into the room and stunned everyone. Her uniform seemed wrinkled a bit in certain areas, as if she'd run the whole way to school, but she didn't seem tired in the slightest. What made her so stunning had nothing to do with her clothes or her stamina, however.

Instead, it was her beauty. Long, lustrous violet hair that reached down to her waist, soft, expressive magenta eyes, smooth porcelain skin, and a slim, curvy figure to die for, this girl had it all. Her raw beauty rivaled Kimiko's, Shino mused, though she still found her girlfriend more attractive.

… Or she would, if the raven-haired girl would stop squeezing her hand half to death!

The beautiful new girl began to introduce herself in a clear, confident, and possibly even excited voice. "Hey, everyone! My name is Konno Yuuki! I hope we can get… along…"

Shino realized right away the reason why the new girl trailed off. Her stare of bewilderment that surfaced the moment her eyes reached the back of the class was a dead giveaway. For the second time since Kimiko herself transferred in, another new transfer student knew her somehow.

"Kimi-tan?!"

"Yuuki?!"

Both of them promptly shouting each other's names in shock just a second later didn't detract from this point, either.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**I had to fix a couple inconsistencies waiting to happen in this chapter, but I think it turned out decently. Probably not my best work, but then again, nothing ever is anymore. I constantly fail to live up to my own standards.**

**Well, what do you think? I think as far as a setup chapter goes, this did its job, at the very least. All four of the main characters, three of which are transfer students are in the same class, what are the odds? Probably very low, so I hope you can suspend your disbelief under the pretense of entertainment, and also, remember that this is a small-town high school, so there'd only be a few classes for each grade anyway.**

**This whole premise is really built on ridiculous coincidences, though… first, Kimiko moves from Tokyo, then Asuna moves to the same city from Tokyo whilst not knowing that this is where her ex moved. Then Yuuki's family decides to settle down in the same small town where everyone else lives… if that's not a coincidence to end all coincidences, I don't know what is. Blame my ship-thirsty brain all those months ago, because the current me has no idea what I was thinking back then.**

**Anyway, my rant against myself aside (because trust me, I could keep going), I'd say I'm about done. See you all next chapter, whenever that happens.**


End file.

Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン, Drama, Romance