True Love With or Without Memories

IRL...|Chapter 29

Asuna POV

Having been let out of the hospital faster than Kirito, I visited him everyday until he was let out. My long side braids which consisted of chestnut brown hair, were tidy and not a single hair was out of place... was what I hoped. The rain had started to pour, making my blue-striped t-shirt get soaked. I walked in with my hair messy from all the wind and rain, while my shirt was starting to go transparent. Whilst muttering a complaint under my breath, Kirito woke up. Rubbing his onyx eyes, he yawned, so when he gained consciousness, he was obviously startled.

"A-Asuna! Why are you wet?! Did you dry your hair? Are you cold?!" He started panicking.

As much as I wanted this to last, I knew telling him was the right option. "It rained while I was coming. I thought it wasn't so I didn't bring an umbrella."

Kirito was about to say something when he realised some 'important' details and moved his pupils to the corner of his eye. "Your clothes..." he whispered. I looked down, and my eyes widened at the sight. My shirt was now transparent and at the end of my shirt which meant... he could see what was inside, clear water droplets were dripping one by one onto the hospital floor. My face bloomed bright red.

"Uhh..." both of us had lost our words. It was until then, Kirito broke the silence.

"You wanna come in?" He lifted the blanket, showing his pants and revealing a half-blush on his face. I too, was embarrassed but what more could I do? Stay there while I was freezing cold? I don't think so.

"...Yes," I whispered as I slowly walked to the hospital bed. And right on time, Nurse Aki came out of the door.

"Hello, Kirigaya! You are to be discharged in..." she checked her list, "2 days. Just to tell you, Miss Asuna was here even when you were still unconscious. She was with you all the way through. When we asked what blood type you were she had the answer, she shouted out, 'B-positive! I've got the same as his if you need some.' And it shocked me that she had the right to assume. We had run out of all the B-positive blood we had got from the donors the day before. When she comes, don't forget to show her extra love." She winked and left, closing the door. Before I could come out, Miss Aki came into the room again, "And Miss Asuna?" I flinched at hearing my name, "I knew you were there all along."

After she left, I popped up from under the blanket. "I-I wasn't that obvious was I?" However, Kirito didn't answer. Instead, a tear dropped onto the blanket.

Seeing him also made my heart throb in pain. I slowly patted his back and whispered, "It's going to be alright. Eugeo and the others haven't died yet. They're in a deep freeze remember?"

Instead of a solid conformation, he moaned into my chest, "Nurse Aki was right. You're an angel. W-What did I deserve to get you? I'm just an introvert that managed to get stuck in a game and somehow managed to clear it. Y-You, are the most beautiful, clever," he gasped, "kind-hearted angel... and w-what di-d I do? I just  You could've chosen anyone else and you chose me. Why?" I softly giggled and let some of my tears out.

"Don't you remember what we made an oath about?" I said, recalling back to our first kiss, "SAO was painful, and it was painful enough that all my friends would have already started going to (doing maths to find out what year level I would be :P) year nine while I would be stuck in a virtual game I didn't even want to be in. Everyday I would be pushed through the heartache because of some dumb game creator wanting to make his 'own world'." I hesitated. I was used to speeches for battle meetings in SAO, but confessing my love was an extra mile but I continued, "I was hurt and lost until you guided me to the light. The first few weeks of working together, I always looked up to meeting you. You were the hero in a fairy tale. My hero. When I got invited to the KoB, we stopped hanging out and always had debates against each other. After the Ragout Rabbit, I..." this was starting to get embarrassing, "I knew from the start I-I loved you, but I was always unclear about it. After you saved me from Kuradeel, I was certain. I loved you. You helped me in SAO, the Underworld when we were cornered, and lots more, so don't you ever think about that. You know what's funny? I always thought you deserved better than me." I laughed, half serious.

"W-Wha?!" He shuddered. "I-I would never! You're everything I ever imagined! I love your flaws and your perfection!" He sputtered. "To be honest," he scratched his nape, "you were what kept me going. During SAO, we fought... a lot, but in the end we somehow managed to deliver our feelings. I should be thanking your useless, murderous bodyguard for that. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have been on the verge of death. Well, it worked out for the better!" He flipped on the side of the bed, directing his face towards me. "Y'know, I love you. Always have, always will."

"IRL, I'm just a girl, born into an elite family and having discipline for everything, having to get straight A's, learn the violin, be dressed in proper clothes, everything. It caused huge amounts of stress for me. Even in SAO, the first thought I had was, 'Oh shoot, my college entrance exam is next week, I need to log out. Quick.' (A/n Don't actually know, just felt like Asuna would do that) I was determined to leave, that was one of the things that drove me, and it really did work, it was just that... you drove me even further."

Kirito POV

Having finished talking, I snuggled into my hospital bed. Asuna caressed my bangs, humming at the rhythm of her hand. At the end, I was on the verge of tiredness and was about to sleep when I heard a faint whisper, "I love you Kirito, forever and ever." She leaned onto my arm and sighed peacefully. This woke me up, not slightly, but a bunch. I could've always done what I did in SAO, when she did the exact same thing. She had not noticed before since she had been closing her eyes, but I had actually stayed up and heard her full speech. But this time having no clue on how to respond, I continued to fake-snore. "I know you're awake Kirito." She giggled. "Though, I wasn't lying about what I said."

Hey... been a long time xd. I've gotten stuck in 2 camps, has exam week coming up, three assignments due in like 10-12 hours :D what can be better. I guess I'm splitting this chapter in two as I can (try) to publish one during exam week. Well, hope you guys have a good rest of day :D!
-Shui