The Blacksmith and the Warrior

Underwater Adventure

"Wow! You've gotten to the point where you can swim 25 meters!" Keiko's praise excites Suguha as she stands up from her practice swim with a flotation board. So far, she's making great progress. Like I said earlier, even if she didn't nail the physical aspect of swimming, the mentality is there.

"Hey, you've got the breathing technique down, too!" Rika says.

Asuna nods. "You're a good athlete, Suguha, so no wonder."

"You might be good on your own on the quest."

Suguha nods then looks off to the side. "Thank you very much..."

"Huh? What's this? Are you feeling lonely without your big brother?"

I sigh. "Lisbeth…"

"It's not like that at all! I was just wondering why he's so late…"

"You and Kirito are really close. I'm an only child, so it makes me envious."

"Y-You think so?"

"Aye," I say. "I had a friend who I was very close to in my childhood. Never considered her like a sister, but I get the feeling Keiko feels."

"But… Before my brother got trapped inside SAO, we weren't really that close. I wanted to see what those VRMMOs he was so obsessed with were all about, and that's when I started playing ALO. And now I'm no slouch as a gamer myself?"

"It was you who guided Kirito to the World Tree, wasn't it, Suguha?"

"Yes. But when I first met him, I had no idea he was my brother. I just thought he was this rude guy. But from time to time, I could see that he was brooding over something. I didn't know why, but somehow I couldn't just leave him alone. But since it only took us three days to reach the World Tree, it really was like a forced march!"

"I wish he had told me about it," I say while I play with Rika's hair. "But I guess I do go overboard when it comes to creeps and assholes, and Sugou was pushing it. And I guess we don't need two angry boys searching for Asuna."

"Thanks, Jaymes, for standing up for me then," Asuna chuckles. "And thanks so much, Suguha."

"Oh, no, don't thank me. I had such a good time myself. That's right, we went through a lot, but I enjoyed my adventure with Kirito."

.

.........

As we sit outside the pool, my ever inquisitive girlfriend pesters Suguha again. "So what was your impression of Kirito after going on that adventure with him? You didn't know he was your brother, right?"

"My first impression was just, 'He's so fast,' I guess. But more than that, his seriousness during each battle was nothing like anyone else's. The moment I realized that the source of his seriousness was his desire to protect someone. I thought to myself, 'This is someone I can believe in.'"

"He wasn't always like that," Asuna says. "That, he learned from Jaymes."

"Really?"

"Well, it was expressed differently. He used to believe that by being a solo player, he was going to be able to survive, but he never denied help. As I said earlier, Asuna was his partner for the first third of the game until she joined the Knights of the Blood Oath, and he helped me and Koharu multiple times on and off the front. But around a few months in, he joined a guild. It...changed him badly. For almost a year I didn't understand him. His relationship with Asuna soured and not even Koharu could break his cold demeanor. It wasn't until after Koharu died that I understood his pain...and that's when I knew how to help my friend."