Abyss of the Shrine Maiden

Revelations

After making sure her little brother is fast asleep, Koharu slips on her shoes and exits her apartment. What she’s doing is borderline craziness, but anything after fighting and surviving Sword Art Online doesn’t seem so insane. If she doesn’t do this, she can’t call herself his friend, no, his partner. That one title means more to her than any other in this world. It’s all she ever had and will have for now, even if it isn’t apparent like today.

As she comes to the intersection, she remembers he came from the same path as Suko’s junior high school, which is to the north. Besides that, she has never seen Joshua’s home, despite living just a few minutes away for almost two weeks now. Thankfully, she asked Asuna for directions, and the other girl delivered without question.

So after ten minutes of quiet walking on the uninhabited, dimly lit streets, Koharu finds herself at Joshua’s home. Compared to Asuna’s home, which is not too far away, this place is not as she expected from someone with his family’s money. But it does look more modernistic than traditional like Kazuto’s home, and given his American roots, the style fits Joshua. So she walks up to the white-colored home and raises her hand to the door...when she hears the lock click.

At first, she’s confused and waits for it to swing open. But the door doesn’t budge, so she slowly opens the door. Nobody’s around to greet her, so how did the door open? Maybe he walked away faster than she thought he would, but she slips her shoes off and step into the house properly, Joshua is not present. Not in the kitchen or the adjacent living room, both visible from where she stands. She almost calls for Joshua’s name, then she remembers what Kazuto told her about Joshua’s house. She didn’t bring her Augma, but she should be able to communicate with Lucky Red’s AI companion. That explains the door. “R-Rei, are you here?”

“Yes, Koharu. Master is upstairs… I… I don’t know what to do.” So even Rei has noticed Joshua’s strange demeanor. That all but confirms it.

“I’m going up then. You know which room it is?”

“Second one on the left. Please help Master.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.” Koharu walks up to the staircase and follows Rei’s instructions, coming up to the first door. She doesn’t know if Joshua knows if she’s here, but his door is slightly ajar. It’s barely lit, probably a lamp or the like is on, so he isn't likely to be sleeping right now. So, to be polite, she knocks on his door before entering. “It’s me, Koharu.”

In the fifty-four floors they were together, Joshua has always stood tall. Even when Akihiko Kayaba made his announcement, when situations became hopeless, and even at his worst, Koharu never saw him sulk. She knew it wasn’t because he was incapable of it, but he did it for her sake. He let her cry and express sadness all the time, especially when he tried being too heroic for his own good, but it wasn’t until their last moment together she saw him cry. Then there was their reunion in Underworld, but those were happy tears.

The Joshua she sees now betrays the strong, enduring image she’s known since that fateful day. He sits on his bed, head held down. His spiky black hair droops as well. It almost wants to make Koharu run and throw herself on him, but she doesn’t do that. She just walks inside and sits down beside him on the left side, wondering if he’ll speak on what plagues him or not. She won’t force it, that’s for sure. The only action she takes is reaching out for his hand as he had done for her so many times.

Surprising her, he gently squeezes back and slightly turns her way. “...It’s late, you know. Girls shouldn’t walk outside by themselves this late.”