Sora Yatagami was a young boy who lost everything. His parents were framed by a mistake they never commit.
After that none of his friends and other family wants to take him in. And thanks to that Sora lose trust in people and the idea of being in a...
A violent shiver overtook his body, and Zora's eyes snapped open.
He'd merely closed his lids with his back leaning against the wall, and somehow he'd fallen right to sleep. It was like one of those nightmares where he forget all about it as soon as he awaken. Its only remainder was traces of fear and panic.
Zora sat up and looked around; nothing seemed different. They were on the narrow terrace ledge running around Central Cathedral at about the eightieth floor. The sun had gone over the horizon long ago, leaving the sky as dark as freshly ground ink. But no matter where he looked, the only light Zora found coming through the cloud layer was stars, no moon. He felt like he'd heard the eight o'clock bell a while ago, but it would still be some time before the moon goddess blessed them with her meager resources.
The Integrity Knight Alice, as a sign of caution toward him, was kneeling so far away that she was nearly in the reaction range of the nearest minion with her eyes closed. Zora wanted to use this downtime to speak with her and hopefully find a clue that would allow them to avoid hostilities, but she was clearly not interested in chitchat. If only Eugeo were here, he could've used his dagger from Cardinal to prick Alice and solve the issue immediately.
And what was he doing now...?
Zora(mind): Now that I thought about it, in the two years since I'd met him near Rulid, there had never been a situation in which I couldn't see him immediately if I wanted—until right now.
The two slept outdoors on their long journey to Centoria, complained about sharing a cramped inn floor, and even shared dorm rooms the entire time they were at Swordcraft Academy. It was simply a given that both Zora and Eugeo were always together, and although he didn't always think about Eugeo, Zora felt oddly lonely now that they were apart.
No—it wasn't that simple.
Here in the Underworld, the ultimate virtual realm, Zora'd finally found the very first person of his gender that he could truly call a best friend. It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but that was the plain truth of it.
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Before he'd been trapped in the deadly game of SAO, he never considered all the other boys at school to be his friends, since he is always move from one place to another. So what's the point in making friends if they were gonna be separated anyway. That standoffish nature of him didn't change much once he was trapped in that virtual floating castle. Zora had met men like Klein and Agil who were good, well-adjusted souls that he found common ground with, but they never reached that level of true friendship when he bare his secrets to the other. Even with Kirito, the deepest relationship he'd ever had was their brotherhood. But even they would sometimes fight and wouldn't get along.
Even with Philia nor Asuna, the deepest relationship he'd ever had, he wasn't able to confess his inner weakness to Philia until just before the moment Aincrad crumbled and their minds were about to vanish.
