Suguha wasn't sure how, but somehow her mother was amazing.

In only a few days, she had already procured a copy of «ALfheim Online» and gave it to Kazuto.

She gave it, saying that she was proud of him for the progress that he had made in his recovery.

She also added that she understood that he would play a lot but that this game shouldn't keep him from paying attention to his physical health.

Even more amazingly, Kazuto actually hugged their mother right in front of her!

It had stunned everyone, mainly because Kazuto had usually been averse to physical affection before.

Their mother of course was happy and wholeheartedly returned the hug, no doubt happy to have her adopted son back not just physically but also emotionally.

For the next few days, whenever she came home, Suguha would peek into his room. Every time, he was surrounded by gaming magazines strewn across his desk and his monitor showed huge walls of text with some pictures of the fairy races of ALfheim Online.

She guessed that he was gathering info on the game in preparation for his first dive-in.

It was actually a somewhat nostalgic sight; In the times before SAO, she would remember how he would do the same thing every time he would start playing a new game.

...Admittedly, it also brought back that bitter feeling where despite being so close, they were still so far from each other...

But this time we're playing together!

Still, recognizing his excitement each time he would ask her an ALO related question, she had told him that he could start playing without her.

But when she did, Kazuto simply waved off her concerns. "Not without you," he would insist.

And as he said, he would wait until she was finally ready to dive in with her.

It wasn't until the weekend until he was ready to play.

When the time came, he excitedly brought her into his bedroom, practically bouncing with excitement.

"Are you ready to begin our adventure?" Kazuto asked her, sounding as excited as a child ready to go on a field trip.

She smiled, ecstatic to even be near him.

"I'm definitely ready," she said a bit skeptically. "But you aren't. You still don't have an AmuSphere."

Does he expect me to share my AmuSphere? She would do it if he asked of course. But then we can't play together...

He smiled mischievously as he reached into a drawer.

"Maybe I don't. But I do have this."

She gasped when she saw what he held: In his hands was a grey, helmet-like machine that was slightly damaged and had paint peeling in several places.

Without warning, she ran at him and tried to pull the damned thing out of his hand.

"You can't use that!" she protested.

Amazingly, his reflexes were fast enough to get it out her way and hold it above his head, far out of her reach.

"Don't worry, Sugu," he said as he tried backing away from her grabbing hand. "I did my research and *ow* I found out that the NerveGear is compatible with this game."

"That's not what I'm worried about!" she couldn't help but pout. "What if you get trapped again?!"

Attempting to mix up her assault, she moved to his side to try to grab it.

"I won't!" he argued as he passed the NerveGear to his other hand. "What happened in SAO was intentional, so as long as there's a way to log out in ALO, there shouldn't be a problem."

As soon as he said that, she gave a mighty leap to reach the NerveGear. She couldn't reach it and instead fell against him.

Losing his balance, they both fell onto his bed together.

She couldn't help but blush when she felt his body pressed against hers.

Briefly ignoring the contact, she impulsively took another try at grabbing the machine.

Once again he kept it out of her reach. Then he wrapped his other arm around her, pressing them together more tightly and only allowing for her to squirm.

"Don't worry about a thing, Sugu," he chided her.

She tried to glare at him, only to be surprised when she saw that he was blushing.

Somehow that convinced her to trust him.

"Fine... I'll trust you..." she whispered, a bit too embarrassed to speak properly.

Is my heart racing?

Bashfully, she tried to get up, but his arm stayed firmly in place forcing her to do so as well.

"Kazuto?" she asked in a weak voice.

His eyes widened before he finally removed his arm. "It's nothing."

...Is his heart racing...? she thought she could feel it through her own charged heartbeat.

Deciding to be a little bold, she continued to stay on his chest, folding her hands in front of her.

"Okay, so when you first login, you'll find yourself in your race's starting village," she explained. "Take your time getting to know the mechanics of the game, but I want you to stay there until I come and pick you up, all right?"

"All right."

"DON'T leave the village, okay?"

"I know, I know," he griped. "I'm not an idiot."

She gave him a skeptical look, which he returned with an exaggerated insulted expression.

"Says the guy willingly picking the worst race in ALO."

"I told you, I want my skill to be my own, not because of my race," he explained. "That just cheapens the experience."

...

"Whatever," she sighed. Sometimes Suguha couldn't help but forget that she was supposed to be the younger one.

Reluctantly, she got off of him and was about to exit his room. However she turned around to get another look at him.

He had an awkward look on his face. His right hand was tenderly and curiously touching his chest... around the area where her chest was pressed against him...

She couldn't help but blush... but at the same time she couldn't help but smile.

Within the last year, she had noticed that her breasts were growing at a very alarming rate... She was clearly the biggest in her class... and somehow even bigger than her mother...

Of course if that's how I can get Kazuto to notice me... I'll take it!

Continuing to stare at him, eventually he looked away from his chest. With an embarrassed smile and a slight pink tint on his cheeks, he waved to her.

Smiling in return, she gave him a gentle wave as she walked out of his room and rushed to her bed.

With easy movements, she grabbed her AmuSphere and put it on before laying down.

"Let's meet each other on the other side... «Kirito»."

Imagining that he was doing so at the same time, she spoke the two words which would help her connect to her love.

"«Link Start»!"

***

Alexa, play "INNOCENCE"! Here we are. Finally in ALfheim Online!

When I started drafting this story, I thought "I'll probably be in the Fairy Dance arc of Midnight Shadow, I can make cross-references between my stories!" ...Meanwhile I'm not even halfway through the Aincrad arc there (compared to 14 parts through here), so any «references» I make will come back to this instead... (Kazuto's reasoning on why he chose to be a Spriggan was supposed to be a cross-reference). Honestly, I can't help but enjoy how much this story has progressed so far.

By the way, it's been a whole year ever since Kirigaya Love Affair began posting. :) (It feels SO good to write that.)