It was difficult for Suguha to go to sleep that night. How could she when all she could think of was her dear brother?

What happened to you, Kazuto? Who were you fighting?

Questions kept floating through her head as she lay in her bed.

She wasn't sure when, but she had drifted off. When she finally woke up, she looked at her clock to see it was past noon and well passed her usual time to wake up.

With a groan, she got out of her bed, still thinking about Kazuto.

She was thinking so deeply about him that she didn't even realize when she bumped into his back.

Startled, he jumped back and turned around, putting one hand up in a defensive position while the other reached behind his head.

They looked at each other with wide eyes before they recognized each other.

"Oh, uh. Sugu..." he spoke nervously. "I thought you were out practicing your kendo already..."

She kept looking at him, noting his expression... he seemed almost disappointed to see her...

Were you trying to avoid me? She recalled how before he was trapped in SAO, he would be careful not to run into her, even in their own home.

She was certain that he was avoiding her all over again.

"I got up late," she said emotionlessly, unable to believe that he would do such a thing again.

"...Oh, that's too bad..." he responded as he turned away.

She noticed that he was fully dressed up, wearing a fully black attire with his pants, shirt and jacket all of the same dark colour.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked him. Are you going to visit her?

"I have a checkup today," he informed her without turning around.

"I can come with you," she offered. She tried to keep the desperation out of her voice, but it was difficult when she knew that he was avoiding her again.

"Sorry," he apologized. She felt her heart shatter. "But you have to practice your kendo today."

He turned to her with a somewhat forced smile. "You asked me to make sure you aren't slacking, remember?"

Blinking her vacant eyes a few times, she recalled exactly what he was referring to. It was a promise from a long time ago, from before she lost him to SAO. It was one of the few proper conversations they had back then.

"Right... I don't mind skipping it if it's for you..."

He smiled at her. Hesitantly he raised his hand and brought it close to her, but he stopped before making contact with the top of her head.

With a smile, she brought her head into his palm, letting him pet her head gently.

"Don't worry about me," he assured her. "You just worry about yourself."

I always worry about you.

She puffed out her cheeks to show that she was annoyed but decided to let it slide for now.

"Fiiiine," she whined.

Despite his body language telling her otherwise, she accompanied him to the door.

She noted his movements; they betrayed nothing about his mental state.

As he put on his shoes, she noticed that he would occasionally glance at her nervously from the corner of his eyes.

By the time they went to get his bike from the shed, he seemed ready to bolt away as soon as he could.

"Hey, Sugu," he called for her, making her jump. "About last night..."

"I can't stand you seeing me like this." She remembered exactly what he said and how he hid himself from her by covering himself up.

"Thanks for waking me up..." Startlingly he thanked her, making her heart skip a few beats.

"It's no problem..."

He flashed her a grin before he scratched the back of his neck. "Right... it's just..." he hesitated, "did I say any names?"

She blinked a few times, wondering what to say. Should she tell him that he almost called her 'Sachi' once again. Did he even remember calling her that when he first woke up after SAO? Should she tell him that she knew the name of the person he clearly loves?

"No," she answered honestly. "You only said my name. It's the only one that matters to you," she said a bit cheekily.

He nodded with a satisfied smile although his eyes still seemed hollow.

"That's good," he said as he mounted his bike.

He looked like he was about to leave, but he stopped and turned to her one last time.

"Maybe it's better if you forget what happened," he said emotionlessly. "I really didn't want you to see me like that..."

For a moment she considered running up to Kazuto and embracing him in her arms to reassure him. But she couldn't bring herself to be so bold.

"I don't mind seeing you like that," she assured him. "Nothing can make me change how I think about you..."

He gave her a curious look, seemingly unsure of what exactly she meant by that.

"Well, whatever," he said as he turned around. "I can't make you do something you don't want, can I? I'll be home later, so don't wait up."

And with those words he started pedaling without looking back.

She slowly waved her hand in his direction until he was finally out of sight.

Once she put her hand down, she couldn't help but ball it up into a fist. The resentment she felt at his actions resurfaced.

What's wrong with you? Don't you realize how much I care about you?!

It was unbelievable! Why couldn't he see how much she wanted to help him?!

Shaking her head, she tried to get him out of her mind, but alas, she thought of his behaviour as she went through her drills.

Reaching the pool in the courtyard, Suguha began suburi. Holding her shinai, she began to move in what could almost be called a dance, and slowly began to warm up her body.

As she swung her shinai, she couldn't help but imagine using it to hit Kazuto, maybe make him realize how much of a jerk he's being!

But she immediately felt guilty for even thinking of such a thing.

He's suffering, she rationalized. He's been through so much pain. Considering he never went to meet up with anyone, she realized something else. He's separated from somebody important to him...

The image of Kazuto embracing a girl briefly appeared in her mind.

She felt her heart clench as she thought of him in love with someone.

Why? she asked herself. Why does it hurt so much?!

By the time she finished her drills, the answer still eluded her. Why does it hurt so much...?

Once she put away her equipment, she entered the house. She couldn't help but sigh when she realized that she was alone again.

Due to her parents' work, she was alone for most of the year when Kazuto was trapped. Admittedly she was used to it, partially because even when he was around, he would avoid her.

Maybe I care too much about that jerk.

She took a shower to wash away the sweat she accumulated during her workout.

Sadly, she couldn't wash away her thoughts about Kazuto.

After what felt like a long cleanse, she stepped out of the shower but stopped in front of the steam covered mirror.

She took a look at the blurry, dark-haired figure in it before wiping off some of the steam to take a good look at the face staring back.

As I thought... I just don't resemble... him anymore...

She shook her head bitterly. For the most part, she didn't care too much about how she looked, but recently, every time she looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but wonder; Would they still be close if they resembled each other more? After all, maybe then Kazuto would accept that they were family.

Taking another look at the sullen girl in the mirror, she asked herself something else that just came into her head. I wonder... do I look like... her? she thought of the girl whom her brother thinks of. Maybe that's why he keeps mistaking me for her...

Knowing she was home alone, she merely wrapped a towel around her body and went back to her room before changing into her loungewear, which was composed of a red shirt and shorts.

As she changed, she couldn't help but wonder what to do with the rest of the day.

Maybe I should play ALO today, she considered as she picked up a device with a red visor. It has been a while...

However she put it down and sat at her desk instead. She booted up her PC and opened a browser before typing a few words into the search bar.

[last day of sword art online]

The truth is, she didn't think too much about what may have happened on the final day of SAO, the day everyone woke up... the day he came back to her...

At the time she was merely grateful that her beloved brother had been freed and that was enough for her.

But his words from last night made her curious.

You said you were fighting, right, Kazuto? Was it important?

She found a forum called «MMO Today» and immediately skimmed through it.

For the most part the posts said the same things:

[SAO randomly ended]

[I suddenly heard a system message saying the game was cleared]

[I'm glad we're all safe]

[My Christmas party was ruined!]

Occasionally there were some theories:

[The admins decided to release us for Christmas]

[Somebody found a way to the final floor]

[The servers crashed]

[The people in charge of the servers freed us]

There were even a few boasts:

[I singlehandedly defeated the final boss]

[I glitched to the final floor]

[I made Kayaba beg for mercy]

She spent over an hour going through the forums, trying to find anything useful, only to find very little to piece together a theory of her own.

Eventually, she closed the lid of her computer, stretched out her limbs and let out a sigh.

"I'm getting nowhere. I'm better off asking Kazuto himself what happened to him."

Yeah, like that's going to happen.

The truth is, before the SAO incident, she wanted to end the distant relationship that he imposed on them. She truly wanted to talk with him more - even before she knew the truth about their relationship. However before she could do so he was trapped in SAO...

Or at least that was her excuse at the time...

I'll probably get close and get too scared to talk about it... Just like before...

However, before she could give in to her timidity, she made her conviction. "No, this is important," she told herself. "As soon as he gets home, I'll ask him!"

And that was her resolve as she went about her day.

A few hours had passed, and she was just watching the news on the TV in the living room while eating some snacks.

On it, there was a news report in which they were talking about the SAO incident and the fallout from it.

Eventually, she heard the sound of a key unlocking the door then the front door opening slowly. She listened to the light footsteps trying to sneak behind her, evidently trying to avoid getting her attention.

"Welcome home, Bro," she greeted him as she turned around and peered at him from over the back of the couch.

He turned to her with a startled look, or more accurately, his look went from startled, to recognition, to sadness, then guilt - The same thing that happens whenever he saw her.

Eventually he smiled at her guiltily, like a teenager who was sneaking back into his house after staying out too long.

"I'm home, Sugu," he greeted her with a somewhat forced smile.

For a moment he stayed in place. His eyes shifted from her to the hallway a few times. Evidently he was thinking of going to his room...

Instead, after taking one last look and nodding his head, he walked over to the couch and sat close to her before turning to the TV.

She smiled at his close proximity, feeling as if for once he chose her.

They watched the news together in silence for a few minutes.

"Hey," she whispered to get his attention. She was going to ask him what she wanted to know.

However before she could get the words out, he said something concerning to himself.

"...3500 people..." Kazuto whispered. "They had names but now they're just a statistic..."

Caught off guard by the powerful emotions he gave off when he said that, she couldn't help but wonder, how many of those names did he want to be remembered...?

Consumed with sympathy, she slid over to him. Raising her arms, she was going to hug him while his focus was on the TV... but she couldn't. Instead she put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

He jumped a bit at the touch and turned to her with a curious look.

She smiled at him. "I'm glad that you're one of the survivors."

As she did so, she decided to take a look at his face. For a moment, his stoic mask slipped and he was looking at her with raw, unrestrained emotion; sadness and gratefulness.

His hand approached the one on his shoulder but stopped before making contact and it went down to his lap instead.

"Thanks, Sugu. I'm glad I survived to see you again."

Her heart felt like it skipped a beat at those words.

He's thanking me! she thought with joy. He's thanking me!

Her other arm raised from the couch - she wanted to hug him so badly! She wanted to let him know how she felt.

But she let it down before he could notice it. However her hand hit his jacket, making the sound of paper being hit emanate from it.

Curiously, she reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded flyer.

"Dicey Café?" she read the name of the place.

Kazuto immediately reached over and plucked the flyer from her hand.

"I ran into a guy I knew today," he explained to her, his voice sounding a bit defensive. "Apparently he runs a café now and wanted to use me as advertising."

"A café? We should go sometime," she suggested.

A day at a café with Kazuto... It sounded wonderful!

"Probably not..." he shot her down as he shoved the paper back into his pocket.

His head slumped down before continuing.

"...He'll just ask more questions..." he mumbled sadly.

Her eyes widened as he said that and she dared to take a look at his downcast face.

The moment she saw his heartbroken expression, she lost her reservations. Her arms felt like they were not her own, and before she knew it, they were wrapped tightly around his rather skinny bicep.

He turned to her with a startled look before letting out a small sound from his throat.

For a brief moment he tried to struggle, but he quickly stopped and didn't move his restrained arm at all.

Then she felt his cheek pressing against the top of her head.

Feeling his warm presence against her, she put aside her anxiety. At that moment, she decided to drop her questions for now. They could wait, Kazuto needed to feel better right now.

"No questions right now," she whispered in a low voice that he may not have heard her.

They stayed like that for a long time. Few words were exchanged between them as they no longer paid any attention to the TV, only focusing on each other.

This chapter was not originally in the outline. I just figured that we needed more chapters of Kazuto hiding his feelings. Plus I get to put out some questions that may be asked about what's going on. Just more questions, no answers for now. I did run into an issue in this chapter that I didn't have to worry about when it didn't exist; Suguha doesn't know if Sachi's alive or not. I mean, she has reason to think she's dead but there's no confirmation.

The chapter was originally a bit longer with the two of them cooking and eating together, however I decided to drop it. I say it was longer but... How in the name of Terraria is this 2000+ words?! The previous longest was 1100+ words!

Thank you to the guest reviewer who put some theories in their review. I put some of them in the chapter.

To summarize this chapter:

Suguha when Kazuto isn't around: "Baka, Onii-chan!"

Suguha when Kazuto is in front of her: "I wuv you, Onii-chan..."