Once again, Suguha was spending her night thinking about Kazuto.

Ever since the night of his nightmare, she had begun to understand that he had been putting up a front of being relatively normal for a long time, acting as if nothing ever happened.

However, behind his back, a few days after the last incident, Suguha had asked their mother for advice on how she could help Kazuto.

Perhaps if she properly explained what she has been seeing from him, she could've gotten better advice, but all her mom had said was that Suguha shouldn't pry into it.

"Kazuto is a complicated boy." Her mother had said to her. "So he has to reveal what is bothering him when he is ready."

It should have been good advice.

Suguha knew that if she was having issues, she wouldn't want people jumping down her throat, prying into her business.

Still, it couldn't hurt to check up on him.

She picked up one of her pillows and squeezed it to her chest, trying to let out her nervousness. Then as fast as she could, she went to his room.

The door was closed - as usual - so she knocked on it gently.

There was no answer.

This could mean one of two things;

A: he was asleep or B: he didn't want to answer.

Not caring either way, she opened the door without a sound.

Peering into his room, she looked to his bed.

She could see the white parts of his eyes, indicating that he was awake.

For some reason, he was only occupying one half of his twin bed, almost pressing himself against the wall to make space.

But more than that, he seemed to be staring forlornly at the other side of his bed.

"Kazuto," she whispered.

Startled, he sat up and stared at her, his eyes widening as if he saw a ghost.

"W-what are you doing here?" he asked, almost sounding afraid.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't sleep," she admitted.

For a second he looked ready to cry, however it was replaced with a more blank look.

They kept up the awkward staredown for quite some time, their gazes communicating nothing with each other.

She was the first to back down. Squeezing her pillow, without a word she turned away from him, feeling ready to cry.

"Would you... like to sleep with me?" he asked uncertainly.

Inhaling sharply, she turned around with a broad grin. "Yes!" she said a bit too readily. "I mean, if that's what you want," she reiterated more calmly.

She couldn't help herself. Barely containing her excitement, she dived into the empty half of his bed and placed her pillow at the head area.

Don't do anything weird, she tried to warn herself.

Ignoring her own advice, she pressed her nose against the sheets.

They smell just like Kazuto!

"You happy?" he teased her.

"Very," she responded as she turned to look at him.

Seeing his face up close, she could see how he looked so sad despite his smile.

Was it genuine?

Unable to contain herself, she scooted over a few inches to get closer to him.

He had a nervous look as she got up into his face.

For a brief moment, she imagined getting even closer and kissing him right there. For some reason, she didn't even think it would be that strange.

However, before she could let her fantasy overcome her, he gently pressed his fingertips against her shoulders and pushed her away.

She puffed out her cheeks and pouted for a second. She was upset but it was for the best.

Their gray eyes kept staring at each other in the darkness.

For her, it was blissful. That period of time where they did nothing was beautiful.

But clearly he didn't feel the same way.

"Sorry," he apologized out of the blue. "I've never been very helpful in this kind of situation.

This kind of situation? Have you slept with other girls like this?

"It's fine," she replied. "We're fine, this is fine."

They didn't say any more to each other.

Slowly, she began to drift off, wrapped in the warmth of her Kazuto's presence.

However before she would fully go to sleep, she heard one last thing.

"You won't die, I'll protect you."

Then she heard a sarcastic laugh.

"Liar. You can't protect anyone, Kirito."

I think we can all guess what Kazuto is seeing when he sees Sugu in this chapter.