Although Argo had run off, Akimi and Asuna’s vacation plans were not going to be interrupted.
As for Kirito, he also “enthusiastically” agreed to bring the Moonlight Black Cat Team along.
Akimi looked on Kirito’s so-called enthusiasm with utter disdain—this guy had originally planned to spend these days entirely in the dungeon, speed-running the forty-first floor, but because Sachi wanted to go see the place, he eagerly agreed.
In response to Akimi’s disdain, Kirito simply replied with a “Hehe,” giving a look that silently said, “You’re no better.”
This led the two immature guys to start a staring contest, exchanging glances and winks for nearly ten minutes.
In the end, Asuna punched Akimi, and Sachi, worried that Kirito might get hit too, quickly pulled him aside.
Once Akimi and Kirito finally calmed down, Sachi tugged on Kirito’s sleeve and whispered, “By the way, isn’t it a bit improper to bring so many people to Miss Nirrnir’s place without asking first?”
“Hm—shouldn’t be a problem, I guess,” Kirito said, scratching his cheek, a bit uncertain.
“It’s a huge casino over there, but if we want to go to the beach area as well…”
“Then just tell Nirrnir, okay? If that doesn’t work, Kirito here can chip in some money—a single spot is only thirty thousand Col.”
Akimi suddenly leaned over and said this.
Kirito agreed with the first part but frowned at the second, glaring at Akimi as he grabbed him by the collar and shook him back and forth, exclaiming, “You really have no idea how it feels to talk like that!”
“Well then? It’s not my money of course I won’t feel any pain~”
Akimi didn’t even bother resisting, lying back with a completely lazy expression—after all, being shaken a bit isn’t going to kill him, so whatever (life, huh.jpg).
After a moment, Kirito noticed something strange—this guy had his eyes closed, looking completely relaxed, and muttering things like, “You did well, it feels nine or even ten out of ten…”?!
After a brief pause, Kirito’s face went from dark to red, then back to dark, his expression shifting from exasperated to dazed and finally to a smile.
“Hey, Akimi, give me your hand.”
Kirito said this in a calm tone, like some office worker in Morioh Town.
Akimi obediently extended his right hand to Kirito.
The moment Kirito took Akimi’s arm, he spun around so his back faced Akimi, then hooked Akimi’s arm inside his own elbow, clamping it with his forearm and upper arm.
Tilting his head slightly to look back at Akimi, Kirito smiled and said, “Since you brought it up, you can pay half first, and I’ll cover half of the remaining half.”
Seeing Kirito’s strange maneuver, Akimi was initially stunned, then chuckled and said, “Hey, talking about money strains friendships. We’re brothers, after all… it’s all in the heart…”
Before he could finish, Kirito suddenly bent at the waist and exerted force, performing a textbook shoulder throw.
As Akimi felt his body lift off the ground and a light weightlessness, he went momentarily blank; seeing Asuna upside down on the ceiling surprised him even more; when he hit the ground and triggered the in-game area protection, Akimi managed to utter one final word:
“…Half.”
“Good, looks like you agreed.”
After saying this, Kirito immediately bolted with Sachi without looking back—heh, knowing Akimi, if he didn’t leave now, Akimi would’ve retaliated.
Seeing Akimi lying on the floor with a stunned expression, Asuna couldn’t help but find it amusing.
“You okay?”
Asuna said with a smile, then lightly poked Akimi’s cheek with her finger.
Akimi paid no mind to her gesture, frowning as he muttered, “Wait, if I pay half, and Kirito pays half of the remaining half… who pays the remaining quarter?”
After thinking for a moment, his frown deepened as he added, “…Wait, why am I paying half?!”
Hearing Akimi talking to himself, Asuna fell silent for a moment, then jabbed him hard and said, “Are you an idiot?”
“Mm—” Akimi instinctively replied, then added, “Wait, Asuna, what did you just say?”
“Nothing, just complimenting your intelligence.”
“Really?”
“…You really are an idiot (whispering).”
“Huh? What? Why so quietly?”
“…”
—————
After finishing dinner at the “BLINK&BRINK” restaurant and returning home, Akimi suddenly felt a faint sense of unfamiliarity.
But it wasn’t all that strange.
Ever since he and Asuna bought this modest little apartment, they hadn’t actually spent much time living there.
Most of the time, they either stayed overnight in the dungeon or spent entire nights chasing monsters that only appeared after dark.
From mid-May to late August, over more than three months, the total time they had actually spent in this apartment barely amounted to a month.
After removing his armor and changing into casual clothes, Akimi slowly walked out onto the balcony.
Leaning his arms against the metal railing and relaxing his body, he looked up at the night sky filled with stars, and found himself momentarily dazed.
“This looks different from the first time I saw the stars.”
A gentle voice behind him made Akimi slightly come back to his senses.
His movements relaxed further as he replied, “Of course the stars in winter are different from the stars in summer… If I’m not mistaken, the night sky in SAO is synchronized with the real sky in real time.”
“Hehe,” Asuna chuckled softly and smiled.
“It’s hard to find a sky this pure in reality… though there’s still a sense of unrealness in the game.”
Akimi shrugged noncommittally, then added, “But isn’t it romantic? Starlight traveling hundreds or even thousands of light-years, passing through countless obstacles of dust, and flowing straight into our minds thanks to unbelievable technology.”
After a pause, he looked at the girl beside him, whose beauty was breathtaking, and smiled.
“Setting everything else aside, I think the starry sky in SAO is the one that feels real to me.”
Asuna seemed unconvinced and countered, “But if you could see every beam of starlight at once, would that really be the stars we want to see?”
“Haha, true,” Akimi said, understanding her point.
After a moment of hesitation, a faint trace of uncertainty appeared on his face but quickly vanished.
“Hey, Asuna.”
“Hm?”
The girl, pleased that he seemed to share her perspective, turned to look at him.
The boy’s face grew serious as he looked at her, causing her to pause for a moment.
“To me, it doesn’t matter whether the hazy stars in reality are real, or the clear stars in SAO are real…”
“Eh? Why not?”
He didn’t answer, instead pulling a small gray-blue box from his pocket and handing it to her.
As she took the box, he finally revealed the nervousness he had been trying to hide.
He turned his head slightly and whispered, “Because the only real, the only brilliant, the only starlight I can’t take my eyes off…”
He paused there, but the girl seemed to know what he wanted to say.
“Has always been by my side.”
As he finished speaking, the girl slowly opened the small box in her hands.
Inside was a beautiful necklace.
Fine silver threads were carefully woven into a long chain, with a blue moon connected to a white star at the center, surrounded by countless tiny stars, interlacing around it.
Looking at the necklace quietly lying in the box, the girl handed it back to the boy in front of her and slowly turned away.
After a brief moment of daze, the boy rubbed his eyes hard.
His nervousness melted into an endless sense of loss, yet he inhaled deeply and forced a smile, trying to appear indifferent.
But now it seemed like his mouth had a mind of its own, drooping downward completely uncontrollably.
“Uh…”
“What are you still staring at?”
Just as the flustered boy was about to say something to ease the awkwardness, the girl, turning her head back toward him, interrupted.
“Put it on me.”
“Ah… ah?”
“You don’t want to?”
“No, no, no—It’s just that I didn’t expect…”
“Then hurry up.”
As she spoke, she lifted her chestnut hair, exposing her snow-white neck.
“…Alright.”
Stealing a glance at the boy behind her, who was beaming with delight, Asuna’s face revealed a hint of mischief, and she whispered softly, “What a fool.”
Her voice was so light that even the boy putting the necklace on her probably didn’t hear it—or maybe he did, but didn’t want to argue.
— The end of the Chapter–
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