The Lightning Flash

Chapter 20: Aftermath

"I-I killed her...because of me...her sister...isn't going to be able to get the treatment plan she needs. H-How could...I do something so awful? Kiko's sister...looked up to me like I was some kind of hero...like a role model. What kind of role model lets as many people down as I have?  Yuki, my mom, Lisbeth, Klein and now, Kiko and her sister...when is it ever going to end? I-I'm so tired of letting people down that I care about. Why...why am I so weak? Why can't I be strong like Kirito? Someone as pathetic as me doesn't deserve to be looked up to...I should be looked down on, instead, for the worthless, scared girl that I am."

Tears that had formed in Asuna's eyes plopped onto the floor of the locker room, making a, plip, sound. Asuna found that she felt exhausted, both mentally and physically. She had never felt more powerless in her entire life and it frustrated her...so much. Asuna heard the sound of the girl's locker room doors open but didn't bother looking up. She couldn't care less if someone saw her in this state. None of it mattered to her, in the slightest, as her body remained trembling, her hands covering her ears and her eyes glued to the floor of the locker room, beneath her.

"Asuna?" a familiar voice asked in concern.

If it had been any other voice, then she would have completely ignored it but, upon recognizing the voice as Shino's, Asuna managed to look up at her, still teary eyed.

"A-Asuna, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Did something happen?"

Shino made her way towards Asuna and sat on the bench she was sitting on, beside her.

Asuna tried to pull herself together, in order to explain to Shino what had happened in her first match and her encounter with Death Gun but the only thing she could muster, was hugging Shino and crying into her stomach as her body continued to shake. The action took Shino off guard, initially, not being used to being hugged. She couldn't even remember the last time that she had been on the receiving end of one. Despite how awkward she felt, Shino forced herself to return the gesture, wrapping her own arms around Asuna's back. She wanted to know why Asuna was crying so she could help her in some way but knew that Asuna wasn't in any kind of shape to talk. Whatever had happened in her first match, it must have been on par with what Shino had to deal with. It did feel nice to be the one there comforting Asuna, for once, since she was usually the one doing the very same thing for her.

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A couple of days after the first match of the Bullet of Bullets tournament, I was sitting inside of my group's common meetup spot which was Agil's bar, alongside Asuna, Shino and Suguha. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but worry about Asuna, after what had happened back in her first match of the Bullet of Bullets tournament. When I, eventually, found her, after her first match was over, Shino was helping her out of the girl's locker room. The image of Asuna's eyes full of tears and her whole body trembling hadn't left my mind since I witnessed it, firsthand. It took a while for Shino and I both to calm Asuna down enough to tell us what happened. Apparently, Death Gun had interfered in her match, forcing her to kill her opponent by threatening that he would do it if Asuna didn't. It was a particularly cruel ultimatum, especially for someone like Asuna, who always did everything she could to preserve life. On top of that, Asuna was going to, voluntarily, forfeit the match so that her opponent, who was raising money for her sick sister, would have a higher chance of making it to the end of the tournament and winning. It was the exact kind of selfless reason that reminded me of Asuna's true self...the same one that I had fallen in love with back in SAO. She wasn't some kind of killer like POH...or, even myself, for that matter. Hell, the only reason she killed Sugou was to protect me. That didn't make her a killer; in fact, it made her the complete opposite. It made her a hero. I wished that Asuna could be a little less harsh on herself but I wasn't really one to talk, in that regard. Still, the fact that this Death Gun character made Asuna do something so against her values pissed me off and just made me want to figure out, who the bastard really was. The fact that he was working with POH only worried me, further, as I pondered if the two had some sort of relationship to one another?