Asuna opened her eyes. She was still on the couch that she had fallen asleep on. It was almost 8:00. She picked up her phone. One missed call from Kazuto and one text from Kazuto.
Kazuto<3: Hey. I made it home. I think you have gone to sleep, but call me when you get this. I want to hear your voice again.
Asuna pressed the video call button on the top of the screen. It started ringing. The front facing camera was on. Asuna looked surprisingly alright, considering that she had just spent the night on the couch.
Kazuto's smiling face popped up on the screen. She smiled when she saw him.
"Hey. I'm sorry. I had fallen asleep. I guess that I had tired myself out. What are you up to?", she asked. She got up and walked into her room. She dug out some new clothes, then went back to the couch. She needed a shower.
"I just woke up. I had only just sat up in bed when you called. It was good incentive to actually wake up. Perfect timing, Babe. Thanks for that.", he said.
"Your welcome. Is Sugu up? What did she say about you staying at my place for so long?", Asuna asked.
"She was joking about all sorts of stuff, I am sure you can imagine it all. She finally stopped when I faced her and said, 'What can we deduce from the fact that Shinichi is still here?'. She shut up after that.", Kazuto said laughing.
"Ok, Sherlock. Slow your roll.", Asuna joked. That was another show that they both liked to watch. BBC Sherlock.
"Well, it's not like she would have figured out my reference until I jokingly called her an Anderson. She spent days trying to find out what it was and finally gave up.", he said.
Asuna giggled. She loved it when they talked about their shows. She also liked the Marvel movies, which were still big. Her favorite was Thor: Ragnarok. She loved the action in it. The fact that it was the closest that Marvel came to a Loki movie was a contributing factor.
Kazuto set the phone down and then picked up a few books and shoved them in a bag. He stood up and picked up the phone again.
"Well, I have to go. I will see you at lunch?", Asuna asked.
"Yup. It's a date. I'll save your seat for you. I love you.", he said.
"Love you, too. I'll bring meatball subs for lunch, Ok?", she said,
"Sounds great. Bye, Asuna.", he said.
"Bye Kazuto.", Asuna blew him a kiss. He pretended to catch it and then stick it on his cheek. She laughed and then watched the screen go blank. She got up and got a quick shower, and then left.
She got to the campus and parked her car, then got out and walked inside. There were a lot of people who were bustling to and from class. Asuna went straight to the cafe. She knew that Arata would start creeping on her again if she didn't let him know that she was totally alright. She didn't like the constant shadow that followed her everywhere.
She opened the door to the cafe and walked in. She took her normal seat in the booth by the door and got her phone out. Half a second later, Arata showed up at the table. Asuna looked up at him. She was surprised to see that he had some stitches on his forehead and a fading black eye, along with a split lip and a faded bruise on his jaw.
Asuna looked at him, trying to figure out how he could've gotten injuries like that. He noticed her staring and then smiled and looked sheepish.
"I don't guess you remember a lot. I was the one who tackled the professor. He got me pretty good, too. I only won by choking him until he passed out. I was screaming at you to run, I thought you would've realized who it was, but they said that you were really shaken.", he said.
Asuna thought back to that day when Professor Hisakawa had pinned her against the wall in the alley and then attacked her. She remembered seeing a figure tackle the professor and then yell at her to run away. She tried to visualize Arata's face on the figure. It fit the bill. Arata followed her everywhere, always came to her beck and call, even when she didn't want him to, and would have been in the area anyway, since he had multiple classes in the area.
"I guess that isn't very surprising. I'm glad that you're alright. I'm fine. I'm just getting over this collarbone. I want to apologize for the way I treated you earlier that day. I shouldn't have been so rude. I was a little annoyed at you for following me around all the time, and I still would like that to stop, but I shouldn't have shouted at you. Thank you for helping me and protecting me. I wouldn't have made it very far without you stepping in.", Asuna said.
"Well, I'm sorry about your injuries and I want you to know that I understand. I shouldn't have shadowed you everywhere. I can see how that's annoying. I should've been considerate towards you and your relationship and not tried to get in the way of that. I promise that it won't happen again. I can't promise that I will be able to stop following you completely, but I'll try to cut down on it. I'll keep my distance.", Arata said.
Asuna smiled at him. She stood up and held out her arm to hug him. He put his arms around her shoulders and gave her a gentle and quick hug. She let go and then sat back down.
"So, can I take your order, now?", he said.
"Oh, yeah. Umm, I think I'll have a white chocolate mocha and a plate of banana pancakes with chocolate chips.", she said.
"Got it. I'll be right out with those.", he said.
Asuna turned back to her phone as Arata turned and went into the kitchen. She thought about what he did for her. He saved her life and put his own on the line. She had to thank him somehow. She didn't know how.
Asuna began to feel guilty for not having known it was him and not having asked who it was. She felt like she had completely disregarded one of the most important things on the planet. She felt terrible for not having known.
Pretty soon, Arata came out with her food and coffee. He set it down on the table and smiled at her. He turned to leave. Asuna stood up and caught the back of his jacket as he started to walk off. He stopped and turned to face her.
"Arata, do you want to go get something to eat later today? I want to thank you for saving my life. It's the least I can do.", she said.
"Sounds great. What time?", he asked.
"How about 6?", she asked.
"OK. I get off at 4:00. Where are we going?", he asked.
"Um, I was thinking Olive Garden.", she said.
"OK. I'll be there.", he said.
Asuna smiled and then let him go. She sat back down and started on her food. She felt better now that she was doing something to thank him for all that he'd done. She couldn't just let something like that go."
Asuna finished her food, but left her coffee untouched. She had almost forgotten about it. She decided to take it to go. She was allowed to take drinks into class, which was convenient. She picked up her purse, which was a lot heavier with her textbooks, and then picked up her coffee. She dumped her tray in the trashcan by the door and then left.
She had ten minutes to get to her first class. She walked at a casual pace across the campus to the lecture hall. There was nobody inside. She was five minutes early. She expected to see at least a couple people there, but the lecture hall was totally empty, other than a man sitting in a chair, pulled up to the desk, grading papers.
Asuna walked in and took her normal seat. The man looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back and then turned to her purse. She pulled out her textbook and her library book. She opened up the library book and started reading. She was near the end of the book, now.
The main character had made it into a room with a mirror in it and a man standing in front of the mirror. Asuna found herself sitting on the edge of her seat as the action unfolded. Before she knew it, people started arriving. She only looked up when she realized that there was a gift basket sitting on the desk in front of her.
The basket had a bunch of sodas, sweets, and a gift card. The tag said, 'injury survival kit' and said it was from Chizu Akata. Asuna looked around the room to see a girl smiling at her. She had short black hair and was wearing a red ribbon as a headband.
Asuna smiled back and gave her a short bow of her head in a silent thank you. Asuna turned back to her desk, where she noticed that there were multiple little gifts and goodies that had piled up. One of them was a box of ITunes gift cards. Asuna didn't know who that was from, but it was nice.
Asuna put as many of the things as she could into either the basket, her purse, or in a bag that had come full of other stuff. She managed to get most of it in a place. By the time she had gotten the gifts into a place, the man from the desk had gotten up and was sitting on a stool behind a podium, about to begin class.
Asuna looked at him and gave him her attention. He smiled at her, then started to tell the class to open their books.
"Alright, we have a student in here who has just come back from being gone. You all know what happened, so let's all give Asuna a warm welcome back.", he said.
Asuna felt her face turn bright red as the whole class stood up and clapped for her. Some were whistling, others were shouting words of encouragement, and some were chanting her name.
"Alright, settle down. We don't want them to hear us in the next room. For those of you who don't know, I am your new professor. My name is Mr. Akamine. It is only my third day on the job, so please refrain from causing any trouble or disturbances. Alright, now that we have introductions, welcomes, and all of that out of the way, please open your books to page 394."
Some of the students sniggered. Asuna had no idea why, but apparently they thought that was funny. One student piped up and said,
"But, sir, we aren't meant to start on werewolves until next month."
Most of the class laughed. Asuna still didn't get the reference. She suspected that it was a show or something. The class quieted down and they continued with the lesson. Asuna found it boring, as per usual, but she still took notes and listened.
By the time the class was over, Asuna had seven full pages of notes. That was a new record. Asuna tucked them in her book and then tried to shove the book in her purse. That wouldn't work, so she decided to go to the car and load all of the gifts in there.
She picked up her things, then headed straight for the door. She wanted to avoid getting stopped by anybody. They seemed to realize that and leave her alone. She walked down the hall, across the courtyard, and across the parking lot to her car.
She opened up the trunk and dumped the contents of her purse out. Her books and phone, among other things, fell out as well. She picked them up, then put them back in her purse, along with some other things that she decided wouldn't hurt to take with her.
She put all of the bags, baskets, and boxes in the trunk. There were only a few of them and they weren't that big, but they were still a little bit of a hassle to carry. She shut the trunk and nearly jumped out of her skin when she found somebody standing next to her car.
Goro stood there, towering over her with his full height. He was smiling at her. Suddenly, Asuna remembered that she was supposed to study with him. She couldn't believe that she had been so forgetful.
"Goro! Aww, we were supposed to study! Ugh, I feel so bad!", she said.
Goro just laughed.
"It's alright", he said in his deep, booming voice. "I got help from one of my friends on the team. He gave me a trick to get passed the area I was having the most trouble on. I passed my final, thankfully. I am glad that you're alright. I heard all about what happened. I'm really sorry about what happened to you. ", he said.
Asuna sighed.
"Yeah, I just let it go. Believe it or not, that is not the first time that something of that nature has happened to me. Don't ask.", she said.
Asuna locked her car and then walked back to the campus with Goro. She had one more period until lunch. She couldn't wait to see Kazuto. She knew that it had only been last night that she saw him, but she still missed him every second of the day.
Goro went his way and Asuna went hers. He walked down the to the athletics building, while she walked to the literary arts building. The doors to the lecture hall were wide open and a lot of the students were already inside.
Asuna took her seat next to Sam, who was in the middle of a conversation with Liv. they both smiled at her as she sat down. They stopped talking to each other and started talking to her.
"Welcome back to the land of the living! We haven't seen you in awhile.", Sam said.
"Yeah! It feels like it's been ages.", Liv chimed in.
"I've been at home resting. I had to get more strength up before I could return to school. I had a cracked collarbone and a bruised rib, so it wasn't exactly easy to get around places. I stayed on the couch or in bed, most of the time. I hated it.", she said.
"I can imagine that you did. You like to be up and active. I doubt that we could keep you still with a 100 pound weight wet on top of you.", Sam joked.
They all laughed. Just then, the professor started the class. Everybody fell silent as the lecture began. Asuna spent most of the time daydreaming. She ended up in abstract thought, thinking about anything and everything that didn't make sense.
Asuna didn't realize that the class had ended. She sat there daydreaming. Sam nudged her with her arm, making her jump. Asuna looked around, embarrassed.
"What did I miss?", she asked.
"It's over.", Sam said.
"Oh. I guess I was way lost in thought.", Asuna said.
"Well, I'm taking Liv out to lunch, so I gotta scoot. I'll see you later.", Sam said.
Asuna nodded and started gathering her things. She put them all in her purse, then went out to the car. She was planning on swinging by Subway to get sandwiches. The car started and she pulled out of the parking lot. She drove off, in the middle of the lunch time rush.
She made it to Subway, then ordered and hightailed it to SAO Highschool. She was running almost ten minutes late because of the lunch rush. She just made it in time for Kazuto's lunch hour. She ran inside, signed in, then went straight to the bench outside, where Kazuto was sitting and waiting.
He smiled at her as she sat down next to him. She handed him a bag with his sandwich in it, then opened up her own sandwich. Asuna took a bite of the sandwich. It tasted good. It had pepperoni, lettuce, mozzarella, and ranch dressing in it, which made it kind of like a pizza, but better.
"So, how has your day been?", Kazuto asked.
"It's been good. I got a whole bunch of stuff from people that I barely know. One of them, gave me a box of itunes gift cards. I am going to be downloading a lot of new music later. I got sweets and sodas, mostly. I figure that it's fine out in the car with it being as cold as it has been. ", Asuna said.
The snow was starting to melt. Asuna's and Kazuto's snowman had already lost a limb. Asuna didn't know how much longer it would last, but she couldn't wait for it to warm up again. She was ready for the season where she didn't have to wear boots, coats, scarves, and gloves.
She was ready to wear sandals, shorts, tank tops, short sleeves, and skirts. Her favorite season was Summer because it was warm and you didn't have to bundle up every time you went outside.
Asuna looked over at Kazuto, who was eating his sandwich intently. He looked back at her and winked. She laughed and then said,
"Hey, I was wondering if you would like to meet a friend of mine tonight. He helped me get away from, well you know, ... Anyway, I'm meeting him tonight at Olive Garden at 6:00, but I don't want to go alone. He likes me and I don't want to be alone with him in that sort of setting."
Kazuto swallowed a bite of his sandwich, then said,
"Sure. What's his name? He hasn't been annoying you, has he?"
Asuna smiled.
"Well, he used to. His name is Arata. He would follow me around everywhere, get uncomfortably close, say things that were creepy, and occasionally, he would tell people that I was his unofficial girlfriend. I got him to stop, and I don't like him very much, but he saved my life, so I wanted to thank him. He got pretty beat up trying to save me, so this was the least that I could do.", she said.
"Why didn't I know about him before?", Kazuto asked, getting a little worked up.
"I didn't want you reacting. I've dealt with people like him my entire life and been fine. I know how to take care of this sort of thing. It's alright. I handled it and got him to leave me alone. He promised me that he would stop doing things like that. I want him to meet you so that he knows that I'm serious, plus I haven't told him that you're coming, so if I spring this on him, he'll become intimidated and keep his distance.", she said, trying to calm him down.
"Alright, but the next time that somebody bothers you like that, let me know. I'll put them in their place.", Kazuto said, obviously still a little defensive.
Asuna loved how he would get worked up over things like this. She felt like he was protecting her, which she knew that he was, but she thought of it more as he was willing to go to extremes to keep her safe.
Kazuto finished his sandwich and then put his trash in his bag. He scooted over and threw an arm around Asuna, sending chills down her spine. She smiled and leaned in to cuddle with him a little. She had finished her sandwich and put the trash in the bag, which she set next to Kazuto's bag.
She put her arms around Kazuto and hugged him. He put his other arm around her and rested his chin on top of her head. She felt him press his lips to her head. She thought she heard him whisper something, but she couldn't tell what he was saying.
"What?", she asked.
"Nothing. I was just humming a tune that I heard earlier.", he said.
Asuna smiled and looked up at his face. She leaned up and brushed her lips against his. Their kiss became more passionate and longful. They only stopped when they heard a sharp knocking on the window. They looked up and saw the vice principal standing there, looking at them with a none to pleased expression on his face.
Asuna's face turned bright red. She saw Kazuto's do the same thing out of the corner of her eye. They separated a little to where Kazuto just had his arm around her. The vice principal gave them a warning look and then turned and walked off.
Asuna let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. Kazuto sighed and looked at his watch. They had 30 minutes left in the lunch hour. Asuna thought about all that they could talk about.
"So after dinner, do you wanna get on ALO with the group? We can find some quests to do.", Kazuto suggested.
"Yeah! I want to see Yui and Thea.", she said.
"Yeah, me too. Haha! We should tell them about the time in SAO when we solved the case of how somebody was murdering people within the safe zone. Do you remember that? It doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but it's been years since then. I remember the first day that we met.", he said.
"Me too. You were trying to find somebody to join a party with, so you scooted over to where I was sitting. You were so cute! You were all shy and timid. I thought that you were kind of weird, but I'm glad that I got to know you. Now that I know you, I love you.", she said, looking up at him and remembering that day like it was yesterday.
"I used to think that you were weird, too. You kept to yourself and didn't say much, plus you never let me see your face. You were all mysterious. I thought you were going to turn on me. I'm glad that you didn't and you let me get closer to you. Now that I'm closer to you, I love you, too.", he said.
Asuna smiled. She had changed a lot since then. She used to be shy and rude, but now that she had come out of her shell, she was happier and had more friends.
"You remember when we rode a whale?", Kazuto asked
"How could I forget? Yui had so much fun, I thought she was going to burst with joy. It was hilarious when she said she wanted to ride a whale. She is a pretty weird girl, but she makes our lives interesting and I love how funny she is.", Asuna replied.
"Yeah. I had a lot of fun with her that day. She was ecstatic. I love seeing her that happy. Sometimes she reminds me of a squirrel, the way that she can go from one topic to the next and then end up contemplating the meaning of dolphins or something.", Kazuto said laughing.
Asuna knew exactly what he meant. One time, Yui had been talking to herself and she just started laughing out of the blue. Asuna asked her what she was laughing about and she said that she didn't know why she was laughing.
"What do you think about Thea?", Kazuto asked.
This caught Asuna a little off guard. She loved Thea.
"I love her. She's great. Yui isn't lonely when Thea's around and she's sweet and kind. She's wonderful.", Asuna said.
"Yeah, I know. She was just kind of a sudden appearance. We didn't have time to prepare for her. I love her and all, it was just a surprise to log in one day and have two daughters instead of one.", he said.
"I know. It did all happen pretty fast, but I wouldn't have it any other way. She's a part of our family now.", Asuna said.
"Yeah.", Kazuto said. He was smiling.
Asuna looked at her watch again. About 5 minutes had passed, already. It seemed like time was moving faster now that she was doing something she liked. Time always did that when she was with Kazuto and wanted it to pass slower. She sighed.
"Are you OK?", Kazuto asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine.", she said. She meant it. She was totally OK.
"OK. Just making sure. You seem a little out of sorts today.", he said.
"Do I? How so?", Asuna asked.
" Well, normally you are more energetic and happy. You just seem tired or something.", Kazuto said.
"I am a little tired. I'm still trying to get back into my routine of school.", she said.
"Ugh. I know what that's like. I hate waking up in the morning. I wish that school would start later in the day. I didn't get to sleep until around 11:00 last night.", he said.
"I know how that is. I fell asleep almost right after you left. I set the television on a sleep timer, then fell asleep within five minutes.", she said.
"That's why you didn't answer your phone last night. I was wondering, but then I looked at the time and realized how late it was. I was up late doing the homework that I didn't do during the break. It wasn't that much, but it was kind of hard.", he said.
Asuna smiled. Kazuto would put off doing his homework all the time. One time he ended up staying up all night to finish it all. She had gone over to his house to drop something off and he was up in his room doing it. She had gone up to help him with it, but there was some of it that she had no idea how to do.
She did part of his homework for him while he worked on his mechatronics homework. He would occasionally put his head down on the table and just sit there looking at his homework. She would walk over and pat his head and he would sit up and continue working.
That time, she had finished his language homework, his math homework, and his foreign language homework. He was working on his history, psychology, CAD, computer programming, and chemistry. When he finally finished, he didn't even bother getting into bed, he just passed out on the desk.
She had put a blanket over him, then kissed him goodnight. He had started mumbling in his sleep. When she listened closer, they sounded like computer programs. She still laughed at that.
Kazuto moved, snapping her out of her daydream. She looked around. Kazuto was smiling at her. She smiled back at him.
"Did you hear me?", he asked.
"What? Um, no. Sorry. I was daydreaming again.", she said embarrassed.
Kazuto laughed.
"I asked if you wanted to come over after dinner tonight. My family was going to rent a movie and watch it and my aunt wanted to know if you wanted to come over and watch it with us.", he said.
"Oh. Sure. What movie are they renting?", she asked.
"Well, I don't know. Sugu wanted to rent a chick flick, but my uncle was leaning towards a thriller. I don't want to watch a chick flick, so I was kind of hoping for a thriller.", he said.
"OK. I'll come over.", she said.
Asuna looked at her phone for the time. It was ten minutes until she had to go. She shifted in her seat so that she was leaning on Kazuto's shoulder. He brought a hand up and started stroking her hair. She loved it when he did that. It always gave her comfort.
Asuna laced her fingers with his and sat there, looking at all of the snow that was melting. A brown cat was sitting in a tree across the sidewalk, licking his paws. He looked down at Asuna and then jumped up to a higher branch and began chasing a bird.
Asuna watched as the bird flew from that tree to another, then landed gracefully on a branch. The bird had a black head, a gray and brown back, and a red chest. He was really pretty. He picked at one of the twigs on the branch he was on, then flew off again.
Asuna closed her eyes, letting the stress of school subside for now. When she got back to the campus, she knew that it would only come back. Kazuto stopped stroking her hair and let his hand rest on her shoulder, lightly. His breathing had slowed and steadied. Asuna knew that he had fallen asleep. She didn't want to wake him up until it was time for them to go again.
She closed her eyes and focused on the feeling of the cold on her face. It felt good. She could feel the blood in her cheeks, making them warmer. Her ears were starting to get cold and she could feel them turning red. She smiled, then opened her eyes and let out a breath. She watched as her breath swirled in the air, completely visible.
She did this for a few minutes, watching her breath appear and disappear, curling like smoke in the air and then becoming invisible. She felt like a dragon, like in ALO. She imagined fire coming from her mouth, melting the snow on the ground in front of her. She laughed a little at the thought of this.
Suddenly, the school bell rang and Kazuto jolted awake. He looked around and then stood up. He rubbed his eyes, then smiled down at Asuna.
"Have a good nap?", she asked laughing.
"I wish it could've lasted longer.", he answered.
"Well, maybe you can take a nap after school. As long as you're not late for supper.", she said.
"Yeah, I think I'll just end up doing my homework. I don't have too much, so far. Nothing I couldn't get done in an hour.", he said.
"Well, maybe you can bring it by my place and I'll help you.", she suggested.
"That'd be nice. I will.", he said.
Asuna stood up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then turned and went out to the parking lot. She didn't want to go back to school, but she had to. She didn't want her mom to get angry with her again for "wasting the money that she so 'lovingly' put into her college education''.
Asuna unlocked the car and got in. The seats were leather, so they got really cold. As soon as Asuna sat down, she wanted to stand back up again. She reached over and flipped on the seat warmers. The seat started to slowly get warmer. She buckled up, put it in gear, then drove off.
When she got back to the campus, there weren't many people there. She walked across the courtyard and into the main building. There were professors milling around, some of whom smiled at her as she passed. She didn't recognise them, but they obviously knew who she was. She smiled back and then continued on her way to class.
The class wouldn't start for twenty minutes, but Asuna wanted to read more of her book. She got to the lecture hall, went in, and sat down. There was nobody there, except for the professor, who got up and came over to where Asuna was sitting.
The professor's name was Mrs. Hikana. She set down a big box of stuff on Asuna's desk.
"I wanted to give you a little something. I know about what happened. I also heard about your engagement. Congratulations.", she said.
Asuna smiled and said,
"Thank you. I don't really need anything, but thank you, anyway."
"So when's the wedding?", Mrs. Hikana asked.
"Oh, it's in the spring. We were thinking the end of April would be nice.", Asuna replied.
Mrs. Hikana squealed like a schoolgirl. "I love weddings. They are so beautiful. I used to take photos at weddings, but I gave it up to become a teacher.", she said.
"Really? I didn't know that you used to do photography.", Asuna said.
"Oh, yeah. I did it for a while, small things like family photos, but I stopped when I was offered a job at a smaller university, then I worked my way up to this place.", she said.
"Wow. I bet that took a lot of work. When did you start teaching?", Asuna asked.
"Oh, about twenty years ago I got the job as a professor. I wasn't so sure about giving up photography, but the money was better and I could finally afford a car when I started teaching.", she said.
"Oh. That's nice.", Asuna said, adding a smile to show at least a little sincerity.
"Yeah, well I gotta get back to grading essays. I'll talk to you later.", she said.
Asuna nodded and then watched as she went back to her desk. She looked at the box, then lifted the flaps up. Inside, there were socks, t shirts, a bag of candy, and at the very bottom, a bunch of baby clothes.
Asuna wasn't expecting that to be in there. She began to think about why they would be in there. Other students were starting to file in, so she couldn't exactly ask. She shoved everything back in the box on top of the baby clothes.
Asuna looked over at her professor, giving her a confused look. Mrs. Hikana just smiled, winked, then went back to grading on her computer. Asuna could feel the blood in her face. She felt like people could see right through the box, or that they knew what was in there. She wanted to jump up and get out of the room. She knew that she didn't need them. She was positive of that fact. She and Kazuto had been taking it slow. They hadn't ever done anything with each other or anybody else.
Asuna made sure the box was closed, put it on the floor under the desk, then put her purse on top of that. She didn't want anybody knowing what had been in the box. She pulled out her book for a distraction and to get her mind onto a different topic.
Asuna opened the book and began to read the words at the top of the page. Thankfully, this book was about eleven year olds, so there wasn't anything that would remind her of anything related to the topic she was trying to avoid.
Asuna was nearing the end of the book. She had twenty pages left before the end. As she read, her classmates came in and took their seats around her. She felt somebody sit down next to her. She looked up to find that Goro had taken his seat.
He smiled at Asuna as he sat down.
"Hey, Goro", she said.
"What's up?", he replied.
"Not much, just reading.", she said.
"I see that the teacher gave you the box of things. The class all chipped things in to help you out. Some people, if you haven't noticed already, put some stuff for babies in there. It was purely a joke, I can assure you. Nobody thinks of you that way.", he said.
Relief washed over her as she heard this, but also a little embarrassment. She didn't need those things, nor did she really want them. What would happen in Kazuto found them? What would he think?
Asuna pushed these thoughts away, then forced a laugh. She didn't want Goro to think that she was upset, which she wasn't, really. She was just embarrassed.
Goro turned to face the front and then took out his text book. Asuna noticed that Mrs. Hikana had come up to the front and had her podium with her laptop open on it. She took out her lazer pointer, then called the class to attention.
The class, unsurprisingly, turned out boring, but Asuna did her best to pay attention. She would occasionally get tapped on the wrist by Goro, who was asking for help on understanding something. He learned better by reading and writing, so she would show him her notes, then he would understand it.
By the end of class, Goro had gotten pretty good at Psychology, which wasn't a very hard class, but some of the things it taught were hard to keep up with. Asuna would occasionally have to go back in the book to figure out what it was talking about.
Mrs. Hikana dismissed the class and everybody immediately began packing up and leaving as fast as they could. Asuna loved the feeling of release that she got when class ended and she didn't have to sit there anymore. The best part was knowing that she only had one more class after this one, since she was on a block schedule. She would take the other classes tomorrow, then these classes again, the day after.
Asuna put her books back in her purse, then picked up the big box from under the desk. She lifted it into her arms, putting most of the weight in her left hand, then walked out the door. She had to take this to the car, too. She wondered if she would have any room left in the car by the time the day was over.
Asuna wandered out into the courtyard, where students were milling around. The acapella group was practicing, the marching band could be heard from the stadium, the LARP club was acting out a scene in all of their cosplay costumes.
Asuna walked slowly, enjoying the sunshine that was warming things up. Already, more than half the snow had melted into the ground and was gone. Asuna wondered if it would snow again this season. She knew that it probably would, but she wished it would happen soon.
As she walked, her foot found a slush puddle. She stumbled. The box fell, the things fell out, and plenty of students rushed over to help her. She hadn't fallen, but now she had to figure out a way to hide all of the baby clothes that had fallen out.
Asuna bent down and began shoving things back in the box, grabbing everything small enough to even be considered infant sized. She managed to get most of it into the box before the first student reached her. It was a guy, thankfully. If it had been a girl, the whole school would think that she was pregnant by the end of the day.
He picked up the last few things that had fallen out and put them in the box. He picked the box up and was about to hand it to her when she realized who it was. Arata stood there with the box in his hands.
"How about I walk you to your car and help you put this in?", he said.
"OK", Asuna replied.
Had he seen what was in the box? If he had, then would he say anything? He was going to meet Kazuto tonight. Was he going to say something along the lines of congratulating them for something that wasn't even going to happen?
Asuna felt the blood rush to her face as she walked in front of him to the car. She was glad that he couldn't see her face from her position in front of him because if he could, he would ask questions. She stopped in front of the car and fumbled in her purse for her keys.
It wasn't until she found them, that Asuna realized that the car would unlock if it was within a certain distance of the keys. She clicked the unlock button, anyway. She opened the back door and stepped aside for Arata to put the box in. She didn't have much in her car. She had a few books, an umbrella, an extra coat, and an ice/snow window scraper.
Arata placed the box on the seat, then shut the door and turned to Asuna. He had a look on his face that meant he was about to say something.
"I saw what was in the box.", he said.
Asuna's fears were confirmed.
"Are... umm... Are you... You know... Uh...", he stuttered.
"No. I'm not. That was a joke played on me by the rest of my class. They thought it would be funny to put a bunch of baby clothes in the box to mess with me and embarrass me. I am not expecting.", Asuna said, feeling her face turn as red as a tomato.
"OK. That's good. I know that it isn't any of my business, but I wanted to know. Are we still on for tonight?", he asked.
"Yeah. 6:00, Olive Garden.", she said.
"OK. I'll see you then.", he said.
Arata turned and walked off across the parking lot. As he did, Asuna sighed in relief and leaned against the car. She never wanted to have to say anything like that again. She turned and put her forehead against the car, resting it there. She waited there for her face to stop blushing, then stood up and went to class.
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Hey guys. I know that this one took a little longer to be published. I started school again this week and I am still getting into the swing of things, being on a routine again, and having to get up early. I will try to update a little quicker next time. Let me know what you want to see in this book. Is there a picture you want a one shot on? Is there a picture you would like me to display? What would make this book more fun for you?
Let me know in the comments what you think and if you have a photo, you can email it to my gmail, which is torichick8108 at gmail. ( I can't put the 'at' sign because it is asking me to mention a person)
I would love to hear from you and get ideas. I hope that you liked this chapter. I know that it was a little boring, but it will get more interesting, I promise. I am going to skip a couple of months to their wedding after the next chapter, so that is something to look forward to.
Thank you all for reading and voting, I loves you all so much, my magical tacos! Stay Spicy! Talk to you in the next chapter! BYEE!
-Scarlet