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“After school, could you log into ALO?”
I didn’t feel up to it today. A lot of homework piled up while I was goofing off, and now I was paying for it. I probably shouldn’t have agreed to run through a few dungeons with Klein, but the tantalizing rewards drew me in like a fly to honey. A small part of me (perhaps the responsible part of me) was ready to send Asuna the text to tell her I had things to do. I did. But I also felt bad and didn’t want to do much of anything.
Rewind a bit to the day after Asuna’s birthday. I’d been feeling fine, but I woke up with a splitting sinus headache, congestion, and a nasty cough. I tried going to school, but I couldn’t focus through my disorienting cold symptoms. I took the next day off to pay the doctor a visit and see if I could get some vitamin C or something—it turned out I caught the flu.
For lack of a scapegoat for this one, let’s just blame Klein.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit mean. But it’s fun to pick on him, so I sent him a text after getting the diagnosis thanking him for giving me the flu. His outburst over text told me I’d adequately riled him up. Protest after protest after protest filled up my inbox. I chuckled to myself and promptly took a nap, ignoring his pleas to take it back.
So, a week later, I’m doing a little better. I’m still under the weather, and my homework (which I probably could have still done from home with the way technology works these days) is piled high like a mountain of responsibility. Sighing, I stared down at the text message and bit my lip. If it wasn’t Asuna, I would have gone with my gut and said no. But I typed out a message saying I’d meet her in our house after school, so long as she promised that it would just be the two of us.
Her response put a smile on my tired, sick face.
“Get some good rest, Kirito-kun! <3 See you after school!”
It was hastily followed by a few tips on what to eat and how long to nap. I think, if given the freedom to do so, Asuna would be over here in a heartbeat fussing over me like a concerned mother. I chuckled at the thought of her insisting I rest while bringing me things to eat. That seemed so much like her. I curled up on my bed and drifted off into sleep, probably smiling like an idiot while I dreamt of her.
I woke up a little while later and dragged myself out of bed to eat something. I had a little bit of leftover noodles from Suguha making me dinner yesterday, so I pulled that out and heated it up in the microwave to eat. My body ached in protest throughout the whole process. I wondered if I really was getting towards the end of my sicky period. I ate my meal and then immediately regretted eating something solid. I ended up throwing up, then sending a text to beg Suguha to bring me something “liquid but substantial.”
Suguha responded with some irritation. I curled up in my bed, moping about the fact that I hadn’t kept the noodles down. Being sick sucks. I patiently lay in wait for my sister, who eventually returned home with a smoothie. Through tears, I thanked her for taking pity on her sick older brother. She rolled her eyes and asked me if that would hold me over until she was home to help me eat dinner. I nodded. She hurried back out to speed off to kendo practice.
Waiting for Asuna to get out of school and get home was particularly agonizing. I almost texted her that I’d be calling in sick, since even my stomach was disagreeing with me today. I just wasn’t up for a VR run, as crazy as that sounds. I glared at the time on my phone and groaned. I rolled back over, hoping I woke up in time to strap on the Amusphere and meet up with her.
The sleep was uneasy. I kept waking up slightly to roll over because my body hurt or blow my nose or stagger to the trash can to maybe throw up. I kept telling myself it was better than before when I couldn’t stand at all, but I still felt miserable.
“I regret not resting to go and run through ALO with Klein…” I murmured to no one in particular.
I should have stayed in bed and rested. Now, I was going to do it again. I’d strap on my Amusphere, dive into the game, and play around with Asuna for a few hours, mentally exhausting myself so that my body didn’t heal faster. I finally decided that the right thing to do for my health would be to log in, quickly apologize to her, and then log back off and rest. I’d thought I would be fine this morning, but I wasn’t feeling it. She could understand that. And maybe I’d get a kiss before I went back to sleep.
The fateful hour arrived. School was over. I gave Asuna a short amount of time to head home before I pulled out my Amusphere. She sent a quick text when she got home to let me know she’d be diving in a moment. I just smiled at the text. I was too tired to send a response. Taking a deep breath to hopefully energize myself, I set the Amusphere on my head and leaned back into my pillow. My eyes slipped shut, begging me to sleep.
“L-link start…” I mumbled.
My avatar had been left in the bed in our house on the twenty-second floor of New Aincrad. Lucky me, I guess. I went to climb out of the bed when Asuna’s avatar appeared next to me on the bed. She must have just dove in as well. I smiled at her. She reached over and cupped my cheek, and then she leaned in to give me a kiss.
“Happy birthday,” she said.
I raised my eyebrows.
“Is…is that today?” I stammered, laughing.
She giggled and nodded.
“You really are feeling bad, aren’t you, Kirito-kun?” she said.
Feeling a bit sheepish, I nodded.
“I actually came to tell you I don’t think I can do any quests today,” I said. “I’m absolutely exhausted. My body is probably going to fall asleep while I’m diving. I’m sorry.”
Asuna shook her head.
“Don’t be sorry!” she said. “I didn’t ask you to dive in so we could go on a quest, silly!”
She sat up. Yui popped up beside her and transformed back into her original form to sit on the bed next to her. I blinked at them both and sat up as well. Yui nodded at Asuna and then dashed out of the room for a moment. When she hurried back in, she was holding a little cake with candles on it.
“Since you’re pretty under the weather, Yui-chan and I decided to try and cheer you up by having a little birthday celebration here,” Asuna said. “It doesn’t have to be very long. We just wanted you to have a better day than you’ve been having.”
I wrapped my arms around Asuna.
“Thank you,” I said. “I feel like I’m already feeling a lot better.”
Asuna and Yui both laughed.
“Papa sees cake and of course he feels better!” Yui said.
“Hey!” I said.
Asuna just laughed and quietly said something about agreeing with Yui. I might have scooped her up into a hug if I’d have been feeling better, but I just stuck with a kiss on the cheek for now. Yui told me she wanted to cut the cake for us, so we let her give us each a portion. Then, she happily plopped down between us and enjoyed her piece. After that quick little snack, we snuggled back down into the bed.
“I hope this was enough to make your day a little better, Kirito-kun,” Asuna said.
I nodded, feeling myself give into sleep.
“Best birthday surprise ever,” I mumbled.
She laughed and stroked my hair.
“Get some good sleep, Kirito-kun.”