Clashing Blades - Arc 8

Arc 8 of Sword Art Online: Clashing Blades.

Chapter 36
''2 Weeks Later ''

I open my eyes slowly, staring up at the ceiling. I look over to my left and see Asuka asleep, her head lying down on a pillow next to me as she slept in a chair she had set up next to my bed. For the past two weeks she had insisted that she stay with me during the night, despite me insisting she didn’t have to. She was worried to death about me, I knew she was. I appreciated it, though… the fact that she cared that much about me. It did make me feel better.

I roll out of my bed, stretching myself out and getting dressed, putting on my pants and my sleeveless shirt and my shoes, not putting on my jacket or equipping my weapons before going downstairs.

“Good morning, Ishi.” Adeline said as I slowly sauntered down the stairs. “How are you feeling today?”

“Bummed.” I say, the same thing I said the last 10 times she asked.

“Well… you want breakfast?” She asked.

“Not hungry.” I say, leaving the building for my usual morning walk.

I’ve been feeling pretty down for these two weeks. After I had come out of my coma everything just felt… bleak. Like nothing was worth doing… like I had lost my purpose or something, I don’t know… I couldn’t explain. The only thing I’ve been doing lately was just going out on walks… not looking for Hao, not doing missions for Pendragon, not anything else important. Just walks. I felt like there wasn’t anything better to do. I was still recovering from what Corbenik had put me through… I didn’t want to remember what I had seen. Albeit I was gradually beginning to get my drive back, I felt like it would be a long time before I completely recovered.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I walk out of town and just head in any direction from there. I usually never ran into anyone along the way, and even player killers never bothered me… by this time my reputation had reached far enough for people to keep their distance. Quite a few players have reached legendary status other than myself… Galant became the Champion of Aincrad through the arena that I had once fought him in. Snow, the Winter Fox had also made a name for himself as a lethally skilled player. I… I’ve murdered over a hundred people, let my girlfriend get killed right in front of me, and got killed by Hao among other things… I didn’t think those were the merits of a legend. I guess it’s legendary in a way… but not in any good sense.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I realized now that I never stood for anything… I never really had any purpose. I was just a lone wanderer content on fighting for someone else’s cause. I didn’t know what I was fighting for… what my purpose was… the reason why I bothered to survive in this game… I honestly didn’t know. I never really had a reason.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">A question of purpose…

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Hey!” I hear a voice behind me say.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Asuka runs up to me and slows to walk by my side.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You left without even telling me?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You don’t need to stalk me wherever I go, you know.” I say, my eyes forward.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well I just want to make sure you’re okay…” She says.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I can take care of myself.” I respond dismissively, picking up my pace to pull ahead of her.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She keeps pace with me, a concerned look on her face.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Ishi, I’m really starting to worry about you…” She says. “You haven’t been the same since you woke up.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I know.” I say.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Come on, Ishi… this isn’t you…”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I stop in my tracks, and Asuka does as well. I hang my head low, staring at the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Ishi?” Asuka says, stepping in front of me.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I sigh heavily and keep walking, stepping past her without saying a word.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Ishi…” Asuka stays behind. “You’ve been like this for two weeks… you can’t keep going like this.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I don’t say anything, and just keep walking. She sighs and walks in the other direction, back the way she came.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">---

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I slept outside that night. I had found myself a nice comfortable branch in a tall tree in a forest to sleep in for the night. By early morning I was back out again, walking like I always did… my mind still distraught. I couldn’t shake it no matter what I did… I knew this wasn’t me, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t just forget what I saw. I gained full control over Corbenik, but the cost of doing so… it hurt. It hurt a lot.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“It’s been two weeks.” I hear another familiar voice say. I turn around and see Yamato drop out of the treetops to land next to me. “I understand that you had to experience all that for a full month but you’re running out of time.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I just stare at him for a few seconds before turning away and walking.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Hao is still out there, Ishi.” He says, following me. “You’re the only one who can stop whatever he’s up to.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Why?” I ask. “Why can’t someone else do it?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“There isn’t anyone else who can, Ishi.” Yamato states. “It has to be you. You’re the only one who can use both Skeith and Corbenik.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I stop and look back to him.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Why should I?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Hao has Skeith.” He says. “He has an army. He can wipe out everyone in this damn game and you’re asking why you should? Is that in and of itself not a good enough reason for you?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I don’t have a real reason to do anything right now.” I say, turning away from him and resuming my walk.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You expect to beat me like this?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I stop dead in my tracks.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You’re better than this, Blade Master. From the moment we first crossed swords you swore you’d beat me, didn’t you? You’re just going to abandon that now?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I turn back to look at him.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“We’re destined to kill each other.” He says. “Only one of us is going to come out alive, you know that. We’ve felt the thrill of countless others falling beneath our blades. We’ve both carved a legacy of blood into this world, but your legacy isn’t over. You still have work to do.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Do I?” I say, turning around to face him. “And tell me, Wanderer. Is your work done?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“No.” He says. “Not yet… there’s still one thing left I need to do.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“And what would that be?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You should know by now.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">We both stare each other down. A soft breeze sweeps through the trees of the forest, throwing leaves in between us.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You need to move past this.” Yamato said.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You haven’t seen what I’ve seen.” I say. “You have no idea.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You really think I don’t know?” Yamato responded. “I’ve been through the same hell, Ishi.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“No you haven’t.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yes I have.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“How?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“We’re more alike than you think.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Do you know what it’s like to watch as the one you love dies right in front of you?” I start to raise my voice. “To watch as a blade is driven into her back?! To watch as she’s tossed to the ground like a broken doll?!”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Do you know what it’s like to have your closest friend betray you?!” Yamato shouts right back. “How it feels to hunt him down?! How it feels to kill your own brother?! HAH?!”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” I yell.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOU’RE A DAMN FOOL!” Yamato retorts.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">We both run straight at each other, fists raised, and we both throw our punch, slamming our fists into each other’s faces at once, pushing both of us back. We go at it again, crashing our fists again into the other’s face, this time drawing blood. We both distance ourselves, I wipe a little bit of blood from my mouth, before rushing Yamato again. I come up with a hard kick which Yamato dodges, flipping over me to deliver one of his own, which I brace my arms up against, grabbing his foot and twisting myself around to slam him into the ground, spinning rapidly. He plants his hand hard into the ground to stop his spin and to use the momentum to sweep his heel upwards and kick me hard in the side, dazing me a bit, but only for a second as I punch him in the gut right as he get back on his feet before throwing two more and finishing with a straight kick that sends him back.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">He recovers quickly and comes at me hard, managing a flying spin kick to my shoulder that puts me off balance and allows him to get in a hard punch to my stomach and finishing off by raising his heel and bringing it down on the back of my head, putting me into the dirt. Before he can stomp my head out, I roll out of the way as his foot stamps the ground. I flip up and on my hands deliver two quick kicks that land on his side, before springing back onto my feet and spin kicking him. He grabs my foot before it hits his head, but I use it to launch myself forward and knee him in the stomach, making him let go of my foot and cough up a bit of blood. I grab his undershirt and throw him into a tree. He recovers in air and lands feet planted on the tree and rebounds straight towards me, throwing a punch that nails me right in the face, literally sending me flying into the nearest tree. Yamato doesn’t relent, and he runs back at me, his foot flying my way. I grab his foot and slide under him, throwing a kick upwards that nails him hard in the stomach, before raising my heel and bringing it down onto his back, sending him into the dirt.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">We both get back up and distance ourselves before running back at each other, ending up locking hands and arms, pushing into each other, trying to throw each other off. We both rear our heads back and bring them right into each other, immediately drawing blood from our heads. We rear up once again, and slam into each other, stunning us both and making us stagger back. We both shake it off and go at it again, taking turns trading fast and hard punches to the face, before both of us rear back and throw all our weight into one last punch, nailing both of us in the face and sending us both into the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Tired, bloodied, and beaten, we’re left heaving on the ground, hyperventilating from our beatdown on each other.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Agh…” I moan in pain, rolling over to my side.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Dammit…” Yamato curses, coughing a bit. “You hit hard…”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">---

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">We both had propped ourselves up against two adjacent trees, facing each other. We had calmed down, but we were both tired and injured, the blood on our bodies and clothes not cleaned off. I was leaned up on the tree, my eyes closed and my leg propped up so my arm rested on my knee.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“So…” Yamato said. “Did that beat some sense into you?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Maybe…” I say, rolling my shoulders and testing myself to make sure nothing was broken. “Maybe we should go again just to make sure.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Hah…” Yamato coughs twice before resting his head back onto the trunk of the tree. “Well, I can only lose so much blood. I think I’ll pass.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yeah…” I agree, confirming I didn’t have any broken bones, but had quite a few scrapes and bruises.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">We take a few more minutes to rest up before Yamato spoke up again.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Seems we both lead a dark path.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Seems so.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Yamato slowly gets up to his feet, testing his legs to make sure he could stand straight.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Don’t worry, Ishi.” Yamato assured me. “You’ll understand everything when the time comes. Just make sure you don’t completely lose your way before then.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Right…” I sigh.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Yamato pulled out some medical supplies and cleaned himself off, patching himself up a bit in the process and sighed.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I’ll see you around, Ishi.” Yamato said. “It’s all almost over. Make sure you’re ready.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">With that he walks off, disappearing into the forest and out of sight.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, deciding to clean myself up a bit, standing up to stretch myself out, bending backwards to crack my back before rolling my shoulders again.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Damn…” I mutter to myself, staring up at the mid-morning sky, the sun’s light beaming through the trees in visible rays. I dust myself off a bit before deciding to head back to Talmia. Asuka was probably worried about me.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I did feel better after that… a lot better. Looks like Yamato did beat some sense into me after all.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">---

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">When I get back I head upstairs and into my room, flopping down onto my bed and staring up at my ceiling, my head finally clearing up after two weeks of depression and self-pity. It didn’t take long at all for Asuka to find out I had returned and step into my room.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Ishi?” She says. “You alright?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Fine.” I answer, sitting up on the bed and looking at her. I could tell she saw a bit more light in me, and it made her much more relaxed.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Ah… that’s good.” She said. “Wh… Ishi, what the hell happened to you?!”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oh, this?” I say, looking upwards towards a scar on my head. “Ah, you should see the other guy. I just got into a little scuffle with Yamato is all.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Geez…” Asuka shook her head. “You really can’t ever talk to the guy without trying to kill each other can you?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I can’t imagine.” I joke. “But… listen, Asuka. I actually wanted to tell you something.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Hm? What’s that?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Sit down.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She walks over and sits next to me on the bed.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Asuka…” I start out, trying to find words. “What I saw… I, um…”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Ishi, you don’t have to say it.” She says. “I know it hurts.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“It’s fine.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“But-”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I want to.” I say, silencing her. “When I was in that coma… I just… it’s hard to explain. I saw a lot of things… it was like… everything that made me who I was… my entire life, it just kept being reeled before me over and over again. A saw who I was, who I am, and… insight on what who I will be. It made me realize what I really was. I saw everything from outside myself, and it let me really grasp everything about myself for the first time… and ever since this game started… all the things I’ve done, the people I’ve killed… I saw all of it.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I stop briefly to make sure Asuka was still listening, which she was intently, so I continue.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“And now… I don’t really know what to think of myself. When I first started this game my goal was to just beat it and make sure Akihiko got what was coming to him, but now… a lot’s changed since then. Yamato, Skeith… Misaki… Corbenik, Kyosho, Hao… it’s been around only a year and a half and yet so much has changed… and here I am, in the center of all of it. I realize I’m not who I set out to be. I realize that it was hopeless from the start, that this entire time I was destined to be this way. I have no real cause behind my actions. I don’t have a reason to fight… I never had a reason. It makes me feel like I’m no different than all those player killers who just murder for the sake of it…”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I stop to try to gather more words for something I couldn’t really completely put into words, but drop it and go onto something else that has been bothering me.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Why?” I ask her. “Even after all I’ve done, after what I’ve become, you’re still here. You’ve stayed with me through all of it, when by all rights you should’ve left. You’ve become a player killer yourself, just to stay by my side through it all… I don’t understand. Why would you do something like that? Why would you want to stay with me under all that?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She stays silent for a time, seemingly unable to explain why, but then she speaks.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I guess…” She begins. “I just… when we first met I didn’t really know what to make of you… you seemed like you didn’t really care about me and just thought of me as a nuisance more than anything… but looking back on it, I felt… I felt something about you. It’s not really something I can explain, but something just drew me towards you; kept me with you. At the time I’d argue that it was just because I thought you could help me become stronger, but… it was something more than that. Even when things began to heat up like they did, I still felt like I needed to stay beside you, for whatever reason. And through that I began to find out more about you… who you are, why you act the way you do… and I guess I just found you… attractive, in a sense. I guess I just became attached to you is all.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“That so?” I say. “You put yourself in more danger than you needed to. Now you’re stuck with me in the middle of all this. Is this what you wanted?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well, we don’t get to choose where life takes us.” Asuka said. “I made my choice, and I won’t give up now.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“But do you like the choice that you made?” I ask. “After everything that’s happened do you really think you made the right choice?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I wouldn’t be who I am now if I hadn’t stayed with you. I want to see this through to the end, no matter where it may take me.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">We stay silent for a few minutes before Asuka gets up.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Anyway… I have some things I need to do. You think you’re alright?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yeah, I’m fine.” I say. “I’ll be here.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She smiles at me before turning and leaving my room, shutting the door behind me.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I fall back down on my bed and stare back up at the ceiling. It felt good to let all that out… I’m glad Asuka’s there when I need her. I worry for her, because of her choosing to stay with me through all of this… but I’m happy I have the company.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I just hoped she wouldn’t regret it.