And just like that, the atmosphere became unbearably awkward.
After nearly a full minute of tense silence, Sachi rubbed her eyes hard, then suddenly threw herself into Kirito's arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.
Her body trembled slightly, as if she were afraid he would disappear without saying goodbye again.
Kirito was caught off guard—he didn't know whether to hug her back or not.
In the end, he wavered somewhere in between, awkwardly holding her in a half-embrace.
Truth be told, from the perspective of Ducker and the others, Kirito's handling of things wasn't wrong at all.
But this blockheaded, emotionally dense guy completely overlooked Sachi's feelings, forcing a timid, fragile girl to face the blow of his "death" with no preparation whatsoever.
Back during the final moments of the trap room battle, Akimi had subtly pointed out this problem to Kirito, but Kirito didn't understand what he meant.
Akimi assumed Kirito had his own plan, so he didn't interfere further.
But there was no question—Sachi could never endure that level of emotional shock.
In fact, during those twenty days, she had attempted to take her own life several times.
Luckily, Keita had stayed with her constantly and managed to stop her every time.
"Kirito… Kirito… uhh… uhh…"
Sachi lifted her head, her hands gently cupping Kirito's face.
Tears streamed down her cheeks without stopping.
Kirito was about to say something, but Sachi gripped the collar of his coat tightly, burying her face in his chest and sobbing even harder.
Then, in a muffled voice, she said:
"I'm really, really scared… These past days I've been thinking about what I should do from now on, but I could never find an answer. Now I understand—"
At this point, Sachi lifted her head.
Her eyes, now filled with determination, locked onto Kirito's.
The hands clutching his collar had turned white from the force of her grip.
"If Kirito isn't there… then my future has no meaning! A future without Kirito is not the future I want!"
Faced with such intense, burning emotion, even Kirito—the iron-willed straight man—understood what she meant.
But he didn't know how to respond to those feelings, so he stayed silent.
Sachi didn't know that, though.
She interpreted his lack of response as rejection, and gave a bitter smile. "I understand now."
She then gently pushed Kirito away, lowered her head, and ran off.
Kirito, still stunned by her "I understand," instinctively reached out a hand as she left, but no words came out.
He just stood there, frozen.
Argo, who had been silently watching for a while, bit her lip, gave Kirito a light kick, and said in a slightly sour tone, "What are you standing around for, idiot? Go after her!"
"O–oh!"
Kirito dashed off after Sachi in a hurry, but watching his retreating figure made Argo feel a pang of regret.
She sighed softly, pulled her hood back over her head, and walked away in the opposite direction.
The only one left was a blacksmith player who had been "eating melon seeds" in the corner, enjoying the drama.
He had been smugly celebrating that he'd managed to freeload two full sets of high-grade armor and weapons—but then, right before his eyes, all the equipment belonging to Kirito vanished from his hands.
"...Huh?"
-----------------
About three or four minutes later, Kirito—whose level was nearly thirty higher than Sachi's—finally caught up to her thanks to his high agility.
He stepped in front of her, still saying nothing, only looking at her with a conflicted expression.
Sachi wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, turned her head away to avoid his gaze, and asked in a choked voice, "Since… since you've already rejected me, K–Kirito… why… why did you still chase after me?"
Kirito pointed at himself uncertainly. "I… did I reject something?"
"Ah… K–Kirito, you… you didn't… didn't you reject my…"
Hearing the confusion in Kirito's voice, Sachi began to suspect she had misunderstood him.
She started to stammer out an explanation, but as she went on, her voice grew softer and softer until it was completely inaudible.
Kirito stared at her in puzzlement, while her face turned bright red.
But by now, Kirito had already steeled himself.
He gently took Sachi's hand and said seriously, "Sachi… I understand what you mean now."
Looking into Kirito's sincere eyes made Sachi feel lightheaded.
The blush on her face deepened, and it was as if a cloud of steam had started rising from the top of her head.
"I'm not very good at saying the kinds of things that make girls happy, and I can't easily notice what a girl is thinking… Honestly, I've never thought about what it would be like to be in a relationship, and I never considered dating anyone—if I hadn't met you, Sachi, I probably never would have thought about it at all."
Kirito's voice was gentle, his gaze softer than ever as he continued, "But… but I met you, Sachi. Your kindness, your warmth, and so many other things have always drawn me to you… So what I want to say is… I want to say… if I were to choose someone to be with…
I'd want it to be you, Sachi—!"
By the time he reached the last sentence, Kirito's voice had risen so high it felt like it could echo across all of Aincrad.
"I… me too! I want my partner to be Kirito as well!"
Answering Kirito's declaration was Sachi's equally loud reply.
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