"Ume, wake up and get your ass down here!"

She cracked an eye open to check the time and groaned. It was four in the afternoon, way past the time she had initially meant to wake up from her nap. Ume swung her legs over the edge of the bed and slipped on her slippers.

She yawned as she made her way to her door, her gown fell down to just above her knees. Her feet padded on the inside wood flooring as she made her way down the hall and down the stairs. While her family was well-off, they didn't care for the extravagant things, focusing more on comfort and convenience. 

Her parents, as head doctors, did not come home often which left her alone with her brother who was also not home as much due to attending university classes.

"Kazu?" she called out, entering the kitchen and was met by her brother holding up with phone and the shutter of a photo being taken. Her groggy expression immediately shifted that of annoyance just as another shutter went off.

"Oh, my dearest Ume, you're just so precious!" Kazuhiki swooned and draped himself over the counter, "These are perfect to add to my album of Cute Pictures of Beloved Ume!" 

"Stop being a weirdo," she muttered, dragging her feet to the bar stool for the counter that her brother has seemed to have claimed. "Breakfast?"

"Breakfast? At this time of day? More like a late lunch," he removed his body from the counter, slipped his phone in his pants' pocket and prepared a plate for her. "Your favorite-"

"Red bean buns?" her eyes sparkled despite her face not changing. 

"No."

"Then whatever you have prepared is anything but my favorite. I spend years trapped inside a game and you won't even supply me my favorite food?"

"It's not real food! It's a snack!"

"A snack that I can survive off of."

Kazuhiko rolled his eyes as he placed the plate in front of her before sliding a cup towards her and poured some juice in, "It's beef with rice and some stir-fried cabbage."

"Thank you for the food." 

Ume dug in quietly and ate slowly as to not upset her readjusting stomach. It had been a month since she had been released from the confines of her hospital bed and relocated back to her house. Her brother was in his final year before he transferred to medical focused school.

Although she had been in advanced classes before, she was more likely behind now and would need to put more effort in learning the criteria...and more. There was also the decision that she would have to make of attending the school for SAO survivors. She had an option to be home schooled and she had a number of therapists to choose from at their hospital. It was simply a matter of facing Asuna and Kazuto.

She wasn't sure she could handle it anymore. Not after everything that happened.

"I can hear you thinking."

There was a gently push on her forehead which forced her out of her rather boring thoughts, meeting her brother's auburn eyes.

He retracted his hand from poking her, he rest his chin on his hands and observed her, "Are you thinking about that boy?"

Ume twitched, but shook her head, her chewing slowed, then she swallowed. Gaze fluttered down to her plate as she recalled the incident in the hospital. Her eyes filled with despair before she pushed her plate away.

She whispered, "I'm full."

"You're not." He nudged the plate back in front of her, "Eat a few more bites and I'll be satisfied."

She sighed and did as told, not in the mood to put up a fight. 

Kazuhiko watched his little sister, or what was a shell of her former self. He remembered to be a fierce soul, never let herself be torn down by another. Whatever happened in those two years...changed her. Sure, it had changed a lot of people, but Ume was a force to be reckoned with. A will like no other. 

What could that boy have done to have resort Ume to this state? 

When he finally got his hands on him he was going to-

"Kazu," his thoughts stopped short of murderous when Ume called his name, smiling brightly as he turned attentive.

"Yes?" 

"I can feel you planning a murder. Stop it."

He wilted at the cold tone, but felt a rush of relief. That, that was his Ume. She shone through every now and then, but it wasn't as frequent as she had been before. His little Ice Queen. 

Ume took one more bite of her food and pushed it away once again, and despite having claimed being full she definitely ate a bit more. 

As he took the plate and went to wash the dish, her mind reeled back the memories of that night she woke up. Her eyes glistened and before she could stop them, the tears pooled over and ran down her cheeks. She glared down at her lap, shoulders shaking.

Why? 

Why is it always her?

"Ume?!" 

There was a clatter of glass, nothing broken, but she was enveloped in a tight embrace. Her brother had ran over to her, abandoning the dishes to comfort his sister.

"Ume why are you crying? What's wrong?" he stroked her messy hair, swaying in a calming way. 

She hiccuped and wrapped her arms around him.

"Why..." she echoed her thoughts, "Why is it always her?!" She wailed, shaking her head. "If she wasn't...he would be...I would be...!"

"I don't know what you're saying Ume. You have to tell me what's-"

"I fell in love with him!" she cried, pushing back, and there he saw anguish and a heart-broken girl, "I fell in love with someone who can't love me back! It's always her. Asuna. Asuna, Asunaasunaasuna! Kazu, it hurts. It hurts so much. How do I make it stop? How do I stop loving him?"

Kazuhiko's heart sank, and shoved her head to his shoulder, eyes wide. His baby sister's heart was not only stolen...but broken? Was this how that boy broke her? Heartbreak?

Eyes narrowed, filled with silent fury.

Oh, this would not do.