Sorano's POV
     "Sorano?"

I looked at him with teary eyes. "Hallo, Kazuto." He looked so surprised that I was here. I wiped my eyes and walked down the path to the next town. He jogged to catch up with me and we didn't talk resulting in an awkward silence.

     After walking and defeating mobs, we finally made it to the next town. I leveled up 2 more levels on the way and gained enough materials to upgrade my sword to +4. Staying true to my word I left Kirito after we arrived. I knew of a place better than the inns and headed towards a house on the outskirts of town. Inside, the family of NPCs greeted me and offered an entire floor of their barn for me to stay in. I accepted and paid them. As I sauntered to the big, red barn, I was stopped by a voice calling out to me.

     "SORANO!" I frowned at the sight of him running towards me and spat at him. "What do you want?" He stopped in front of me. "Ano... (Umm...) I was wondering if I could stay with you?"

     "I thought I said we'd part ways when we reach the town."

     "I know but you got the good room before I could get here."

     "Do I care?"

     "Onegaishimasu? (Please?)"

"No."

"Onegaishimasu?"

     "..."

     "Sorano?"

     "Fine," I said as he cheered, "but don't called me 'Sorano' in here. It's Selene." He nods and we both enter the barn. The first floor contained two horses, two cows and a bunch of pigs. There was also a dog sleeping on a hay bale. The second floor was the one I rented out and it was spacious. There were, fortunately, two bedrooms and, unfortunately, only one large bathroom. I entered one of the bedrooms and locked it so Kirito couldn't come in. The room was fairly large and painted beige. There was a king size bed in the middle of the room. A desk stood under the window on the left with a chair and a chest next to it. A plant was placed near the door and a large painting of the Aincrad sunset decorated the plain walls on the right.

     I unequipped my armor, sword, and day clothes, and put on a loose, yellow cold-shoulder top that went almost to mid-thigh and black leggings that reached mid-thigh. I let my hair out of the braid and brush it with my fingers. After changing I got in bed and closed my eyes... Then I hear a knock.

'Ugghh...' I curse under my breath. Reluctantly, I get out of bed and open the door. I look at Kirito with an annoyed face. He sweat dropped, "H-hi." "What do you want Kirito?" "I just want to talk?" His reply came out as a question. I thought about it for a minute. "Come in," I say and open the door wider to let him in. He walks in and sits on the chair by the desk. I walk over and sit on the floor. What? I like sitting on the floor. Don't judge. "I see you still sit on the floor," he says. I nod. We didn't know what to say so we didn't say anything.

I was the first to break the silence. "Sooo... what did you want to talk about?" I look him straight in the eye. What he said after hit me like a 1000 page book.  "Okay. What happened between us?" I was shocked that he didn't remember anything. 'Does he even care about the past four years?' I held in my emotions and answered, "I should be asking you that question. You're the one who kept your distance." "Oh..." he trailed off.

     "I guess I never told you." He said.

     "You haven't told me anything for the past four years." I retorted.

     "... I found out about my real parents."

     I looked at him as he continued, "They died in an accident. I found out and distanced myself from everyone, including you. Gomenasai (Sorry)." He looked like he was on the verge of tears. My expression softened. I stood up and hugged him. He tensed up. "Gomen for being insensitive. I didn't know about your parents." His body loosened up as I talked.

     "I'll protect you. So you don't have to push people away anymore."

     I felt something wet on my shoulder. I instantly knew that they were Kirito's tears. We stayed like that until Kirito stopped crying and fell asleep. I let go of him and slowly dragged his chair over to the bed and lifted him onto the bed. His eyes were puffy from crying but overall his face was peaceful. I smiled and kissed him on the forehead. I stood and was about to leave but he grabbed my arm in his sleep, preventing me from going anywhere. I sighed. 'I guess I'm staying here tonight,' I thought as I climbed into bed next to him.

"Goodnight, Kazuto."

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Hallo! Gomen the chapter is shorter than the first. But since the first chapter was filled with a boring, extremely long speech by Akihiko Kayaba it added about 500+ words. I know I said that I was going to follow the anime but I'm also going to add some original chapters and partially follow the Progressive series. Look forward to next chapter! Byes!