After Kirito said those words, the two of them stayed silent for a long time — Sachi lowered her eyes, gazing at the gently flowing river ahead without a word, while Kirito simply looked at her quietly.
"…I don't want to die… I'm scared."
Sachi buried her head even deeper, her voice trembling slightly, the helplessness in her eyes almost spilling out.
Kirito froze for a moment and murmured, "Scared…?"
Sachi gave the faintest nod before continuing, "Yes… these past two days… I've been so scared I can barely sleep…"
As she spoke, tears began welling up in her eyes, her voice thick with despair.
It was clear she was on the verge of breaking down.
At that moment, Kirito slowly moved closer to her, gently placing his right hand on her head and saying softly, "Sachi, listen to me… you won't die."
Sachi slowly lifted her head to look at him, asking in confusion, "Why… why are you so sure, Kirito?"
Under the light of the streetlamp, her expression was like someone being rescued from drowning, as though Kirito's brief words had given her hope.
But just as she was gazing at him with expectant eyes, Kirito's hopelessly blunt side struck again.
He started counting on his fingers, saying, "First, everyone in the Black Cats is really strong — their levels are above average. Second, with me and Tetsuo around, you don't have to push yourself to be on the front lines. Third, my level is high enough to protect you all. So, no problem."
Kirito successfully stunned Sachi with his "list of examples" explanation.
But for some reason, the boy seemed to suddenly wise up.
His expression softened as he told her,
"Believe me — as long as I'm here, you won't die. We will make it back safely to the real world. I promise!"
Kirito's sudden tenderness made the tears in Sachi's eyes grow even more.
While Kirito was still bewildered as to why she was crying despite his reassurance, Sachi, tears streaming, reached out with both hands to grasp his and said:
"Mm! I believe in you, Kirito!"
Then she slowly leaned her head against his shoulder.
Kirito stared at her in confusion, not knowing what to do as his mental CPU went into overdrive.
In the end, with no experience in moments like this, Kirito chose to do nothing at all — better to do nothing than risk messing up.
Sachi didn't seem to mind.
She smiled, the corners of her soft pink lips curling upward ever so slightly.
A single glistening tear slid past the beauty mark beneath her eye and fell.
After sending a quick message to Keita and the others to let them know she was safe, Kirito brought Sachi back to the inn.
Sitting on his bed, Kirito's fingers moved quickly through his inventory and character menus, checking the day's gains.
After roughly tallying them, he unequipped his gear, ready to rest.
But just as he lay down and pulled up the menu to turn off the lights, a knock came at the door, halting his movements.
Kirito sat back up and said, "Come in."
With the click of the door opening, Sachi's figure appeared.
She was now dressed in light blue pajamas, holding a pillow that looked irresistibly soft in her arms — the very image of an innocent girl-next-door.
Looking a little embarrassed, Sachi said softly,
"I… I still can't fall asleep… Kirito, can I sleep with you?"
"Huh?!"
In the end, the pitiful Sachi still managed to climb onto Kirito's bed, leaving him feeling not only awkward but also strangely excited and happy.
After Sachi slowly drifted off, Kirito gazed at her peaceful, serene sleeping face, gently brushed away the strands of hair near her lips, sighed lightly, and whispered with a tender look in his eyes,
"As long as everyone in the Black Cats is here, Sachi, you won't be in any danger. Someday… we'll return to the real world."
When Kirito turned away, a faint blush appeared on Sachi's face.
Lying down again, Kirito couldn't help but fall into deep thought — perhaps… there were many other players like Sachi who feared death… no, definitely many.
Even in the cruel world of SAO, they still fought to find a sliver of hope… and what about himself?
Memories of time spent with Keita, Sachi, and the others slowly surfaced in his mind.
Kirito clenched his fists and murmured in a quiet but resolute voice,
"I will… I will definitely protect all of you."
---------------------
In the doctors' office of the SAO observation ward at the University of Tokyo Hospital, Hashibira Aoba and Tomioka Kiyoshi had been discussing for most of the day, and finally decided to try a small dose of wisteria tea.
"You call this a small dose?!"
Aoba stared in disbelief at the glass in front of him, starting to wonder if he had misunderstood something — because that glass was more than half full of wisteria blossoms.
But Kiyoshi frowned and shot back,
"What's the problem? Isn't this a small dose? My grandfather always used this much."
"B-but… but Akimi is a patient right now…"
"Have you ever seen a patient who's been bedridden for half a year, only living on nutrient drips, but whose muscle density is twice the average, lung capacity over sixty thousand, and cellular activity higher than most of today's overworked office workers?"
"Uh… w-well… but… but he's running a high fever right now."
"…He's running a high fever, and aren't we treating him right now?"
"Mm… but still—"
"Enough, no more 'but still.'"
Before Aoba could finish, Kiyoshi cut him off flatly.
Without changing her expression, she filled the glass with hot water, waited for the temperature to drop, and then poured it directly into the gastric tube.
Aoba could only stare, dumbfounded, utterly thrown into chaos — was she really Akimi's cousin, and was she really a qualified doctor?
Meanwhile, back in Aincrad, just as Akimi was about to go have dinner with Asuna, he suddenly felt an inexplicable chill shoot through his nerves — but it vanished just as quickly.
"Tch… that feeling… who's trying to harm me?"
Akimi muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck.
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