Chapter 138: Yukino-chan Loses Control of Her Emotions
"Hey, Kirito, what the hell were those messy moves of yours?"
"Pretty amazing, right? That's the Hachiman-style, Eugene.
Half-hearted attacks will all get deflected and immediately countered.
If your weapon was the target, at the moment you try to attack, it won't be the weapon but your wrist or shoulder that gets hit, and when you lose balance, the counterattack comes flying at you directly."
"What the hell am I supposed to do about that?"
"Haha, worry about it all you want. Worrying will not make you stronger."
"…Is that so… Well, yeah, okay. One day, I'll definitely find a way to beat it."
"Let's play again sometime, Eugene."
"Yeah. Meeting you guys is the greatest reward for me. I look forward to playing more with you, Kirito."
Meanwhile, the newbie Yumiko remained frozen in shock.
"Soleil-san, I… I feel like I don't understand anything at all."
"Hm? What's wrong, Yumiko-chan?"
"That wasn't a human move at all. Hachiman survived in that kind of world, didn't he?"
"That's right. I can only imagine it myself, but it was a world where you had to be that strong just to survive."
"I… I just came here to have fun, but someone like me… can I really be among people like that?"
"Of course you can."
"Hachiman-kun." "Hachiman."
At some point, Hachiman and Asuna were already standing there.
"You're overthinking it, Yumiko. Asuna and I originally joined SAO just to play a game. Though it turned out the way it did… now we're just back to where we started."
"That's right, Yumiko-san! I want to become better friends with you and enjoy playing together!"
"Just call me Yumiko, Asuna. …I see. I was overthinking it… Yeah, I'll try my best to get stronger and have fun with everyone!"
"Exactly! Having fun is the most important thing."
"Yumiko, let's go do some special training over there!"
"Thanks, Asuna! I'll be in your care!"
Hand in hand, Asuna and Yumiko ran toward the corner of the arena.
"Yep, fun really is the most important thing, Hachiman-kun."
"Yeah."
"Onee-chan looks really happy, huh?"
"Yukino-chan…"
In front of the remaining Hachiman and Haruno, Yukino spoke.
"I'm really glad everyone is having such a good time."
"Yeah, me too."
Before they knew it, battles had broken out all over the arena. Klein, Agil, and Liz, frustrated by their earlier loss, were in a three-way brawl to get stronger.
Komachi was tag-teaming with Silica, Ayaka was challenging Mobius in a magical duel, and Leafa was sparring with Eugene.
"But it looks like Onee-chan really likes Asuna-san, doesn't it?"
"Well, she is my little sister, after all!"
"..."
Seeing Yukino's face suddenly cloud over, Hachiman sensed a chance and decided to ask:
"Hey, Yukino… do you have some kind of feelings toward Asuna?"
"Of course not. Why would you ask that?"
"Ah… I see…"
"The one I have feelings about is my sister."
"About me? What do you mean, Yukino-chan?"
"..."
Yukino muttered, her face completely red and her body trembling.
"Why… Why don't you care at all about your real little sister?!"
"Eh?"
"Why don't you care about your own sister at all?!"
"Eh, uh…"
"Yukino…"
To Hachiman, Yukino clearly seemed to have lost control of her emotions.
'This probably started after Asuna joined, but the seed must've been planted during the SAO incident. The only one who might be able to resolve this is...'
Hachiman looked troubled and glanced toward Soleil. Understanding his gaze, Soleil nodded knowingly and offered her analysis:
"Lately, I've probably been acting too devoted in front of Yukino-chan. Seeing me give it my all might've caused her mental state to regress to how she was back when she was desperately trying to catch up to me."
"But I didn't expect that Yukino to…"
"Ever since elementary school, I completely stopped spoiling Yukino. That must've built up as subconscious pressure. And now, seeing me spoil Asuna so openly, that pressure probably swelled without her realizing."
"I see… Is there a way to fix it?"
"Mm. Leave this to big sis."
"I'm counting on you."
Soleil slowly walked over to Yukino—and suddenly hugged her.
"Of course you're adorable, Yukino-chan. You're my only little sister, after all. But because of that, I thought I didn't need to express how much I loved you. That was my mistake. From now on, let's hang out more together, like normal sisters."
Yukino nodded repeatedly upon hearing that—but Soleil wasn't one to stop there.
"I'm glad you understand, but Yukino-chan… Hachiman-kun has been staring at your bashful face this whole time, you know."
"Eh? Hachiman-kun?"
Yukino turned blankly toward Hachiman, then suddenly regained her senses.
Realizing what she had just said and done, she yanked herself free from Soleil's arms and glared fiercely at Hachiman.
"Do you have something to say?"
"N-No… nothing…"
"I see. So why are you just standing there like an idiot? Everyone's working hard and fighting. You, as the leader, should be more aware of your responsibilities. Reflect on that."
"R-Right…"
"Well, it's frustrating to admit, but I can't deny that you've earned a certain amount of respect. So for now, with hopes for your future, I won't pursue this any further."
"Th-Thanks…"
"Obviously, you understand the condition, right? That you're going to forget everything that just happened. Nothing happened here, okay?"
"O-Okay."
"Good."
Having said that, Yukino turned her back to Hachiman and gazed out at her companions. But her ears remained bright red, and seeing that, Hachiman instinctively reached out to pat her head.
"...What are you doing?"
"It's just instinct."
"...Ugh…"
Yukino didn't brush his hand away and let him continue.
"Hey, Yukino."
"…What is it?"
"Soleil-neesan helped out a lot this time, but she's going to be logging in less frequently from now on. This kind of thing probably won't happen again, so I'm going to need your help moving forward."
"Of course I'll help."
"I'm counting on you."
"Yeah. I'll support you even more reliably than my sister did."
At that moment, Soleil turned to Yukino and said:
"Yukino-chan."
"What is it, Sis?"
"In the end, the only one who can replace me… is you."
"..."
"Have more confidence. If I can do it, you definitely can. We're sisters, after all."
"…Okay."
Just as it seemed the sisterly crisis had passed, things suddenly took a turn. Asuna returned from finishing her training.
"Ahh—No fair! Hachiman-kun, I want my head patted too!"
"Oh, Asuna. Where's Yumiko?"
"She's resting over there."
"I see."
So Hachiman began patting Asuna with his other hand.
"Getting patted feels nice… Did something happen?"
"Hey, Asuna, you know Yukino-chan was sulking a bit lately, because I've been spoiling you too much. So Hachiman-kun and I were calming her down together."
"Y-You're betraying me… Sis!"
"There wasn't any promise not to!"
"Ugh…"
"I see! Then I'll become even closer to Yukino-chan!"
"Eh?"
Saying that, Asuna suddenly hugged Yukino.
"W-Wait, Asuna-san—!"
"Call me A-su-na."
"Eh?"
"I know Yukino-san uses honorifics for everyone. But please just call me Asuna. In return, I'll call you Yukino too."
Yukino looked helplessly toward Hachiman and Soleil, but they both just smiled silently. Yukino let out a sigh and timidly said:
"A-Asuna…-san."
"Come on, Yukino, you're being so formal."
"I'll try to get used to it… Just give me a little more time, Asuna…-san."
"You're such a handful… fine, just a little more time."
After Asuna forcibly shortened the emotional distance between them, the day's activities came to an end.
By the way, Argo, who didn't participate at all, had apparently been collecting intel on the new members the whole time.
Soleil, who also didn't join in the fighting, tried to find someone to spar with at the end—but, unsurprisingly, everyone respectfully declined.