Sword Art Online

A Forbidden Love

Chapter 1 – Tough Times

He was hungry. So bitterly hungry. The last couple of months had been a drag for him and his family. The taxes had been hard to pay for years, but he never expected it to get this bad.

He had been forced to work his ass off ever since he was little to help his aunt pay the bill. His aunt had begged for him not to, saying that it wasn't a life for a little boy to do such hard work. But he knew, sure as hell, that they would be put on the streets if he didn't. And he would rather sacrifice himself than the welfare of his family.

His sister, worked as a fulltime maid for this rich family in the other end of Tokyo, and luckily he didn't have to worry about her, since she had a bedroom at their mansion. But, ever since his aunt had been fired from her job, further lowering the income, he had barely been able to keep the family afloat for half a year.

And now, his job money was no longer enough. He had turned 16 by now, and even though he was still working overtime most nights, his money had no longer been enough to buy food, clothes, and at the same time paying the rent in his and his aunt´s small, two room apartment.

To top it all off, his aunt had fallen into a depression, and started light drinking to pass her time at home, so that was more money out the window, and eventually even more pressure on top of the young man's shoulders.

He had had enough. His body could no longer take it anymore. He found it normal to be working at a small construction site by his age by now, but the hard work was really straining his body.

On top of that, the company was going through hard times with rivalling companies ruling the market, and they were forced to fire their employees, and pay the workers that was left with only minimum wage. The only reason he hadn't been fired too, was that he had personally befriended his boss, after helping him home after almost being mauled by a group of gang members.

But he, and even his normally drunk aunt, could feel how straining the work was on his body. He would often arrive home with aching bones and frail body, and lately he had often taken days off because he had fallen sick, still forced to take care of himself because his aunt physically couldn't.

Last month he had fallen so ill with a high fever that he was forced to stay on the lousy sofa in the apartment for several weeks, and that had dealt a big hit to his budget, causing him to no longer be able to pay the rent. As a result, he and his aunt had been thrown on the street.

He and his aunt had been working together to find a decent place to camp out while they were on the street, and they had actually found a pretty isolated place under an overarching highway in busy Tokyo, providing decent shelter from the harsh rain and snow of winter whenever that may come.

The backside of the coin was that there was so much vehicular noise from the overarching highway, that they barely caught any sleep at night, so he was pretty much forced to take a quick nap whenever the chance bid itself.

Now he was sitting on the corner of a street, hopelessly begging passing strangers if they could spare any change. He looked down into his thin paper cup. Only about 50 yen by now. That wasn't even enough to buy a lump of bread. He sighed silently. At least it wasn't winter yet, and he was sweating like a pig in the hot summer air.

At least he had only spent an hour here. This place was normally a good place to start if you wanted to beg for money, and he hadn't been here for very long. He could sooth his aching body and emotions with the thought that it would go better if he stayed here for a couple more hours.

Around lunchtime he would normally have gained enough money to buy a little bread for him and his aunt, and in the last couple of days they had made a tradition of taking a small walk in the park, and sit on a bench on the bank of the lake.

If they could afford it they would throw small amounts of their precious bread to some of the ducks, but sadly, that wasn't very often. So poor that they couldn't even feed the ducks. The mere thought shook the young man to the core.

When he would look at himself in the reflection of the water of the lake, he would often question himself how it had gone so wrong.

He looked at himself a bit more closer. It almost looked like he had aged several years even though they had only been on the street for a week or so. He had dark circles under his hollow and empty eyes, and his expression would never show anything else than tiredness, exhaustion and sadness.

His cheeks seemed incredibly red. He touched his forehead. Even he could feel how his own body was burning up. Maybe he was catching a summer cold. He was getting frustrated over it. He didn't have time or income enough to get sick. The fact that his aunt was sick as well was more than enough reason for him to keep begging.

He sighed softly to himself again and threw the last stone he had out into the lake. He took a glance over at his aunt. She also looked like she had aged significantly the last week. She was hungry and drained of energy, and it was clear to see. She sighed a bit and looked down at the ground with a tired expression, clearly exhausted.

He smiled a little and went over to sit by her side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close, told her everything was going to be alright. As she felt his warm embrace around her she widened her eyes, but her expression softened as she leaned into him, feeling slightly safer and less nervous with his arms around her.

As she had gloated in her own sadness, she had momentarily forgotten that there was still a tiny light of hope left. That light resided in her young nephew, who was the only one who was capable of working and making money out of the two of them

He was her only defense from the tough outside world right now. She felt like crap for making him work his butt off day after day, but she didn't have a choice right now. She was sick and incapable. He was the only one she could lean herself against right now. He was her only hope.

He sighed silently and let go of his aunt's shoulders. He smiled a bit at her before standing up, saying he needed to get back to work, so he would follow her back home to the "Grounds" As they liked to call it. She nodded slowly, she didn't say anything, but simply stood up and let the young man wrap a protective arm around her shoulders as he led her home.

As they arrived at their shelter, he smiled silently as he tugged her into the worn down, but still warm sleeping bag they had found earlier in the week. He smiled and kissed her forehead, telling her he would be back in a couple of hours, before taking off.

As he walked down the busy street, he was surprised how well people seemed to live. A young couple, a few meters further down the street from him, was holding a giggling and smiling little girl between them. They were happily swinging the little girl between them in their arms, much to the girl's delight.

She smiled widely and yelled as almost all of Tokyo could hear her, but for her, it didn't matter. She was having fun with her parents and that's what mattered.

The young man came to think how the chances for him to have such a future was slim. The last two years he had dreamt about meeting a cute girl and find some place of his own. He had matured very quickly, and those adult thoughts had surprised even him.

But now, as he watched the young couple delightfully play with their daughter, he knew that, that future would probably never come to pass. Who would want to be with a homeless bum like himself anyway? His future would only consist of that desperate battle for survival. Working, working, and more working.

He grew sad just from the thought. Is that really how his future looked like? How come he had become one of those people with no future? What had he done to the world to deserve this? He didn't believe in a god, but in these rough times he had almost no other form of hope left. If there truly was a god, what had he done to make god give him such a destiny?

What was that old saying people used to tell him? Good things, come to those who wait? Well, he had waited for more than 2 years to be taken out of this unfair lifestyle, but hope or rescue had never arrived. Even that small hope had begun to slowly die out.

Before he even realized it, he had somehow made it past the young couple and their daughter. The daughter had noticed how he walked, and she grew worried of him. She pulled herself free of her parent's hands and jogged up to him, nervously picking at his pant leg.

As the young man felt this his eyes widened softly in surprise. Being a lot taller than the little girl, he looked down at girl with mild surprise clearly visible in his eyes. Even the young girl, with her current child-like innocence, could tell that something was wrong.

"Uhm mister?" she asked softly as she looked up at him "Are you ok?"

The young man didn't know what to say. Normally, people would walk in a big circle around him and people like him. He didn't blame people however. Who knew what those people could do to you if they found an opportunity?

But this girl actually showed him some concern. These feelings touched him in some way, and he couldn't help but smile down at the little girl.

"Yeah, I'm fine princess" He mumbled as he ruffled her hair "You should worry more about yourself and your family"

"But, mister" The young girl persuaded the topic "You seem to be hurt. Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes princess" He mumbled as the young girl's parents reached them "I'm just fine"

The parents looked at the girl with worried expressions as they pulled her close to them, politely apologizing to the young man.

"I'm so sorry" The woman started "She kind of just ran off, and—"

The young man smiled and shook his head "No, it's ok. I enjoyed the company"

He mumbled this as he sent the little girl a smile, which she gladly sent back.

"But, she does have a point" The man now continued "You don't seem all healthy sir. Are you sure you're ok?"

"W-well, I'm fine, really!"

He mumbled lowly in an embarrassed tone. He didn't want to become a problem for these people to bear.

"Come on, you seem exhausted" The older man persuaded "Your clothes are barely clothes and you seem sick. Come home with us for a moment, we insist"

The young man looked at the smiling couple and their daughter. He was surprised, but even so, happy beyond belief. A prober meal and a place to stay, at least for the day, was within his reach. But these people didn't even know about his drunk aunt, and he didn't know how they would react when he told them, much less how he would tell them in the first place.

"U-Uhm, it sounds nice, but…"

"Come on! You have to!" the little girl whined as she puffed out her cheeks "I won't leave you alone until you say yes!"

"W-Well that's not the problem here!"

"Huh? What is then?" The parents asked in unison.

"W-Well, you see…"

He then continued to pass on his and his aunt's story. He told them everything as they walked, right from how he had been working for years to pay the bill, to how they had been thrown out of their apartment complex about a month back.

The family of three slowly fell silent as they walked and talked, listening intensely to the young man's words. Even the normally energetic girl had fallen quiet under the heavy topic.

As he finished telling them his story, they had all fallen completely silent. The little girl was the first one to talk, unsurprisingly.

"Woah… It seems you've had it rough mister"

The young man nodded and smiled tiredly as he ruffled the little girl's hair.

"Yeah, I know. But we'll make it through, somehow"

"Hey! I just had a great idea! Mom, dad, can I talk with you guys for a moment?"

The girl pulled her parents away from the young man by the hands and began excitedly whispering something to them.

After a couple of nervous waiting, the young man looked at the three people smiled as they went back to him.

"Hey, young man" The father started, and the boy looked up at him.

"Y-Yes sir?"

He gulped silently. He was nervous what they were going to propose to him, and he didn't know why.

"What's your name buddy?"

"U-Uhm, Kirigaya sir" He tried silently "Kazuto Kirigaya"

"Well, Kirigaya-kun" The older man smiled welcomingly "What would you say if I could offer you a job?"

He widened his eyes a bit. He almost couldn't believe it, and he was sure that his ears had tricked him somehow.

"C-Come again sir?"

"A job young man. And a warm bed to sleep in. As long as you work for us properly, and behave yourself, you might have a place to stay in the night"

He gasped slightly and took a nervous step backwards. Did he hear that correctly? Was he actually offered a place to stay?! All of his worries would disappear into thin air. He would no longer have to worry about getting food on the table, or keep his last bit of family alive. He would get a chance to actually live the life he had so clearly deserved by now.

"A-Are you serious!?" He yelled, for a minute forgetting to be polite.

"Of course we're serious" The older man said with a warm smile "Me and my wife own a mansion not very far from here. You and your aunt can live and work there if you want"

He could feel how his eyes teared and welled up in joy. He put his hands over his mouth in disbelief, feeling simply blessed by god by this sudden opportunity. He could no longer take his overwhelming feelings and collapsed into tears, with heavy drops of water silently hitting the ground like turning on water valves.

"Thank you… Thank you so much…"

He was so overwhelmed that his voice was no longer than a silent whisper at this point.

"No problem my boy. Come on, the car is waiting"

The older people wrapped protective arms around the young boy's frail shoulders, and he nodded silently as he let them lead him over to their car.

"W-We have to find my aunt then. We live somewhere under the local highway"

"Alright my boy, we'll find her in a moment"

~3rd person POV, The Yuuki Residence~

"Urgh, I can't believe you sometimes mother!"

The young woman stomped in the ground in her heels, looking at her mother furiously. Her mother, had once again, promised a man she didn't even know, that her daughter would attend a dinner party with him and his family.

She hated when her mother tried to control her. All for the sake of money. Cause that was what everything was running up in, in the end. Money. Her mother had always been concerned for her family's financial problems, but the young woman had never expected her mother would go so far as to lent her daughter out to suiters with better financial background than her own, just to save her own skin.

She had promptly turned every suitor down the moment they had even approached the subject of marriage, and she was planning to do the same with this new suitor. However long it may take, and no matter who she had to turn down, she had vowed to find her own suitor, a man she could actually love.

She was about to stomp away from her mother and back to her own bedroom, when the squeak of the main doors being opened, and footsteps walking inside. As she and her mother had been fighting on the looping stairwell leading upwards to the second floor just near the entranceway, she had a full eagle eyed view of who was stepping inside.

She was expecting her sister and father to come home from their shopping trip, but it was not only those two. A young boy, maybe a year or two younger than her, also stepped inside, along with a woman reaching the age around her own parents.

Judging from their clothes it was neither the suitor or his family, or anyone her family knew in general. They looked like they had been homeless, and the mere thought of such a life disgusted the woman. The young man caught her eye though, in a way she had never experienced before. He seemed strong, maybe not in the literal sense, but he seemed to have a strong gaze.

When he stepped inside he marveled at the tall ceilings and marble floors, and as he marveled his eyes locked with the woman's. She felt a strong urge to look away, but also felt how she couldn't. He didn't remove his gaze either as they continued to stare at each other for the longest time.

"Asuna!"

She was ripped out of her trance as her little sister called from the foyer, and she smiled a bit and lifted up in her dress she descended the staircase to greet her.

She grabbed her in her arms and lifted her up happily, looking over at her father and the two unknown people with a questioning expression.

"Who are they, father?" She asked with a gentle, ladylike tone "And what business do they have to attend here?"

Her father opened his mouth to answer, but her sister cut him off.

"That is Kazuto, and Ms. Midori" She said cheerfully "They'll be living with us for a while!"

Asuna widened her eyes in disbelief and stared at her dad, who only send a bright and cheerful grin in return.