AN: Yes this is a One Piece/SAO crossover. Strange, I know, so thank you for giving me the chance and clicking on this story. It had been the only one in the section when I first wrote it :)

First chap is mainly of how people felt after Asuna's death and the introductory events. This chapter may not flow very well since it switches between different people's POVS (though they are still in third person).

WARNING: Character death (as you probably know already from the summary). Kirito shall be using Kazuto as his name until a certain point into the first few chapters.

Disclaimer: If I owned SAO or OP, I wouldn't be writing on fanfiction, would I?

Thoughts

"Speech"

Chapter 1-The Change of Fate

It was painful, she thought. There was no air, and yet somehow she managed to keep her consciousness. Maybe it was better for her not to. Everything hurt. There was a constant tugging on her limbs, as if something was trying to rip them off. Her whole body felt heavy, like she was deep in the ocean, with tonnes of water pressing down on her. It took all her concentration to keep herself together and focus on resisting the powerful force. She would have just let go if not for that one boy, no, that one man. And that was worth more than her life, so she had to. She couldn't give up… wouldn't…

Kirito…

The memory of his touch was the only thing that kept her struggling, struggling to hold her last breath when her body just wanted go limp and let whatever was happening to her happen. But no, that would not do. She had to feel his hands one last time before passing on. She didn't know when he had started to become her reason for living; for not draining her own life in the earlier stages of the Death Game, but he was, and she knew that she would never regret it.

So, please, just let me hold on for a little bit longer…

Kirigaya Kazuto stood in the elevator, quietly waiting for it to reach the top floor. It had taken some convincing to get past the two security guards at the front of the private hospital but he was finally admitted into the building. He couldn't really blame them. He was wearing hospital-issued pyjamas after all. But he didn't have time to change. No. Asuna was more important. A black-spectacled man had told him where she was, in exchange for information. It was then that the teen had found that she was still alive, trapped somewhere in the virtual world.

The days that he was in the hospital were a nightmare. When he was finally allowed to leave earlier that morning, he had rushed to Tokorozawa despite his mother's and sister's protests. And there he was, excited, afraid, of meeting his beloved again.

The trip was taking too long. He glanced at the screen on the side impatiently. Luckily, no one entered the lift as it ascended to the top floor.

He broke out into a run as soon as he exited the elevator towards the pale green door on the far end. Unclipping the pass he had been given from the pocket of his shirt, he hurriedly slid it into the slot by the door and walked through as soon as he was admitted. His eyes immediately drifted onto the unconscious figure of Asuna and his pace slowed. When he reached the bed, he leaned down and gently brushed a strand of hair from her face, hands careful and loving, afraid to hurt the girl beneath him. Then, he sat down and held her hand. She looked as beautiful as she always did, though painfully thin, her head enveloped by that much-hated helm of metal – the only thing that kept them apart.

The surroundings suddenly became warmer and the pressure lifted a little. She smiled –It was the moment she'd been waiting for–and used the last bit of energy to push herself towards the warmth, feeling it envelope around her. It was calming and soothed her immobilised body. Her heart was beating very quickly, too quickly to be good for her, but she didn't care. He was all she could think of as she felt her consciousness slip away. The pain was barely noticed.

Kazuto's eyes widened when the girl that had laid there since he first arrived stirred and struggled to open her eyes. He got up abruptly and leaned in over her.

"Asu–"

"Wait, Kirito." She squeezed his hand slightly to stop him. "I don't have much time."

He looked at her, confused. "But–"

"I love you." She whispered, cutting him off. "I love you. I love you. I love you." Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. Finally, we meet… Her voice increased in volume every time she spoke. "I love you. I-I love y–"

She felt him press his lips gently against hers. "Me too. I love you." He breathed against her mouth, pulling away a bit to stare into her eyes. "So much that I could die."

"Don't say something like that." She scolded softly. Kazuto smiled to see his usual Asuna back and leaned down to kiss her again.

She lifted her trembling hands up and wrapped it around his back, pulling him closer.

They stayed there for a long time, savouring every second, until Asuna felt that her time was up. She slowly moved her head upwards and kissed his forehead before hovering her mouth near his ear.

"Goodbye Kirito. And thank you." She sounded happy and sad at the same time.

The boy was confused at his lover's words.

"What do–" He froze when the body beneath him suddenly went limp. He sat up as her hands thumped back onto the mattress. Asuna had her eyes closed and a smile on her face. For a second, he hoped that she had fallen asleep but even that hope was dashed when he saw her unmoving chest under the covers.

Then, the doctors rushed in and ushered him away.

Kazuto's eyes were unfocussed as he lay on his bed. There were dark circles under them, and it looked as if he had aged a few years in a week.

…Brain fried…no hope… the doctor's words haunted him everywhere he went. He would be asleep, dreaming of Asuna, and then everything would turn black, and all he'd see, hear, was the constant reminders that she was dead. He hated the creator; hated Kayaba Akihiko for killing her. But if the game had never been made, he would have never met Asuna.

Maybe that was better though… Having her alive… yes, he would very much prefer that, even if it would mean never knowing her…

If it wasn't for him, she would never have died.

If it wasn–

"Kirito."

His head snapped up, eyes searching the room. But there was nothing. She wasn't there. Even if he thought it would have been better for them to have never known each other, he couldn't imagine life without her. He flung his arms over his eyes. "Asuna…" He mumbled, saying the name of the one he loved most in the world, and who had died to save him. "Forgive me…"

Suguha, or, as she was known as in the world of Alf Heim Online, Lyfa, flew slowly through the virtual clouds. Usually she enjoyed flying, but today she was thinking; thinking about her 'brother' and crush, Kazuto. He was the reason she even started playing ALO, to try everything she could do to understand him. It hadn't worked after all. He'd never found out about her efforts or feelings, and Suguha wasn't going to tell him. Couldn't tell him, more like. It would make their relationship even more awkward. She didn't want to trouble him, especially as the cause of the problem was because of the one he loved. It was easy to guess. She'd heard him talk about her before when he was still in hospital, but after the day he was released, he never mentioned that girl again, though she would occasionally hear him say her name a few times from outside his room.

Having his empty body walk around the house was painful, almost too painful for her to bear. She hated the girl that made her brother like this, caused him so much pain and suffering, and had just abruptly left the world. Was it even possible to fall so deeply in love with someone while playing a game? A Death Game no less. She didn't understand. He hadn't even met this Asuna in real life, not that she knew of anyway. How could he be affected so much?

But then he was. It was the undeniable truth.

Early in the morning, she would hear sounds coming from the dojo and she'd pad down the stairs and walk over there, to see her brother hitting a practice dummy with a shinai. The strokes were fast, abnormally fast, deadly even, seeming to aim for the most vulnerable places. She remembered him saying that that person was almost as fast as him, and had a hard time believing it after the display. The slashes were heavy enough to force the dummy back, and there was what she'd only be able to call a murderous intent around him. A pile of broken pieces of bamboo was stacked carelessly on the floor. It was almost frightening and it was clear that he was pushing his body way over its limits. There was no way he could use so much strength when he'd only started rehabilitation a few days ago.

And yet his movements were so graceful; unfamiliar, sure– she'd never seen those techniques and stances before– but perfect and flowing, like he'd practiced them for years, not days. Or maybe he had practiced them for a long time. There was no telling what had happened in those two years he was trapped in the game, after all. That, she knew, was always going to be the barrier between her and him, and also the difference between her and Asuna. They'd probably experienced life and death situations together. How could she compare? She knew she'd only be a mere sibling to him. He loved Asuna too much to have room for her.

It was so obvious it hurt.

These were the only thoughts occupying her mind before she was forced to descend as her wings reached their limit.

His arm was burning but he barely noticed it and kept slashing at the worn dummy. When the strain got too unbearable, he just grabbed the shinai with his other hand and continued. Anything to keep his mind off her death. He'd found out not long after Kayaba's first ingame announcement that fighting was the most effective way of distraction, and would frequently slay monsters for hours on end, sometimes even days if he felt particularly unstable. The side of the bamboo sword landed precisely where the neck of a lizard man would be and he followed up with a slash to the head and abdomen. He could almost hear the familiar shattering as the imaginary monster died. Before long, two more targets had been added and he was now swinging at them at such a speed that the clacks of bamboo on wood almost sounded at the same time as the previous. He continued, raining blow upon blow on the dummies. He did all he could to forget. And, to some extent, it worked; when he closed his eyes and swung his sword, he could feel the thrill of battle again. All he could do…

What he never ever did though, was hold any two shinai at the same time. That would just relive the memories of the state he had been in on that cruelly fateful day.

The girl walked along the corridor, or what she thought was a corridor. There were no walls, only darkness, though she definitely could feel something under her, now bare, feet. It was all very strange. But what was the strangest thing was that she was supposed to be dead. She distinctly remembered whispering goodbye in Kirito's ear and the sensation of being unable to take another breath. So why was she here? Where was this place? With those questions spinning around her head, she continued walking, figuring that it was better to move than to just sit there and wait for someone to come along and tell her where the hell she was. She doubted there was anybody around anyway. It just didn't seem like a place that people liked to go to, if the creepiness was anything to go by.

The endless darkness made it hard to see but she was certain that a door wasn't going to appear anytime soon and so resigned herself to a long walk in unfamiliar territory. It ironically reminded her of the instant before the first boss, Ilfang had appeared, before the room was lit. She half-expected flames to appear and illuminate the space, but her logical side doubted it would happen. She could see herself though, so it would seem that her body was somehow emitting light. There were no shadows despite there being something to cast them, which gave the place the eerie feel of an empty void. She had already experienced it before, and was not in a hurry to experience it again. Luckily, she at least had air, and was in no pain except, of course, the ever-present ache in her heart whenever she thought of him. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and continued to walk. For now, that was the only thing she could do and her brain was too tired to think proficiently, anyway. As her light footfalls touched the non-existing ground, she was only glad that Kirito was alive.

She hoped it stayed that way.

The clock read eight o'clock. Kazuto pushed his bangs back to wipe the sweat off his face before moving the equipment into the storage room at the side of the dojo and sliding the shinai back with the others. It was only when he turned around to walk back when he saw the pile of broken bamboo that had steadily grown throughout the three hours he'd been 'training.' From a quick sweep, he could tell that there were at least what used to be ten complete practice swords in there and wondered how on earth he'd managed to break so many. He stared at the pile, willing it to move itself. Of course, it didn't, and eventually he sighed before bending down and gathering half of it in his arms. Straightening up tiredly, he walked out to dispose of them.

Suguha opened her eyes and lifted the Amusphere from her head. She lay there for a while, looking at the ceiling. Once she'd landed on the ground, she'd immediately checked into an inn and logged out. She didn't feel like playing anymore, now that her objective had become so pointless.

It was Sunday and there was no school but she wasn't able to fall back asleep so after lying there for a few minutes, she got up and walked out of her room into the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her face looked too much like her 'brother'. If they were walking on the streets everyone would think they were siblings. She wished she looked different.

She looked at her hair. Why was it so short? Oh right. Because of kendo. Any longer and it would be annoying when she needed to put on the protective head gear. Now, she wished that she hadn't cut it.

Kendo… Then she realised that she hadn't practiced for a week already. Her captain was going to kill her. Closing the bathroom door quietly behind her, she strode to her room to get her shinai. Although her hair could always grow, she could never quit kendo. Not because her grandfather told her to do it, but because she liked it. She didn't have the resolution to stop playing.

How cheap my love is, she thought grimly as she emerged back into the hall, wrapped shinai in hand, and walked down to the backyard to practice.

Asuna stared at the… thing in front of her. She didn't know what to think. It was sitting on a throne with sunglasses on. The weirdest part of all was that it was a giant fruit.

It took her a full minute to fully comprehend what she was seeing and even then, she still suspected that it was all a very real hallucination. How often would a person get to see a fruit sitting… sitting(!) and wearing sunnies? She was even more convinced that her thought was correct when the fruit moved and a hand that had definitely not been there before pushed up its glasses. All was silent. She stood there for an extra moment or two before doing what most people would do when met with an extremely strange situation: she turned around and walked the other way.

"Hey! Where are you going?" A squeaky voice shouted from behind her. That only made her walk faster. Not only was she seeing things, she was hearing things too. "W-wait!" The squeaky voice called again, accompanied by heavy footsteps. Oh god. It was not long before Asuna was sprinting back where she'd come from, not caring that she couldn't even see where she was going.

"H-hey! Why are…you… running away?" The thing huffed. She was glad that it was such a fat fruit, since it meant that it ran slowly.

What was it anyway? Even if it was just part of her imagination, it looked a little too weird, as in purple with strange spikes all over a swirly pattern. The sunglasses looked to be glued in place since there was nothing to hold it up. What a weird illusion…

Then it occurred to her that if it was indeed an illusion, then she didn't need to run away. Nodding to herself, she stopped abruptly.

Despite her belief that she was hallucination, it didn't stop her from stepping out of the way when the weird fruit came tumbling towards her into a… wall? Where had that come from?

Asuna watched in fascination. The pieces of wall were lying on the figment of imagination.

"Argh…" It groaned, rising up from the rubble, somehow unharmed. "What did you run away for?" It said angrily while rubbing a lump on its head.

Asuna just looked at it. There was no need to reply to illusions, right?

"Hey! I'm talking to– Oh forget it." The giant fruit said as it righted itself and brushed itself off with the 'appearing hands'. "Humans. As deaf as a bat. Wait a minute. That's not right. It was as blind as a bat. But then what was… as deaf as a… anyway… Can't believe humans have such bad hearing even though… and all the crazy things they think up… brrrr…" It shivered and its expression went from disgust to sadness. 'You poor, poor thing.' Then it started weeping with her standing there gawking at it. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. You victim of the humans!" Then its mood did a one eighty again. "It's dark isn't it?" Well that was random.

"…Yes." She decided that it wouldn't hurt to talk to it. She was pretty curious about this weird creature as well.

"So you can hear me!" The fruit exclaimed before starting to mutter about something about 'not respecting elders' and 'too old for this'. It stopped just as abruptly as it had started and flashed its teeth. Asuna decided that she never wanted to see a grinning fruit ever again. Its mouth stunk of rotten eggs. "Anyway…" It said. "If you thought it was dark then why didn't you turn on the lights?"

'… … …'

"Huh?" Asuna said dumbly.

"You know. Switches? You flick it and it sets electricity in motion which then powers a light bulb?" It said, creepily gesturing with its hands. "Geez… Humans these days are so dense." It trailed towards the side and pressed something. Less than a second later, the corridor lit up. She stared at the switch, which was only four metres away from her. It had been there all this time?

"Ah… Much better." The fruit mumbled to itself. "Really dense, humans. Don't know what to do about them. I can't believe they are one of the main consumers of my family, though Magu was a pain in the ass so it served him right."

Did that thing just say it had family? And people actually ate them? She felt sorry for whoever had been unlucky enough to do that. They probably tasted pretty horrible.

"Anyway… down to business." Her attention snapped back to the purple fruit only to see it sit down and lean against the wall before suddenly going limp. She watched in horror as a ghost drifted up from its body. Only it wasn't because it was scary, but because it was an even uglier version of the thing. Her thoughts were cut off, however, when she felt herself get lifted up into the air and carried back to the throne room. She was dumped quite unceremoniously onto the ground.

"Ow… What the hell…" She groaned, rubbing her sore backside.

"Well then." The voice was deeper than before and she looked up to see the fruit ghost transform into a handsome young man, though he still had sunglasses on. "Since we are all comfortable. I shall introduce myself. My name is Yomi Yomi no Mi. You may call me Mr Yomi, Yuuki Asuna-san."

The dark-haired girl glanced worriedly at the clock. Dinner would be finished soon, and if Kazuto didn't come down, she would have to go get him, which she was reluctant to do. She decided to try calling him from downstairs. That might be less awkward.

"Kazuto-kun!" She yelled as softly as she could. Deep inside, she knew that he wouldn't hear. Sure enough, there was no response, but still she waited, stalling the inevitable. Froth was overflowing from the pan so she hurried to turn the gas off and tasted the soup. There was no flavour. She added a quarter teaspoon of salt. Still no taste. Another scoop. Strange. Why couldn't she taste anything? She decided to put in one last bit before checking the other pots. They were all done too. As the bubbling liquid calmed, the kitchen was shrouded in silence. She heard her mother tell her to go get her brother. She wanted to… but then she didn't. She didn't want to hear the voice that longed for a girl she hadn't even met before, but, she knew, she would have to talk to him eventually, so she may as well do it now. He needed people. Even if the person that was going to save him was not to be her, she should at least try, right?

Taking a deep breath, she stepped slowly up the stairs.

There was a tentative knock on the door. He heard Suguha's voice vaguely. To him, it sounded like a ghostly whisper.

"Yes?" His voice sounded tired…not his own.

Suguha spoke so softly that her words were barely audible. "E-eto… dinner…"

Kazuto nodded and then, realising that she couldn't see him, said in the most cheerful voice he could muster. "Ok."

His heard his sister hesitate.

"A-are you Ok?" He was surprised by the question.

No. I'm not Ok.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He said instead. It didn't sound the least bit convincing and he was pretty sure it was really obvious he was lying. He was relieved when his sister mumbled a quick "Ok" without questioning him. Kazuto waited for the few seconds it took for the sounds of footsteps to fade away before slowly levering himself up with his arms and swinging his legs over the side. He stayed there for a while, just sitting on the mattress, elbows on his knees and head bent down. His gaze constantly drifted onto the glass cup by his bed. If he smashed it, the pieces would definitely be sharp enough to pierce his flesh. With some luck, he could go to where Asuna was. It seemed like a good idea. The only thing stopping him from proceeding with it was that he didn't believe in god all that much–the bastard Akihiko made sure of that–and so doubted that something like the underworld existed, much less the possibility of seeing her again.

Maybe it was just an excuse for escaping the throbbing of his heart. It sometimes ached to the degree of being unbearable. When that happened, he could only curl up in a ball in the centre of his bed, knees digging into his chest and nails penetrating the skin on the back of his hands, hoping for it to go away soon. He'd never known that losing someone he loved could cause physical pain. Unfortunately, he tended to learn things the hard way.

It was a while before he moved, struggling against his desire, and an even longer time before he managed to completely turn away.

More than an hour had passed until he finally opened the door and went down to eat.

The woman looked up as her son came downstairs. It was a family custom for everyone to be at the table before commencing meals if they were all at home, and she and Suguha had sat there waiting for him for the last seventy minutes. She wasn't angered by Kazuto's late appearance, just sad. He was unnaturally pale, even more than when he'd first woken up, if that was possible. There were bags under his eyes that hadn't been there before. His hair hung in clumps and fell back just under his collar bone. He'd cut it himself in his room and she thought the best idea was to leave him alone for a while, as he got used to things, before suggesting a trip to the hairdressers. She could tell that the clothes had been thrown on as carelessly as he did the rest; a baggy white shirt and an old pair of jeans that hung loosely from his hips. As he ran a hand through his hair to keep his bangs away from his eyes, he looked much older than the sixteen he really was, which definitely wasn't good– The boy had always been mature for his age, but looked even more so ever since he woke up, Kirigaya Midori thought to herself, concern etched onto her face. Kazuto seemed to notice this and forced a small smile.

"Kaa-san. Suguha." He greeted, nodding his head.

"Onii-san…" She heard her daughter murmur softly.

"Kazuto…" She said no more as he pulled back his chair and sat down tiredly.

"Itadakimasu." He said softly before picking up his chopsticks and starting to eat. His hands were trembling but somehow the food made it into his mouth.

Midori watched all this through her lashes as she pretended to look at her bowl. His emotionless face frightened her. Kazuto had always been quiet, especially after he found out about her being his aunt, but never like this. She viewed him as her son anyway, whether he thought the same or not. However, she was not doing a very good job, so she could hardly complain if he didn't agree. She didn't even know why he was so depressed. It'd started on the day of his release from hospital. he'd rushed out and came back late at night with a blank look. Something definitely happened, but she had no idea what it was. Suguha clearly knew something but when she'd brought up the subject, the look on her daughter's face had stopped her from asking further. Come to think of it, she didn't even know what the look was. Sadness? Hurt? If that was it then why was she like that?

She really was a terrible mother.

"Itadakimasu…" She eventually said, not knowing what else to do.

Asuna blinked up at the man. He was still transparent, like a ghost, but at least he wasn't as bad as what he'd looked like before. She needed some explanations, and it didn't really matter who she was getting them from.

"How do you know my name?" Asuna demanded.

The other looked surprised. "Why, I know all of the dead's names."

What?

"So I'm dead." She stated, trying to decide whether to believe him or not.

"Yes, you are." He said. "Don't you remember dying?"

She didn't need to think much to answer that question. Of course she remembered. "I do. It's just that I'm wondering why I can still talk and breath and–"

"But you can't breathe." Yomi said, raising an eyebrow.

"But that's not pos–" Asuna started to disagree but then stopped. A fruit turning into a ghost and then into a man was not possible either. She should wait for the man to explain everything before asking questions.

"You just feel like your breathing." Yomi continued. "The dead don't need to breath 'cause, well, they're dead. Actually, humans usually don't even get to pass through here, rather going straight to wherever people go when they die."

"Huh? Don't you know where people go?" Asuna couldn't stop herself from asking.

"No. I'm only in charge of 'cleaning up' after the higher-ups." The man sulked. He obviously didn't like being inferior to anyone. "But I haven't needed to do that for a long time. Until you came."

"So… what needs cleaning up?"

He sounded irritated this time. "The situation you created. Derrr…"

"I didn't do anything!" Asuna said, exasperated. "The only situation I created is me being dead."

"That's exactly the problem."

"Huh? You think I want to be dead?" She almost shouted.

"Well it's like you do…" The man gabbled lowly, but it didn't escape her ears.

"What do you mean?" She asked harshly.

"Well…" He fiddled with his tie. 'You weren't actually supposed to die when you did…' He mumbled.

"What?!"

"No, no, no! What I mean is you died late."

"Huh?" He wasn't making any sense. Sure she understood if she wasn't supposed to have died at all, but what did late mean?

"It's exactly as it sounds like. You were supposed to have died a week earlier."

It was one of those days when she forgot everything.

After quickly washing her face in the bathroom and walking down the stairs, she realised that the tap was still on, and hurriedly backtracked to turn it off.

Then, she had made it to the back door when she realised she'd forgotten her shinai, and so went back to get that. She could always use the dojo ones, of course, but she was used to her own one and it felt more comfortable to wield.

Once the bamboo sword was strapped onto her back, she then thought it wise to mentally check if she had missed or forgotten anything. She couldn't think of any so walked down to the dojo. She assumed it was empty as there were no sounds coming from the room. She wasn't ready to face her brother yet. Silently praying, Suguha reached out to open the door, only it opened by itself, and she was confronted with the person she didn't want to see.

"Suguha…" He said emotionlessly, nodding imperceptibly in greeting.

"O-ohayo, onii-san!" She greeted, even bowing her head a little. She froze when she felt a familiar hand ruffle her hair.

"Good luck for the match next month." This time he managed to squeeze out a small smile while looking into her eyes. "I hope you do well."

"H-hai!" She said, shaking herself. He smiled again with a somewhat unreadable expression on his face and walked back into the house, leaving a very confused and happy Suguha behind him.

Little did she know that she was probably never going to see him again.

AN: 2(d)/11(m)/13(y) My inspiration has run into a brick wall so updates will be slow. I will reply to reviews and PMs though.

Thanks for reading and please leave a review!