"Settle down, class is starting," the teacher said as he walked in, and the students gradually quieted and took their seats.
I quietly opened my notebook under my desk, right where I knew he wouldn't see it. It was becoming a habit. Writing, whenever the world bored me.
Hey, future me.
If you're reading this, it means you found your old childhood notebook. It's me, you, writing down everything I've been through. And yeah, you've got a lot of pages ahead of you. It goes all the way back to elementary school. Dad gave me this notebook… right before he died.
I don't know why I still write in it. Maybe it's comforting. Maybe I still have things I need to say to someone.
Anyway. My name's Aoi Duvain. Half-Japanese, half-French Mom's Japanese, Dad was French. I've always wondered why "Duvain." He never explained it, and no matter how much I searched online, there was nothing. Just… emptiness.
Sometimes I miss him. His stories especially kind of out-there stuff, like: "You have to learn to see what nobody else looks at." Cheesy philosophical lines, but strangely beautiful. Especially coming from a construction foreman. His laugh is what I miss most. And that whiskey smell that clung to him every night.
"Duvain-san."
I didn't hear him, still lost in my notebook.
We moved to Japan when you were five, and since then it's become "home." Even so, I still feel a little out of place. The looks, the whispered comments, the strange name. I've got a French face and a soul that doesn't quite know where it belongs.
Anyway, here's what actually matters: it's SAO's launch year. I'm more excited than I've ever been. Kayaba's a genuine genius, even if he's a bit strange he talks about his game like it's a "work of art." Me, I just want to play, honestly. And tonight's the launch. Mom's away for two days. Pizza, soda, and freedom...
I stopped short at a dull thud. A book had just slammed onto my desk. I looked up.
"You'll copy out ten times: 'I must listen when my teacher speaks to me.' It'll be on my desk before the end of the day," he said sternly.
I lowered my head.
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry."
The students around me snickered quietly. I slid my notebook into my bag, slowly, and sat back up. My gaze drifted to the window.
The sky was a uniform, unbroken blue. No clouds, no birds. A disturbing kind of perfection.
I frowned.
"What's gotten into me…" I murmured to myself.
I shook my head and tried to refocus on the lesson. But underneath it all, a strange feeling wouldn't let go like something had been erased. Or repainted.
---
Leaving the teachers' lounge after turning in my assignment, I headed to my locker to change my shoes. As I closed the metal door, Kazuto walked up.
"Heard you got in trouble," he said with a small grin.
I sighed, putting my school shoes away in the locker.
"Yeah, I was too caught up in what I was writing in my notebook."
He nodded, like he understood.
"The notebook your dad gave you?"
We walked out together down the hallway, past the lockers, in no hurry.
"Yeah. The one I got when I turned seven. It's the only gift of his I kept."
A silence settled in, not awkward, just quiet. Then Kazuto spoke up, a little hesitant:
"You want to come to the arcade with me?"
I smiled.
"Sure, I'm in. Last time you got wrecked and I won a free drink. Same bet again?"
Kazuto laughed.
"Deal. Same bet."
---
We were deep into a Just Dance showdown, cracking up the whole time. Still dancing, I called out:
"Come on, Kazuto, you're terrible at this? I figured your cousin would've trained you better."
Kazuto burst out laughing and shoved me lightly. I lost three "Perfects" in a row, which bumped his score up… and won him the round.
I walked over and punched his shoulder, gently.
"That's not fair! That's cheating."
He shook his head, proud.
"Not cheating. Skill. You've gotta be good to cheat well. Remember our Call of Duty matches? Those wallhack cheaters aiming like crabs? Pathetic."
We laughed together, and I said:
"Especially that time you tried it... you got insta-banned before you even got a shot off."
He huffed, feigning frustration.
"I hadn't even done anything bad, seriously! Just a test, in a private match. But for Activision, even that's 'dangerous.'"
Walking out of the arcade, each of us with a drink in hand paid for by me, obviously. I gave him a fist bump, a gesture he'd learned to tolerate from hanging around me, even though it wasn't really a thing in Japan.
I looked at him while drinking.
"Ready for SAO tomorrow?"
He nodded.
"Yeah. Especially since we're both beta testers. We're gonna dominate that game."
I smiled a little.
"See you tomorrow. Message me when you're online."
"Got it. Don't forget, my handle's Kirito."
"I know. And mine'll be Blax. Don't forget that either."
We split up as night fell. I walked calmly through the streets, passed a few stray cats, heard some distant barking, but nothing worrying. It was quiet. Maybe too quiet.
Getting home, I said out of habit, "I'm home," taking off my shoes, even though I knew nobody was there to hear it.
I set my bag down on the stairs and headed for the dining room. On the table, a handwritten note:
I left leftovers in the fridge. Don't forget to heat them up. I'll be back in two days. Love you. Mom.
I smiled. I opened the fridge, grabbed the leftover pizza, and put it in to heat. I closed the shutters, checked the locks. Routine.
Once settled in front of a video, I ate, washed my plate, then headed upstairs with my bag to my room. I grabbed my towel to go shower.
But coming back, something was off.
A strange light was seeping out from under my bedroom door. That wasn't normal.
I froze for a few seconds, then quietly opened the hallway closet and grabbed my dad's old baseball bat. It gave me a little comfort.
I put my hand on the doorknob, took a breath, and opened it.
Someone was there.
A woman, standing with her back to me, in the middle of my room. Her hair was white, almost silver, and her fingers traced invisible lines in the air, as if she were painting in the empty space with a brush that wasn't there.
She hadn't seen me. Or maybe she had.
She stopped, turned her head toward me slowly. Her eyes weren't eyes anymore two blank white canvases, empty, where nothing moved.
She opened her mouth. No sound came out.
And then the world around me began to give way, like a canvas ripped down too fast. The walls of my room dissolved into streaks of color, running like wet paint in the rain. A deep crack split the air, the way glass sounds right before it shatters.
The woman said a single word:
"Anomaly."
Then nothing.
"…Aaaaah!"
I woke up with a start, gasping, my forehead soaked in sweat. My bed, my ceiling, my room — everything looked normal.
My phone was buzzing on the nightstand. 12:50. Ten minutes until the launch. Messages from Kazuto, news reports everywhere about Kayaba, the "visionary genius."
I got up slowly, got dressed comfortably, and sighed. Bad dream…?
Ten minutes later, lying on my bed, I put the NervGear on my head.
"Link Start!"
And just before my consciousness faded out, the woman's eyes appeared again.