As if suddenly falling from a snowy place into a hot bath, the familiar warmth brought a comfortable sensation that softened her stiff and cold body, while also enveloping her head that was hot from overthinking. The pain from earlier disappeared quickly, as if it had only been an illusion.
Asuna wasn't stupid. Although she didn't know what had happened with that chaotic false memory, and didn't know why she felt so tormented...
But clearly, his sentence containing a strange power had freed her, alleviating the intense pain that seemed to want to tear open her skull.
Although her breathing wasn't yet steady and her voice was still choked and hoarse, she still forced a smile at the corner of her lips, showing a bitter smile that looked pitiful to Yuu.
"Even though I don't know how you did it... but thank you, Tenkuji-kun."
"No, I don't deserve your thanks."
With an expression mixed with apology and embarrassment, Yuu patted his head guiltily, and sighed: "If I hadn't talked so much and asked questions, you wouldn't have ended up in this situation... I'm the culprit, forgive me."
After all, although he hadn't expected that just realizing the abnormality in her memory would give her such intense pain, Yuu could actually have prevented the situation from worsening.
It was just that the desire to see Asuna recover her memories at that time made him hesitate. That's why he only watched her struggle while holding her head, hoping she could say the sentence, "I remember!" in the next moment.
And when everything seemed increasingly wrong, although it was too late, Yuu immediately used the Word Bullet to pull her out of that memory pain vortex.
So, this delayed action was completely unworthy of thanks. Fundamentally, it was his own demands that hurt her—and that painful memory was also something he created himself.
In any case, Yuu was the real perpetrator, so he clearly didn't deserve Asuna's thanks.
"That's not true. Even if you hadn't asked, when I realized something was wrong, I would have tried hard to think about it myself, right?"
Although she didn't understand the meaning behind Yuu's words, and didn't understand why he felt so guilty, Asuna still shook her head, rejecting the apology.
A gentle smile appeared on her beautiful face, which was gradually regaining color. She looked straight at Yuu, her voice soft yet firm:
"It's precisely because of you that I can sit here calmly now, instead of struggling alone in pain until it's unbearable... So, I must thank you, Tenkuji-kun."
"..."
(That's true, she does have that kind of personality in the memories.)
Snapping out of his daze, Yuu let out a resigned sigh, and laughed along in a helpless tone.
"In that case, I should thank you too, for thanking me."
The two smiled at each other in understanding, and Yuu suddenly remembered something, handing her a handkerchief from his pocket.
"Wipe your sweat and tears. Fortunately, no one noticed us here, otherwise I'd be beaten up now."
"No one would do that."
Taking it as a joke, Asuna thanked him as she received the handkerchief. After wiping her messy face, she casually put the handkerchief into her bag.
"I'll wash it clean at home and return it to you, don't refuse. Unless you're a fetishist who likes collecting girls' tears and sweat."
"It's fine if you just keep it."
Yuu shrugged, sipping his black coffee, gesturing for Asuna to drink too to calm down and moisten her throat.
After the two quietly drank half of their beverages, their gazes met again. The settling atmosphere was as calm and natural as before, but there was an unspoken emotion floating beneath the surface.
"So, where should we start?"
As soon as those words were spoken, Asuna immediately asked back: "You must still have things you want to ask me, right?"
Seeing Yuu's expression that couldn't hide his surprise, Asuna smirked slightly, her soft and rosy lips pursing. Her fingers gently circled the rim of the coffee-stained cup, saying calmly and confidently: "Don't think I can't hear it. You asked about the cultural festival, that's clearly not as simple as wanting to do a survey for a junior, right?"
"Plus, after that you immediately asked about the Autumn Fair... I suspect the cultural festival in my memory also experienced the same chaos and errors as the Autumn Fair. Tenkuji-kun, you're the only one who understands this problem!"
With her chin slightly raised, Asuna folded her arms across her chest, raising her eyebrows with an aura full of vigor, as if silently saying to him, "How about it, my guess is right, isn't it?"
The nobility-like gentleness was like a sharp sword unsheathed from its scabbard, emanating sharpness and intelligence he knew, yet not losing the cuteness and agility of a girl.
"Are all girls nowadays this smart..."
Stunned to the point of being speechless, Yuu could only let out a defeated sigh like this.
"So what you want to know is, does my memory match yours?"
After guessing it herself, Asuna raised her eyes while thinking, playing with her bangs with her finger, murmuring: "First, the reasons I went to Sobu High's cultural festival: the first was to familiarize myself with the school before transferring, the second was to check if the helmet lent by Nii-san for the event had any issues..."
This time Yuu didn't hesitate: "Don't force yourself to remember. Let me give you information from my side first—"
Before he could finish speaking, Asuna extended her hand to stop him.
"Please do that after I really can't anymore," she said in an unquestionable tone, soft yet firm, "Because this is my own memory, I want to try to find its flaws myself, and try to remember it myself... A little pain is no problem, it's better than being guided by others in confusion."
Seeing Yuu's slightly worried expression, the happiness and warmth rising in her heart couldn't be contained, Asuna winked at him cutely: "Of course, if I encounter a situation like earlier again, I'll ask Yuu-kun to save me once more~"
"Alright, if you're insistent... Hmm? Yuu-kun?"
Yuu almost instantly noticed the inconsistency in her name-calling, but before he could ask, Asuna erased all her expressions, closed her eyes, lowered her head, and concentrated fully on thinking.
Her nerves still felt a bit painful, but when her mind was truly focused, and she slowly gathered all the clues and doubts, that pain wasn't worse than girls' monthly days, and was easy to ignore.
Then, she searched for the only ray of light in the darkness.
(Transfer... Why did I have to transfer to Sobu High? Not even hesitating to oppose Mom...)
(Cultural festival... I remember I should have had another purpose besides familiarizing myself with the school and checking the helmet, but why can't I remember it...)
(VR Club... I did go up to the ring briefly, but I came down quickly because there was no opponent, and exchanged contacts with Konno-san, and promised to fight her and her sister in another game next time...)
(After leaving the VR Club, it seems I went straight home without doing anything else?)
(No, something's wrong. This is too strange!)
Without a reason to risk everything, it was impossible for her to convince her mom to allow the transfer.
Time hadn't passed that long either, with her memory, how could she not remember the purpose of her visit?
The memory of the ring fight was also strange. Only the beginning was fine, the end was like a MAD (edited video clip) made by haphazardly pasting materials. At a glance, there might be no problem, but actually the rhythm and way it ended showed various oddities.
And most importantly, Asuna remembered that she obtained something very important from that ring fight, a Cheat Program that even a professional technical team couldn't find the source and mechanism of—
The program's name was "Heart's Will." An ability that could surpass system limitations and bring miraculous light.
"Then, who did I use this Heart's Will on?"
As that question arose in her mind.
Invisibly, "Heart's Will" suddenly solidified. A thin, long sword shining brightly pierced through, shattering the mirror that always blocked her eyes and reflected many false images.
At this moment, all questions were answered, the distorted world returned to its track. What was blurry became clear again, what was wrong became right again.
"Right... I remember!"
Asuna suddenly raised her head, slapped the table with both hands, and stared at Yuu with wide eyes.