Why did Hikigaya save the anime girls in Sword Story?

The air suddenly became quiet.

The person who came was the guard Kraldir. Although it was natural to have guards when traveling together, today's mission did not require any guards at all. What was even more strange was that he had clearly refused the guards.

Hachiman looked down at the livid Asuna in his arms, then looked up at the flaming Kladir. He suddenly put on the professional fake smile of a company slave facing an unreasonable client. "As you can see, I'm acting as a human cushion for the Vice President of the Blood Knights. If I hadn't caught her, she would have been bruised and battered."

"What? That's really Xie... No way! How can anyone believe this posture!"

"Oh? The posture?" Hachiman deliberately pulled Asuna closer to him. "Does this count as rape?"

There were gasps from the crowd.

Asuna finally realized the situation and hurriedly jumped down to straighten her skirt, coughing dryly as she explained, "Kradir, what he said is true, and I already said yesterday that I don't need a guard."

"But, but..."

"Compare that to this! Why are you waiting at my door so early in the morning?"

"Just in case, I have been performing morning guard in front of your residence for a month," Kladil said confidently, as if he didn't feel there was anything wrong with it.

"A... a month?"

The word "stalker" flashed through the minds of all three. Noticing Hachiman's unprecedented impatience, Asuna quickly asked, "Isn't this the captain's order?"

"Guarding naturally includes monitoring the residence..."

"Not at all!" Asuna said coldly.

"It's you again, the fly that's circling around Asuna-sama!"

Kirito was the first to complain, "Kradi Umbrella 4 Ming Qi 2②咝（八）^/死尔 finally noticed him and immediately scolded him: "A piece of shit like you actually had a scandal with Asuna-sama..."

"Huh? I wanted to say this yesterday, is there something wrong with your brain? Asuna and I have never had any scandals." Kirito seemed to be unable to keep up with the other person's train of thought.

"Who is that?"

Asuna and Kirito looked at Hachiman at the same time.

"Hey, why are you looking at me?"

"Because~"

"It turns out it's you, you bastard!", Kladil's roar attracted a crowd of onlookers.

"Look! It's Shining Asuna!"

"Real person!"

"Are you jealous?"

Listening to the commotion around him, Hachiman sighed: "This is really troublesome."

"Hey Hachiman..."

Hachiman raised his hand to stop Kirito, and as Asuna's amber eyes suddenly widened, he put his arm around the girl's slender waist.

"H-Hachiman?"

"Hachiman?!"

As the two stared in shock, Hachiman said to the furious Kladil, "Listen carefully, the rumors are true. The one who has always been with Asuna is none other than me."

"Hey? Hachiman?"

Asuna was frightened by Hachiman's abnormal behavior, but he continued to provoke her: "See? Your vice-captain is not resisting."

"You despicable villain! Let Asuna-sama go!"

"mean?"

Asuna angrily hugged Hachiman, and the crowd immediately whistled.

"Do you understand? What you heard is not gossip, it is the truth."

"Bastard..." Kladil was so angry that his nose was about to be crooked.

"Besides, Asuna doesn't need a weakling guard. I'm enough for her."

He pointed a shaking finger at Hachiman, "You call me weak? You're a piece of shit who hasn't even been to the front lines! You didn't perform at all during the last raid!"

The three of them were stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized what was happening.

"Ah~ I see."

"Kradir started participating in the raid from around the 65th floor, right?"

"Hachiman certainly didn't participate at that time."

“This guy has no idea about me.”

Hachiman waved his hands impatiently: "Anyway, you are too weak. Disappear immediately."

"Duel! I want to duel you!"

"Okay"

Asuna and Kirito were surprised by his ready agreement - this was totally unlike Hachiman who was afraid of trouble.

"Use half-reduction mode?"

"it is good"

"Asuna, go to Kirito's place."

"Um"

Asuna looked back worriedly as she ran. She was not worried about the outcome, but about Hachiman's abnormal behavior.

"Kirito, Hachiman wouldn't..."

"What did you find?"

"No... Let's wait until it's over."

“It can be done in a minute anyway.”

Hachiman adjusted his shield's position in advance. The moment the countdown reached zero, he vanished. The next second, Kraldiel was punched in the face, then sent flying by a sword technique. The entire sequence was as smooth as chopping vegetables.

When Hachiman, astride him, drew his dagger, the outcome was decided—the whole process took only three seconds.

"It's so fast that even I can't see clearly... What did Asuna want to say just now?" Kirito looked at the system records.

Asuna stared at Hachiman's tense face in a trance. The normally lazy young man now frowned. "Well... Hachiman may look irritated, but he might actually be angry."

"Is he angry like this?"

"I've rarely seen him get angry, but he used to have this expression when he was unhappy..."

"real or fake..."

(So ​​when you're angry... you become this scary?)

Hachiman beckoned Asuna over and put his arm around her waist again as if to show off. Kirito smacked his lips: (He even finished her off. It seems like she's really angry.)

"Now you know how weak you are, don't you? If you dare to follow me again, I'll kill you. I can turn a blind eye to the activities of the Blood Knights, but I won't forgive perverted behavior. And, Asuna's true destiny—"

Hachiman suddenly hugged Asuna into his arms: "Here"

"About the gossip—"

The girl's heartbeat was deafening.

"—From today on, this is no longer a scandal."

Asuna blushed, more confused than shy: (This is the first time I've seen Hachiman like this)

This might have been the first time he showed possessiveness, but Asuna felt a sweetness in her heart.

"Damn it! But I'm just doing my job!"

“Don’t use your responsibilities as an excuse for perversion.”

"I'll say this one last time," Asuna said sternly, "You are relieved of your guard duties and must report to the commander immediately at headquarters."

The crowd erupted in excitement as they watched Kraldir disappear in disgrace.

"fantastic!"

"Hachiman is so handsome!"

"So Asuna has a boyfriend..."

"Damn it! I'm a fan!"

The three men took advantage of the chaos to escape, and Klein and his group, who were passing by in the distance, witnessed the whole show.

"I've never seen Hachiman like that before."

“I was scared too.”

"Huh? What?"

"You were obviously angry just now."

"No...wait?"

On the way to the maze, Hachiman suddenly came to his senses.

"Just now I..."

"You're so angry you've lost yourself, right?"

“Although it’s probably like that…”

"What's the matter? Asuna looks happy."

"Asuna? Um..."

The girl smiled and repeated: "My home is here"

"Ahhhh!"

Asuna said this and moved closer, Hachiman was instantly petrified.

"I've already notified Liz and Silica."

“That’s too cruel…”

"But I didn't tell Argo."

"Shouldn't Hachiman say thank you?"

“Thank you…”

"You're welcome~"

"But if you tell Liz and the others, they'll talk about it to death when we meet..."

In fact, the information dealer Argo had already grasped the news. Looking at the wilted Hachiman, Kirito patted him:

“But he was so handsome just now.”

"But it's totally not my style... and it's so embarrassing."

"What do you mean by consistent? This is the real you. It's normal to value important people. You always suppress your feelings, but there's no need to."

"Frankly..."

“My home is indeed here.”

Looking at Asuna's brilliant smile, Hachiman finally made up his mind to take a step forward - although he was still arrogant.

"Um... Asuna. After today's exploration, if you want... you can move into my house. That way, that bastard won't be able to do anything to me. It's purely for safety reasons, just to be on the safe side. Of course, I'll keep my distance."

Asuna was at a loss for words, while Kirito snickered beside her. Finally, she blushed and said, "Well... sorry to bother you."

"Okay! I'll invite everyone to have a moving party later!"

“Not bad”

Hachiman, who always shied away from trouble, was surprisingly forthcoming. Ever since being trapped in SAO, he'd changed drastically. He didn't know if it was good or bad, but at that moment, he felt that this was not such a bad thing.

SAO : Chapter 59: Labyrinth Exploration

Ice-blue light particles cast mottled shadows on the stone wall, and the metal soles of boots made sounds when they hit the stone slabs.

Hachiman leaned against the wall, watching the two idiots in front of him banging on the rock with the hilts of their swords - this was the third time today that they had tried to physically confirm the hidden passage.