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In the first and second seasons of SAO, Kirito seemed to be interested in more
than one girl at the same time. At the end they are all friends and such, but
they are all jealous of him and he likes them back and all.

Some would argue Asuna is the real girlfriend, but:

  * In the cave with Sinon (SAO II, ep.11, 20:30), Sinon asks "Is there someone you don't want seeing this?" Kirito shyly answers no.

  * While introducing Asuna to Sinon, Kirito only said that Rika and Asuna were his friends. Asuna looked okay, a bit like she was thinking "Yeah I'm just his friend."

These two occasions got me wondering: is he playing them all at the same time
or something?

What I'm asking for is something like a timeline, which shows when Kirito
likes whom.


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sword-art-online
What is Kirito's relationship with the girls of SAO?


In light novel Volume 5 and Volume 6 - _Phantom Bullet_ , it is confirmed that
Kirito is going out with Asuna.

  1. From _Volume 5 - Chapter 1_ , when Kirito went to meet Kikuoka from the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Virtual Division for a talk regarding victims of Death Gun in GGO (emphasis mine):

> “...Well, at least I’m together with **my girlfriend**.”
>
> “I see, I am jealous to death over that one point, Kirito-kun. The next time
> we’re in ALO, wouldn’t you introduce me to some girls? Take the Sylph Lord
> for example, she is just my type.”

This conversation took place before they began talking about the cases related
to GGO (B-part of episode 1, SAO II), and was cut off from the anime.

  2. From _Volume 5 - Chapter 2_ , after the meeting with Kikuoka, he met up with Asuna at the Imperial Palace for their date (emphasis mine):

> “...Oh yes, why did you choose the Imperial Palace **for our date**? Kirito-
> kun, are you interested in history?”
>
> “Well, not really. The main reason was... recently, I was called around here
> for some stupid business...”

This conversation took place before Kirito's talk about the closed network of
the surveillance system in Imperial Palace (A-part of episode 1, SAO II), and
was also cut off from the anime.

  3. From _Volume 6 - Chapter 9_ , before the final round of BoB (emphasis mine):

> I really won’t dare to say this to a real person in the real world. **No,
> considering that I already have a girlfriend in Asuna** , it’s unforgivable
> even in the virtual world. However, I dare to swear to god that this isn’t
> about trying to get a date in the VR world, but to fulfill my duty and
> mission, and also a necessary step to ensure Sinon’s own safety.

This inner monologue took place when Kirito asked Shinon to explain the format
of the final round of BoB, which took place between 30 players on a huge map
(anime episode 8, SAO II).

_I think this should be enough to show that Kirito and Asuna are dating in
real life after the events in Aincrad and ALO._


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In volume 1, Kirito and Asuna is the clear cut pairing to any reader, as there
are no mentions of other girls in Kirito's life except mentioning that he has
a sister, without going into detail about her. As nhahtdh explains in [his
answer](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/19403/17758), it is very clear that
Asuna is the main heroine of the story, and that Kirito is committed to her.

So why are there so many other girls involved with Kirito?

Starting in volume 2, Silica, Lisbeth, Yui, and Sachi, were all side
characters introduced to give readers the same feelings that the author, Reki
Kawahara, felt when he played MMOs. As with most MMO players, he was never
part of one of the top groups, and had great respect for players that could
clear the hardest content or had the best items. This sense of awe that was
instilled in him in games is the same feeling that he wanted to portray by
showing some weaker characters and their struggles and then having a hero show
up and really show them how _badass_ someone end-game could be.

Kawahara notes at the end of the volume 2:

> I have previously also played some online games. But no matter in what game,
> I have never been part of a high-ranking group. I merely envied those
> eternally strong players with the best equipment and reputation, one after
> another easily defeating monsters, and afterwards feeling that they were "So
> skilled! So strong!" (haha) Therefore, I wanted to write about not only the
> volume one's protagonists Kirito and Asuna and their type of top players,
> but wanted even more to write something about the stories of ordinary mid-
> level players; and this second volume's four short stories, have precisely
> this kind of content. Regardless of which story, they are basically about
> Kirito debuting and causing a big stir; and feeling that he is "So skilled!
> So strong!" like Scilica and Lizbet felt, is precisely what I have felt
> every year since becoming an MMO player. Really, and once would be enough, I
> really want to know what it feels like to show off to others a weapon of
> which there are only three copies in the entire server.

Kawahara created many side stories which introduced these different female
characters, all of which had their own backstories and troubles to be solved.

However, despite creating these girls and their problems, he always has one
solution to their problems: Kirito. Since Kirito is the main protagonist of
the story, Kirito was always the hero which would show up to fill this role of
legendary MMO player. Kirito is the game's hero and all of the focus and glory
shines on him and his perspective.

Additional comments on this matter by Kawahara in volume 2 Author Notes:

> Besides that, there's one more thing that I must apologize to everyone
> about. Even though the four female characters in this book are all different
> female players, their male counterpart, as discussed earlier, was always
> Kirito-san. Even though there is no way for me to explain myself to everyone
> properly on this point, I painfully excuse myself, and ask that everyone
> please use the "even though the criminal and victim change every time, the
> detective is always the same person" mindset you have when reading detective
> novel series... you can't do it right? Sorry, sorry.


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Since the release of _Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale_ (the recent movie
addition to the series) it is safe to say the Kirito and Asuna are in a proper
relationship,

> perhaps even engaged (I'm not sure of the significance of giving a ring)in
> Japanese culture.

He maintains his friendship with the other females in the series as per usual.


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Referring to when Sinon asked Kirito " Is there someone you don't want seeing
this?" and then Kirito replying "no" when they were in the cave during Bullet
Of Bullets 3. He probably said "no" because he didn't what her to feel
embarrassed because she was on top of him sexually(unintentionally). And he
probably referred Asuna as "a friend" because of the same reason.


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