HELLO! This is a story that I have had in my brain, for far too long, and I decided that I would finally write it!
Note: This isn't my first time writing a Fan Fiction.
Also Note that Alicization also NEVER happened.
It is a bit slow at first, cause of the set up and what not.
BUT please leave a review so I can improve of what may come!
Thanks!
Three Years After SAO…
December 8th, 2027.
Last month was the third year anniversary of the completion of the 'Death Game.'
Everyone gathered on that day to celebrate and thank Kirito for saving them from the game. Every year it happens. Every year Kazuto wanted to skip the celebration. Mainly because it digs up memories that Kazuto doesn't want to dig up. But every year Asuna and Sugu make him go.
This year in particular he didn't want to go. Every year it just keeps getting harder for Kazuto. And every year, Kazuto just wants to roll back over, and not get up. But of course, they make him go. All he can do is put on a fake smile, and get through the day.
After the celebration, Asuna and Kazuto go out for a picnic. That is the only thing he looks forward too during the day.
The two of them, alone.
During the night all he can think of are the bad memories. The ones he didn't want to dream of. The ones of death, the ones of sorrow, and pain. Nothing but pain...
(Present Time)
The sun's rays surpassed the blinds and straight into Kazuto's eyes.
He pushed himself up and moaned to be woken up at such hour.
It was finally summer break! Kazuto finished his first year in college and was finally on a summer break.
And he couldn't be happier because he could see Asuna more than just at night while playing ALO.
The two love birds already had the whole day planned. They would meet at the park at 12:00, and from there, they would have a nice Picnic in the park.
After their picnic, they would walk through the city, and from there they would walk and talk until dinner.
Sugu already decided that she would make dinner for them as a little treat for finishing their first college year.
Kazuto was ecstatic. The whole day with Asuna.
He couldn't help but smile as he walked down the stairs to meet Sugu at the Kitchen table.
"Good Morning Sugu!" Kazuto claimed, a little too happily.
"Morning… What are you so chippy about?" Sugu questioned with a hint of concern.
"You know. College being out… I am home… I got to see my baby sister this morning…" Kazuto said while pulling out a straight face.
"Riiiiight… So this has nothing to do with you spending the entire day with Asuna?" Sugu said smugly.
Kazuto was about to answer her question, until he got a phone call.
"Hello?" He said answering the phone with a smile.
Kazuto's smile dropped almost instantly when he heard the person's voice.
Asuna's House
The whole morning Asuna had a smile on her face.
She couldn't help it, she was just so excited to spend the whole day with the only person that she could ever love as much as she loves him.
Kazuto Kirigaya.
She was dressed up in her usual colors. Red and White.
She couldn't help it but do a little skip down the stairs when she went to breakfast. And she couldn't help it when she started to skip up the street to the park where they were going to meet and where they would start their day.
When she got to the bench, she sat down and pulled out her phone, to check the time.
She nearly gasped, when she found out she was 10 minutes early.
'What am I going to do?!' She thought to herself.
"I should make sure I have everything," she said out loud to herself.
She pulled the picnic basket off her arm, and made sure she had all of the food for the picnic. She had Kirito's favorite sandwich, some water bottles to clench their thirst, and a few garnishes to go along with their sandwiches.
After 10 minutes of waiting she didn't see Kazuto.
'Hmm… Maybe he's running a bit late.' She thought to herself.
Another 5 minutes dragged by… Then 10…
Then finally, Kazuto was walking towards Asuna with a smile on his face.
'Hmm. He never runs late when we meet up. He is normally early to our meetings.'
"Sorry I'm late Asuna," Kazuto said before pecking her on the lips.
"It's okay, but what's the matter? You never run late," Asuna questioned concern in her voice.
Kazuto sat down on the bench before saying anything. Asuna sat down next to him, and she put her hands on top of Kazuto's hand.
Wary was in his eyes. He was deciding if he should tell her the truth or not.
"Kazuto… You can tell me anything. You know that right?"
"Yeah… Yeah I do. It's just…"
"What? What is it?" She asked while leaning towards him.
"Earlier today, before I was coming to meet up with you… I got a phone call from Kikuok Seijirou. The person from the government, who sent me into GGO. He wants to meet up with me and discuss and new VRMMORPG that I need to investigate," Kazuto said with concern.
"Wh-when does he want to meet you?" Asuna asked, remembering when had happened the last time he was sent into a game by him.
"Today. Apparently it can't wait any longer." Kazuto continued. "On the phone he seemed really concerned about this one. Apparently he needs this matter solved pretty quickly."
"Are you going to go meet him?"
"Yes," he simply stated.
"Then I am going to." Kazuto's eyes snapped open and stared at Asuna.
"No, I can't ask you too."
"I don't care," she said coldly. "The last time you were sent into a game, you were in serious danger. Not to mention a handful of people died."
"That's the reason-" Kazuto said before getting cut off by a hand.
"You are NOT going into that game alone. Every time you go into a game to investigate, I get worried sick. I won't st-stand by and w-watch you r-risk your life." She managed to say before starting to sniffle.
"Okay… I won't go without you," Kazuto said while pulling her close to him. "We are in this together from now on."
"Mhhhmhh," was all she could manage to say.
Later that Day at a Café
Asuna and Kazuto walked into the Café with their fingers intertwined. They were stopped by an older gentlemen in a suit.
"Excuses me, but do you have a registration?" He warmly.
"Uhh… We are meeting up with someone. He should already be here I would assume." Kazuto said like it was rehearsed.
"Ah, then by all means, walk ahead to our main dining area. And please enjoy." He stated with an odd smile.
The two of them walked ahead of the old chap, with their hands still together. Kazuto gave her hand a light squeeze, as if making sure that she was still there and with him. The room was full of people. Most of them look like they were in the 50's and 60's. No one seemed to be very young here, but one man.
He sat in the middle of the room with a cup of tea in one hand, and the menu in the other, No one was sitting with him, unlike everyone else in the café. The man looked like he was in his mid to late 30's. He was unmistakable, Kikuok Seijirou.
He didn't notice the couple approach him until they were standing right next to the table.
"Oh! Hello Kir-Kazuto!" He corrected himself. "And… Hello Asuna."
"Hello Kikuok," the pair said in unison.
"Please take a seat!" He exclaimed. "You can pick anything you want, I am buying." The couple sat down next to each other, and ordered a cup of tea, and a little treat for themselves. After a few minutes of sipping tea, Kikuok finally spoke out.
"So… How's college? Completed your first year?"
"Stop the casual talk. We are here for what you have to say about the VRMMORPG," Asuna stated coldly.
"I see… Well I was going to wait till we had our meals, but why not jump right into it." He said taking one last sip of tea. "Ever since the seed was planted, thousands of VRMMORPG's have started to pop up. Since you could download it onto any computer for free, and create your own world.
In the past few months, there have been several reports about a certain MMO. Nothing bad as sprung up about it, just that the creator of the game is one of the most known players. He is famous for PK'ing. His online name is: Red-X."
"Red-X…" Kazuto pondered. "That name seems very familiar…"
"In his game, he created a program that makes it so that if you are 'marked' you can't transfer out of the game. When you're marked, he takes you into a 'Testing Arena.' And from there, he and several of his followers, 'test you.' If you pass you are considered to be one of the strongest, if not, you are not to leave the game. Making you unable to 'Full Dive again."
"Couldn't you make another account?" Asuna asked.
"Nope. Something with his program makes it so you can only log into that game."
"What's the name of the game?" Kazuto asked.
"Nightmare Online. Also called NMO for short." He answered Kazuto.
Kazuto remembered rumors about that game. Kazuto recalled that you need to of met an amount of requirements in order to have access to the game.
"Don't you need to have met a number of requirements in order to play the game?" Kazuto asked Kikuok.
"Yes you need to have completed 3 MMO's. One is Sword Art Online. Which you both have completed. Two, is called Dark Arts Online, or DAO for short. And we have not discovered the third and final one." Kikuok answered.
The waiter finally arrived with our food. Asuna was ready and she started to eat it after the waiter had left us to out meal. A few minutes passed and Asuna finished her Chocolate Cake. She had a bit of Chocolate on her face that she was unaware of.
"Wait, DAO… I have heard of that before." Kazuto started to space off.
Dark Arts Online…
He heard rumors about that game, apparently it's a bit like SAO, but more complex and a lot more too it then what meets the eye.
He remembered that only the strongest players are able to come close to beating the game. It was released a little while after Kazuto played GGO. But in that time span, no one has come close to completing the game.
"Kaz-u-to," Asuna spoke, finishing her dessert.
"Hmm? Sorry, I spaced out again didn't?" Kazuto look at Kikuok and spoke. "Dark Arts Online… Isn't it an MMO that came out after we completed Sword Art Online?"
"Yes. In order to play Nightmare Online one must successfully complete DAO," he answered.
"But in the past few years, no one has been able to ascend to the top." Kazuto replied.
"Precisely, and the main reason for that is because of the games structure." He stated, sipping his tea.
"And what do you mean by that?" Asuna inputted.
"The game was designed by a well-known gamer. His online name is 'The Prodigy.'" Kikuok stated, than took a sip of tea. "He constructed this game based on two players working together. Meaning, in order to play the game, two players must work together. If one of the players dies so does your partner. Meaning, the player's lives are intertwined.
The game is based around a place known as 'The Dark Tower.' 'The Dark Tower' is a little like Aincrad, from what we have heard. But much past the layout of the game, we don't have much more knowledge.
Asuna pondered on the idea of two players working together. Asuna and Kazuto worked together, but on a much smaller scale. They worked together and they didn't worry that if one died they both would. But in that game, it was different.
"Moving aside that rule. When the two players complete a floor of the tower, they get transported to the next floor. But, if they players die, then they have to restart that floor. If they die three times, they restart the whole tower. Without their equipment and their level is reset." Kikouk said the last of his findings.
"So you want Asuna and I, to go into this game, and to finish the game. And that's it?" Kazuto questions
"During our research of Nightmare Online, we couldn't find out the third game you need to complete." He retold. "But, we have information that the creator of the game, does indeed have information about the whole Nightmare Online game."
Kazuto needed a minute to think over all the information that was just thrown at him. Kazuto was defiantly interested in this game. Not just the fact that it's one of the hardest, just the fact that two players need to work as one.
In that time he needed to process the information, he managed to finish his dessert and study Asuna's face.
After a few minutes, she finally looked up at Kazuto. Brown meets Onyx. Normally their gaze would show passion, comfort, and love. But this time is showed fear, curiousness, and worry.
Asuna broke the silence. "Why do you want Kazuto?"
"Everyone knows he is among the strongest players MMO's have to offer. But all that aside, he was the one who stopped some of the biggest crisis' in the Virtual world for the past few years," saying such words made it seem like he was praising Kazuto.
"And if I reject?" Kazuto simply stated.
"Oh Kazuto… All of us know you won't."
Kazuto looked into Asuna's eyes.
They had a silent conversation, before reaching a conclusion.
"We will do it. Under one condition." Asuna stated firmly.
"And what might that be?" Kikouk questioned.
"After this assignment is over, you leave us alone, and ask someone else who is willing to help you out." Asuna said proudly.
Kikouk pondered on the condition that was presented to him. He took a minute before reaching a conclusion.
"I accept this condition, IF. If we are able to consult with Kazuto on some of the cases."
"I agree," Kazuto spoke out. "That aside, where do we dive in from?"
Later that night in Kazuto's Room
Kazuto lied down on his bed pulling Asuna down next to him. They just stayed there. Bathing in each other's warmth. Before Asuna broke the moment of bliss.
"Kazu, are you sure you want to do this?" Asuna asked quietly.
"I was about to ask you the same thing sweety. And yes. I mean, you would have been very upset if I went ahead alone and attempted the game, but it looks like that's not the case here."
"I just want to spend our summer break together. Going on picnics in the park. Eating at restaurants, and spending out days with Yui."
"We can still have those things, I mean; we won't be in the game the whole day. We can have it so we only dive at night and only for a few hours. And spend our day together with Yui," Kazuto reasoned. "I mean, he didn't give us a time limit in which we needed to complete it in."
"Yeah true… As long as I am with you Kazu…" She said as she started to drift to sleep. "I love you… Kazuto."
"I love you too… Asuna." He replied before they both fell to sleep in each others arms…
Well? What did you think? PLEASE leave your comments. But please stay positive!
I will try to make another chapter by the end of this week. But only if i feel motivated enough.
Talking about when they were falling asleep, made me very sleepy, and i don't know how i managed to actually finish the end of it. So again leave your comments please!
Thank you for reading!