Oh, I guess spoilers for Nightblade I, II, and III? Yeah.

Route: Asuna – Part 1

December 24th, 2023

I stared at Asuna.

She didn't meet my eyes, looking away and fidgeting constantly. First she tugged at her hair, then she straightened her KoB uniform skirt, only to shift her weight and mess it up again.

"Could you..." I asked slowly, licking my lips and swallowing hesitantly. My throat was dry. "Could you r-repeat that please?" Why was I scared? Why was I hesitating? I'd decided a long time ago that I couldn't let myself be scared ever again; that if it was necessary I'd do it, and if not I wouldn't bother. I shouldn't be feeling this terrifying ache in my chest like I was about to walk off a cliff.

"I..." Asuna said. "I was wondering... those rumors about us being, y'know... together..." The rumors, of course, were the type of rumors that sprang up whenever two young people of the opposite gender so much as said hello to each other. Was it a wonder I hated gamers?

"What about the rumors?" I asked, trying to make my voice sound calm. I'm pretty sure it just sounded distant.

For the first time since she dropped the bomb on me, Asuna looked at me. She still avoided direct eye contact, but she was looking at me. "I was wondering if maybe they could be true?" she said in a rush.

My jaw worked in silence as words and phrases flashed through my head too quickly for me to be able to make sense of any of them.

I was intelligent, I knew that. A lot of my skill came from essentially endless repetition, but I had talent at picking out patterns and coming up with plans. Anything with math or science would practically solve themselves in my head, and my memory was pretty damn good when it came to the important stuff.

And for the life of me I had absolutely no clue how to respond to this situation. All those books I'd read, none of them had prepared me for sitting on that bench right before Christmas Eve turned to Christmas Day.

I started to reach out for Asuna, but she took the decision away from me and leaned against me. She'd done this before, and my arm wrapped around her, pulling her tight without my input. Traitor arm. "Asuna..." I said, slowly and hesitantly. She clung to my arm. Her fingers were cold. Amazing, the things the mind latches on to when adrift. "I... had no idea you felt this way... How long?"

"For a few months," she admitted quietly, looking up at me before looking out at the city. I knew we were the same height, but somehow she seemed so vulnerable and tiny, at that moment.

"Why? Why me?" I asked desperately. "I just - just - there are so many people you could choose, and I don't understand why you'd be interested in me." There were just so many reasons she was making a mistake, but my traitor mouth wouldn't say any of them. Or, rather, it was trying to say all of them, maybe?

"Don't say that," Asuna protested. "There's plenty of reasons for me like you. You're strong, smart, dependable..." She smiled; I couldn't see it, but the way her voice changed I guessed it was a soft smile. "You put up a tough front, but I can see through it to who you are underneath. You really are...someone special..."

I couldn't help it, I snorted. Special? I suppose that's a way to describe me. "I knew you were after me for my looks." Mouth, no. Mouth, sarcasm is not the appropriate response to this right now. Stop this.

"You know what I mean," Asuna told me before sighing and leaning into my body more. "I think above all... You're safe. I won't lose you."

"Lose me?"

"To this game," Asuna whispered. "To Aincrad. When I go to sleep, I know I'll be able to wake up and you'll still be there."

My tongue flicked over my lips again as I stared off into the distance. "I see..."

"Why not?" Asuna asked suddenly, and I made the mistake of looking at her. She was finally meeting my gaze, and her hazel eyes locked onto mine like a snake paralyzing a mouse. I couldn't tear my eyes away as she searched them, tearing away at the distance I put between myself and everyone else. "Why don't you think I could like you? We get along, don't we?" Something in her eyes glistened, and I realized she really meant it - she really did care about me. "You have fun when we're together, right? Why you play music for me, or we eat meals together, you're having fun... right?"

Trapped by her gaze and the fear in her voice, I had no choice but to be honest. "...I am. I'm enjoying myself when I'm with you." I couldn't let myself say yes to her request, but I felt like I was only a step away from falling into the gorge I was trying to avoid. And damn it, I couldn't tell which way to go.

"Then why aren't you saying yes?" she cried. "What's wrong? Is it me?" I froze. Asuna must have sensed I was off-balance, because she didn't let me get my mental feet under me. "Rythin, please, tell me what's wrong. You can trust me."

"Can I?" My voice was quiet and hesitant as I tried to divorce myself from the situation, and her eyes widened. I'd tried so hard to keep distance between me and Asuna so I didn't hurt her, but her simple, four word statement had closed it in an instant. "Can I really trust you, Asuna?" My breathing was erratic, and if we were in the real world my heartbeat would be thundering in my ears. All I had to do was reach out, but... I was terrified...

"Of course you can, Rythin."

I sucked in a breath as I felt something inside me give up, like something finally crumbled under a heavy weight. "I'm scared, Asuna," I said. "That's what's wrong."

Asuna frowned slightly. Even so, it didn't diminish her beauty at all. "Scared? Of what?"

I sighed and let myself stare off into the distance. "I'm scared of losing you," I heard my voice say in a flat affect. "Of being forced to be alone again, and of the people I've come to care about leaving me."

Staying in that absent half-present state, I started telling her about my past; how every friend I had made had left me sooner or later, and how I started closing myself off from needing anyone else in order to not be hurt. I knew it was strange, for me to open up like this - especially since Aincrad was a world where a moment of weakness could spell death - but Asuna's simple reassurance had broken some kind of dam in me. Everything that I'd been holding back spilled out of me, and I didn't have a prayer of stopping it.

When I stopped talking, coming back to myself fully, I realized a few tears were dripping down my cheek. "I didn't know..." Asuna said as I wiped at the tears. "All this time, I didn't know..."

"It's fine, Asuna," I said with a watery chuckle. "I did my best to keep it all hidden from everyone."

"Because you wanted to be strong?" I couldn't find the words to respond to her question. "Rythin, strength isn't being able to do things alone," she smiled at me. "It's being able to admit when you need someone's help."

I sighed; she didn't understand why I did what I did, why I needed that kind of strength. "Maybe, Asuna." We sat in silence for a while, sharing each other's company in the cold as the snow continued to drift down. It wasn't the companionable silence it had been before; there was almost a strange tension in the air, and I realized I still hadn't answered her question. "There's...one other reason I..." I didn't want to say 'can't get into a relationship', because it wasn't like that, but I had no idea what else to say. Being tongue-tied was rare for me. Asuna didn't say anything, somehow sensing that I needed to work my way up to it myself, and I sighed eventually. "I..." I shifted my weight nervously. I'd never told this to anyone else, so I had no idea how she was going to react. "I identify as asexual." I had to get it all out in a rush, before she left in disgust. "I don't feel sexual attraction to anyone or anything. Physically, everything works as it should," - Asuna flushed slightly at my frank admission - "but...mentally, there's just no drive."

"So that's why..." Asuna murmured.

My lips twisted into a grim mockery of a smile. "Yes. That's why. It's why you and I can't -"

Asuna interrupted me with a smile. "You say that like it matters."

My thoughts ground to a halt. "What." What was she saying? I was a freak, a distortion of nature. I was wrong in a way that was conceptually foreign to almost everybody else in the world. "Asuna, what..."

"It's okay, Rythin." Asuna leaned against me, and strangely enough I didn't mind. "I like you for who you are. If that means you're different like that, well, that's just part of who you are." I couldn't say anything, my mind still frozen, and all I could do was hug the girl sitting beside me. "I won't leave, Rythin," she murmured. "No matter what, I'll stay by your side."

I flinched when she said that. It always happened, no matter what I did. She couldn't change that fact any more than she could hurt me in a Safe Zone, or defy gravity.

"I won't leave," she promised again.

I closed my eyes. I was an idiot for doing this... "Thank you," I whispered, my words barely loud enough for me to hear.

We sat there in the night, enjoying each other's company; Asuna felt comfortable in the crook of my arm, snuggled up to my side. Her warmth kept the cold at bay, and even though snow was falling I was more fascinated by the woman by my side. As I was resting my cheek on her head, listening to her breathe, a notification flashed up in the corner of my vision. When I moved to look at it, Asuna made a small noise of confusion. "Message," I told her. When I opened it, I realized the sender was Kirito. "It's from Kirito," I said in almost awe, sitting up straight and staring at the message. I scanned the contents of the message and slumped back against the bench, half leaning against Asuna as a palpable rush of relief hit me. "He's okay. He fought the boss and won. He apologized for causing me worry."

Asuna sighed and smiled, leaning back against my side. "He's okay. Thank goodness."

"Yeah." I leaned my head against hers again, just sitting there and breathing as I felt warm for the first time in a long while.

January 12th, 2024

I stood silently as I stared at the man in front of me. It was incredibly petty, but as that was my specialty, I was going to stand there stubbornly until he spoke first.

By the wry twist of his lips, I think Heathcliff knew exactly what I was doing. "How strange, Rythin," he mused. "With what you said back when I first approached you, I expected you to remain strictly a solo player. And yet here you are, requesting a position in the Knights of the Blood."

I gritted my teeth and tried desperately not to let the irritation on my face show. "The situation has changed."

"Has it, now?"

Gods this is the worst. If I didn't have to do this, I wouldn't, but since I have to, I might as well do it right. "Yes, it has. As a result, I can no longer operate as a consultant for the boss fights. You offered me a position once, and with my recommendation -"

"Ah, yes," Heathcliff interrupted me. "My sub-commander did have quite a bit to say when I discussed this matter with her."

I bet she did. I'm just glad she's waiting for me outside the meeting room, because I will need serious levels of Asuna hugs to balance out the frustration I'm dealing with right now.

"She vouched for your skills in combat, as well as your aptitude for planning," Heathcliff continued. "And suggested that you would make a good addition to the guild." He swiped open his menu and tapped a few buttons. "I happen to agree with her. Rythin, I welcome you to the Knights of the Blood."

I looked at the prompt in front of me, took a deep breath, and accepted the guild invitation without a second of hesitation. When something was inevitable, I just had to do it, no questions asked. Besides, this was a small price to pay for Asuna.

A small symbol appeared in the top left of my vision, a white square with a red cross in the center. A guild symbol - my guild symbol.

"Sir," I said as Asuna entered the room and stood by my side patiently, "there is a question I want to ask."

"Yes, Rythin?"

I blinked placidly. "I understand that you are now technically my superior, but I ask that I take my orders only from Asuna." My lips twitched in a smirk. "I realize the two are functionally identical, but emotionally there is a great difference between the two to me."

"Rythin, what-" Asuna began.

I glanced her way and smiled slightly before looking back to Heathcliff. "I trust Asuna," I told him bluntly, "not you. In time that may change, but at the moment I would prefer to take my orders solely from her."

He nodded once. "Certainly not an... unreasonable request, given your situation. I accept." His lips twitched in a small, almost unnoticeable smile. "This would normally be the part where you undergo a trial, a way to gauge your strength, but given your, ah, accomplishments I believe we can dispense with that formality."

I nodded. "Thank you."

Heathcliff smiled, but it felt wrong somehow. Like it didn't reach his eyes. "Welcome to Knights of the Blood, Rythin."

"I look forward to working with you." Wow, I said that big a lie without blinking. Go me.

I think he could tell anyway. "Asuna, would you get our newest recruit a temporary uniform until something suitably unique can be designed?"

Oh no. I was there when she received her uniform, and I remember the story of how that happened. "Oh, and, uh, is there a way we can waive the dress code for me? I'm a fan of my current color scheme, you see…" I said hurriedly.

Asuna took my hand. I winced. "Let's go, Rythin," she said sweetly, and I knew that I wasn't getting away.

March 6th, 2024

I'm not really sure what I expected to happen when I joined the Knights of the Blood. I guess that I expected everything I did to be curtailed while I slaved away for the Knights of the Blood, earning gold and items for their coffers.

Really, though, nothing changed all that much. I was still allowed to go around fighting on the front lines, clearing dungeons, and completing quests. The only difference I could spot was that I had to wear some of the KoB colors - Heathcliff had taken pity on me eventually and had the quartermaster design some light cloth armor with the darker colors and scale pattern I preferred. There were some similarities to the design of Asuna's uniform, albeit more... masculine - and that I had that little guild symbol next to my health bar.

Of course, I still had a few duties. "I don't know, Asuna," I said, gnawing at my left thumbnail as I stared at the map. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I," she sighed, "but what choice do we have?"

I turned to look at my girlfriend where she stood by the window, drinking in the warm sunlight. "I just feel like something's missing. The Geocrawler is all but invincible with its heavy armor, yeah, but it just feels like there's a missing piece of the puzzle."

"But will it work?"

I shook my head. "I have no way of knowing until we implement our plan. Thing is, my gut feeling says no. Luring it to the village is going to be hard enough, and then keeping its attention on the villagers instead of the players attacking it will be all but impossible."

Asuna turned to look at me, resting on the stone ledge of the window. "I half expected you to object to putting the NPCs in harm's way."

"They aren't players," I said with a shrug. "If it's them or us, I'd rather it be them." Cold, but they weren't, well, human. NPCs could respawn. With a grunt, I turned back to the map and sighed. "We're missing something. I just know it." It wasn't clicking the way the solution did, where the answer popped out and everything fell neatly into place. This felt like I was forcing it bit by bit, and that was never a good sign. That meant I messed up somewhere earlier.

"C'mon," Asuna said, standing up. "The meeting starts soon, and we need to at least look like we have an idea." I nodded and gestured for her to lead on, following her as we exited the planning room.

The Geocrawler was the last obstacle in our path to the Labyrinth on the floor, and it was a hefty block; it had armor all over, and having players try to climb over the thing and search for a weak spot was just asking for them to get crushed. There had to be a weak point somewhere, but we just couldn't find it - it was too dangerous, and Asuna refused to put her people in danger.

We entered the cave where the meeting was taking place to find the rest of the assembled guilds and solo players already waiting for us. Asuna gave me an arch look, as if to say 'See? We're late' and I just grinned back at her without feeling chagrined in the least. "Thank you for coming, everyone," Asuna said as she moved over next to the stone table and rolled out a copy of the map we had been studying before. Unlike the map we had been studying, however, this was a crude copy on a crude piece of leather. "Rythin?"

I moved over next to her, lightly brushing her hand with mine as I passed. It was an open secret that the two of us were dating, thanks to a certain rat of an information broker, but I still felt awkward about showing it in public.

Taking a deep breath, I shifted to the public speaking 'self' and began explaining the plan we'd come up with. Despite my own reservations, I had a job to do and I was going to do it. I had to sound a hundred percent confident in the plan despite hating every bit of it.

When I got to the part where we would be deliberately sacrificing NPCs in order to keep the boss's attention, I heard someone mutter, "As expected from the Bloody Tactician," and I had to grab Asuna's hand under the table and squeeze to stop her from leaping to my defense.

The more common name people called me was Scarlet Tactician - which, y'know, wasn't bad, all things considered. It could be worse - but there were always going to be people that hated me for sounding cold and dispassionate as I outlined a plan that could end lives.

I hadn't lost anyone yet, but my methods were brutal and had broken more than one clearer by asking for too much, too often.

I wasn't sorry. There was always a price to be paid, and if that meant that I had to listen to living voices' hate instead of the laments of the dead, I'd pay it gladly. Besides, so long as Asuna believed in me, nothing else really mattered.

"Sorry, but I can't be a part of this plan."

Hiding a satisfied smile, I looked up at the teenager who'd spoken up. "Kirito," I nodded. "Am I right in assuming your objections pertain to the use of NPCs as bait?" He nodded, and I folded an arm across my stomach, resting my elbow in my hand as I waved a finger. "Is your participation, then, contingent on removing that particular part of the plan?" He nodded again. "Hm. Is there any way we could come to an agreement? Some sort of deal, perhaps."

Kirito, thank the gods, got the hint I was soft-balling him and ran with it. "I've got one in mind," he said. "A duel." I looked at him, raising an eyebrow in an invitation to continue, and he said, "You and me, one on one. If you win, I'll go along with your plan."

"And if you win the duel?" I asked him, feeling my lips twitching in a feral grin. "What do you claim as forfeit?"

"A delay," he told me. "Twenty-four hours to figure out a better way to defeat the boss. A way where no NPCs have to die."

I grinned lazily. "Sure, you have a deal." Thankfully, he knew how to read my hints. This would have been a lot harder if I had to be blatant about asking someone to stop the plan.

Of course, we still had to fight it out. "Thank you," I whispered as we shook hands prior to fighting. No need to be rude, after all, he was my friend. "I knew something was wrong, but this was the only way to delay the raid."

Kirito grinned at me. "So you're going to throw the match?" he asked with a hint of chiding. Kirito was a warrior, and something like 'throwing a match' was definitely against his principles.

I just chuckled and closed my eyes before opening them again, the colors of the world fading. Everyone knew about Future Step; I had revealed it at the same time Heathcliff disclosed information about his own Unique Skill. If he hadn't been my guild master, I doubt I would have spoken up, though. As the calm washed over me, I felt my lips crack apart into a chill smile. "Hardly," I smirked. "I'm fighting to win."

And yet, despite my tough words and despite the advantage Future Step afforded me Kirito still managed to beat me with a remarkably accurate feint with his off-hand. It was like he actually had a second sword in his hand when he swung at me and the sudden surge in bloodlust made me dodge it automatically, straight into his other sword. He had attacked... No, he had known - and the bloodlust told me - there was a second sword in his offhand. How can that be? He wasn't ambidextrous as far as I knew and even if he was, a feint felt different than an attack. He literally attacked me with nothing.

Well, whatever. I got the outcome I wanted.

After Kirito figured out the correct way to beat the boss - thanks to one of the NPCs in town - Asuna and I were relaxing at the party, our fingers laced together. "You wanted him to say something," Asuna said. It wasn't a question. "You wanted him to give you an excuse to not let those NPCs get attacked."

"It was a puzzle and we were missing the pieces," I said. "I don't care that the NPCs would die, but Kayaba would never design a puzzle where part of the solution is 'acceptable casualties'."

Asuna smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. "It worked out in the end, didn't it?"

I leaned my weight against her slightly, feeling her shift automatically to take some of my weight. "It did. Kirito's reliable enough, so I knew he'd be able to figure it out." It bothered me a little bit that I hadn't, but I hadn't really made a point of getting to know the NPCs, so I guess it was only fair he got this win.

So, this is really just a thing I'm writing for myself. It's a good way to get back in the swing of writing, especially after the train wreck that was Soul's Wings. Nothing important here, just self-indulgent writing about a couple ways Nick's pairing could have ended up. Read if you want to, ignore it for the same reasons, I don't really care. This is some stupid little non-canon piece for pure shipping purposes.

As for the parts here, a few of the lines/segments might feel familiar; that's because anyone that's read Sidequests will have seen this basic idea in the What If? Asuna Version chapter. Instead of pushing her away on Christmas Eve, Rythin lets Asuna explain why she likes him, and then things just snowball from there.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy. And remember, the TV Tropes page always needs updating.