…Ugh…let's just get day twenty-five over with.

-:-

Lisbeth had the biggest grin on her face when Kirito walked into her shop and it almost made the swordsman run right back out the door.

"What's the matter, Kirito? You here in need of my services?" asked the pink-haired blacksmith, her grin getting slightly wider.

Kirito let out a groan of despair. "Can we not do this, Lisbeth?"

"Do what? All I did was ask if you needed a sword upgrade…or did you break the last sword I made for you?" questioned Lisbeth as she gave the Black Swordsman a very nasty look at the end.

Sweating bullets, Kirito tried to defuse the current situation in hopes that he would get out alive. "N-No! The sword you made me is still intact!"

Upon saying this Kirito drew his blade to show that he was telling the truth. Lisbeth took the blade so she could inspect it. From what she could tell the blade was still in great shape. It seemed that Kirito had learned how to properly take care of a sword. That was good for him because Lisbeth would have killed him if he hadn't.

"Excellent job, Kirito," exclaimed Lisbeth as she handed the sword back to him. "Looks like my teaching are getting through that thick skull of yours!"

Kirito grimaced at Lisbeth's statement. "You make it sound like I'm some sort of dog you're trying to train."

"Well I do have some biscuits back here," replied Lisbeth with a grin. "I'll give you one if you do a trick for me."

Another groan came from Kirito, causing Lisbeth to fall into a fit of giggles. She may have missed her chance with the boy in black, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the times she did spend with him.

Plus teasing him was just so much fun!

FIN

-:-

When I first watched Sword Art Online, I thought it was okay. It never made it into any of my top ten lists, but it was passible. Looking back, I can see why most people drifted away from it. There are way better main protagonists out there than Kirito…and Asuna is just there to be his girlfriend. This is further proven when Asuna, despite being the main female protagonist, doesn't get any real character development until after the Gun Gale Online storyline…which is well into the series after. Hell, Leafa and Sinon both got character development in the story arcs they were introduced in before Asuna did.

Asuna's still not the worst character, though. That title goes to Yuki. People have called Kirito a Gary Stu for the things he's done, but Yuki is more of a Mary Sue than Kirito is. Kirito at lost some fights, including a lost to Yuki. Yuki has lost none. And I don't care if she had AIDS, that doesn't make her a better character or excuse everything about her.