Black Cats Revival

Chapter one: Cheers!

Beginning A/N:

If you read ESR, (ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT) then I must warn you that this fic will contain numerous spoilers, seeing as it's set in the future of my aforementioned fanfic.

If you don't read ESR, then please have a fun read, as you don't need to read it to understand this fic. All you really have to know is that Kirito already has Dual Wield due to previous circumstances.

"And a toast to the man we owe our lives to, Kirito-san! Cheers!" A blond teenager said enthusiastically, holding his goblet in the air.

The other players there followed suit, their cheery atmosphere almost intimidating me.

"Ch-cheers," I said quietly, not used to being celebrated. After all, most of the front-liners knew me as a beater, and that came with a lot of hate.

Various forms of gratitude were expressed by the players in front of me, but one line, said by a midnight-blue haired girl, really stuck in my mind. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Something about her seems familiar. I don't know why, but she just seems so familiar…

"Arigatou, sayonara."

Familiar with this line appearing in my thoughts by now, I didn't show my discomfort. Though anyone able to read my eyes would notice dark, confused feelings of remorse and regret.

"Kirito-san, I know this is a bit rude of me to ask, but… what level are you?" one of them inquired, whispering the last part into my ear.

This guy seems to be the leader of the group.

"Around… level forty." Not technically a lie; I was level forty four.

"Amazing! Are you a front-liner?" The blond boy exclaimed.

"W-well, not really. I was for a while, but then I came back to help some people I knew, and I kinda ended up staying down here," I said, embarrassed.

Now they might leave. I feel like that might be a good thing, as if something bad will happen to them if I stay. But… I want their friendly atmosphere.

"Amazing! Hey, if you don't mind, do you think you might want to join our guild, give us some pointers until we make it up there? You're help would be greatly appreciated. My name's Keita, by the way."

"Yeah, you seem really cool! You'll be welcome here, man!" The energetic blond boy said.

I know it's wrong, but… "All right. I guess I'm in. Glad to be here."

As they crowded around me, stating their names, laughing, and just having a good time, I finally felt something long overdue. Something I hadn't felt for years, even in the real world. I felt at home. I felt loved.

As I started to laugh with them, I completely forgot about the upsetting feeling that had arisen from the depths of my memories.

"I just noticed something, Kirito. You have the full [[Moonlit Illusion Set]]. How'd ya manage that?" The blond teen, now known to me as Ducker, said while we were alone in my inn room.

I had been teaching him how to use the One Handed Claw and Dagger build, because he seemed to have almost as much raw talent as Kamiko or Argo with a Claw, and his Dagger skills were impressive as well. His Claw and Dagger style was resembling Kamiko's more and more, every day we practiced.

Before he asked that question, we had been talking about his build, and ways to improve it.

"W-well… Alright I'll tell you, but keep it a secret, okay?"

"Kay!"

"Well… Sometimes, I go to visit my old friends on the front lines. They drag me around on quests, and before I knew it, I had ended up with the full set from all the quests we completed together."

Of course, I didn't tell him about the fact that I had two [[Moon Swords]], used together in dual wielding.

[[Dual Wield]]… why would that woman give me such a troublesome skill so early on? I just don't get it!

"Cool! You still care about your friends on the front lines, even after all this time? I hope that you'll feel the same towards us when you leave."

"Wait, leave? I don't plan on leaving at all. I'll see to it that all of you get to the front lines personally, and then we'll clear this game together," I stated flatly.

Is that what I really want to do? Am I just being selfish? Trying to make up for Diabel? What are my true intentions here? I don't know myself.

"AWESOME! Well, I'm gonna head to bed. Your secret's safe with me, and I don't think anyone else knows about that set. 'Night." Ducker said, a drowsy smile on his face.

"G'night" I murmured back, deep in thought again.

These people feel almost like family to me. I know something's gonna happen, but I'm just so selfish. I know I have to leave, but I really want to help them. Maybe staying with them and training them will prevent it from happening.

That last thought. That was how I justified staying with them, even though I knew the risks. I was just selfish. And now… Scahi's…

I woke up early to find breakfast at my bedside. My first thought was how strange it was that it happened every morning, but when I noticed the blushing blunette in my doorway, it clicked.

"Sachi? It was you? Thanks, your cooking is even better than Kamiko's, and her food is fantastic."

"Kamiko? Is she your girlfriend?" I couldn't help but notice the slightly sad look on her face as she said those words.

"N-no! Kamiko is a friend that I met outside of SAO." This SAO, anyway. "I repeat, she's a friend, nothing more."

"O-oh, sorry for making assumptions, it looks like I offended you." Sachi said softly.

"No, I'm not- ahh… Thanks for the meal!" I tried to end our weird conversation on a good note, only making her laugh at me cutely.

Stuffing my face into her breakfast for me, I tried unsuccessfully to hide my embarrassment, I started to think.

Wow, she's cute when she laughs. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?! Anyway, is this really the right thing to do? I just don't know anymore. We're all happy, and I guess that's all that matters for now.

Then a question popped into my head, and I decided to speak up. "Umm, Sachi? Do you cook breakfast for everyone?"

Selfish, selfish, selfish! Of course she does! I wouldn't get any special treatment. After all, it's only been a few wee—

"A-actually, no. I just cook for you… a-as thanks for everything you've done for us!" Though her words did make me very happy, for some reason they made me feel even worse at the same time.

"Well, it looks like it's about time to get up and start training! Let's go!"

Hind sight is 20-20. It was so fun back then. But now, looking back on it, it seems as if even though I knew that this would happen, and didn't do a thing to stop it. I really only encouraged it. I was so selfish, and now…

We were trying to switch Sachi to a one handed sword and shield, but so far we weren't seeing any promising results.

Currently, we spent our time in [[Sunshine Forest]] on the twentieth floor, fighting giant praying mantis mobs. Sasamaru jabbed it with his spear, but it only focused on Sachi, striking her shield with one of its razor sharp scythe arms. She yelped in shock and staggered backwards.

"Sachi, fall back," I said quickly, running over and cutting off the mantis' right scythe arm.

I flashed through a sword skill and knocked the mantis' other arm up.

"Tetsuo, Switch!"

Tetsuo charged to the front and unleashed his own skill, destroying the mantis mob. A level up window appeared, signaling that he had moved up to level twenty three. As Keita and Sasamaru ran over to give their congratulations, Sachi and I stayed behind and congratulated him in our own, more quiet way.

But what good did it do?

"So, the front-liners cleared the twenty eighth floor? That's amazing," Keita said, no hint of surprise evident in his voice as he read the [[Daily Argo]].

"Say, Kirito, what makes the front-liners so different from us?"

"Probably all the info they amassed. They know how to accumulate EXP efficiently, but keep it all to themselves," I said, looking up to glance at him.

Keita flopped down on the ground.

"Yeah, I can see that. I think it's the willpower, though."

"Willpower?" I blinked.

"I guess it's more like the will to protect your allies—no, every player here. We're the ones being protected right now, but our feelings are just as strong as theirs."

I just sat there looking onward at this man, inwardly gawking.

"Of course, ensuring the safety of our comrades comes first, but I still want to join the front-liners someday." Keita finished, a determined smile on his face.

"Yea, I get it."

"Oh, you were a front-liner once. I've probably got it all wrong, from the look on your face, haven't I?" Keita inquired embarrassedly.

"You know, you're right. That was definitely a part of it," I reassured him. A lie.

"Sup, Leader!"

I turned to find Ducker inbound. A moment later he had Keita in a headlock.

"That was so cool!"

"Hey!"

Everyone else trailing behind Tetsuo happily inquired, "So, we'll be joining ranks with the [[Divine Dragon Alliance]] and the [[Knights of the Blood]]?"

Keita refused, saying, "Come on, we should aim higher than that! We should start by getting everyone to level thirty."

"That's impossible," Sachi pouted.

I stayed back, thinking to myself.

If the Black Cats can quickly level up to the point where they can join the front lines, Keita's ideals might influence the insular mindsets of the front-liners.

I looked at my health bar irritatedly, noticing the level portrayed was level fifty two.

Why can't I be more like them?

"All right, I've got some good news for everyone. Today's hunt netted us two hundred thousand Col!"

"What?!" the others yelled out.

"We might be able to buy the house of our dreams pretty soon!" Tetsuo exclaimed.

Sasamaru lightheartedly countered with, "Hey, why don't we upgrade Sachi's equipment?"

"Everyone, including me, agreed to this, but Sachi stayed strong, saying, "N-no, it's fine. I'll manage with what I have."

Sasamaru countered with, "Just do it. We can't have Kirito aggro the mobs all the time."

Sachi wilted, "I'm sorry."

"I don't mind it, so no worries," I said happily, getting caught up in the cheery atmosphere.

"Thanks a lot, Kirito," Keita said, turning to Sachi immediately afterwards, "Sachi, I know switching…"

I zoned out, grimacing slightly at Keita. So, he won't even look at me, huh? Either he doesn't like me, for one of the many reasons there are, or he likes—no, loves Sachi. Probably both.

All I remember from their conversation was the pained look on Sachi's face at the end.

Looking at the night sky on the twenty eighth floor was amazing. It was as if with each floor that was cleared, another sky opened up, even more beautiful than the last. Then, I saw two people running alongside one of the most prominent mobs on this floor, the [[Bloody Hound]].

I recognized one of them, quietly calling out his name, even though I knew he couldn't hear me. "Klein…"

A third person appeared, effectively surrounding the lone hound. Klein charged up a sword skill, and when it was released, it made him move extremely fast, slashing through the wolf and appearing behind it.

Still not as fast as [[Blink Cut]].

The [[Bloody Hound]] exploded into a shower of polygons, leaving no trace of its previous existence.

Klein appeared to notice me, exclaiming, "Hey, if it ain't Kirito! Guys, take care of those pups!" and walking over to me.

"Kirito, I haven't seen you in ages! You're out leveling this late?" Klein said in his usual upbeat tone.

I just stood there, regret flooding into my being.

"Wait, that mark… did you join a guild?"

"Yeah… I guess," I said tiredly.

This is the only time I can level, and my regret decides to come back and haunt me.

One of Klein's friends called over to him.

"Hey, come on! Let's find another pack."

I started to walk past him, my heart heavy with remorse and guilt. "See you."

As I continued my walk away from him, I heard Klein mumble, "Geez, is that still eating at him?"

In retrospect, it would've been good to talk it out with him then and there, to unload my heavy heart, but I was just too stubborn.

As I came back through the teleport gate in the middle of town, a PM message appeared before me.

"This is Keita. Sachi went out and hasn't come back. We're going to look for her in the labyrinth. Please let us know if you find anything out on your end.

-Keita"

"Sachi…" I said quietly.

Going into my menu and activating my [[Tracing skill]], I looked around, finding her footsteps rather quickly, and beginning my search.

"Sachi." I called out towards her, having just found her under a bridge. How cliché.

"Kirito…"

"Everyone's worried about you," I said gently.

She only looked away from me, but not from defiance. She's so depressed that she can't even look me in the eyes. How do I fix that? I thought as I sat down a few meters away from the depressed blunette.

"Hey, Kirito."

"Yeah?"

"Let's run away."

Shock raced through me like a bolt of lightning. My mind was racing, absolutely terrified at the thought of leaving everyone.

Why? Why would she want to run away? And from what?

Betraying no emotion, I inquired, "Run away from what?"

"From this town. From these monsters, from the Black Cats… From Sword Art Online."

Completely unable to hide my shock, my face contorted into a mixture of surprise and fear. "You… You want to commit double suicide?"

"I wouldn't mind that either," Sachi said with a bitter smile.

I reeled back in shock. What is this girl thinking?!

"Sorry, that was a lie. If I had the courage to die, I wouldn't be hiding in the safety of this town," Sachi said, still holding a pained grin on her face.

As I finally relaxed, I heard her say, "Hey, why can't we get out of here? It's just a game, so why do we have to die for real? What's the point of all this?"

"I don't think there is a point," I said sadly, starting to feel what she was feeling.

"I'm… afraid of dying."

"Afraid of dying?" I asked rhetorically.

Her breath hitched. "I've been so scared that I haven't been able to sleep lately."

"You're not going to die," I said gently, yet assertively.

Looking up, she asked nervously, "Really? How do you know that?"

"The Black Cats are a pretty strong guild," I started. "We've built up quite a margin for safety, too. You also have Tetsuo and me, so there's no need to force you to fight up front."

"Are you sure I'm not going to die? Will I return to the real world some day?" Sachi asked, her voice as fragile as a snowflake.

"Yeah, you won't die. You'll live to see the day we complete this game."

I never did catch the lone tear of joy that ran down the right side of her face.

As I opened the menu to equip my [[Moonlit Illusion Set]] items so I could go out leveling, I heard a knock on the door. "Who's there?"

I expected to find Ducker, excited about a new item he bought in the middle of the night. He always went out at night to buy his items from the Midnight Merchant with the large money he accumulates from one of his (Ancient) class items, which gave a Col drop bonus of + 100.

What I did not expect to see, however, was Sachi, standing in the doorway in her nightwear, with a pillow in her arms and a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep."

"This guild will keep you safe. You'll return to the real world someday. There are probably a lot of other players who are scared of dying, just like you. But they still laugh, cry, and try their best to live on in this world," I said gently.

Such thoughts had never crossed my mind.

"Kirito?" Sachi asked, turning around under the covers to face me.

"Don't worry, you'll survive," I said caringly.

For the faintest of moments, I thought I saw a slight tint of red on her cheeks. She nuzzled her head into her pillow, and fell asleep smiling.

I'll definitely protect you guys.

I held my hand in the air, closing my fist strongly and grasping an intangible victory.

"All right, I'm going out for a bit. Teleport! [[Town of Beginnings]]!" Keita exclaimed, teleporting to the aforementioned town.

"So we're finally getting our own home, huh? I've never been so moved!" Sasamaru said cheerily.

"Quit acting like an old man," Ducker said, earning a laugh from all of us.

"Hey, let's go farm some Col while Keita's buying the house," Tetsuo said with his usual cheery face.

Clapping her hands together happily, Sachi inquired, "Oh, are we buying furniture?"

"Why don't we go to a labyrinth on one of the higher floors?" Ducker said joyfully.

Confused, and at the same time not surprised at all, I spoke up. "What's wrong with our usual hunting grounds?"

"We can earn money quicker on a higher floor." Sasamaru countered, "You were on the front lines once, so shouldn't you know that?"

"Our levels should be high enough for that by now, right Kirito?" Ducker said.

He believed I should be second in command, so when Keita wasn't around, he looked to me for the important decisions.

That's where I should've stopped them.

It was quiet in the twenty seventh floor labyrinth, far too quiet.

"See, it's a Cakewalk!" Ducker said happily.

Sasamaru just had to have his input, foolishly saying, "We'll be joining the front-liners in no time."

Wow, I'm on edge. I just feel like something bad is gonna happen. Someone's gonna die.

"Totally! Huh?" Ducker inquired, finding an odd block-like pattern on one of the walls.

Is that…?

He put his hands on the pattern, and as it enlarged, it started to move backwards, falling back and turning into a door. A hidden door? Here? Wait!

When Ducker opened the door, we all saw a treasure chest in the center of the room, just waiting to be opened.

"A treasure chest! All right!" Ducker said while running in to open it, everyone running in after him, save me and Sachi.

"W-WAIT!"

As soon as Ducker opened the chest, the room took on an eerie red hue. As the door shut and locked behind us, we saw another door opening to our right. Out of this door came what seemed to be bearded skeleton-like monsters, with red cloaks, black priest hats, and pickaxes for weapons, known as the [[Crimson Ghost Miners]].

Then, mannequin-like golems appeared out of nowhere, all around us.

A scene played out before me in my mind.

"Teleport, [[Taft]]! Teleport [[Taft]]!"

"The crystals don't work!"

The Miner-like mobs hit Ducker to the ground and started to repeatedly strike him with their pickaxes until he was nothing but polygons.

"Guys! Don't use your crystals! They won't work! Gather up by the door and defend yourselves!"

I won't let that happen!

While Sachi and Ducker immediately did as told, Sasamaru and Tetsuo stayed behind, for two very different reasons.

"Why should we listen to you?! You're not our l—" Sasamaru never got the chance to finish, however, as a golem's slash sent his avatar, and his soul, forever into oblivion.

No!

"Sasamaru, n—" And just like that, Tetsuo was gone, never to return to the real world that we all missed so dearly.

NO!

"Kirito!" Sachi and Ducker yelled in unison.

They were back-to-back near the doorway, fighting off one at a time and occasionally killing a few. They were wearing down just as quickly as they were being outnumbered, which was very, very bad.

I have to save them! But the only way I can think of is—no, I can't! But…

"Arigatou, Sayonara."

"SCREW IT!" I screamed, concealing my sword in my cloak using the [[Moonlit Illusion Set's]] special ability.

Immediately after, I pulled out two copies of my real weapon—the one I used on the front lines.

The [[Moon Sword]].

A/N:

Yes, I know it seems like I rushed things a little, but if you read the wiki under Kirito/relationships, then you'll see that Sachi was ALRREADY Kirito's first love. (Though it's unclear whether these feelings were returned.)

So… I wonder what'll happen when Christmas rolls around. ;)

See ya!