Chapter Two: Old Habits

Klein stood straight as he watched the boar he had just fought disintegrate into a million glittering data pieces. With a cocky grin, he turned to look at Kirito over his shoulder. "How about that, huh? That was my eighth one, and my HP hasn't even dropped a quarter yet!"

Kirito smiled back. "Impressive. Let me know when you get to twenty."

Klein's smile dropped. "Eh? Twenty?"

"That's how many kills he has," Asuna responded after slaying another boar from the same pack.

"Looks like you'll have to wake up pretty early in the morning to match me," Kirito declared with his own confident smile.

"You're one to talk," he heard Lisbeth call from several meters away. "Isn't that Asuna's twenty-fifth kill today?"

Kirito laughed and held his hands up. "You got me. She's kicking my tail."

Klein looked around at the rest of the group, feeling at a loss. "Wait. How many kills does everyone else have?"

Agil grunted after he retrieved his axe from the flesh of a beast he had just slain. "That makes fifteen for me."

"Just finished off my seventeenth," Lisbeth responded over her shoulder.

"I'm at twelve!" Silica giggled.

Klein's shoulders drooped as he stared at his team with dismay. "That… that means I'm in last place!" he realized in mild anguish.

"Don't worry!" he heard a small voice pipe from next to him. Klein looked down to find Yui staring up at him with bright, joyful eyes. "I haven't killed any!"

His eye twitched in mild irritation, but he tried to smile for the sake of the small child. "That's because you can't. Besides," he added with sudden realization. "Why are you out here? Isn't it too dangerous for a kid to be in the middle of the battlefield like this?"

"She's an AI," Kirito responded, coming to join Klein and the VR child. He set a hand atop Yui's head, and she giggled up at him. "She's set as a game-controlled assistant, so she's safe."

"Plus, Mama and Papa protect me!" Yui declared brightly, bouncing from foot to foot. "They're so strong!"

"A little too strong," Klein grumbled as he watched Asuna expertly stab an attacking bird with her rapier. "Are you sure you guys aren't cheating? We were all supposed to start on level one!"

"Don't be such a sore loser," Agil laughed, his booming voice shaking the air around them. "You're just angry because you've made the least amount of kills today!"

Klein sighed. "I guess you're right." He folded his arms across his chest and frowned. "Is anyone else getting bored of this area? If I have to see another boar, I'm gonna throw a fit."

"Seems like you're throwing enough of a fit as it is," Lisbeth called with a playful grin. "You baby."

"I'm not a baby!" Klein protested. "I just… need more of a challenge, that's all. I'm so used to being on the 75th floor from a couple of months ago that I need more challenging opponents."

Asuna turned to look at him, her expression concerned. "Are you sure? We should take it slow at the beginning. We need to level up before we can take on this level's boss."

"I'm not saying we should go that far yet!" he responded, suddenly panicked at the thought of taking on Illfang so early into the game.

"I thought you needed more of a challenge," Lisbeth mocked, winking at Klein. Kirito smiled at the jab, happy to see that the girl seemed to be in better spirits than she had been before.

"Not that much of a challenge!" Klein snapped. With a grunt, he pulled up his area map and scrutinized it. "If I remember correctly, the woods to the south are supposed to have some higher level creatures that can give us more money and more EXP. It's no boss battle, but it will give us the challenge we need!"

Kirito hesitated. There was something familiar about Klein's words that suddenly put Kirito's stomach in knots. He tried to shake the feeling, but there was something nagging at him, keeping him from responding to Klein's request.

Agil briefly glanced at the time on his player menu. "I'm good for it. I'll have to log out afterwards, though," he declared as he closed out of his menu. "I've got work in the morning."

"It feels pretty good to say that, huh?" Silica said as she joined the group. Her smile was soft and sad as she kept her eyes averted from everyone else's. "Knowing we can log out at any time."

There was a tense silence that followed the observation. Kirito shared a glance with Asuna. One of the first things both of them had done when they arrived was to check for the Log Out button in their menu. Even though he had seen it several times that day, Kirito still found himself checking just to make sure.

"Ugh," Lisbeth groaned as she set her hands on her hips. "Let's go to the forest before the mood gets any darker over here."

"I… I'm sorry!" Silica squeaked, embarrassed at her assessment. "I didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable! It's just… hard not to notice these things." She looked at the ground, feeling guilty over having brought this dark cloud over her friends when they had been having so much fun earlier.

Kirito placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as he smiled down at her. "Don't worry. We've all had the same things going through our heads today. It's only natural after everything we've been through."

Silica smiled thankfully, but her eyes held their sad gleam. She said nothing in response as she turned and beckoned Pina to her side.

"Come on," Agil said, breaking the group out of their dismay. "That forest isn't going to explore itself, right? Let's go! We're running out of daylight!"

As the five comrades headed in the direction of the forest, Asuna hung back and held Kirito's arm, motioning for him to drop a few paces behind the others. When they were just out of earshot, Asuna leaned towards him and whispered, "Are we sure we're ready for this? Should we take it slow? We all just got back to the real world. We just recently established some normalcy. Maybe we should call it quits for today and tackle the forest tomorrow."

Though he had the same reaction when Klein had first mentioned it, Kirito smiled comfortingly at her and shook his head. "I don't think that's necessary. Besides, we need to level up faster. Most of the players in this game were in Aincrad when it first launched. We have to get to Illfang before they do."

"I know," Asuna responded quietly. "I just… I want to look out for everyone."

Kirito wasn't surprised by her response to the situation. Several months ago, she had been one of the leading members of the strongest guild in Aincrad. She felt responsible for everyone in their group, even this soon into the game. And Kirito, always comfortable with being a solo player, only sought to increase his stats so he could become stronger.

"I understand," he said finally. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, causing a light flush to come to her cheeks. "We'll take it easy. After we poke around in the forest for a bit, we'll log out and go back home. Okay?"

She smiled warmly and nodded once. "Okay."

Seeing her sweet expression caused Kirito's pulse to race. Though he knew it wasn't his real body and that Asuna wasn't actually standing in front of him, he couldn't help the urge to lean in and kiss her. His hand seemed to float up on its own; he found himself gently caressing her cheek and thinking about how soft her lips were.

"Kirito…" she murmured, her cheeks flushing more. He couldn't help himself. He leaned in closer until his lips pressed against hers. Now that he had felt her against him in real life, this didn't compare. But it still thrilled him all the same. He knew it was just data and programming that told him how warm she felt in his arms and how sweet she smelled. He knew it was all part of the virtual reality technology. And yet he had a hard time convincing himself that the way she made his pulse quicken was just part of some computer's data outputs.

When she pulled away, he didn't stop her. "Come on," she said in a slightly breathless voice. "The others will be waiting for us."

He nodded as she took his hand in hers. "Okay. Let's go."

Hand-in-hand, the two followed the rest of the group towards the forest on the southernmost part of the first level. When they reached the perimeter, the group brought out a map and analyzed the area. "It looks like there's one main path that runs in the center of the woods," Klein explained, tracing the area with his index finger. "But that's all they give us. Everything is shaded."

"That's what exploring is for," Agil responded with a cocky grin. "Let's stop standing around and get to it."

The others smiled eagerly with him and headed towards the main path. Kirito, however, angled his steps towards the woods away from the rest of the group. "I'll catch you guys later," he announced, waving at them over his shoulder.

"Eh?" Klein responded, raising an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"

"He's going to see if he can find the new rare items," Asuna responded with a slightly disgusted frown.

"He's not going to stay with the team?" Silica asked, her brow puckered in concern.

Agil shrugged. "Once a Beater, always a Beater. Let him go. Just don't wander off too far, okay Kirito?"

"Yeah, yeah!" the black-clad swordsman responded leisurely. He listened to the group murmuring as they ventured into the woods, but he kept his focus on the shaded forest before him. The same hungry desire to defeat new enemies and find new items coursed through him. It was exactly the same as before. He craved to feel the victory of slicing open a wild creature. He yearned to open a chest and find Col or a rare item. Before he realized it, he was sprinting into the forest with his sword drawn and a bloodthirsty grin stretched across his face.