Hello everybody and yes I've already written another chapter. I want to get this done while it's fresh in my mind. I honestly don't know if anyone read the last chapter since I don't feel like checking, but it's fun to write so I'm gonna make this regardless. Enjoy everybody!

CHAPTER 2:A PROPER CONFESSION

Lisbeth had just finished forging a sword for Kirito from the metal they had gotten. She was still contemplating whether or not she should confess her newfound feelings for Kirito. She was afraid of him rejecting her and ruining the short friendship they had. The blacksmith was still unaware that Kirito had heard her confession the previous night in the dragon's nest.

Speaking of Kirito, he was patiently awaiting the new weapon. He still felt a little off after last night, but at the same time he couldn't help but let a small smile slip. He'd never had a girlfriend or really a lot of friends outside of this game so this was a refreshing feeling to say the least. It's better to not be a loner every once in awhile. Especially when you're in the game where you're among the hated Beta Testers.

Lisbeth saw the spaced out look on his face. "Hey Kirito." she said snapping him out of his trance.

Kirito looked down as she placed the new sword on the counter. Lisbeth decided that she'd confess after he tested his weapon.

He picked up the new sword and examined it, "It's heavy. It's a good sword." he said.

Then a question popped into her head, "Wait you said that you wanted a sword with equal or better stats to the one you already had. Why would you need to nearly identical swords?" she asked.

The swordsman looked her straight in the eye, "Can you keep a secret?" he asked.

She gave an honest nod, "My mouth is sealed." she assured.

He didn't say anything else, but went into his menu and equipped his other sword while still holding the one she'd made him. Lisbeth sat waiting for the one of them to return to his inventory since dual wielding isn't allowed in the game.

To her surprise, both swords began to glow, "No way." she said. He was using a sword skill with both swords equipped.

Before anything actually happened, he stopped and put one of the swords away.

The blacksmith just stood there dumbfounded, "H-how did you?" she stuttered.

Kirito grinned, "A couple of weeks ago this skill suddenly appeared in my menu. Dual Wielding. I don't know how I got it, but it was there." he explained.

She was speechless as he walked back up to the counter, "Oh yeah and how much do I owe you for the sword?" she asked.

Lisbeth shook off her astonishment, "No charge, but on one condition. You have to make me your exclusive smith. Whenever your equipment is damaged or you need something forged you bring it here and I'll fix it." she told him.

His grin didn't falter, "That won't be a problem." he said before pausing, "Is that all you wanted to say to me?" he continued.

Something in him wanted her to confirm what he had heard last night.

Pink and red began to dust her cheeks, 'Well here goes nothing.' she thought to herself.

Lisbeth took a deep breath, "Kirito there's something I kinda wanted to confess to you. Last night when we were in the dragon's nest, I felt something that I hadn't felt since being trapped in this game. True warmth...from your hand. It made me feel alive again. I guess what I'm trying to say is I...I...l-love...you." she said nervously.

Kirito's grin became a smile, "I have something to tell you too. When I saw you falling, I couldn't watch another person day. I'd already done that one too many times before. Lis you made me realize that it's better to die with someone than to die alone. I was willing to risk my life to make sure than you didn't have to die alone. You changed my view on everything. I had something to fight for. I wasn't just fighting to avoid death. I could just to keep others from dying. People like you who don't deserve to die. Thanks to you I know for sure what I have to do. I'm gonna beat this game for you and everyone else." he replied in a speechlike matter.

He then swiftly laid a soft kiss on her cheek causing the redness in her cheeks to flare up even more.

She looked at him in awe, "So does that mean...? she trailed off, not knowing how to finish her question.

He hesitantly wrapped his arm her as his moment of courage started to fade, "I'll accept your offer, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to be your swordsman yet or your black knight in shining armor. Still, the more I'm on the front lines and the more my equipment needs repaired, the more I get to see you." he told her.

As if she couldn't blush any harder, her face was now completely bright cherry right, "That's fine with me. Wait how'd you know about that?" she went from being in a dreamy state back to alert again.

Kirito chuckled quietly, "Remember if you say things that you don't want me to hear to make sure I'm actually asleep first." he teased.

She slapped him, "You could've at least pretended not to know. This was hard enough for me as is! Idiot." she yelled at him.

He rubbed his cheek, "I never said I had a problem with it." he said sounding more normal than he'd liked.

The confidence he had was pretty much drained during his little speech so he was kinda just winging it and trying not to sound like an idiot at this point.

Lisbeth took his moment of weakness as a chance to quickly wrap him in a hug. After the initial shock wore off, he wrapped his other arm around her too.

The two were so engrossed in their confessions that they didn't even here the sound of the door opening.

A girl with chestnut hair and hazel eyes stood frozen in place looking at the scene, "Kirito. Lisbeth." she said in an unnaturally calm tone.

Lisbeth turned to her friend, "Oh hi Asuna. What can I do for you?" she asked.

Asuna blinked, "Can we talk privately for a second?" she asked, prompting the blacksmith to usher her into another room.

Kirito just stood there wondering what he had just got himself into.

In the other room, Asuna was standing there with her arms crossed.

Lisbeth felt the tension in the room, "So what's up?" she asked trying to ease the tension.

The other girl just gave her a look, "Do you remember how I said that I was away from the frontlines because I was going to meet someone?" she asked.

The blacksmith nodded before it hit her, "This is him isn't it?" she said sadly.

Asuna nodded, "Yes, but I feel like it would be wrong to take him from you now." she told her.

Lisbeth perked up, "What are you saying? You met him first. Go ahead and be with him. You two look cute together anyway." she said trying to be supportive as always.

The chestnut haired girl just shook her head, "Stop that. I know you always try to make everyone else happy before yourself so take this one time to do something you wanna do. I know you're not lying. You love him and confessed already. I think it would be a little awkward for me to say anything now." she said blushing a little.

Lisbeth smiled and wrapped her friend in a tight hug, "Thanks Asuna. You're the best." she replied.

Asuna just hugged back and smiled despite the situation.

Kirito just sat in the main part of the shop awkwardly looking over everything for the hundredth time, "What did I start this time?" he said quiet enough that only he could hear it.

The two girls walked back into the room smiling.

Asuna walked towards the door to the shop, "I'll see you later Lisbeth. Oh and Kirito, go ahead and spend a couple days off would you." she said with an uncharacteristic wink.

Lisbeth giggled a little and moved a little closer to Kirito, "I'll take care of him." she called as her friend left.

The boy next to her began to get really red faced, "Um so what did you guys talk about?" he asked.

She grinned, "Nothing that you need to know." she said and went to help the customer who had just came into her shop.

The guy looked like he was the leader of a guild, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He discussed a few things with Lisbeth before leaving again.

She sighed and started working on something.

Kirito leaned on the counter, "So what'd he want?" he asked hoping to get an actual answer this time.

She stopped what she was doing, "Some guy from the Army wanting a huge order of weapons." she answered.

He stood up, "Well if that's the case, I'm gonna go rent a room at an inn for the night." he told her and headed for the exit.

The next thing he knew, she was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips, "Oh no you don't." she said.

Kirito sighed, 'Well at least I tried.' he thought. to himself.

Yes I got this chapter to be longer than even I expected. Of course it's average for my stories, but I've been trying to break stuff up so I can update quicker. In fact I already know what the next chapter'll be like, but I won't be writing that until tomorrow or sometime during the week. I'm glad this chapter is less talk from me and more story so I'll just leave it at this. Have a great night everybody.

~Trevyler