A/N: Some OC action! Don't worry, he won't be too important, just helps with my motivation. Sorry for the long gap, and enjoy!

Ten - The Forest

October 17, 2024

"Ahh… It's a really nice day today," Kirito mused and clasped his hands behind his head, walking with Sinon in the luscious green forests of floor 74. They had spent the whole day clearing in the labyrinth that was the floor 74 dungeon.

"Idiot… You're saying that after you almost got killed three times?" Sinon joked.

"I had it all under control! There's no way I could've died." He playfully jabbed at Sinon's midsection in an attempt to tickle her.

"Pfft. That's because I was always covering you." Sinon retorted, after she had recovered from Kirito's attack.

"That's exactly why I stopped playing solo way back when…" Kirito trailed off. "Do you hear that?"

Sinon's ears perked up, in an attempt to figure out what Kirito was hearing. "Hear what?" She whispered, just in case it was dangerous. She looked at Kirito, and recognized the green glow of the tracking skill in his eyes.

"No way…" He muttered, and moved his fingers to draw two throwing picks from his belt. Taking one in his left hand and leaving one in his right hand, Kirito drew his arm back, activating the distract subskill. The throwing pick hit a tree, and from behind a fallen log nearby, jumped a small but plump lavender-white coloured animal. Kirito had predicted this, and another throwing pick was being sent to it's mark before the animal had hit the ground.

Sinon's eyes widened as the animal shattered, and the forest around them returned to silence, except for the two. She swore, she recognized that animal from a certain info broker's handbook… It looked kind of like a rabbit, but with long, flowing ears.

"Si-Sinon… Look at this!" Kirito stuttered, as he flicked the rewards window in front of him around for her to see.

"T-this is an S-class rare item!" She shrieked. "I can't believe your luck…" She added, under her breath.

"Yeah, looks like it's called 'Ragout Rabbit'. But there's no way I'd be able to cook it… My cooking skill is only like 200, so I'd probably just burn it if I tried." He mused, almost ignoring the blue-haired sniper at his side.

"Kirito~…" Sinon said cheerfully, in a sing-song voice.

"SINON!" He smacked his forehead. "What's your cooking level now?"

"Well," Sinon put a finger to her cheek innocently. "I maxed it out a while ago."

In an unexpected move, Kirito took Sinon's hands in his own. "Let me make you a deal, Sinon… If you cook it for me, I'll give you half?" He said, eyes hopeful.

"Sure." Sinon shrugged. "It's not like we live in the same house or anything…"

Kirito sat back and sighed. "That was really good… I guess it pays to level your cooking skill…"

Sinon sat back as well. "Of course it does, dummy. You still have to eat in this game, you know." She closed her eyes and sipped out of her teacup.

"Hey Sinon, what do you say we take a break from the front lines for a few days?" He asked.

"You know Heathcliff won't be happy about it."

"Screw Heathcliff, it's not like we're in his guild." Kirito shrugged.

"We're still gonna have to talk to him, you know."

Kirito sighed, knowing it wasn't going to be easy. "Yeah, I know. Let's do it tomorrow?" He asked, because Sinon still hadn't answered his original question.

"Yeah sure, a little free time doesn't sound bad at all. What could go wrong, right?"

Kirito gave a fake exasperated sigh. "Every time you say that, everything goes wrong…"

"But seriously! There's no way anything will go wrong this time. I promise." Sinon bantered, mostly to annoy the black swordsman.

"Just shut up…" Kirito muttered, jokingly. He got up from his seat and began to make his way down the hall. "Anyway, I'm going to get to sleep. It's getting late, and I'm gonna have to get ready to have that talk with Heathcliff… He's probably gonna ask me to do something crazy, like duel him, or join the Knights of the Blood again… Ha."

His voice receded as he stepped into his room and closed the door behind him. Sinon took the time to admire the home that the two owned. They had used up about half of their savings to buy a home on floor 61 - in the town of Selmburg. Sinon knew that Asuna lived there as well, but most high-level and rich players did. It was certainly the most luxurious floor the clearers had yet discovered. Having been to Asuna's house a few times, Sinon knew that most of the homes in Selmburg had much the same layout, with a large foyer and living room space, which was connected to the kitchen. A hallway leading out of the living room went to the bedrooms and bathrooms, of which there were 3 of each. The houses wouldn't be considered big nor small, but perhaps a word such as "cozy" would have been used. The interiors certainly had a welcoming ambient light, emitted from he virtual candles that lit the homes.

There are some days I can't even remember what it's like back there… Sinon pondered. It's like I was born here and raised here all my life. Of course, I met Kirito here as well… I'm not sure if I want to go back to the real world. She was sure other players felt like this too. Lately, the numbers of players fighting on the front lines had been dwindling, with people acclimating to life in this world, and some even enjoying it more than life in the real world. It was to be expected, though. After all, it was a game. Thinking about Kirito, however, she was once again confronted with her feelings for him… And what they were. She had struggled with her feelings for more than a year. Around six months in, however, she arrived at one stunning conclusion. One that she had been avoiding wherever possible, whenever possible. L-love? Am I in love with Kirito?

Sinon shook herself out of her thoughts and looked at the wall-mounted clock, which was one of traditional design. It read 10:39. It's getting late. Sinon thought to herself. I should get to sleep.

"And that's why we're requesting a leave of absence from the front lines. Sinon and Kirito currently stood in the Knights of the Blood Oath's headquarters, a large, sparsely decorated building with large windows, letting in equally large amounts of light. Over the long table in the middle of the room hung three red banners, presumably one for each position behind the table. On the right sat Asuna, and on the left, a player that Sinon didn't really know, but saw often enough in the boss fights to know that he was an STR/AGI player, just like Kirito. He was probably another subcommander of some sort. In the centre sat Heathcliff himself, the tank regarded as "The Paladin", because of his impenetrable defence. Nobody had ever seen his health drop into the yellow section.

"Hmm…" Heathcliff closed his eyes, presumably to think.

A masculine voice arose from the cloaked figure sitting to the left of the commander. "With all due respect sir, I've seen these two fight, and they are some of our best players! It would be insane to-"

"That's enough, Eclipse. Besides, you're more than capable of holding your own at this floor." Heathcliff interjected. Eclipse bit his lip, trying not to say anything else. "Have these two not done enough to deserve a break? Nothing has been happening recently, so I believe there is no harm done." He ruled. "You two may go."

Sinon could hear Kirito mutter a quiet "Yes!" as they turned to leave. However, before she left, she examined the player at Heathcliff's left. He wore a long flowing white coat, not unlike Kirito's own black one, with what she could only guess was a katana in his lap. His hair was short and black, and was styled in a way that made it look slightly messy, but you could tell it still had form to it. His irises almost matched the colour of his hair, and he had a vertical scar over one eyelid. That was all she could catch before she and Kirito descended the stairs.

"Whew! That was easier than I thought it'd be." Kirito sighed.

"Why? It's not like there's going to be a boss raid tomorrow…" Sinon muttered under her breath. "Speaking of boss raids… What do you think about that Eclipse guy, huh?" She asked.

"He's probably stronger than you think he is." Kirito's face became serious. "Even though he says we're the stronger players, don't sell him short. He uses this crazy katana technique that you probably don't see much because you're always at the back sniping, but I see it ever time we go to a boss raid. He keeps the katana in it's sheath until the last moment, then he unsheathes it and cuts in one fluid motion, then sheathes it again. Sometimes, he even uses its sheath to block. Weird, huh? I think he calls it… Iaijutsu?"

Sinon contemplated the idea. It sounded too weird to be true. Not unsheathing your sword until the last second? That's unheard of… It would rely on an unnatural level of calmness… And a high reaction speed.

Kirito continued. "And with a name like Eclipse… He must have been one of the earliest beta testers, to not have that name taken before he could sign up for it. I wonder why the K.O.B. recruited a beater?"

"Don't say that, Kirito. They invited you too, you just refused." Sinon pouted.

"Yeah, because it meant more time with you!" Kirito said, jokingly. Realizing what he had just said, he quickly covered it up by continuing, "Well, what do you want to do, hmm?"

"Well," Sinon seemed to have missed it, thankfully. "How about we visit floor 22 again? It's super nice out today, and it's probably only going to be better there." She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the teleport gate.

"Oh yeah! Good idea." Kirito always enjoyed a good nap on floor 22, which, he wouldn't admit to Sinon, was the main reason he kept letting her take him there.

"Wow!" Sinon breathed, before she had even fully materialized. The view from the teleport gate, which was situated on a hill overlooking the floor, was truly amazing. The trees were a healthy bright green, which perfectly complemented the glistening lake set in the middle of the floor. "I was right, wasn't I?" She said, as she stepped off of the platform, and began to walk along the boardwalk that lead to the main settlement of the floor.

"Sure you were." Kirito grumbled, not particularly pleased with Sinon's teasing. He also had the feeling he wouldn't be able to take a nap, though he couldn't exactly put his finger on why.

As they walked in the woods, Sinon and Kirito exchanged friendly banter, and teasing. "Hey Kirito, I can't help but notice that Argo seems to have been getting pretty close to you lately…" She said, with a sly grin.

"Maybe it's because I'm letting her." Kirito retorted, and Sinon could only bite her lip. Her playful jaunt had backfired. "Just kidding." He said, ruffling her hair.

"Hey!" Sinon ducked away, her hands going to her powdery-blue hair, to try and fix the damages done. This continued for quite some time, even after they passed the settlement, on their way to their favourite hillside.

"Shh!" Kirito said sharply, holding a finger to his lips.

Sinon continued laughing, recovering from Kirito's last joke. "Why, is it another Ragout Rabbit?"

"Seriously, Sinon!"

"Oh come on, I'm not detecting anything… And plus, there's nothing on floor 22 we can't take."

"Sinon!" He whispered more frantically. "Stop!"

"Oh, alright." She quieted down. "What is it?"

Suddenly, Kirito drew his sword and held it out in front of him, scanning for enemies. "Whoever it is, come out!"

Confused, Sinon started to draw her dagger, to be safe. Before it had exited the sheath however, her vision was suddenly filled with figures jumping out of bushes, from behind trees, and landing from above, all wearing tattered brown cloaks.

As fluttering cloaks and black gloves holding scythes and axes filled their vision, Kirito and Sinon pressed their backs to each other, covering the other's vulnerabilities, and bolstering their strengths.

"It's been a while, Kirito! But we're back for you!" A voice cackled.

As the large group of cloaked players surrounded them, only one thought ran through Kirito's mind. Laughing Coffin!

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, here's the chapter! I didn't have much motivation for this chapter until today, so that's when I wrote it! Also, I proofread it myself, because I just wanted to see what I needed to improve upon and watch for in the future, so that Crimiduck has less to do. And thank you to Reaper for the idea. He didn't directly present it, but really helped with the formation of it. Also, an OC, named Eclipse! Score 1 for cool name. Haha, in all seriousness though, I kind of want to model him after me, (I even took an online quiz to determine my sword style,) I'm not going to lie about that. He just brings back a lot of the original motivation I had in writing this story. Don't worry, he's not going to be too OP or canon-breaking or anything like that. I think we're getting near the end of the story; I doubt it's even going to be 20 chapters long. I just want to start that new spec ops concept! Anyway, that should be all this time, let's hope my next update doesn't take so long!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman