Kirito stared off toward where Liz had went knowing that something was up. Asuna blinked as Liz ran off confused a worried look crossing her face.
Asuna frowned looking over at Kirito "is something wrong with her?" she asked.

Kirito glanced over at Asuna and then back toward the door Liz had run out of "give me just a second i'll be right back" he said putting his new sword away "watch over her shop for just a second" he called out walking up toward the stairs.

Asuna watched him nodded slightly "okay..."

Kiritos eyes moved from side to side scanning the area trying to find Liz. After a moment they lit up a greenish brown color and he scrunched them still unable to find where her tracks where. Sighing Kirito looked around "where did she go?" he muttered when he finally got another idea as he lanced up towards a large clock tower in the middle of town. Kirito darted around and up the edge of the tower latching on to it with his hands.
Climbing up he swung inside and glanced out around the town. He stopped once a small figure came into view off in the distance near a stream "there".

"why was I so stupid!" Liz muttered wiping a few tears from her eyes and shaking her head.

"Liz?" Kirito said stepping up toward where she was sitting at by the small stream. He frowned a bit as he looked toward her "are you okay?" he asked.

She flinched turning around and looking at him "oh me? yeah i'm fine!" she forced a laugh and a smile as she turned around to look at him. Liz blinked as she noticed that her act wasn't working by the look on Kiritos face.
Moving her eyes down toward the ground Liz shook her head "a few more minutes...a few more minutes is all I needed and I would have been back to my usual cheerful self" she said wiping her tears.

"thank you Liz"

Liz Beth looked up blinking some tears away "what?" she asked confused looking at him "for what?".

Kirito looked away for a moment and shrugged his shoulders "for helping me see that there was still a reason to keep going" he said thinking about it.

Liz Beth just stared at him with an odd expression not knowing what he was talking about.

"after some things had happened I was having a hard time finding reasons to keep going and honestly wasn't sure that I cared much if I died" he said truthfully.

A look of horror flashed on her face thinking about Kirito dying her fists balling up.

He turned his head to the side and looked at her with a smile "but after what happened with us when we fell down into that hole I was glad that we were alive" he said looking at her.
"so that made me see that there where still things that I could do and made me see that I still wanted to live" he said walking over to where she was sitting "so thank you Liz".

Liz Beth listened to him and wiped the tears away from her eyes nodding and standing up "I know what you mean!" she said crossing her hands over her chest "I was always looking for something real in this world something that could make it seem like it mattered"
she said truthfully "the way your hand felt and how warm it was was real! and it made me see that there were still things like that even in this world!" she said looking at him and then laughed looking down at the ground for a moment.
Liz Beth looked up spinning around facing the water with her back to him "it will take me a bit to get over it but" she shook her head turning around towards him making a face and elbowing him lightly "so you and Asuna huh?".

Kirito smiled lightly when he saw that Liz finally seemed to be feeling a bit better but then his eyes widened at her mention of Asuna throwing his hands up "Asuna wha...what about Asuna?" he asked.

Liz Beth rolled her eyes and laughed leaning over his shoulder "Oh you know what I mean" she laughed giggling a bit.

"Hey! guys! is everything alright?" Asuna called out from the store door off in the distance.

Kirito swallowed hard his face turning a bit red and then his head snapped back as Asuna called out "yeah! everythings fine! we'll be there in a second!" he called out. He looked at Liz shaking his head"I told you it's nothing" he huffed walking back towards the store.

Liz giggled covering her mouth and following behind him "yeah yeah sure it isn't".

Asuna looked at the two as they both walked back inside the store and tilted her head to the side noticing the odd looks on their face though she was happy to see that whatever had been bothering Liz had gotten better.
She smiled looking at them "what is it?" she asked.

Liz smirked about to say something but was then cut off by Kirito elbowing her in the side and falling over "guhhhh!".

Asunas eyes widened "Kirito!"

He laughed nervously rubbing his head "it's nothing i'll see you in a bit Asuna later Liz" he called out turning and walking out of the store.

Liz got up still smirking as he left.

Asuna just ignored it thinking the whole thing was weird and then looked at Liz Beth smiling "so where you able to repair the equipment Liz?" she asked politley.

"yup" she nodded with a smile and then the smirk returned to her face looking at her the ear ring flashing in her ear again "so Kirito huh?" she grinned.

Asuna blinked and then her whole face went red and she laughed wildly waving her hands "oh no no no! nothing like that" she said "he just needed me to cook a rare item for him because of my cooking level"

Liz made it a point to look at her ear ring again and laughed "yeah i'm sure that's all it is i'll catch ya later got some work to do" she said walking off.

Asuna frowned "Im serious!" she pouted and then shook her head "alright see ya Liz!" she called out. After she had her stuff settled Asuna headed back to the street to meet Kirito. She looked at him "so ready to go?" she asked.

Kirito snapped out of it having almost dozed off standing there and nodded "oh yeah sure" he said walking beside her down the street hands behind his head.

"here we are" she said with a light smile as she opened the door and they walked inside of her house.

Kirito blinked "wow this is some pad you got here Asuna" he said looking around "how much did this cost?"

Asuna smiled "around four million all togeather so let's get started!" she said bringing up her menu and switching into a different set of clothes than her normal gear.

Kirito nodded and then his eyes widened as Asunas clothes changed looking at her but quickly turned his head to the side swallowing. He tried to ignore how she looked and closed his eyes.
Asuna walked over placing her hand on her hip "so you not gonna take your coat off?" she asked getting the cooking equipment out from her menu.

He blinked "oh yeah sure" he said taking off his coat and stretching out his arms in the lighter black t shirt. He walked over toward where Asuna was standing as she cooked amazed by it all.
Asuna went through the motions easily with a smile and laughed "the cooking in SAO is very over simplified it's actually kind of boring compared to the real world" she said truthfully.
Kirito tilted his head to the side listening to her so she could cook well in the real world to?

After a few moments the food was done and Asuna smiled bending down and taking it out "I was thinking of making some side dishes to if that's okay" she said placing the roast she had made with the rare item on the counter.

Kirito nodded "yeah sure" he said almost drooling at the scent of the roast that she had just made.

Kirito sat at the table eagerly as she brought over the rest of the food and then they began eating.

"oh my..." Asuna muttered leaning back abit in her seat at the table all of the food groaned having eaten a ton but didn't mind because it was that good.
He took a sip from the water on the table "that was so good..." he hummed contently "I won't be able to move on the front lines though" he said

Asuna giggled but then became a bit more serious looking down at then looking at him "about that how long exactly do you plan on going solo anyway?" she asked.

Kirito blinked not expecting the question and looked at her "oh I don't know i've never really thought about not going solo period" he said truthfully not since what had happened.

Asuna looked at him "you can't honestly wanna stay solo all the time haven't you ever at least wanted to party up with someone?" she asked.

He shrugged "not really I mean usually if I would party up with someone they would just slow me down anyway" he said his eyes widening as like a flash Asuna pointed a knife at his face "uhhhh except for you of course..."
he clarified waving his hands.

"hmphhh..." she sat down looking at him "well then in that case how about we party up for a bit?" she asked with a laugh.

Kiritos eyes widen "well I mean as you know the front lines are prettyy..." he stopped being cut off again the knife at his face and let his head drop "ok sure" he said.

Asuna laughed "great!"

The two walked out on to the porch looking up at the dark night sky lit with stars. It looked pretty amazing in a way from he remembered it looked even better than the night sky in the real world.
He just looked up at it for a moment and then looked over at Asuna who also seemed to be looking at it "well thanks for the food Asuna" he said frowning ""to bad i'll never get another rare item like that again".

Asuna nodded with a grin and then shook her head looking at him with a smile "no you can make great food as long as you know how you don't have to have a rare item" she said.

He raised his eyebrows "great then" he laughed "i'll see you around then" he said knowing that they would since he had agreed to party up with her. He normally didn't like it but she was quite strong so it wouldn't be a problem.
Asuna smiled and nodded "yeah night!" she called out watching as he continued walking throwing his hand up and waving. She couldn't help but smile a bit and caught herself shaking her head.
She turned about to walk inside when she stopped.

Asuna looked around narrowing her eyes a bit "hello? is someone there?" she asked glancing around bit feeling like she was being watched but seen nothing. She shrugged walking back inside of her house.

Next Chapter~Chapter 12 Who To Trust Part [2]