Hello everyone! Welcome back to the crazy and beloved story everyone wants more of XD!
Sorry for the delay this chapter had compared to the previous one, btw. If you follow my other fic, OPG:CoF, you will already know, but if not I would like to point you to at least the pre-chapter AN's of the latest chapter, just so you know the reason and to not rewrite it all here.
But well, more Eroge is here everyone, and you all certainly have been eager for it, eh? Why, we almost broke the 800 reviews mark with the last chapter! You guys are great :3!
Well then, without more distractions, I leave you all with the chapter! Enjoy more madness, weirdness and girl-related shenanigans filling 'poor' Kirito's life :P
And as always, remember that help with this story's TvTropes' page is greatly appreciated!
Disclaimer: Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.
Scene 11: Everyday Life with Super Waifus
November 16th, 2024. Aincrad, Floor 76. Somewhere in the Fields, 10:00…
"…okay, this area is big enough and there are no monsters around anymore. Ready to practice, Sinon?"
"I am…even if you're just using me as an excuse to get away from the mess you made with your girlfriends."
Kirito could still remember a time when he would have overreacted embarrassedly or, at least, felt as if he had to resist the urge to groan at Sinon's words
As it was, though? He just gave the scantily-clad girl a deadpan stare. The 'joys' of having such stupidly high 'Dating Stats', as much a blessing as they sometimes could be a 'curse', as he had been reminded of lately.
"For the last time, I'm not. The girls purposefully asked me if I could help you out with this. You yourself saw Argo do it." nonchalantly replied the gamer while walking a few meters away from her.
Of course, he hadn't really needed his sudden prompt of 3 Choices to know that it was just an excuse from the Info Broker (And probably several of the others) to have a talk with Su…Leafa, without him around.
Then again, given that his adoptive sister had basically jumped screaming 'I DO!' and tried to kiss his soul out of his body last night after his 'declaration', maybe that wasn't too surprising.
He was pretty sure the girls weren't having a sudden jealous outburst, even if they no doubt were a bit jealous. After all, compared with all of them, the blonde 'mechanic angel' was the first time he himself had actively expressed his feelings to someone else. And he hadn't exactly been subtle about it, even if seeing how Leafa's suffering expression had melted into the happiest he had ever seen her since their night together in the festival, before this whole mess started, made him feel it was more than worth it.
Thing is, the resulting debacle had ended up with the girls being eerily silent about the whole thing, even if every other player around had been going crazy about 'The Ladies Man Swordsman taking another one' or how 'Not even the mysterious magical newcomers are safe from him!' and even more worrying ones like 'Teach me, Master!' (Which he was pretty sure had been Klein…again). Well, apart from Kizmel, who had just pouted, walked to him, looking from him to the ecstatic form of the fairy in his arms and then smiled weirdly while nodding his way, then walked upstairs.
Kirito was pretty sure he should be a bit more worried deciphering that, but between calming Leafa down from a happiness high so big anyone would have thought she had an actual wedding ceremony with all luxuries included (And, he was pretty sure, indirectly convincing her it probably wasn't a good idea to had a 'wedding night' right away, the girl looking quite eager after having suddenly gained like 50 Affection Points in one go) and trying to calm down a happy Yui celebrating having 'a new mama' (Where had she been anyway? He was pretty sure she had wandered off at some point, but then a weirdly-smiling Strea had brought her back…), it had gone a bit low in his list of priorities.
Hence, when he had seen Argo's clear attempt to have a 'girl talk' with his adopted sister/cousin, he had decided the best course of action was staying aside for now. It wasn't really 'running away', because he was more than ready to confront whatever happened later, something that the Info Broker's eyes had made very clear would happen, and it was also something they needed, so…
Right now, he would focus only on helping out the amnesiac girl with the outrageous powers…even if he didn't understand them that well himself.
"…Argo should have been the one that came to help with this, now that I think about it…"
"What? Getting cold feet now, Ladies Man Swordsman?" snarked the dark-haired girl with a mocking smile, before blinking in confusion and touching the side of her head with a small wince.
Where had that come from…?
"No, because I'm sure she knows the series your 'power' originates from better than me, and she apparently had spent a long time without thinking about it given she spent ten minutes cursing herself for not noticing how 'familiar' your outfit was." replied the black-haired boy with a small shrug. "All I'm sure is that you should be able to do a lot of crazy awesome stuff that involves spawning a lot of swords…don't you, you know, have anything suddenly popping up in your head that tells you how to do that, by any chance?"
"…no, I'm pretty sure I would have told you so if I did." flatly replied Sinon with a small scowl.
"Well then…does the name Archer ring any bells on you?" probed the gamer while unsheathing his blades, Elder Emperor and the 'spare' sword he had picked up until he found a proper replacement for Elucidator gleaming under the sun.
"Archer? A bowman…?" mumbled the scantily-clad girl, frowning for a moment at the English word before wincing again, that weird and static-like pain having come back once more…
The lonely little girl walked home from school, keeping her head down, feeling the whispers and the stares, people judging her for a sin she hadn't been able to control…
What. Is. Wrong….?
A Hill of Swords, a man betrayed by his Ideals standing on it, his body impaled by countless weapons, a smile on his face even in death…
-[Medicuboid Failure. Patient Mental-waves mixing with Foreign Data-waves…]-
"…Sinon?"
"That's my Class." automatically answered Sinon, much to her and the boy's shock, before shaking her head. "Ugh…okay, you may be onto something there, I suddenly felt something weird in my head and then I said that…do you think this is somehow related to my missing memories?
"Maybe, maybe not…guess there is just one way to find out." declared Kirito as he adopted a loose stance, the 'archer' raising an eyebrow as he did so. "Come. You said you were pretty good with those magic-swords of yours despite having no memory of ever using anything like them, right? Let's see how you stack against a true Dual Wielder."
Seeing the change on the confused girl's face made the gamer smile internally. Trust in his stupid powers to let him know what exactly a girl needed to get her head out of a funk, even if it was a kind of girl he had never dealt with before.
"…I will proceed to enjoy making you eat those words now." answered Sinon with an amused grin before she extended her hands, Kanshou and Bakuya materializing on them with little more than a thought. "Get ready to know defeat, you playboy!"
"As the girls have told you the several times you have asked when you think I'm not watching, it's not like that!" retorted the boy with a victorious smirk.
The girl's unintelligible scream and burning face were the answer he had been hoping for. As crazy as many would think he was for such a thing.
Then, he was being forced to block a surprisingly fast and deadly onslaught of stabs and slashes and he left that move to the back of his mind, letting the small part of himself that enjoyed something not-directly-female related these days, that of the half-forgotten 'warrior', to take the wheel, grinning as he parried and counterattacked every strike from the scantily-clad girl.
It's been quite some time since he had been able to 'cut loose' like this. Not since the 'fight' against the 75th Floor Boss and Heathcliff. And both of those weren't exactly relaxed matters.
That's not to say he preferred fighting over spending time with the girls, he would have been worried his brain had been rewired like some battle-manic anime character if he actually felt that way, but it was still quite a nice and exhilarating way to unwind. Plus, it let him glean a lot of things.
Sinon's weapons were way shorter than his own, but the girl somehow made up for his advantage in range in a way he couldn't really decipher. Also, she was terrifyingly fast with them; the clash of weapons, while having her clearly on the defensive, was actually very challenging for Kirito, and, for some reason, he found each and every one of his strikes blocked as if the 'Archer' somehow knew they were coming before he hit her.
Not to mention how her face had melted into a look of terrifyingly sharp concentration, her focus fully centered on their clashing blades, to a level he had only seen in fellow Front Liners before. Certainly not fitting for a girl that supposedly had been living a normal life until before getting trapped in SAO.
Eventually, though, something had to give in…and it was with just slight surprise that Kirito found his next swing shattering both married blades, polygons scattering everywhere as Sinon looked on in shock, the black-haired boy already stopping his following swing…
…and then both blades were on her hands again, the gamer's eyes widening as he forced himself to carry on his attack at the last second, barely avoiding giving the girl an opening that would have meant his loss.
"…cool."
With that idle thought on his mind, the boy's face turned into a fierce smile, the clash of swords continuing even as his opponent clearly grew frustrated, a hint of anger slipping through the mask of concentration her face had been until that moment. Her movements started getting wilder, sloppier, and Kirito found himself starting to gain ground, forcing her to step back with every hit.
He still couldn't land a single clean one, though, as the scantily-clad girl continued blocking all his swings with something akin to precognition, though for some unknown reason that was starting to particularly bother the black-haired boy…
Kanshou and Bakuya broke again. Undeterred, Sinon made them appear in her hands again. Blinking at that, the gamer got an idea and decided to test it out, aiming their next exchange of blow just right enough so that the swords flew from her hands.
Growling, the archer summoned a new pair without missing a beat, clearly not noticing exactly WHAT she had just done even as Kirito smiled again.
Ten minutes later, the black-haired boy sent yet another pair of blades flying from Sinon's hands, before making a clear gesture with his blades as she looked about to continue.
"Stop! That's enough, Sinon."
"Wha-what?! Bu-but I'm not done! I can still fi…!"
"The point of this wasn't so one of us could win a fight against the other, remember? It was to test out what you could do…and I think we have managed that." smiled the gamer as he sheathed his blades.
"Eh? What do you mean?" asked the scantily-clad girl with clear confusion.
"Look behind you."
Almost reticently at first, the archer did so…and found herself speechless, blinking several times as if to confirm what she was seeing.
On the ground, all around them, several pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya lay scattered, a pair of the married blades having even embedded themselves blade-first on the ground. Curiously, though, all the pairs seemed to have fallen surprisingly close to each other, so much that they were touching.
"I…what…eh?"
"So, we know that you can actually spawn those blades. That's a start…even if I have no idea how to go on from here." confessed Kirito as he walked until he stood beside the dumbfounded Sinon.
"Yeah, same here…what good is having all these swords for, anyway? It's not as if I can actually wield more than two…" grumbled the girl while looking at the several blades with a scowl.
"Well, you could try…throwing them?"
"Throwing them?! That's stupid, who throws their own…?!" slowly falling silent, the archer recalled what she accidentally did yesterday to help Strea, and how surprisingly useful had been until she found herself weaponless. "…oh."
"I'm guessing you figured something out? I may have a bit of a bad memory regarding where your powers come from, but I remember the guy who had them threw swords a lot, like projectiles." pointed out the black-haired boy before scratching his chin. "Obviously, he also had a bow, but…"
"A…bow…?" whispered Sinon while her hands twitched, the image of a man with a black bow standing atop a building filling her mind, a name being whispered before an arrow of raw power flew true and obliterated…
"…okay, you actually made the bow. Good job." the gamer's compliment snapped the scantily-clad girl from her trance, looking down at her left hand to see the sleek-looking black bow she now held. "But I'm judging from that look that you have no idea how you did it, right…?"
"N-no…what the hell is this 'power' about?" whispered the Archer while raising the weapon, then slowly, almost subconsciously, adopting a stance with it. "…I…I know how to use this thing. And it feels…right in my hands, in a way even the swords didn't…"
"That's…good? At least I hope so, it may also trigger your memories some…what the hell?!" suddenly shouted Kirito upon seeing a perfect copy of his spare blade appearing on Sinon's empty hand. "That's my…! How did you do that?"
"I…don't know, it just feels…" as she whispered those words, the girl notched the blade on her bow, just idly aware of how it changed shape, turning longer and thinner, taking a much more streamlined form. "…right."
Without hesitation, the archer let the 'arrow' loose, the black-haired boy staring in shock as it soared through the air at vertiginous speeds and killed what he was pretty sure had been a bird whose only purpose was to make the background scenery look more real.
And that had been more than 500 meters away.
Before he could even voice his surprise, Sinon had made another sword-arrow appear, this time easily skipping the whole process by materializing it directly in arrow form and simply shooting it right away. Then, without waiting for even a second, she did it again. And again. And again.
Something within the gamer broke almost despairingly at seeing the now gleeful-looking girl letting arrows loose as if she was a living machine gun, the projectiles whistling through the air as if they were bullets.
Why did everyone have to get awesome bullshit powers except him?!
"Amazing…this is…amazing!" shouted the archer as she slowly stopped her random barrage. "All this power…I feel so strong with it! It's great!"
"That's…good." mumbled Kirito while trying to not sound as gloomy as he felt. "Still…what would you even need that much power for in the first place?"
"What?! Are you seriously asking that?!" turning around, Sinon scowled towards the black-haired boy. "That's more than obvious! Being this strong is for…!"
Overcoming my fears.
To Save Everyone.
"…helping you all get out of here safe and sound!" finished the girl as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, ignoring the strange wince that she felt when she did so.
"…oh. So-sorry, you're right about that, Sinon…I just didn't peg you for someone that would be so blunt about something like that." Awkwardly replied the gamer while looking away.
"Isn't it obvious, though? After all…there is nothing wrong in wanting to help people." spoke the archer while wondering why those words felt weirdly odd coming out of her mouth. "…and…thanks, I guess. For this…helping me figure things out and all that."
"You're welcome…but, as I told you before, it's nothing. I'm actually glad I could help you out, if not as much as we could have hoped…" looking up, Kirito seemed to think of something for a moment, before dismissing his gloomy thoughts and smiling as he extended out his hand. "I hope we can work together well to get back home from now on, Sinon."
"…yeah…same here." muttered Sinon with a hint of awkwardness as she reached out and shook the boy's hand, a small smile appearing on her face. "Don't expect me to fall for you like everyone else, though, playboy!"
[Shino Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Asada Shino!]
[Your current status with Shino has changed to 'Interesting Partner'!]
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement: 'Melting an Icy Heart'! You gain +3 in Wisdom!]
Once again, the boy thanked his Stats for the fact he didn't even react at the sudden notifications, especially at the ironic moment in which they had shown up.
"Likewise, don't go falling for me just from this." 'joked' back the gamer as if by instinct, even as his brain tried to reboot at how randomly his power had decided to start working on the scantily-clad girl. "A cute girl like you can probably do a lot better than a 'playboy' like me!"
[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Shino!]
This time, Kirito had to actively suppress his need to break the handshake just to facepalm, Stats overpowered by his sheer frustration even as the archer blushed prettily and mumbled something as an excuse for them to hurry back to town. Once upon a time, he would have blissfully missed all of those details, but it was kind of hard to do when you had a literal pop-up window telling you that in your face.
"Seriously, Dating Sim powers?! Isn't like 7 girls enough?! I was already used to the madness and actually happy with it! Is it because I purposefully sought out Sugu yesterday?! Is this your idea of 'punishment'?!" mentally screamed the black-haired boy as he followed after Sinon, his eyes idly fixed on the movement of the girl's hips and how well her clothes fit tightly on her bu…
Holy shit, he was really becoming a pervert without realizing it!
Ignorant of the gamer's inner turmoil, the figure that had been spying on him and the scantily-clad girl peeked out from behind one of the few nearby trees around the clearing they used to practice, red eyes narrowed slightly in confusion as she made a cute tilt with her head.
"I don't get it…I mean, sure, he's cute, and nice, and amazing, but still…all that I know about human interaction says that shouldn't be enough to make so many girls not only fall for him but get along with the idea of sharing him…and let others keep being attracted to him despite knowing that." mumbled Strea while adjusting her Hunter's hat, an adorably puzzled look, which looked quite out of place on her mature body, adorning her face. "And not only does it seem to work on specific girls too, he honestly looks as if he's not doing it on purpose…what's your secret, Kirito?"
True, the beautiful AI may no longer be a Mental Health Care Program (And given the utter mess of corruption that was her base code now she was pretty sure no sane person would allow her to ever be someone's psychologist even if she tried), but the bits she could still recall from her original programming that hadn't been overridden by her 'Hunter-self' still let her deduce that much. And given that she needed to get close to the mysterious boy if she was to keep an eye on whatever the hell was wrong with her 'big sister', not knowing what she was 'facing' was quite troublesome.
After all, whatever was behind the mystery of Kirito wasn't something she could just swing her Saw Cleaver at and hope for the best…she was pretty sure.
"…that's something I'm wondering too, honestly. Kirito-kun truly is amazing in that regard, but very frustrating to deduce…"
"Yeah, I guess that's one way to pu…uh?"
Blinking, both the Hunter and the girl of long gray-brown (That had been hiding behind the tree just beside Strea's), who was dressed as a maid for some reason, stared at each other, one with confused curiosity and the other frozen in the midst of taking some more notes, looking like a deer caught in the highlights.
"…hi there."
"Priv…I mean, hi…"
"…nice clothes."
"The-they are for a Qu-quest…"
"Oh…I won't tell I saw you if you do the same!"
"Realy?! Spasiba! You're great! Later!"
Blinking at the one clearly not-Japanese word she could identify among the girl's rushed words, Strea saw the 'maid' running away as fast as she could…while taking even more notes. Then, the AI shrugged and decided she should probably center in simply trying to actively get closer to Kirito instead of trying to decipher a mystery that clearly was out of her understanding.
Still…man, that girl was good. She thought she was good at the whole stalking deal, but she hadn't even felt the girl close by until she spoke…
Asuna's eyes were unusually sharp as she shot forward in one of her trademark Linears, the mob dying horribly. Like every single one around them was doing, really.
Sighing, the second in command of Unison Heart turned around, seeing the other girls making short work of the insect-like enemies that apparently filled Floor 77. Really, she knew she should be grateful and actually feel excited things were so easy for them, for the sake of their way to freedom, but…
"…I don't get it…what exactly do I have to prove here?" asked Leafa while standing near the edge of the battle, using average armor and swinging a katana they had borrowed from Fuurinkazan.
Any enemy stupid enough to try and blindside her ended up horribly dead anyway, what the busty blonde lacked in stupidly broken power without her armor being supplied with a skill so incredible that it actually made the chestnut-haired girl shudder.
Sure, she was pretty sure she was along the same lines or better…but that was only because she had spent 2 years fighting for her life within Sword Art Online.
All the skill of the one called 'Leafa' was 'real', born from years of training with a sword in her hands, with an utmost dedication that was more than praiseworthy if what Kirito had told them about his adoptive sister was accurate.
While she learned how to act as a model girl in high society, Kirigaya Suguha was sweating while swinging a wooden blade every morning, out of nothing but her own dedication.
Sure, that didn't make Sugu 'better' than her at all, and she was also pretty sure the younger girl didn't think along those lines at all, but…it still frustrated her.
Because it was all just one of the many pointless arguments her mind had come up with to try and justify her stupid jealousy. And she was pretty sure most of the other girls were in a similar situation.
It really didn't make sense, really. After all, they already had been more than okay with their 'bizarre' agreement sharing the love of the boy they all so dearly loved. Hell, they had even been rolling with it as if it was the most normal thing in the world lately. And they had all been explained the whole situation about Leafa's feelings and how they had, most likely, come to be by Kirito himself…
But there was no changing the fact that they had all felt rather jealous of seeing HIM asking her to 'marry him'. Which was silly, because they had all actually 'married' together, with a big ceremony and everything, with a queen as the one 'bonding' them and…argh!
Why must feelings be so damn complicated?! If they could be solved as easily as these mobs die, their lives wouldn't be so damn complicated!
"We just want to see you in action without your fancy armor and toys, girlie. So, keep swinging for a bit more." declared Argo from where she stood near the puzzled Leafa, nonchalantly murdering the giant spider trying to sneak up on her with a swing of her right psi-blade.
Those things were stupidly broken too…
"…you're very good, Leafa-san." commented Sachi with a kind tone even as she spun around and crushed the dog-sized crickets that had been trying to tackle her from a blind spot. Literally, as Night Kitty seemed to enjoy turning the insects into virtual paste.
In fact, few of them remembered when was the last time the spear-user had actually hit something with her weapon…
"Yes, just as Sachi says." smiled Kizmel with something akin to…pride? "Even without your magical armor, you truly show you have the heart of a warrior."
"Thanks, I try my best!" smiled the fairy while lowering her borrowed blade, turning around to look at the Dark Elf. "A lot of it is not that useful here in SAO, especially compared to ALO, but kendo has always been what…"
Virtual reality was violently rent open just behind her, accompanied by an animalistic scream as corrupted data bled out and something clawed its way out. A terrifying parody of monstrous madness, something that seemed to like an oversized werewolf with twisted antlers, its flesh seething with corruption that seemed to twist into a mane of spines-like hair from its whole back.
'Cl€r|c+B€ $t' appeared for name above it.
The girls barely had time for their eyes to widen in horror. Kizmel started to unsheathe her scimitar, shouting a warning. Argo started to move, mouth opening to scream. Sachi raised her arm, sending forward the invisible guardian only she could perceive. Asuna shot forward, already halfway to her beloved's adoptive sister, horror filling her gaze.
Leafa couldn't even fully turn before the corrupted monster's jaws clamped around her midsection and split her in half, her body violently shattering into polygons a second later…
…and then she was blinking and back at looking at Kizmel as she started answering her praise, eyes wide with horror as she spun around, to everyone's confusion, and slashed upwards.
This time, everyone was frozen in shock as then beast of corrupted data emerged, only to find its face slamming into the blonde fairy's blade, recoiling and rolling in apparent pain.
Then, the girl's hand blurred through her menu as she threw her katana away and jumped forward, the Gundanium alloy armor materializing as her wings lashed outwards to intercept the terrifyingly fast creature's sudden counterattack.
Night Kitty slammed into the beast with a shout of Sachi, making it fall on its side, even as Kizmel and Asuna tore through its sides with their blades.
Finally, Argo jumped on its downed back, slashing away with her psi-blades even as Leafa screamed and started shooting almost point-blank with her chest-mounted weapons.
It didn't even take a minute for the virtual abomination to die, but even then the blonde fairy kept shooting for a few seconds more before falling to her knees, gasping for breath. If this wasn't virtual reality, she would probably be covered in cold sweat.
"Leafa-chi! You okay?!"
"Leafa-chan! Talk to us!"
"Dammit, did the thing get her with that first hit?!"
"I-I can ask Night Kitty to…!"
"I'm fine! I'm…just fine…" stopped them the mechanical angel as she came to her feet with a small sigh, given them a shaky smile. "Just…I think I saw that thing killing me for a second a-and it kind of rattled me a bit…"
Everyone blinked, staring at the girl with confusion/disbelief, as if unsure of how to take her declaration.
"You…saw it killing you?" mumbled Asuna with horrified curiosity.
"Yes…and I think I know why." mumbled Leafa while looking at the edge of her HUD, finally reading the blinking red English characters that could be seen there.
'Zoning & Emotional Range Omitted System Engaged' they read.
"…wait…are you shitting me?" mumbled Argo while looking at her as if she suddenly was the most fascinating thing in the Universe. "ZERO System? Really?"
"I mean…I am wearing an armor based in the Wing Zero…so…" muttered the busty blonde while fidgeting in place, looking away. "Is it even possible for such a thing to be reproduced by virtual reality?"
Honestly, the Info Broker deeply wanted to say no, but given everything that Cardinal had been showing them lately and how, theoretically, producing hypothetical predictions of a limited combat scenario and slamming them directly into a player's brain through the Nerve Gear shouldn't be impossible.
Nevermind the side-effect of maybe going crazy by accidentally losing your grip of reality through said simulations.
Ugh, why does their life have to be so complicated? In the end, the Rat opted for turning off her psi-blades, walking to the 'angel's side and, much to her shock, hugging her.
"…I'm sorry."
"A-Argo-san…?"
"For being a jealous idiot. This whole 'testing you without the armor'-thing…we were just trying to see the kind of girl you were despite how unfair that was, really." explained Argo without breaking the hug. "I mean…when Kii-bou asked that to you yesterday, well…we all may have been a bit…"
"Jealous? But…why? I mean…Onii-chan loves all of you, with all his heart." the way in which she so calmly said so startled the Info Broker and every other girl around, who looked at Leafa in shock. "I saw it the other night when he told me about everything. The way in which he spoke about you, how his eyes lit up, how he was smiling almost without realizing it…it made me feel jealous because even at our closest moments he was never that happy with me."
"Leafa-chan…" muttered Asuna upon seeing the girl's sad smile.
"…heh, this girl…" smiled Kizmel as if in understanding.
"That's why…despite wanting to fight for a place in his heart too, I felt so…small. A-and when he asked me…that yesterday, I felt SO happy…" hugging the Rat back, the blonde fairy's smile suddenly turned much warmer. "Happy that he would give me the chance to feel as loved as you all do…to prove that I really love him…and that a part of him feels strongly enough about me to give me such a chance. So…don't feel jealous of me, okay? Otherwise, we're all going to be feeling silly the whole day."
"…gods, you really are his 'little sister', aren't you? Both of you have that weird way with words that just makes you feel better all of a sudden." chuckled Argo before finally letting go of the other girl. "Okay then, tell you what, why don't we go back and get something nice as a snack before lunch? My treat!"
"Heh, that sounds nice!" giggled the mechanical angel before her wings flared to life. "First one back at Arc Sophia gets a kiss from Onii-chan!"
"Wait, wha…?"
And that was as far as the Info Broker went before she was left all but eating dust, Leafa's form vanishing in the distance in the way straight towards the Floor's main town, and its Teleport Gate.
"…heh, I was right, the girl has a pure heart, a warrior's soul…and is quite sly when it comes to love. Kirito truly knows how to pick them." cheerfully commented Kizmel while Argo and Asuna were still staring in the direction the busty blonde had flown to.
"Kii-chan, please, don't…uh? Wait a minute, where is Sacchin?"
"Huh?! Yo-you're right, she's go…!"
"She made her guardian spirit hang from Leafa-chan's leg and drag her away the moment she mentioned Kirito and kiss in the same sentence. She's also quite sly despite her meek personality…oh well, not that it matters much. A kiss is a small thing to forego with what I plan on getting later…"
"…oh."
"…Argo, what did she mean by that? Why are you looking so calm?!…Kizmel! Come back, tell me what you meant by that!"
Even as she stared at the chestnut-haired girl running and demanding answers from the nonchalantly smiling Dark Elf, Argo couldn't help but let out another chuckle.
Truly, their lives may be just one crazy mess after another, but she wouldn't change them for anything in the world.
And talking about that, hmm…would Liz and the others have finished with the little 'task' the blacksmith had finally gotten ready to do?
CLANK! CLANK!
The sound of a hammer hitting something over an anvil filled the small workshop within the dubbed 'market street' of Arc Sophia.
A look of utmost concentration in her face, Lisbeth hammered on, somehow making everyone that saw her, like every time she worked, wonder how she managed to make a process, that should be simply an average part of the System, look like a true work in which one poured their heart and soul.
Watching silently, Silica, Lux, and Yuna stood half-mesmerized. Outside, the sounds of Pina snoring just beside the new Lisbeth's Smith Shop could be heard.
"…Liz-san is truly amazing when doing things like these, eh?" commented the youngest girl present with a smile.
"Ye-yeah, she is. That look in her face…it reminds me of how I devote myself when singing." mumbled the songstress with a small nod, her gaze moving to her small lute, idly caressing the instrument but not playing it. "Do you think it's actually possible to pour a part of you on the things the virtual world reproduces…?"
"Oh, it's certainly possible. After all, we get proof of that every day, when we're all together." laughed the calmest of the group while scratching the back of her head. "…seriously, though, I know we offered to help out Liz with this, but let's not avoid the elephant in the room…what do you think of Leafa?"
"…I mean, she doesn't seem like a bad girl, but…kuh…can you blame us for being a bit jealous?" pouted Yuna while looking away. "Seeing Kirito asking her that…do you know how many times I dreamed Knight-sama doing the same before knowing…? Ah…I said that out loud, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did, but none of us will judge you for it, Yuna-san." kindly offered Silica before biting her lips. "And I agree on that. I do feel a bit jealous, but she's not a bad person, and she clearly loves Kirito-san a lot…I don't like how overly busty she made her Avatar, though…she gave herself bigger breasts than you, Lux!"
"Ahahahahah, uhm, that's…quite a curious complaint." laughed the clumsy girl while resisting the urge to pat her own chest by reflex. "But well, you can't blame a teenager for playing around with the ability to look like she wants, right? I mean, can any of you remember their original Avatars before Kayaba 'returned' our original looks?"
All three girls fell silent at that, actually thinking back on a time that seemed like a lifetime ago, Silica blushing intensely while Yuna made a resigned look and Lux chuckled again.
"…yeah, Silica, don't blame the poor girl. Maybe she's as little as you in real life!" chuckled Lisbeth as she walked amongst her friends, startling the girls by having apparently finished while they talked. "And yeah, being jealous is normal, but hey, we're already sharing our dear, brave, and a bit stupid boyfriend between all of us, so what's one more honest girl in the family?"
"…Liz-san, I love you, but if you keep making jokes about my chest I will sick Pina on you again…"
"…ahahahah, good one, Silica! I almost fell for it!"
"Uhm…Liz…? I don't think she was joking, she has that same scary smile she puts on when she talks about horribly savage things…"
"Heheh, I think that's part of Silica-chan's charm, though!"
"Why, thank you, Lux-san! You truly get me and my…!"
"Hello? Is anyone…? Oh, Lux, Silica, Yuna, talk about a nice surprise!" spoke Kirito while entering the workshop, his puzzled look turning into a bright smile that made the girls hearts skip a beat. "When Liz messaged me and told me to come she didn't mention you were all here!"
"Well, I wanted to surprise you, handsome." grinned the pink-haired girl while walking past their still surprised friends and looking with a raised eyebrow at his lack of company. "Huh? Weren't you out training with that Sinon girl?"
"Yeah, but she kind of wandered off after we split-up upon getting back to the city. She was mumbling something about wanting to try out cooking to relax and heroes of Justice, but I think she was mostly talking to herself, so I tried not to pry." shrugged the black-haired boy before looking curiously at his blacksmith 'wife'. "What did you want to show me, though? Even through a message, I could feel you were quite excited…"
The excited/happy/mischievous smiles appearing on all four girls present were already a sign for the gamer that something quite special had taken place. When Lisbeth suddenly whipped out something from her inventory and proudly held it out for him, though, he felt his breath hitching, his hand reaching out almost subconsciously, staring with wide eyes at the object.
Suddenly, looking at the all-new-looking silver helmet, he felt as if a piece of himself that had been lost for some time without him even realizing had suddenly come back.
[Title 'Nameless Knight' has been restored!]
…thanks for the extra-obviousness, powers.
"It's finally done. You really made a mess out if the whole armor when fighting Kayaba, and having lost my old place, plus having to get this new one and everything…well, yeah, that's why it took so long." pouted the pink-haired girl with clear annoyance at all the problems she had before she could get blacksmithing again. "But hey, now we can all 'rest easy' knowing Aincrad's very own 'hero' is back in busi…!"
The blacksmith, of course, had already kissed Kirito quite a few times, like every other girl in their weird 'family'. However, this time, as he reached out to her and caught her lips with his, the black-haired boy didn't hold back in the slightest and let the full power of his stupidly high Dating Stats pour out through the intimate gesture, making her eyes widen as she let go of the once-Elven helmet and her knees turned to jelly.
"Liz, you're the best and I love you so much." grinned the gamer as he let go of Lisbeth. "You don't know how much…uh?! Liz?!"
Kirito's alarmed shout was quite understandable, though, given the girl had fallen limp with a silly smile and a bit of drool coming from her lips. Despite the fact that it shouldn't be possible to faint within virtual reality, once again, it seemed someone had found a way to do so before his eyes.
"…I can't…blame her…" mumbled Yuna with a small whimper, barely fighting the need of rushing out and demanding a mind-shattering kiss of her own. She was a mature girl, after all!
Lux and Silica suddenly hanging from the boy's arms, almost making him drop the blacksmith, though, told her that she was the only one doing so.
"Ki-Ki-Kirito-san, I-I helped to collect the materials! Ca-can I get a kiss like that too…?"
"Liz looked so happy before going limp…ca-can I taste that bliss too, Kirito…?"
"Wha-wha…?! Gi-girls, calm down, I think we should worry more about getting Liz help in case she's hurt or something! Yu-Yuna, help me making see them reas…! Yuna?"
Finally deciding that she didn't really care about maturity anymore, the smiling songstress calmly put her lute away. Then, she also jumped the gamer, finally toppling him and the other 3 to the ground.
Later, when a red-faced Kirito messaged Argo asking her to come help him bring the others back to the Inn, he would receive a very demanding question in return, which he refrained from answering through messages.
It would become kinda-obvious when they saw the half-conscious girls with silly smiles sprawled on the workshop's floor, after all.
[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroines Hiyori, Keiko, Rika, and Yuuna!]
[Congratulations! Through a specific enthusiastic action, the Skill 'Kissing' has been Unlocked!]
[Kissing] (Active Skill): You can 'Power-up' your kisses with your Stats when kissing one of your Heroines. You're so good at it that you can even send their consciousness flying away with pleasure! (Offers only a passive boost against non-Heroines, making you an 'experienced kisser' at best).
…these powers were actually aiming to either make him go insane or turn him into a hopeless pervert before Aincrad was cleared, right?
Running through the long bridge that connected the 'Sea of Trees Zone' of the Hollow Area with the one called 'Floating Ruins Zone', Philia's armored form cursed as a giant rock was hot on her heels, threatening to crush her like a cheap pancake. Except that there won't be any pancake-like girl left if it caught her, because she would simply shatter into polygons and die.
Honestly, this was entirely her fault. After all, Kirito himself had told her that it would be best to wait in the Control Room, where she was safe, until he came back. Of course, the implication that he couldn't exactly come back right away or spent longer with her was clear, but the orange-haired girl knew it couldn't be helped: The black-haired boy was not only a Front-Liner, but also arguably the best player of the game after Heathcliff himself.
Well…technically the best one now that it had been revealed that the Paladin had apparently been Kayaba Akihiko in disguise all along. That had been quite a shock to hear, really, even after Argo corroborated the gamer's story.
In the end, the point was that Kirito was much more needed back in Aincrad than he was there, and she couldn't blame her for it. After all, the fate of everyone in the game relied heavily on him and the ones (Girls) that followed him. On the other hand, she was just one girl trapped in a weird and dangerous place…
And it had been when having those dark and gloomy thoughts that she had noticed something 'weird' in the control panel, walked to it and realized with shock that, if it was accurate, the way leading beyond the Sea of Trees, which she had never been able to go through, had been unlocked.
Now that she thought about it, the monster they had beaten yesterday seemed like a Floor Boss in its own way…an 'Area Boss', in this case. Which meant that killing it had opened the way deeper into the Hollow Area.
All of that had led her to her current, and increasingly-bad-looking-by-the-moment, idea of 'exploring a bit' by herself. To prove she was useful and still could perfectly do things on her own. That was all.
Totally not to try and impress Kirito, maybe get him to praise her efforts. That had nothing to do with it, not at all. Why would she want the praise or attention of Aincrad's most infamous playboy? Yeah, maybe he was actually a very good person, and quite handsome in that slightly girly way, and he was brave and determined when it came to protecting those he cared for, and talking with him made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside…
Huh…what was her original train of thought again? Also…she apparently had outran the giant movie cliché at some point while she was lost in thought, because she was now standing in the edge of the complex arrangement of 'floating islands', with weird buildings and ruins in some of them, and an ominous and strangely-shaped 'tower', which height was probably close to the distance between a Floor of Aincrad and another, not so far from her.
"Well…I'm here. Now, besides the obviously important big-ass tower that surely contains this Area's Boss at the top, where could anything important be?" questioned Philia to no one as she looked around…before feeling a pull coming from her Ring, raising the hand in question, hearing the disturbing whispers coming from the golden band guiding her in a specific direction. "…okay then! You haven't steered me wrong yet, Precious…"
Humming to herself, but never letting her guard down, the lady of the Ring followed the strange whispers and creepy invisible pull that would have freaked the fuck out of anyone normal.
It said a lot about her, how all she could think of while automatically walking after such was in how she totally wasn't trying to do any of that to impress Kirito at all.
Finally, though, she was snapped back into reality after she came to the depths of a dark and quite long cave, blinking upon finding herself staring at a dead end, the thick dark rock offering no passage. Looking down at the Ring, Philia frowned. Then, she touched the wall with her open palm.
As if obeying some unseen order, the wall collapsed into polygons, the orange-haired girl observing the collapsing data for a moment before shrugging and continuing onwards, unaware of the dark figures following her from a safe distance.
Within the dark chamber she was now in…a sinister and familiar dark piece awaited in some kind of unholy altar, which happened to have the carving of a massive eye behind it…
"Ah…hey, that's the last piece of this armor, isn't it? Talk about luck! Seriously, I have been consistently finding all of its pieces since I got this Ring, and it has saved my ass more than enough times." cheerfully declared the ring-bearer while walking before the sinister helmet. "Now then…"
As she mumbled to herself, Philia never noticed the several 'Nazgul' entering the room, weapons ready as they stalked towards the unaware girl, even as she tried to put on the helmet with little success.
"We have her…"
"The King will be pleased."
"The Ring shall finally…!"
"Ugh…wait, what am I doing? I can just equip it from my menu!" laughed the lady of the Ring before calmly storing the helmet and tapping the option to equip it on her menu. "Man, I'm letting all these silly thoughts today to distract me…"
Dark metal materialized around the girl's head, twisting and changing shape until it covered just the upper part of her head, still with the 6 menacing blade-like 'horns' aiming upwards, but leaving her beautiful face uncovered.
The Ring shone with terrible power the moment it happened. Whispers of madness echoed through the whole chamber, just as Philia turned around. The symbol of the eye on the altar spontaneously caught fire, just behind the blinking girl, giving her an unholy and terrifying presence…yet still cute.
At once, the four Not-Nazgul that had entered the room froze, STARING blankly at the doom and fire-surrounded ring-bearer, before falling to their knees, prostrated before the confused player, their weapons suddenly on the ground before them.
Then, they spoke as one, their voices filled with a purpose and reverence they had never felt before in their short and 'Hollow' lives.
"Oh Mighty Dark Lady! We have seen the error of our ways! Now we shall serve you for eternity! Long live to the Mistress of the Ring!"
There was only one thing Philia could say as answer to that.
"…what?"
It was a very satisfied Kirito that entered Arc Sophia later that day as the sun started to set, having spent a couple hours out in the fields testing out his repaired armor and getting used once again to the 'feeling' of being the Nameless Knight.
Sure, a part of him was still beyond weirded out by how easily he got back into the 'fake persona' once he put on the armor, knowing it was his bizarre power somehow changing him in a way that was only vaguely related to its supposed purpose of picking up chicks, but he couldn't deny that a part of him had dearly missed it. It was like a piece of himself that he was missing had returned, which only served to improve his mood.
It also helped that Argo sent him a message that, apparently, a small Party of the Knights of Blood had reached the Labyrinth of Floor 77 thanks to most of the mobs in the way having 'mysteriously vanished' and were now ready to tackle the entire thing thanks to a Corridor Crystal they had set there. Courtesy of the many rare drops him and the Info Broker found in the Hollow Area yesterday.
So really, right now all that he was missing to do for the day to be calm and great was to find Leafa and see how she had done during her 'girl time' with the others, then see how they had reacted after interacting with his newest 'wife' (Man…it still felt strange to think along those lines), and hope that nothing unexpected did…
"Hiya, Kirito!" came an unexpected shout before he felt a warm and heavy weight enveloping the back of his head, almost throwing him to the ground.
"Wah! Strea?!" half-shouted the gamer while flailing around a bit, his usual composure lost upon seeing the strange girl practically hanging from his back, keenly aware of how her breasts were squeezed against his neck and head. "Wha-what are you doing? Yo-you…uhm…"
Dammit! He was not a virgin anymore (At least technically), but that apparently had only made such things worse! He was too aware of the female body now!
"Heheh, I just saw you coming back so I decided to give you a welcome hug!" half-lied the busty Hunter while letting go of him.
After all, while it was true she had just seen him coming back, she didn't simply want to give him a hug. She had to infiltrate into his inner circle so she could be close to her Yui-neesama 24/7 without anyone suspecting anything! All for the sake of protecting Aincrad and its inhabitants!
"Uhm, well…you're welcome?" awkwardly greeted Kirito while scratching the back of his head.
Being honest, he didn't really know what to make of the exuberant girl in the revealing clothes. She was beautiful, certainly, and also extremely friendly, not to mention seeming to possess boundless energy, but…he couldn't quite get rid of the feeling that there was something 'wrong' with her.
And, as egocentric as it sounded, part of it was because of how his power apparently hadn't affected her yet. Sure, with Sinon it had made sense, the confused and amnesiac girl probably had no reason initially to trust, let alone feel attracted to, him in any way.
Strea wasn't like that at all, though. Since their strange first meeting the other day, she had been nothing but friendly, happy and flirty. By all means, especially after meeting with Philia and seeing it still 'worked properly' (To his silent despair), his power should have turned her into a 'Heroine' very fast.
This meant…that she was probably hiding something, probably something big, behind that smile of hers. After all, once he finally got rid of the doubts and initial denial he felt about his crazy Dating Sim powers, the black-haired boy had theorized that there needed to be at least a minimum amount of 'mutual attraction' for them to work. That is, that he had to consider the girl either cute, someone to be protected, or feel some special connection with them before his power 'assimilated' them. And they needed to at least feel something along the lines of trust or faith towards him to begin with for it to actually trigger. Which was why he, thankfully, hadn't actually been subconsciously seducing every single female he met.
If that theory was right, Strea wasn't really willing to trust him and the whole nice girl person was just a façade. That could mean any number of things, but, until he could figure her out, it was probably for the best if he kept her at arms le…
"Hey, Kirito? Can I kiss you?"
"Yeah, su…wait, what?!"
"Yay, thank you!" grinned the red-eyed girl before, not giving him time to recover from the shock, leaning forward and kissing his cheek.
This was actually very fun! He usually seemed so nonchalant with all the other girls around him, but she had managed to make him lose his cool! Also, his cheek felt surprisingly warm as her lips touched it. Yeah, she was doing this for the greater good, but she wouldn't deny this felt quite exciting. After all…this was…the first time she…ever…
"Wha-what was that for?! Hey, if you're trying to mess with me for fun, know that it's not…!…Strea? He-hey…are you okay?"
Kirito's initial 'anger' had melted into worry very fast, seeing how the busty Hunter leaned back from her playful kiss looking…like a mess, really.
Her eyes were wide open and her face was flushed, not to mention she was suddenly panting as if she had suddenly run a marathon.
For her part, the former MHCP-002 suddenly felt as if her whole body was about to explode, the corrupted data that now formed more of her insides to grant her the twisted power to fight off Cardinal's corrupted abominations suddenly feeling as if a thousand butterflies were nervously crashing all around her.
Wha…what was this? She had never felt like this at all! Sure, she technically hadn't been 'alive' for long, her activation having only really started with 'The Glitch' that had damaged Aincrad's mainframe, but this was still quite rattling. Her remaining knowledge of her origins as a psychologist AI combined with the extra awareness and protective instinct of other players that her new nature granted her had been more than enough for her to fully experience her new simulated emotions without issue.
Now, though, she felt a strange need to hide her face behind her hands. It made absolutely no sense…unless…had it been because she kissed his cheek…?
"N-no, that can't be…so-something like that…it shouldn't make me react…this way…"
"He-hey, Strea, what's wrong? Do you need something?" asked an honestly worried Kirito as he reached out to grab the red-eyed girl's arm.
Whatever he thought of her, he wasn't about to just let her be if she was in trouble. And, as impossible as it should be within that world, it looked as if she had suddenly gotten sick.
Either that or she was suffering from a panic attack, which really wouldn't make any sense…
"What…what is your secret…?" whispered the busty Hunter while locking eyes with him, her hands suddenly shooting to grab his shoulders with surprising force. "How…how are you doing this? What is the secret that attracts so many girls, even an NPC, to you…?"
"I…I don't know what you're talking about!" replied the black-haired boy with a suddenly dreadful feeling.
Wa-was it possible that she…knew about his power?!
Strea, for her part, was suddenly feeling extremely on edge. Mainly because, despite how bizarre and strange what she was feeling now was, it wasn't unpleasant. In fact, she found that she wanted to feel more of it.
There was nothing wrong with the boy's Avatar, as far as she could tell. He certainly was not hacking through Cardinal, which was impossible in the first place (Even in its current state). Nor was he any master manipulator, as she had deduced from their few interactions these past 2 days. He was kind, calm, honest, and loving…but that was it. By all logic, there should be nothing about him that allowed all those girls to be in such a bizarre an unreal situation as they were with him. Much less get others attracted to him.
Which was what she now realized was happening. Somehow, she, an Artificial Intelligence corrupted beyond all salvation to fulfill any other purpose but protecting the remaining players through the damaged data that formed her core, was feeling attracted to the boy before her.
Determined to get to the bottom of it all, no longer caring if this somehow irreparably damaged her, the busty Hunter 'shouted' (An extremely cute-sounding battle cry, in the gamer's opinion) and locked her lips with his, experiencing 'a kiss', something she had never been programmed to share with anyone, for the first time.
Kirito barely froze for an instant before reacting on impulse, the new 'Skill' he had gained earlier that day activating as he leaned into the kiss as fiercely as he could, the realization that he still hadn't really tried to learn how to 'control' the Skill (Nor any other like Back-washing, Head-patting…or Lovemaking, really) hitting him too late.
All of a sudden, the former MHCP-002 felt as if she was flying, as if fireworks were going off inside her supposedly inexistent virtual heart, as if a lot of pretty colors were filling her mind (Or her corrupted base code, in her case).
What was this? Why…why did it feel so nice…? So good…
She wanted more. More of it, so much more…n-no, mission, she had a mission! An important mission, that was the whole point of this! No matter how good kissing him felt…how weak her knees were getting…how nice the feeling of him holding her as she all but became limp in his arms was…how…how…01101000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01111001 00100000 01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 :3…
"…puah…! Delicious…gah! I mean, Strea, sorry!" quickly apologized Kirito after coming out of the stupor that the fierce kiss he just shared with the gorgeous girl had made him feel. "I didn't…well, you kissed me first, but…uh?"
Blinking, the black-haired boy finally became aware that, at some point, the tables had somehow turned and how he was the one holding Strea, the busty Hunter's grip on him having completely vanished as she now hung limply on his arms, looking dazed and…were those hearts in her eyes? No, it had to be his ever-increasingly-perverted mind playing tricks on him. Such things didn't really happen. Why, he could almost swear he had seen binary code within her eyes for a mo…!
[Strea Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with MHCP-002 'Strea'!]
What the…?!
[Your current status with Strea has changed to 'Loving AI'!]
[You gained a 100 Affection Points with Heroine Strea!]
[Your current status with Strea has changed to 'First Virtual Love'!]
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement: 'Glitching the Virtual Heart'! You gain +10 in Aura!]
…this…this was…no, it couldn't…
Slowly, the gamer let his eyes dart above Strea's head, towards the familiar 'window' appearing above her, revealing her secrets to him…
[MHCP-002 'Strea': 'Artificial Lover']
[Relationship Status: First Virtual Love']
[Affection Points: 0/100]
[Heroine Summary: Formerly the Artificial Intelligence known as Mental Health Counseling Program 002, codename 'Strea', the 'girl' was corrupted and reformed by Aincrad's glitch, turning her into an extremely dangerous rouge program. Within herself, the potential to accidentally cause catastrophic corruption to anything virtual sleeps, and she uses it sparingly to face the corrupted abominations spawned by the Cardinal System, just to protect the surviving players, even if this is slowly destroying her. Also, she's currently experiencing what feels like to 'feel attracted' to another being for the first…01001001 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01001011 01101001 01110010 01101001 01110100 01101111!]
…did…did he (Or his power, technically) just glitch the already glitched virtual girl (Yet another shock) so hard her Heroine Summary changed to show 'I love Kirito' in binary there…?
"Hmm…Kirito…kiss…kisses are nice…" mumbled Strea while her base code tried to reboot her without success, her eyes still showing hearts that had 'Happy Error' written in binary on them.
Doing his best to not collapse on his knees and scream to the heavens about why they made his life so fucking crazy, Kirito carried the incoherent girl…towards a small Inn on a secondary street, upon which he paid for a room and left her inside.
Like hell he was dealing with explaining THAT whole mess to the others that night…
Not much time later, the black-haired boy was staring at his room's ceiling, unable to sleep and sighing for the umpteenth time in the last hour.
All had been well and cheerful when he had gotten back to the Inn, and his Stats had let him hide his growing headache/worry about what he had just discovered about Strea from even Argo's sharp eyes. Seeing that Leafa had apparently been mostly welcomed happily by the group after the 'events' of the night before had made him happy, even if there had been some strained smiles when she had kissed him out of the blue claiming she had 'won the race'…before making a squeaking Sachi also kiss him, praising her for 'being smart enough to arrive second'.
He had no idea what that had been about but had enough sense to know it was better not to ask. Then, there was the small fact about the 'strangely warped monster' they had apparently encountered when out in the field, which had made him think back to what he had read in Strea's 'summary' about the Cardinal System creating 'corrupted abominations'. Adding to that the fact that he had been unable to go to the Hollow Area that day, which brought the image of a lonely Philia sitting on the control room all alone to his mind, it wasn't weird to say he was feeling in a very uneasy mood.
Incidentally, at that moment, something akin to a mini-party was taking place in the Hollow Area's control room, an awkward Philia patting the head of a hooded figure crying on her shoulder while another was sprawled on the floor and two more, clearly drunk out of their minds, were doing a very bad parody of a bar brawl.
Back in the Inn room of Floor 76, Kirito finally accepted he was probably not going to sleep anytime soon and he sat on his bed, looking down at his hands in slight frustration.
Maybe he could go down and take a stroll to try and clear his head or some…?
The sudden sound of knocks on his door distracted the boy out of his thoughts, blinking in surprise before, not even giving him time to answer, the door opened, revealing a sight that made his breath hitch.
Kizmel stood there on his doorframe, smiling seductively at him, wearing nothing but a see-through purple nightgown. Literally nothing more, as the material's transparency showed clearly how the Dark Elf had foregone her underwear.
True, this was not even remotely the first time he saw the beautiful female in such a state, hell, he had seen her naked several times. However, this time…it felt quite clearly very different.
After all, now he didn't feel even the slightest need of looking away, telling her to get dressed or to leave. In fact…
"Can I come in, Kirito?"
"…please, do so, Kizmel."
…he really wanted to hold her beautiful body right now.
"…you don't know how long I have been waiting to hear you say that." whispered Kizmel as she walked to his side and sat on his lap, her face inches away from his. "Way too long…"
"Are you…?"
"If you ask me if I'm sure about 'officially' becoming your second wife, then I may actually feel like hitting you for the first time ever, Kirito." smiled the Dark Elf as she caressed the black-haired boy's cheek. "Because I'm gonna to do it and nothing shall stop me…unless Asuna finally wishes to lay claim to that title?"
Whatever he could have been expecting an answer to that, the gamer certainly did not see the aforementioned chestnut-haired girl, clad only on the pink nightgown she favored as pajamas, stepping out from beside his door, her face a blushing mess as she looked away.
"Kizmel…how long did you know I was there…?"
"From the beginning. I assume Argo told you of my plans? That girl has always been very perceptive."
"I…I…you can't! I mean…you…!"
"Asuna, please, let's not waste any more time…I think we have done that more than enough by now." turning to look towards the girl he had known for over 2 years now, the Dark Elf looked unusually serious…or she would have if she had moved from her position on the gamer's lap. "I'm about to make love with our husband. Are you going to join me and claim your spot by seniority or just stand there while I steal it?"
Asuna simply stared silently. Then, her eyes shifting with a bizarre determination, she closed the door behind her.
"Ca-can I…can I really go first?" asked the rapier-user with less than a whisper, as if afraid of raising the question.
"Of course. Didn't I tell you many times? I never minded being Third Wife after you and Argo. Besides, this is going to be my first time too, so don't feel so nervous…"
"We-well…if you say so…u-uhm, Kirito-kun! I shall…I will…uhm…please, be gentle?"
There were days when Kirigaya Kazuto wondered if whatever superior existences that had granted him his powers enjoyed seeing him squirm under the madness of his life out of amusement.
However, in moments like that one, as Kizmel stood up to help the blushing Asuna lean against him and slowly help her out of her nightgown, he really felt almost as if thanking and forgiving them for everything.
Then, he was very busy making sure Asuna and Kizmel couldn't breathe or think of anything but him to care about anything else.
[You gained a 50 Affection Points with Heroines Asuna and Kizmel!]
[CONGRATULATIONS! You have maxed Heroine Asuna's Route!]
[CONGRATULATIONS! You have maxed Heroine Kizmel's Route!]
[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Flash-Love' has been Unlocked]
[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Forest Passion' has been Unlocked]
[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement: 'Loving x2'! You gain +10 in Aura!]
[A Special Event has been triggered!]
['Dark and Flash Duet' was added to the gallery!]
Watching from the edge between Reality and Unreality, [LIFE] and [DEATH] exchanged a look, clearly not used to someone having such conflicted feelings about both of them at the same time, before shrugging and continuing their silent and amused watch.
And so, another long night of Aincrad came to an end…
[Next Scene]: When the Plot tries to Distract You
Author's Notes: Please, wait a moment while Reality reboots from complaining about Kirito's luck :D
That aside, well, that happened! Asuna and Kizmel are gonna be happy in the morning XD And all around, this chapter has just compounded how the madness around our dear protagonist just can't be stopped: Sinon starts unveiling the mysteries of her forgotten past, starts to realize how broken she can be…and 'falls', like all the others. Then, Sugu discovers she has pseudo-access to the craziest and most over-the-top System Gundam created (In my opinion) and, finally, Strea suffered the equivalent of a Blue Screen of Death to her heart, via Kirito-kun's loving lips. Poor girl :P
Also, Philia found Sauron's helmets! And she made new friends! Kind of. Oh, and the Nameless Knight is ready to go back in action! How will those that have yet to see his magnificence react to him? Who knows!
You will have to wait for the next chapter of this craziness to know, though :3 For now, I will see you next time in Lusus Naturae, hopefully without any unexpected delays XP
Till then, this is Saint, signing off!