Level Nineteen: Reminisce (Revamp)

For those of you who want Kirito to be less helpless-

Desolate Cloud Tower: Floating Staircase –11 pm

The King and his partner were both still gawking at the three girls who stood before them, not quite understanding what was happening. Who was this new girl? Why was she here helping them? Was she one of their friends who had come here in the attack? Or was she a third party? However she did look family to the assistant. "Sir… I believe that is White Fox from Ryuuko."

"Oh so you recognize me do you?" Hiwa called, smiling at them. "Yes that was me~ White Fox, here to destroy your Kingdom~" she grinned, the fox snickering a little with the white-haired girl. It was easy to see she was enjoying her old reputation still, but Akemi just ignored it. Hiwa was always that way, it was no different from when they were back in school together, or when they were beta-testing Ryuuko together. And since they were a team… "Seems like you've got AWFUL luck, Felix~" she shrugged. "TWO foxes intruding in a kingdom of bats hiding behind white wings~?" she laughed.

"Yes quite a problem for you." Akemi added. "Especially since Black Foxes are… bad luck, so you said?" she looked to the man at the stairs, then the assistant. "Well it seems you're right. I'm a demon of bad luck… especially for anyone who takes away my lover." In a heartbeat, she was infront of Felix's assistant, vanishing after another second, kicking the man off the Floating Staircase. The man's hood was knocked away and he tumbled towards Asuna, who was ready with her rapier. But when she attacked, he blocked with his broadsword, and their duel began. As for Akemi, Felix began summoning again, creating a small army of creatures, sending half to attack Hiwa. The castle trembled from the uproar.

King's Bed Chambers

Kirito was still standing at the door, not understanding what he should do. But he made up his mind when the castle shook again. He was going out there. He had to… Akemi was out there, and he wanted to help her. He took the last key on the ring and placed it into the lock on the door, turning it until it clicked. Still cautious, he went about his "escape" quietly, sneaking around for a little while until he came to the staircase. But it was crumbling, he couldn't go down it now… The room below was full of dust clouds, so Kirito was unable to see anything beneath him. He noticed a red serpentine-like thing emerge from the dust, noticing it preparing to fire an attack at someone moving in the smoke. But when the creature fired its attack, a flame burst from the dust and created a giant plume of fire, absorbing the firey blast from the serpent.

"Now really, is that ALL you have?" Kirito noticed two figures standing there now. One in white, one in black; the pair of them looking like mirror-images of one another, just like his first day in Ryuuko during the Beta.

"Yes really, you should be a little better than that considering your position and all." The one in white taunted. "Of course, your position is all just a hoax isn't it? You're nothing more than a figure head." She stated.

"How dare you!" Felix attacked them both, but they vanished under the attack again. "Come back here!" he attacked with no concentration, only rage and anger. Neither girl seemed to be trying hard at all to avoid the attacks. They were effortlessly dodging, moving away from their enemy's barrage, grace and power obvious between the two girls and their style of fighting. Meanwhile, out of view, there were noises of swords clashing. Kirito could hear the battle below unfolding, and the energy and intensity were both climbing.

"I gotta get down there." he mumbled, watching the onslaught continue. All of a sudden, he felt a hand on his shoulder, about to spin around and kick at the person when he was pulled into someone… a woman's chest? He paused, glancing up and seeing Akemi standing there with a small smile.

"Found you…" her eyes were watering and her smile was trembling. "Kazuto…" she hugged him tight, causing the boy to blush. "I'm so sorry… I should have been here…"

"H-hey don't cry…" he whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I… I missed you…" he tightened his grip, not wanting to let her go at this moment. "You're not the one who caused this, so don't apologize…" he kissed her cheek, wiping away the tears that were starting to fall down her cheeks. "Thank you… for coming to get me."

"I had to, ne?" she nuzzled against him while the castle trembled from the fighting. "Can you access your weapons?"

"No, it's still locked…" he stated, shaking his head. "If I could, I'd have…" he stopped himself, feeling annoyed at how useless he was without his weapons. "Anyway…" he looked back down at the fighting. "You should probably get back down there… looks like they need help…"

"Don't underestimate Hiwa and Asuna." She smiled, tousling his hair. "I'll be back soon." She added before jumping back into the fray, summoning a large lion-like creature on her way down that sunk its teeth into the red serpent that was weaving around in the cloud of debris.

"Good luck…" he mumbled, watching her vanish into the dust plume.

The King continued to fight blindly, and he knew that his partner was fighting that sword-wielding girl. But as he was about to summon again, he felt a foot contact his side and he was sent flying, clearing all the smoke and dust in one move as he cracked the wall of his castle. He scrambled to his feet, readying himself for another attack, only to be struck back down again.

Asuna struck down the swordsman, but just barely escaped with her HP intact. She looked over to where Akemi was fighting, seeing the girl covered in black marks, just like that time in the Ryuuko final dungeon. "Wh-what the…? Isn't that?" She felt White Fox at her side.

"Yes, it is." She smiled at the girl. "Noir Dragon of Ryuuko." She stated, watching Akemi's entire avatar get engulfed in those black marks, the wisps flowing off her shadows and dress. "It took a long while, but… the Head Admin pulled the great beings from Ryuuko and placed them in weapons here… only accessible by summoners." She added, chuckling. "Because they had an idea of the treachery of the King of Cloud Palace… but could not simply eliminate him themselves." She recited as though repeating something. "So they said, anyway~"

"I see…" Asuna nodded, looking shocked. This was incredible. Akemi looked like she'd absorbed the Noir Dragon into her body, the shadows forming wings and a tail. "… This is incredible…"

"Yes it is~ Well, I'm going to grab Kirito-kun~ Keep an eye on that man over there." She said, waving to Asuna before vanishing in a white puff.

Kirito noticed White Fox appear at his side, looking up at her. "… You're…"

"Yes yes, enough of being re-introduced." She smiled, helping Kirito to his feet. "It's not safe up here on the second floor. Come." She offered her hand, but he refused.

"Why are you helping?"

"… Why?" she sighed. "Because I caused Akemi-nee a lot of trouble… so I want to help." She replied. "… I owe her everything… so I asked the head admin to help…"

"Why are you helping me?!" he repeated. "… If you want to help her, go help her fight."

"She wouldn't allow that." Hiwa stated. "This is her fight… her pride is on the line, as well as her need to fight for you… if I interfered in this one on one, she would be angry with me." She added. "And aside from that, Kazuto-kun." He froze when she said his real name. "Akemi-nee intends to get her revenge for you… she is VERY inclined to being extreme when it comes to things like this. Ne?"

"Wh… how did you…?" he was confused, but he let her help him back to the main floor.

"It's a secret." She said, smiling just before they landed on the tile, seeing that the King was now trying to summon something, only to get kicked into another wall at frightening speeds. Akemi was hardly moving when she stood still, and when she moved it was almost too fast to see. "See? She's getting revenge for everything he tried to do, and then some~" she clapped cheerfully.

"…" Asuna stood stunned with Kirito though, as they watched Akemi's devastating rampage. The whole place was coming down, it was crazy to watch. The man with the broadsword was about to get up again when Hiwa stepped on his hand, causing him to drop his blade.

"Now now, don't interrupt." She scolded, grinning before taking his weapon and pointing it at the man's throat. "Your boss is losing. Do you see?"

Akemi didn't quite understand. She'd been fighting but she felt nothing except anger bubbling. She was angry at this person for hurting Kazuto. She was destroying his castle, but that wasn't enough. She wanted him dead. She wanted him to suffer. When he began begging for his life, she took the Black Dragon blade and stabbed him through the leg, then in the arm, then in the shoulder. "If I EVER catch you around here again, I will hunt you down IRL and I WILL destroy you… is that understood?" she asked. "Or would you rather I END you here and now?"

"N-no, please don't kill me!" she removed the blade and drop-kicked him, a crater forming beneath him. "GAH!"

"ANSWER ME!" she exclaimed, kicking him again. "Don't EVER come back to an VMMORPG and don't EVER come looking for any of my friends or family ever again, or I will kill you!"

Kirito looked at Akemi, hearing her anger. She was so upset… but it was so familiar, he wasn't as scared as Asuna was. Why was it familiar?

A kendo stick… a broken face shield… a kid crying in the corner… another comforting him… a girl screaming and beating on the boy who had attacked the one crying…

Kirito was confused. What was that? Who were those people? Was that… from the dojo? Before he quit kendo? He snapped back to reality when Akemi's "tail" slammed down onto the King, causing his hit meter to glitch after the many hits he must have taken, causing him to vanish. The shadows receded and Akemi fell to her knees, exhausted. "A-akemi!" he ran over to her, catching her when she fell sideways.

"… Kazuto…" she clung to him. "I'm sorry… you had to see that…"

"It's okay." He pet her hair gently, trying to sooth her. "… Shall we go home, now?"

Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture – April 12, 2025 – 1:00am

Kazuto sat up, removing his amusphere and looking at his phone, seeing the messages and missed calls from Akemi. He sighed, smiling when his phone buzzed. Another message. "Are you okay? – Akemi"

"Always worrying, huh? – Kazuto" he felt almost relieved that he was back, and when Suguha burst into the room almost in tears, he didn't know what to say. But… he was glad to be home.

"It's my job. Go to sleep, we can talk more tomorrow. – Akemi"

Elsewhere, the two men awoke from being in game. "Ishimura!" the composed one turned to the other man. "Fix this! Fix it-!"

"You know I cannot." He replied, having almost enjoyed that fight with the girl with chestnut orange hair. "We lost, sir."

"Shut up! I will not lose to them!" he exclaimed, feeling outraged and needing to take his rage out on someone or something. How had he lost? He didn't care now, he was just angry. He stormed out of the room and began devising a new strategy. However… someone punched him the second he left the building.

"How did you know he was here?"

"How else, Ryu?" the man who punched him smiled. "He IS Ishimura's brother… It was logical to look here." He stated. "… You really should apologize to Akemi… she may be upset, but you're to blame too… after Misako died…" he turned to the man, smiling a little. "If you apologize, she'll forgive you… you ARE her father."

"…" He nodded, looking down at the man who had been punched. "… Do we just wait for them? And what about Ishimura?"

"Ahaha, don't worry." The man pat the other's shoulder. "I called about this one, but I will leave Ishimura for now if you talk to him." He stated as the police cars arrived on scene.

Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture – April 25, 2025

Just 3 days. Akemi was laying on the grass at the park with Kazuto, watching Kiku and Riku running around and playing tag with a few other kids. "Thanks for helping me watch the twins." Akemi stated. "Aunty needs a break, since they'll be spending Golden Week in a place that won't allow those two to run out of energy."

"No problem." He interlaced their fingers as they laid there in the shade of a tree, keeping one eye on the twins. "Its… nice to spend time like this, though… it's almost like they're our kids." He blushed a little, feeling her squeeze his hand.

"Yeah, I guess it is…" she smiled. She'd been smiling more lately, since that whole problem from Rise of the Autumn Moon was over. They'd been spending a lot more time IRL recently, rather than in game. It was nice to get away for a little while.

"So um… how's it going with your dad?" he asked, turning to look at her. She turned to him with a small smile.

"It's… getting better… slowly…" she leaned in and kissed him while the twins weren't paying attention, making his face color bright red. On April 13, Ryutaro Ryugazaki had apologized to his daughter over their first family dinner with everyone, including Kazuto at the table. Akemi was in shock, but she brushed it off as something simple. But Kazuto could tell it meant a lot to her, since she cried after they went back to her apartment, her father having been staying at a different place all this time. Since then, they'd been patching things up really slowly, but since Akemi was old enough to live alone, her father did not oppose to her keeping the apartment she was in as her own.

"That's great." He said. "But… you still never told him you were going on a trip alone with me…?"

"No, and I don't intend to…" she stated softly, sighing a little. "If he wonders where I am, then he'll call. If he has a problem with us being alone together, I will turn off my phone."

"You're so impulsive..." He kissed her cheek. "But… I guess that's to be expected…"

"Is it?" she turned to him. "Why is that?"

"Because. You're both that way, aren't you?" he asked, smiling. Mr. Ryugazaki had been VERY reluctant to accept that his daughter was dating someone younger, but Akemi had been very clear that if he didn't accept that they were together, then she would continue declining the money he was trying to send her and paying for everything herself. He caved after 2 hours of silence between them at Ayaori's family's house. Akemi pouted, pulling him close and causing him to blush again.

"Don't be cheeky." She nuzzled against his collar bone, making him shiver a little. "Or I'll do something naughty out in the open."

"Wh-wha-?!" he blushed even redder, the twins glancing over but not seeing their embrace, since Akemi let go. "D-don't say stuff like that!" he exclaimed, fuming in embarrassment.

"Then don't make the opportunity for me to do so." She teased, chuckling and sitting up. She'd been growing her hair out, it was pretty long now… Her long hair was beautiful too… "Come on, let's go get them home." She stated, sitting up and offering her hand. "Then we can go get some dinner~" He nodded, accepting her hand before going over to the twins. The two bid farewell to the other little ones before following their cousin and her boyfriend home. They began passing the dojo when someone stopped them.

"If it isn't Ake-chan and her hubby~" A girl with long brown pigtails and green eyes grinned at them.

"Oh, it's you Haruka." Akemi smiled a little.

"Eeeeh, you're not embarrassed?" Haruka asked, pouting. "That's no fun. I'll settle for embarrassing your boyfriend then." She turned to Kazuto, but he ducked behind Akemi, knowing that this girl was kind of unusual. But…

"How do you two know each other?"

"Huh? He doesn't know?" Haruka asked. "You used to go to kendo, right? You're Suguha's brother?" she asked, pouting at him. He nodded a little. "Akemi, did you not tell him?"

"Now now, don't bring that up-"

"Bring what up?"

"WAH!" Haruka jumped at the new voice, turning to see Ayaori, the twins climbing on him. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Shut up, stop slacking." Ayaori stated, turning to Kazuto and Akemi. He bowed his head a little to them both. "Were you taking them home?"

"Yeah, we were at the park." She took the twins down from their brother. "Were you done with practice?" she questioned.

"Yeah, just now."

"Wait wait, what was that about?" Kazuto asked, still confused. Akemi turned to Kazuto and sighed before putting the twins down. They ran off with Ayaori, who also dragged Haruka away. "Akemi…?"

"… You don't remember, huh?" she asked, smiling a little. "Not that I'd really expect you to…" she rubbed the back of her neck. "… I used to take kendo here too…" she stated. "But I got kicked out when I beat up another boy for hurting Makoto…" Kazuto's eyes went wide and he stared at her. Was she being serious? That day came flooding back.

Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture: 11 years earlier

Kazuto stood there in shock, watching Makoto helped up by his cousin, Ayaori. He was crying, his face shield had broken because of age, and he was injured. The teacher was calling Makoto's parents and the other teacher was getting the first aid kit when it happened. The girl, Akemi, Makoto's big sister had been standing perfectly still with her fists clenched as the boy who had hit her brother said he was sorry in an uncaring manner. Akemi took a step forward. Then another. And in an instant, she was on top of the boy, using his own kendo stick to beat on him in pure outrage. She was screaming and the teachers who ran back in needed 3 pairs of hands to pull her off, but not before she'd caused the boy a nose bleed. He was now cowering in fear as the girl 1 year his junior screamed at the top of her lungs, flailing in the arms of one of her teachers. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR YOU JERK?! I'LL TAKE YOU ON, BRING IT! I'LL BEAT YOU SENSELESS!"

The following afternoon, Akemi didn't show up. Makoto was taking a day off, but Ayaori had brought Akemi's resignation from the dojo for her. "She said there's no reason for her to come back." He said to the teacher. "She doesn't want to train in a place that allows this sort of thing to happen." But he said it like he was repeating it, so no one really paid it any mind.

Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture – April 25, 2025

"That…. Was you?" Kazuto asked, noticing Akemi looking bothered by the whole thing. "… I had no idea… I… I thought you left town…"

"I was going to, but I just started taking lessons from my Uncle." She stated. "He trained in kendo before too, so…" she mumbled. "Anyway…"

"You knew who I was, even before we met in Ryuuko, didn't you?"

"… Yeah." She turned her gaze away, feeling Kazuto take her hand. "Sorry… for not saying anything."

"Its fine." He said, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it." He didn't want her to feel bad. After all, she was the same now… if someone hurt someone she loved or cared for, she got angry. VERY angry… He just held her hand as they stood there. "… I… um… even back then you know…"

"Hm…?" she turned to him, noticing how red his face was.

"Even back then… I had a crush on you…" he muttered, embarrassed to admit that. "So… don't be upset, okay? I… I thought it was cool… how protective you were… and how easily you gave it up because of your brother…" he mumbled. "You… were so dedicated… you loved kendo… to see you give it up in a heartbeat like that was… inspiring."

"Don't call it that." She stated. "… I was just too proud to go back. So… I guess I am like my father that way." She admitted, pouting still. Kazuto just kept hold of her hand, knowing that she hated admitting it. But… it was okay. She squeezed his hand back, and they didn't let go even when Ayaori and the twins came back, even when they got back to Ayaori's home. She didn't let go until they got to the grocery store, and it was just so she could pick out and pay for groceries. Immediately after leaving, they locked hands again. "… Can you come over?"

"I was planning on it." He smiled. "You're making sandwiches, right?"

((Revamped, for those of you who wanted a less helpless Kirito (though I didn't change much)...
Anyway, I hope you like this better-

-Winter Cheshire))