Fuck you, Partners block! Take this! sorry it's a little shorter than usual, but I feel it's close enough.
Enjoy!
September 18, 2025, 77th floor, Ground Level
Asuna slashed the final plant mob and it exploded, giving her the exp and drops she"d been hoping for. She was alone, which at this point wasn't new. Kirito and her often split up to maximize the amount of exp they both earned, instead of splitting up the mobs they found between them. From a grinding standpoint it made perfect sense. From a friendship one, however, Asuna was quite lonely most of the time. Even though four months had passed since their mysterious exodus from the clearing group, and they'd heard everything that had happened. They'd spent the first two months looking for them everywhere to no avail, and then the clearing group fell apart, inhabiting the higher floors in case they needed to be called back in. Asuna shook her head to clear the thoughts and checked her exp bar in the menu, frowning at how close she was to leveling up but wasn't making it. 249 to 250 was a real struggle, but she should've seen that from the whole three weeks she'd spent at the level already. Sighing and sheathing her sword, Asuna pulled out a teleport crystal and stared at it for a minute, before nodding.
"Teleport to Coral." She said, getting enveloped in a bright light.
She materialized outside the capital of the 22nd floor, watching the NPC's and players mull around their daily business. Coral had been Kirito and hers go to choice for headquarters after leaving Algade. It was sparsely populated by other players, covered in dense trees and mountains, and a lot of lakes. A perfect place to conceal themselves.
"Here goes nothing." She murmured, whipping her blonde hair out of her face. Yes, blonde. Kirito had said it would be idiotic to hide as they were, so both of them had adopted a different hair color and wardrobe for when they walked through any city, just in case. The styles were also slightly changed, just to be sure. She found it funny that although she'd been grinding alone for a while, the most nerve wracking part of her day came from walking through the streets of a safe zone. She wasn't sure what she was going to do if anyone found her. She cast friendly smiles at NPC's and others, just to be sure. Another perk of the 22nd floor was that most of the player inhabitants were the older players, usually middle aged. They really didn't care to learn anyone's name, which helped when the clearing group swept the area. Asuna sighed in relief when she managed to cross the city with relative ease,breaking into a jog to reach the house.
She and Kirito had used their seemingly infinite amount of funds to buy a small log cabin way away from Coral, which worked effectively as a cover up for who they really were. If anyone asked, Asuna was to say she and Kirito were a couple who had found love in each others company and had decided to move to the floor. It was a pretty generic cover up, but it still made Asuna's stomach turn. Why, you may ask? More then once, she and Kirito both had been forced to play the cover up well, which including holding hands, sweet talking, the like. Asuna had told Kirito if he tried anything she would punch him in the face, so he never did. Smiling to herself as she rounded the corner and spotted the log cabin, walking up to it and opened the door.
"Kirito-kun?" She called, garnering no response. "Huh, he must not be back yet. Grinding is a pain, but stop pushing so hard, Kirito-kun..." Asuna trailed off as she closed the door behind her and walked to the kitchen, observing the food within for a snack. Finding nothing significant, she closed it and went to her room, observing herself in the mirror. The blonde hair really didn't suit her whatsoever, neither did the blue eyes. But, it was all for the sake of secrecy, so she kept quiet. Asuna went to grab the book she'd been reading and took it with her outside, sitting down on the rocking chair and opening to the page she'd been on, using the book as an excuse to drift back into her thoughts. She thought about the days she and Kirito spent grinding, growing so slowly that it would've taken over a year to get to the max level.
That was when the double exp happened. They heard through the grapevine it was a reward for the clearing group for getting to the 99th floor, so any spare grinding that anyone wanted to do from May until the third week of June was doubled. At first Asuna questioned why the double exp time was so long, but agreed with Kirito when he suggested that most players would attempt to get to the max level as well, even with them gone. She sighed as she flipped a page without ever a clue what had happened on it, and continued glazing her eyes over the words as she thought. It had been painful unfriending everyone when they first left, Lis, Klein, and Silica the most. Of course, Asuna knew it was in bad taste to unfriend someone without a reason, but theirs was more than enough.
Anyways, the double exp had greatly helped her and Kirito's grinding, getting them both to level 240 with day in and day out grinding. That, obviously, meant they'd spent from the third week of June to now, September the 18th, grinding out ten levels. Asuna had no idea how this was even supposed to be possible normally, which probably explained why no one had reached it before they got to the 100th floor. Asuna was brought out of her deep train of thought when she realized she'd gone ten pages without a clue what happened. Slamming the book closed in frustration, she put it down next to her and watched the wind sweep over the floor, smiling as she watched the waves wash over the shore far away.
"Where is that idiot?" Asuna asked no one, watching the pathway that he would come from. "He pushes himself way to hard sometimes..." Asuna sighed and closed her eyes as the sun washed over her form, warming her up. "The sun does feel nice, though..."
80th floor, Tunnel system
Kirito killed the last of the serpents and inhaled deeply, catching his breath. He knew he was a fool for coming to the 80th floor of all places, but it was the only floor left with any sort of exp giving mobs. He and Asuna had practically milked the other floors dry, and the first 30 floors or so wouldn't do any good. He sheathed his blades and began the long trek back up the way he'd came, as he'd managed to pick a dungeon without a back entrance. As he walked, he thought about his current situation, and just how long they'd still be gone. He was very close to 250, incredibly so. Kirito needed, maybe one or two more mobs, and he'd be there. All of these mobs and months, and Kirito felt like it would've been more dramatic. As he rounded a corner, he paused before dodging to the right, a serpent he must've missed before lashing out at him.
"Son of a..." Kirito muttered, unsheathing Elucidator and slicing it in half, killing it instantly. Just as he was about to turn and continue, something appeared on his HUD.
Congratulations! You have reached the max level within Sword Art Online!
Kirito read the message slowly, smiling as it registered in his head what it said. He'd done it, finally. Had Asuna? A quick check at his message box and her stats at the corner of his HUD told him no, she hadn't. Asuna wasn't really as hard headed as he, so she often returned home to eat or nap. She was close though, so it didn't really matter to him either way. Making sure no more serpents jumped out and tried to eat him,Kirito made it out of the cave and above sea level, allowing himself a moment take in the sun on his skin. Redbank was in sight, but he knew he couldn't go there. If he did, even with his somewhat pathetic disguise, he'd be spotted immediately. It had the most clearing group players within it anyway. He pulled a teleport crystal and raised it above his head.
"Teleport to Coral" He spoke, and the crystal whisked him away to the capital.
When he got there, Kirito quickly equipped his normal clothes, making sure nobody saw him in his battle gear. Both he and Asuna had made sure, tediously so, nobody saw their levels or equipment. Even if it meant being rude or abrasive, they had to make absolutely sure. Kirito, once sure none of his battle equipment was showing, entered the city. As he walked some people waved ad others didn't, but Kirito did his usually routine of waving and smiling. He, however, was looking sore something. He soon found himself standing outside Coral's Hairy Stylists, and he gulped. He hated going in here without Asuna, but she wasn't around. Swallowing his pride, he entered and walked over to what he needed, finding it quickly.
Black hair dye.
If he and Asuna were to return soon, he'd need to look himself. After buying it and one of chestnut dye, he left the store as quickly as he could, promising the girl behind the counter he'd say hi to Asuna for her. Of course they didn't use their actual usernames, that'd be stupid. That'd get them discovered sooner than not disguising themselves. Kirito was ab out to return to the log cabin when an idea struck him, and he grinned stupidly to himself at the thought. He quickly found his second objective, buying it on the promise from the lady behind the counter that Asuna would love it.
Kirito walked slowly to the log cabin, enjoying the breeze rolling through the floor. He knew he'd miss it, but not returning was not a possibility. Upon reaching the cabin, Kirito was greeted by a rather adorable sight.
Asuna was curled up on the chair on the porch, her head resting in her arm. She was breathing out of her mouth slowly, the chair still rocking slightly in the breeze. Kirito smiled and walked inside as quietly as he could, doing his best not to wake her. After he was certain he'd managed to get inside without waking her, he went to dye his hair and applied it like he usually did, watching his avatars hair turn back to it's original black from the brown he'd dyed it. He smiled weakly at the result, before he went back outside to look at Asuna.
"Asuna." he said softly, poking his partner in the face. "Asuna, wake up."
"Mm."
"Asuna."
"Mmmm..."
"Asuna?"
"Mm!" Kirito poked her again and her eyes finally opened up lazily, watching him. "What?" She asked quietly. "I was sleeping."
"I know." Kirito said. "I just figured I would. How'd your day go?" Asuna smiled weakly as she shifted slightly to get more comfortable.
"I almost leveled up." She said, keeping his gaze. "Did you?"
"Yeah." Kirito showed her, and she smiled as she yawned.
"Congratulations." She said, then pouted. "I'll get there tomorrow, I promise."
"I know." Kirito said, "You're close enough." They just watched the sun set over the lake, and Kirito turned to look at Asuna as she held her arms out.
"Carry me." She said in a childish tone. "I'm sleepy."
"To where?"
"Bed." Kirito chuckled as he took her in his arms and lifted her up as best he could, not getting any help from her. He finally managed to get her in a makeshift princess hold, carrying her inside and towards the one bedroom they took turns sleeping in. Come to think of it, it was his turn. One look at her cute and calm face made him alright with that, though. He put her down gently and she curled on with a frown on her face, as if she missed the warmth from his body. He rectified that by tucking her in and the frown faded.
"Sleep well, Asuna." he told her as he left for the couch. "Tomorrow may be our last day."
"I know..." She replied quietly. "I'll do my best. Goodnight, Kirito-kun."
"Goodnight."
September 20th, 2025 80th floor, Redbank
Klein played with the straw in his drink halfheartedly, watching the waves crash against the beach. It was a rather hot day, even for September, but he knew that Redbank was coded that way. Klein really didn't have anything better to do anyway, seeing as anyone still training wasn't sitting around.
After Kirito and Asuna disappeared without a trace, the clearing group hadn't given up hope immediately. Rather, they searched and searched, looking for any sort of sign as to where the two of them had disappeared to and why. Klein knew what they had disappeared to do but not where, and he'd not been messaged since that day he found their Algade home empty. Going into August, many people began to realize either one of two things.
The first being that Kirito and Asuna didn't want to be found, just to be left alone. Nobody except Klein, Lis, and Silica knew why, which only made everyone angry. A lot of people also seemed to assume that the two were Kayaba's lieutenants, who had worked with him until he left, and they stayed to make sure that the clearing group made it to the safe zone before the Ruby Palace.
The second most popular theory seemed to be suicide. Most seemed to believe this due to the lack of evidence supporting either's survival, which Klein could understand. Wherever those two were, they had covered their tracks very well. A suicide obviously filled this theory out, as both of them took everything they owned and jumped off of the floating castle, somewhere where nobody saw them.
Others claimed it wasn't suicide, just bad luck that had resulted in the pairs demise. Maybe just for those who didn't want to think of the two strongest real players in game killing themselves.
Klein grumbled angrily as realized his cup was empty, so he got up off of his chair and reequipped his normal clothes, walking towards Lis' shop. Despite popular belief, Lis's shop had somehow stayed open after the demise of the clearing group, which Klein knew for a fact was good for the blacksmiths well being. He wasn't sure what would've happened if Lis lost the shop.
"Lis?" he called out, not finding her behind the counter as he entered. "Yo, Lis. Are you here?"
"Hold on a moment, Klein!" The pinkette called. Klein leaned against the counter and waited, watching the soot covered smith exit her shop area. "Yes?" She asked.
"I just wanted to see how you're doing." Klein said innocently, and Lis sighed.
"I'm fine."
"You sure? Even thought you're just making weapons for the sake of making weapons?"
"You said Kirito and Asuna planned to come back, right?" She asked, and Klein nodded. "People will need their weapons and stuff back, for the Kayaba fight. I still can't believe that bastard was Heathcliff!" As Lis had not been part of the raid for the 95th floor, she hadn't know Heathcliff's true identity until everyone returned. It still seemed to piss her off a lot.
"I get the feeling neither of them are coming back." Klein said sadly, watching the weapons in the showcase he was leaning on.
"...Why not?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Think about it, Lis." Klein replied. "They're the strongest, most trusted players in the clearing group. Most would listen to them without a second thought. So why, pray tell,didn't they want anyone to know what they were doing?"
"I..."
"Why didn't they just say something to everyone instead of running away like they were scared?"
"I..."
"All they've succeeded in doing is sowing seeds of hatred among everyone who knew them. It was pointless unless they never planned on coming back."
"Klein, I don't try to understand you clearing group, heroic types." She said, obviously a little miffed with him. "But I know Kirito and Asuna very well, so I have full faith in them to return."
"Fool's faith, then." Both of them watched each other with deadpan stares before Klein sighed and turned to look out the window, not wanting to argue this further. He felt terrible he didn't believe in them, but he was only human. He had his doubts, his fears, and his beliefs.
One fear being that they would never return.
Although leave fate to screw Klein around, right?
Just as he was going to turn and tell Lis something, the door burst open.
"Klein-san! Lisbeth-san!" The former Dragon Alliance member was panting and sweating, trying to catch a breath "They're...They're..."
"Take a deep breath, man." Klein advised. "Just take a minute." The man did as he was advised and waited a moment to speak again, and Klein smirked. "Now, what's the problem."
"...They're back."
There it is! I know it seems rather rushed, but I really don't want to drag this out anymore than I have too, you know? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, leave a review!