Okay so I received mixed reviews about adding more drama this week, but it seems just a few more voted yes, so here it is. As for the rest of you, please just bear with it a little longer! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.
Chapter 38. A Little More Trouble
Evening cicadas chirped, filling the air with the sounds of summer as Kazuto and Asuna made their way down the sidewalk.
The sun was slowly inching across the sky, which was beginning to turn orange and pink.
They walked in silence for a while until an idea sparked in Kazuto's mind. "Hey, is it okay if we make one last stop before we head home?" He asked while giving her hand a little squeeze.
"Sure!" She nodded eagerly. "Where are we going?"
"I'm not going to tell you."
"Ah geez, not again, Kirito-kun!" She complained playfully.
She let him lead and followed behind, trying to track the path they were taking in her mind and guess where it would end.
"We're almost there." He said at last.
Asuna looked ahead to see if she recognized where they were going. They had traveled away from town and appeared to be going toward a small forest. Asuna had passed by this way many times before, but she only just realized that she had never gone in that direction because she assumed there was nothing there.
However, just before they could step off the concrete sidewalk and onto the dirt path, there was a familiar sound from behind them.
It was the sound of muffled laughter, but it was not the innocent laughter of another couple heading for an evening walk. Instead, it was a laughter that suggested trouble, and it sounded more threatening than easygoing.
Asuna did not even have to turn around to know who the group of people trailing them were.
"Kirito-kun..." She tried to speak in a warning tone, but not serious enough to get him riled up.
"Yeah. I know." His reply was angry, yet controlled, as he knew he could not go picking a fight right now no matter how badly he wanted to. He tried to keep his emotions quelled, but changed his direction at the last minute, taking Asuna away from the forest and heading back into town. "Let's just walk a while longer and see if we can lose them." He said in a low tone.
"I can't believe they're following us!" She hissed.
"They're just trying to be obnoxious."
"Well, it's working."
Kazuto took her back to the more populated part of town with passing cars and small stores that were still open. They entered a small bookstore and promptly headed to one of the back aisles that was hidden behind several shelves.
"This is ridiculous." Asuna grumbled. "We're acting like fugitives."
"But it's better not to confront them." Kazuto replied calmly before adding, "Because if we did, I don't know what I'd do to them." Asuna could see that he was doing his best to suppress the rage she knew was flowing inside of him. She understood; when those guys had insulted her so blatantly, Kazuto probably felt the same anger she had experienced when they had talked down about Kazuto to her.
To be honest, a part of her almost wanted to confront them, and she hated feeling like an animal being chased and forced to hide. But the other side of her knew this was the best thing to do in order to end things quietly.
Kazuto and Asuna browsed through some books, all the while keeping one eye on the four boys who had followed them from the water park. They kept walking around the store noisily, but no one, not even the workers, would go up to them to ask them to be quiet; they just gave off that sort of presence that anyone could read and automatically know they were the violent types.
At one point, they began harassing a group of people who had been minding their own business and reading at a table.
"Are you serious?" Asuna's whisper was outraged. "They're trying to smoke us out by causing problems for other people?"
"Cowards." Kazuto spat disdainfully.
For a moment, the two of them stood in their corner and watching the group of troublemakers candidly causing problems for the other customers. Many of the victims left immediately in obvious discomfort, and Kazuto and Asuna tightened their grip on the other's hand simultaneously.
It was similar to watching members of the Army do injustice to the innocent players in SAO, and their sense of justice immediately flared up, and the two of them longed for nothing more than to step up and take them on.
Their minds shared the same thoughts, but just before they could take action, Kazuto held her back. "Wait. I know it's difficult to watch, but we can't interfere. It's exactly what they want."
"...You're right." Asuna sighed, conflicted. "But we can't just let them continue this. No one's speaking up about it."
"Let's just leave. They haven't seen us yet, so they don't even know we're in here. Maybe they'll give up soon and just go home."
"I hope so."
They skirted the bookshelves and stuck close to the walls as they made their way to the exit. Asuna could not help but shoot one last disgusted look in their tormentors direction, but just before she could look away, one of them met her eyes. The corners of his lips curled into a revolting smirk, the smirk of the hunter who had just spotted his elusive prey.
Asuna gave a small gasp and she quickly ducked away. "Kirito-kun..." She said guiltily.
"Damn it. Let's go." He no longer hid his urgency behind slow steps, and together they took off running in hopes of shaking them off quickly. They entered the next closest store, which was an art supply shop, and instantly headed to the back.
"I'm sorry." Asuna sighed. "If I hadn't looked over that last time-"
"They would have seen us anyway." He cut her off. "It's better that you noticed them because now we're not just blissfully thinking we've won."
"I guess so..." She muttered.
They walked around the art store for a few moments, but then the door opened again to let in four, unpleasantly familiar faces.
Kazuto and Asuna slipped into and out of 2 more shops that evening, but still had not lost their persistent pursuers. When they had left the fourth shop, which had been a clothing store, they were practically running down the sidewalk.
"I can't believe it! Goddamn cowards." Kazuto growled. "If they don't give up really soon I swear I'll..."
"What's their problem anyway?" Asuna exclaimed.
"They're just a bunch of guys with nothing better to do and no girlfriends." He shrugged, earning a little giggle from her.
But an instant later, an annoyingly familiar voice called out to them.
"What the hell did you say, punk?"
In the next second, Asuna's hand was ripped from Kazuto's, and she shrieked as one of them yanked her hair, halting her steps instantly.
"Asuna!" Kazuto skidded to a halt as the other three showed themselves as well. The one who had sat down and harassed Asuna before, the leader figure, stepped forward from the side to glare at Kazuto.
"You know," he said in a threatening tone. "I really don't like what you just said. Maybe you should apologize before I-"
But before he could even finish his threats, Kazuto darted past him, utterly ignoring him. He clenched his fists and aimed for the guy grabbing Asuna.
When she realized what he planned to do, Asuna ducked seconds before Kazuto jumped up, scoring his fist directly into the other boy's face before he even knew what was coming. He staggered backward as he let go of Asuna and fell ungraciously to the ground.
"What the-?" The other two of the group were clearly dumbfounded, and Asuna took a second to be amused by their complete bewilderment before she noticed the leader charging Kazuto from behind.
"Kirito-kun!"
Just as he had finished taking down her attacker, she gave Kazuto a slight shove sideways at just the perfect angle that his attacker swung his fist and just missed hitting him. Asuna was now in his fist's path but she, too, dodged the punch easily before she grabbed his shoulders with both hands. Before he could even have time to think, she pulled his torso downward while at the same time slamming her knee up into his solar plexus. He coughed once pathetically before crumpling to the ground in a whimpering heap. "You're just lucky I didn't aim lower." She scoffed.
She and Kazuto then straightened up, each choosing one of the remaining guys, and locking eyes with them. They were clearly petrified that their other two teammates had been taken down and made fools of within less than a minute, and could do nothing more than stand there with their jaws gaping.
"Anyone else up for some action?" Kazuto squared up to them, cracking his fingers, and Asuna kicked the ground experimentally.
It was not three seconds later when the other two members of the group had promptly vanished down the street.
Kazuto and Asuna both sighed, satisfied, before looking at one another with accomplishment wafting off of their persons.
"Are you okay?" Kazuto quickly asked, looking her over. "I'm sorry I let it get so far as for him to touch you."
"It's fine."
"It's not, but if you say so, I guess I'll let it slide." He grumbled.
"So... should we just leave them here?" She wondered.
Kazuto looked them over and saw that the guy who had grabbed Asuna was beginning to stir.
"Yeah, let's go. He's probably more likely to drag this guy along with him if we're not still here when he wakes up."
Asuna nodded, and together they took off down the sidewalk. Kazuto glanced back over his shoulder briefly to see his predictions come true as the remaining two of their defeated opponents limped away.
At last, Kazuto and Asuna came to a stop and caught their breaths. As he was wiping a bit of sweat from his brow, Kazuto noticed they were near the same spot they had been initially heading before they noticed their pursuers.
"Hey, look where we are." He nudged her and she glanced up.
"We went in one giant circle, didn't we?" She gave a little laugh.
"So then let's just pretend all that stuff in between never happened, okay?"
"Sounds good to me." She opened up her left hand and Kazuto took it with his right and slowly led her off onto the dirt path.
There was a little stretch of woods before them, and as they walked through it, Asuna could not help but be amused. "We probably look like thugs or something, beating people up and then casually walking off into the woods at sunset while holding hands."
"They attacked first, so it was self-defense." Kazuto pointed out. "But it is kind of laughable to change paces so quickly." He agreed.
"Did you see the dumb looks on their faces?" She chimed in. "It's like they expected to have some long, dramatic fight-"
"But then we creamed them like it was nothing and walked away." He finished, chuckling.
"I guess we shouldn't be making fun. They really did try their best." Asuna said just mockingly enough that it was more amusing than anything else.
They walked in silence from then on, listening to the cicadas chirping as the warm breeze tugged at their hair.
At last, they came to a stop at the edge of the forest.
A single bench sat overlooking the wide landscape of mountains and forests beyond, and a small fence rose up from the end of the cliff. Colors swirled around from the sky to the trees, mixing gold with pink and purple in a breathtaking scene.
"Wow!" Asuna exclaimed. "I never knew about this place!"
"I'm glad it was a surprise then." He grinned. "Let's sit for a while."
They placed their bags that they had skillfully managed to keep a hold of during the brawl onto the grass and sat side by side on the bench that overlooked the land. "You're sure you're okay?" Kazuto asked once more.
"Yes. Thank you for saving me, Kirito-kun."
"I should be thanking you." He replied.
Asuna smiled as she leaned onto his shoulder, and he placed his hand on her back. His warm hand gently rubbed up and down her shoulders in a soothing motion, as though to erase the feeling of when her attacker had jerked her backward by the hair so sharply.
He continued to run his fingers lightly through her tresses, and she let out a long breath, savoring his familiar touch as she relaxed against him.
The sun slipped behind the distant mountains, taking some of the light with it, but still leaving behind a fair amount of pale, purple skies. The trees were bathed in pink and the grass swayed silently in the breeze, the buzzing cicadas soon replaced by chirping night crickets.
By the time the fireflies emerged at twilight, Asuna had rested her head in his lap and fallen onto a light sleep. Kazuto patted her shoulder, still stroking her long chestnut hair with ease, letting the soft, silky feeling tickle his fingertips.
At one point, he had to quickly reach forward to grab her and prevent her from rolling off, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled her back into his arms.
She continued to sleep peacefully while using his lap as a pillow, and he figured he would just let her sleep, considering all they had been through today.
A short while later, she stirred and blinked her eyes open to a fuzzy, sideways view of the world. She noticed that someone else's hand was holding hers and she turned her head upward to see Kazuto smiling down at her.
"Sleep well?" He asked, leaning down to kiss her forehead.
"Mm." She made a confirmative sound and smiled as his lips tickled her skin.
"Wanna head back?" He wondered, helping her find her balance as she sat up.
"I guess we should, huh?" She was as reluctant as he was, but there was not long now until tomorrow when they could see each other again.
Standing, they gathered their things before entering into a loose embrace and kissing once again, the headed off back down the path together.
A/N: I hope you liked it! As for next week, some more shenanigans online!
Please review!