Chapter 53.- Lies Among Friends
January/23rd/2024
Seventeenth Floor of Aincrad – Steel & Swords Guild House – City of Barrowdell
Ruri
"I just think it's weird," I mutter and cross my legs.
"Come on, she is allowed to have a life outside this house," Kayla answers.
I place my elbow over the arm rest of the chair and continue to stare at Kayla who is by some act of god letting me watch as she tries on clothes. Not that I mind, I am very much enjoying myself watching her strip in and out of clothing. I just never figured she would enjoy trying clothes for me. After all, I did ask, I just never expected her to agree to my request.
I rest my head on the top of my palm and lean in ever so slightly to right to see if I can get a better angle. She is finally able to pull up a pair of somewhat tight gray pants and buttons the front rather quickly. She twirls a bit on one foot and looks at herself in the mirror. She pulls a little on the oversized white sweater she is wearing and purses her lips.
"What do you think?" she asks.
My gaze lingers on her, however I stay silent. Honestly I would want to see some more skin but it's not a bad fit. She looks particularly cute in the oversized sweater. She turns to me and hides her own hands inside the sleeves. She points at me with her right arm and sticks her hip out to the side.
"Left you speechless?" she chuckles.
"I like it," I say with a smile, "But…"
"I could show a little more skin?" she interrupts with a blank stare.
I nod at her and uncross my legs.
"You've said the same thing about the last five outfits I've tried on!" she complains.
"Hey, it's not my fault you decided to start with the bikini you want to use next week at the lake," I reply.
She blushes slightly and coughs to try and hide it.
"I guess you make a fair point…" she mumbles.
She grabs the bottom of her sweater and starts pulling it over her head and once I start seeing her smooth stomach I find myself in some sort of trance. God why did you make me weak to the female body?! She stops halfway and quickly pushes what she was pulling back down.
"Enough of the peepshow you perv," she says and sticks her tongue out.
She pulls down her menu and changes into her regular, boring battledress through the menu commands. Light envelops her lovely figure and the battledress makes itself present. I pout and lean back on the chair. You just don't tease someone like this, it isn't fair. I jerk myself forwards and pat the side of my head.
"Wait! I was talking about something that wasn't how much skin you were showing…" I say, "I think…"
"Yeah you were talking about Esra," Kayla says.
"Yes, I was!" I say, jumping out from my seat, "Something's totally fishy there!"
My beautiful girlfriend sighs out loudly and crosses her arms as she strike that pose I adore. Cold eyes, she tilts her head a little to the right and gives me a half grin.
"Come on, leave her alone," she says.
"I'm so curious though!" I exclaim, "She almost never leaves the house, no matter what and now she tries like super hard to find time and sneak out. Wait! Do you think she has a boyfriend?!"
"I don't know," she replies uninterested.
"Or better yet! A girlfriend?"
"Better yet?" she says sounding a bit irked.
It's really odd for me to grow so curious, but lately with the constant, tiring sessions of training leave me with a lot of time to observe people, which I rarely do. Well I will admit I like observing people but normally it's not curiosity that draws me to sneak a peek when Aereth is sunbathing or when Kayla is taking a bath.
"I didn't mean it like that…" I excuse myself, "Don't you want to know why she is sneaking out?"
"Not really," she says, "I really could not be less interested."
"That's kind of harsh."
She sits on our bed and lies down on her back.
"I didn't mean for it to sound mean or anything…" she sighs, "I just wish you were just thin-"
She stops herself and rolls to the left, leaving me unable to see anything other than her back.
"You just wish what?" I ask as I get closer.
"Nothing, forget it," she says shyly.
I grin widely and sit just next to her. I place my right hand on her left calf and pull on her a little to make her face my way. She resists and stays completely still facing away from me. Little Miss Princess is being shy about something, just when I'm saying out loud that I'm particularly curious. It's really not smart to start behaving like this.
"Come on baby, what is it?" I say with a bit of a teasing tone.
"Ugh, don't call me that…" she mumbles.
"Honey?" I tease as I lay down next to her.
"Stop," she says, trying hard not to laugh.
I'm quite skilled at getting my dear Kayla to talk, it requires a whole lot of making her feel embarrassed. Some sweet talking might be involved but it all really depends on the eye contact.
I reach for her arm and pull her somewhat harshly. My struggle merely manages to roll her on her back but I take the opportunity and pull myself over her. I straddle her quickly and with both of my legs holding her figure in place I can't help but to chuckle. I grab both of her arms and slowly slide my hands to meet hers. I squeeze tightly once I get a hold of her hands and laugh once more. Making sure to make her feel as vulnerable as possible I keep her arms over her head and as spread out as I'm able. She blushes hard but avoids my eyes at all costs.
"Come on," I purr, "tell me."
"Just forget it," she replies with a squeaky.
She quickly coughs on purpose yet again and struggles to get out of my grip. She could easily push me away, yet she pretends to be weak.
"Just get off of me!" she growls.
I lower my head and make the tip of my nose meet her own cute little nose. I chuckle and also rest my forehead against hers. Now she has no excuse to not stare into my eyes.
"Tell. Me," I whisper.
"I just…" she squeaks.
It's really amazing how much she changes when she is alone with me, at first she tried really hard to keep her tough attitude around me but she slowly lowered her guard and now she is the cutest thing I've ever laid eyes on. However if you were to catch her outside this very room she will try her hardest to be all tough.
"I just wish you didn't think of other girls when you are with me…" she confesses.
If there has ever been a moment in life when you can use the phrase "it just melts me heart" it wouldn't even compare to this right here. I feel a great urge to just lose any coherence and exclaim a long and drawn out "aww" but since I'm on top I need to pull some composure.
"You know I only think about you," I mutter and move my head to kiss her soft pink-ish lips.
She moves her head away and I just pout at her.
"I mean it…" she says, "I know you are silly, you like being silly, but I…you are my first well…"
She grows silent again and again a dumb little laugh escapes my lips.
"Don't laugh!" she yells.
"Come on you can't expect me to believe I'm your first relationship."
She turns her head towards the window and with her cheeks filled with air she stares into the distance.
"Oh my god, I am," I say, feeling a bit shocked, "Freaking why? You are stupid levels of pretty."
"You are like the only person to ever say they like me like that," she says softly.
I feel myself blush a little, I enjoy seeing her embarrassed and making her feel vulnerable but this is above and beyond anything I ever expected.
"Hey, stop staring like that, even your pervy look is better than that," she says.
"So am I doing well for a first girlfriend?" I ask.
"Y-yeah…" she answers, blushing even harder than before.
"Oh my god, I could just eat you up right now," I squeal.
"Well…" she says, "Why don't you?"
I'm a lucky girl, more often than not I find myself thinking so. I mean, I can't really complain and even if I tried my hardest I would find it hard to. Beautiful girlfriend, great friends, I'm really living the dream.
I stretch my right arm until I hear it crack and then sigh out in relief. I rotate my wrist a bit and then lean back on the headboard of our bed.
"So hey, want to go out and have dinner?" I ask.
I look over to my left and see Kayla already soundly sleeping. Really now? She must be kidding.
"Hey?" I exclaim, "You awake?"
I lean a bit over her and see her face. Eyes closed, her lips only slightly apart as she breathes in and out through her mouth. I smile and kiss her cheek. I slide myself over to the edge of the bed and stand up. I make my way to the door as I pick up my clothes and open the door. I walk out into the hallway and start dressing myself there.
"Is this like a regular thing you do? Just dress up in the hallway?"
I turn my head to the side and see Billfray coming out of his room.
"Do you like stare at half naked girls? Is that regular thing you do?" I joke.
"You are an odd one," he says as he walks past me.
"Your hair color is odd!" I yell
"It's almost the same color as yours!" he yells back.
"Mine looks cooler though!"
He casually goes down the stairs and I lose sight of him as soon as he is down just a few steps. I finish dressing up myself and take a few steps to look over the foyer. Billfray exits the building, probably off to drink or do some afternoon hunting. Esra comes into view and I duck immediately, for some reason my dumb brain thinks the balusters are enough to hide my presence.
Maid extraordinaire however seems oblivious to my existence and even though she checks around the foyer for someone she fails to see me and exits the building. Well what better time than right now? I vault myself over the railing and swiftly land on the floor below. I hustle over to the door but hesitate to open it as I peek out the main window in the foyer. Her frilly dress swings from side to side as she tries to make her way through the sea of NPCs that crowd this little city.
"Alright, let's go into super stealthy mode," I mumble to myself.
I drag down my menu and equip an overly fancy and pompous dress. No one expects me to dress like it's the perfect cover. I even have a cartoonish looking folding fan to go along with it. I whip it out from the side of the dress and spread it out close to my mouth as I laugh with an exaggerated tone.
"What are you doing?" I hear behind me.
Freezing I turn around in an almost robotic manner and see Aereth standing next to the set of stairs.
"Ohoho," I continue for some dumb reason, "I'm just going out to catch dinner, darling."
"Ok…" he mumbles, yet his gaze stays on me for a few seconds, "whatever…"
Not even waiting for him to leave I open the door and exit the guild house. I push a couple of NPCs as I stumble out into the street, as some kind of reflex I say sorry even though I'm fully aware that they really don't care for my actions towards them. Being careful of my step I swerve around the crowd, doing my very best to keep Esra's frilly red outfit in sight. She is walking fast, if it were any other person you would just assume they are in a hurry but it's not like Esra to push NPCs around. If someone knows how to properly traverse these streets it's her so something definitely is up with her attitude.
I follow her all the way to the teleport gate located on the very center of Barrowdell. Knowing that I might lose her at any second I jump above the crowd and land but a few feet away from my maid friend. She doesn't seem to notice me so I stand on my tiptoes and make an inhuman attempt to peek at what floor she is selecting in the gate's menu. She selects floor twenty eight and disappears quickly. I bring up the gate's menu and wait a few seconds to select the same floor. I finally press the floating button and find myself in the small town that serves as the main settlement for floor twenty eight.
As soon as the light from the teleportation stops blinding me I can see Esra running towards one of the small building not far from the teleport gate itself. It seems to be some kind of inn or restaurant. Now it's official she is definitely meeting up with someone. It seems I'll have first-hand at judging whoever is trying to woo my cute house maid. Seeing her enter the building I ease up a little and walk slowly towards the door. I manage to catch the attention of some players as I walk there and little smile takes over my lips. Come on boys I know I look good.
I'm about to rest my hand against the door when a players steps in from the side. My eyes widen in surprise as I notice who the player and in a fit of panic I take a few steps away and try to hide my face with my fan.
"Excuse me," Al says as he pushes the door in.
He doesn't even bother to take a look at me he just simply walks in and slams the door shut behind him. My thirst for knowledge just grows stronger by the minute. Feeling a bit uneasy I push the door in and quickly notice Esra and Al sitting at a table not far from the bar, still shielding my face I gracefully walk over to the bar. I take a sit at one of the high chairs and rest my arms over the bar.
"Can I offer you anything?" the bar maiden asks.
"Just some ale please," I mumble.
I can hear the girl grab a mug from under the counter and fill it to the brim with ale. She sets it close to my right hand and I can't help but to feel she is staring.
"That's a pretty dress to be bar hopping," she says.
"Oh, you are not an NPC," I say surprised.
"Hah, I'm not," she says, "A lot of players still confuse me with one though. So what brings you here? And why are you dressed like that?"
If my long history of taking cabs and that one time I went to a bar with my cousins to get totally smashed leave me with something is that strangers that you are never ever going get to see in your life again provide the most helpful of insights.
"To be honest I'm like spying on a couple of friends," I say as I take my mug into my hands.
I take a quick sip while turning my head a bit, in the corner of my eye I'm able to Al and Esra talking about something. The argument seems quite heated as Al isn't exactly smiling and he has slammed his fist against the table a couple of times.
"Ah, interesting," the girl says and leans a little over the bar, "Who exactly? Maybe I can help."
I take a good long sip of my cold beverage and slowly set the mug over the smooth wooden bar.
"The maid over there and that grumpy guy," I say while tilting my head.
"You don't say?" she says, "I've seen the maid a couple of times now."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she comes by with this other girl and they rent out a room for a few hours," she explains, "Never seen the guy though."
I tilt my head like a confused puppy as I try to really understand what this girl just said.
"She…rents out a room with another girl?" I ask.
"Yeah, actually, there she is, the other girl," she says and point at the door with her finger.
I turn around in my seat and see Aeri coming into the inn. She scans the room and after locating Al and Esra she sighs before walking over to them.
"Wait, what the hell do they do in the room?" I anxiously ask, turning my body around in one ungraceful swing.
"Hey, that's none of my business, you can do whatever you want in the rooms as long as you pay," she says, "The last few times I've seen them here they rent out the same room though."
"Do you have an extra key?!"
The girl crosses her arms and stares at me judgingly.
"Just what are you suggesting?" she plays dumbs.
"I'll pay you for a spare as long as you send them to the same room," I answer quickly.
"Woah, you must be a special kind of perv."
"Whatever, you want col or not?" I pressure.
She looks around a bit nervously but then leans in close to my face.
"Ok but you pay me three days rent," she says.
"How much is that?" I ask.
"Uhm, let's see," she ponders, "Around eight thousand."
"What the hell? Do you leave mints under the pillows or does the room come with a butler?" I complain.
She gives me a wide smirk and leans in closer.
"Eight thousand," she repeats.
"Six," I barter.
"Seven," she replies.
"Dammit…" I whine, "Fine."
I transfer the greedy player her col and she gives me a small key. I chug what ale is left in my mug and place it over the bar.
"Third door to the right down the hall, have fun," the girl says.
"We'll see about that," I say and stick my tongue out to her.
Shielding my face once more I walk somewhat close to Al's, Esra's and Aeri's table as they are in the way to reach the hallways where rooms are. I count the doors on the right side and stop next to the third. I try the key on it and it opens up. I push the door in and close it behind me. I make sure to lock it and look around the small room. There's a very basic table in the middle with three chairs surrounding it. A two door closet, a small door I can only assume leads to the bathroom to the right. I scan around the room and notice a surprisingly small bed against the wall and absolutely no windows, feeling rather confused I keep looking around while raising an eyebrow.
"What the hell is there even to do here?" I ask myself.
I drag down my menu and switch back into my usual clothes. The ones Ashley made for me, the so called armored clothes. I start looking around, trying to look for clues, or just really anything these guys could have to do in here. I'm not leaving sex out of the equation but it just doesn't seem like them, they must be up to something else. I'm literally looking under the pillow for mints when I hear the lock on the door jiggle a bit.
"Turn the key the other way, idiot," Aeri's voice pierces through the door.
"Calm down," Al says, "Geez…besides you don't get to be angry at me!"
In my tiptoes I make my way to the closet and open it quickly. Seeing it's empty I walk inside and find myself pulling the door shut as the main door to the room opens. I leave the door open just a tiny bit so I'm able to peek outside.
Aeri comes into the room followed by Al and Esra. Esra seems to be sulking as she walks behind her master ever so diligently. Al shuts the door as the three of them make it inside and sighs out in just sheer annoyance.
"How long has this been going on?" he asks.
"Relax, we've only met up with her three times," Aeri says.
"Relax?" Al says annoyed, I believe I told you if we were to do this bullshit together we would need to be honest with each other."
"Master if I may…" Esra butts in.
"Hang on!" Al says harshly and returns to Aeri, "I don't like finding out about stuff this way!"
"Hey, it's not my fault you practically choked her to death the last time you met up with her, I think it's only natural she doesn't want to see you," Aeri says as she sit on the edge of the bed, "Felt appropriate to keep it from you, besides who told you to sneak around and follow Esra today?"
"That's not the point dammit!" Al says enraged, "If you want this thing to work, you have to stop keeping things from me!"
"Christ, shut up you two!" Esra yells.
Both Al and Aeri turn to the maid looking quite surprised. Esra quickly realizes her actions and makes a perfect angle as she bows at both of them.
"I'm sorry!" she squeals and then stands up straight, "You two have to stop fighting though, we are not going to get anywhere if you guys keep fighting over every little thing!"
"She is right…" Aeri weasels out.
"Yeah, we'll talk about this later," Al complains, "When is she coming over?"
"Just give her a few minutes, she'll get here soon," Aeri says, "Can't say she'll be happy to see you though."
Just what in the hell are they talking about? My mind tries to conjure up just whatever they might be discussing but I just can't come up with anything. Whatever it is apparently there is a fourth person involved…one who Al once almost choked to death.
A knock on the door of the room makes me jump a bit, not really minding the head room I hit myself with the pole in which you would usually hang stuff. I make myself really aware of the noise I made and stand back, fearing I might've been discovered. I stare at the back of the door, scared of peeking out when I hear another voice, another girl.
"Ok, let's do this quickly; I don't have a lot of ti-"she stops herself, "What the hell is he doing here?"
"Miss Argo, we can explain," Esra says.
"Explain whatever you want, I'm leaving," this Argo individual replies.
"Argo come on, can't you guys just get over it?" Aeri says, "I'm sure Al here is very sorry."
I lean a little to the left to see if I can take a peek but all I see is the back of Esra's uniform she seems to be leaning against the closet doors.
"You see the thing is that I don't doubt he is sorry," Argo says, "That much I can see, what bothers me is that he doesn't regret what he did that day!"
A long drawn out silence dominates the room for a few seconds before Al answers.
"I did what I had to do…" he mutters.
"See!" Argo yell, "I'll meet you two and only you two somewhere else, I don't want to see his face ever again!"
"Miss Argo, please reconsider!" Esra pleads.
I hear hurried steps across the room followed by a door slamming shut with a lot of force.
"Let me through Aeri," Argo says.
"No, you give us our info and then you can go." Aeri says, "I won't let your stupid issue with Al get in the way of that."
"I want double the money, then."
"Fine by me," Aeri says bitterly.
Another awkward silence stretches its welcome and I find myself pressing my ear against the closet's door in order listen to what's going to be said next.
"You better listen because I'm not going to repeat myself. There's been reported activity of people in black cloaks and clothing killing, mugging and kidnapping people on floor four near Caldera Lake, thirteen in the outskirts of the main settlement and this very floor far to the east of the Wolf Plains," Argo explains, "That's just reported activity of people wearing black clothing, however, there's a particular player who has reported he survived an attack by the Laughing Coffin. You might want to check into him, he owns a store in floor twenty."
This can't be. They've been secretly going after that damned guild? I shake my head trying to dismiss everything I just heard but all the secrecy, the sneaking around, the fact that they are heaving this secret meeting; it all falls into place nicely.
"What kind of shop?" Aeri asks.
"That's all I will say," Argo says, "If I'm going to send you guys over to a poor guy that survived an attack I don't want it to weigh in my conscious heavily."
"Fair enough," Al comments.
"Shut up…"Argo spits, "I'll take my leave."
I hear the door swinging open and then slamming back shut.
"Well that was that…"Aeri mutters.
"Yeah…" Al says, "I'll make sure to not come next time."
"I believe we have a more pressing matter to address," Esra says.
"Huh, what are you talking about?" Aeri questions.
"Someone is spying on us," Esra states.
Ah shit.
She moves out of the way and opens the doors to the closet. She grabs me by the neck and savagely throws me out of my hiding place. I crash against the table and fall face first into one of the chairs. I'm not even given the chance to get my bearings when she pins me against the floor with her knee and brandishes her dagger at my face. I've never seen such a scary look on her face as she stares down at me, thankfully she quickly realizes it's me and lowers her weapon.
"Ruri?" she ponders.
"Haha, hey, while I'm into this kind of rough play it's usually with someone I really like," I choke, "Not that you aren't pretty, but, I do have a girlfriend."
"Ruri, what are you doing here?" Aeri asks.
"Running…out of breath," I joke, "How's your day been?"
"Oh geez, I'm sorry," Esra mumbles and stands back up, finally lifting her knee from my neck.
I reach for my neck and rub it gently as I try to sit up.
"Shit. Shit. Shit!" Al says and kicks one of the chairs away from him.
"Are you alone?" Esra asks.
"Yeah…" I say as I stand up, "Damn, I would've never guessed you guys were doing this."
Slowly Esra and Aeri make their way next to Al. He looks all too serious as he stares at me. A blank expression dominates his face as he covers half of his mouth with his hand, he appears to be deep in thought.
"What are we going to do about her?" Aeri asks.
"Master, I need to second Aeri's question," Esra says, "Just what are we going to do with her?"
I scratch the back of my head and laugh nervously.
"Could you perhaps not talk about me like you might chop me into pieces and throw me into a lake?" I say nervously.
"We'll have to do the same thing we did with Esra," Al says.
He walks over to me very slowly, he feels ominous it actually makes me kind of scared.
"Hunt those bastards down with us," he offers.
"The Laughing Coffin?" I ask
He just nods, I look past him and see Esra and Aeri standing behind him looking as imposing if not even more than my own guild leader.
I hesitate to answer, lately I've enjoyed this period of peace, this period where I haven't worried about my livelihood, the lives of my friends, all of it all has just been peaceful and nice. I don't want to put anyone at risk, not my friends, not Kayla, I don't want to risk that, I'm deeply scared of risking that.
"You guys are putting us all in danger…" I say.
"We are being careful," Esra argues.
"How?" I ask, "I tailed you all the way here, what's to say they haven't been doing the same?"
"We aren't leaving any witnesses," Aeri says with a wicked smile.
I feel struck with fear and take a few steps back.
"We…?" I ask.
Esra's and Al's expressions turn bleak and a pit makes itself present in my stomach.
"Y-you've all killed people…" I stutter.
"We could use your help," Al insists.
"An extra pair of eyes, hands and ears can't hurt," Esra mumbles.
"This is not the time to be a hypocrite Ruri," Aeri says with ghoulish relish, "Back in that hidden inn you said you wouldn't mind hunting Klaus down."
She is right; I'm kind of amazed she is the one to remember what I said back then. Then again it's at times like these when I can say she doesn't sound like her usual self. I clench my fists and look around the room to distract myself, never have I felt so distraught about making a decision.
"Is everyone else going to be safe?" I ask, my heart pounding insanely fast, "If we do this I mean…the faster we do it the better it'll be for everyone right?"
I feel like my whole body is shaking but it's merely the fact that my own heart is racing and practically beating out of my eyes that I feel like this.
Al nods at me, he is trying to reassure me. Why do I feel so scared then?
"We are doing the right thing," Esra says but it sounds like she barely believes herself.
I swallow my own spit and can painfully feel how it makes its way down my throat.
"Ok…I'm in," I mutter.
Crysina here!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Now this is more like the length I'm used to write per chapter. This chapter I really gotta say was really excited about posting. I know there's been a lack of action lately but god damn do I love writing situations like the one in this chapter. I have a thing for tension I guess. Also I needed an excuse to write a Ruri chapter come on! I know things probably got a little lewd there in the first part of the chapter but I like to think you are all well adjusted individuals of society and are able to deal with some PG-13 situations appropriately. Also I would like to say, I've added DragonofAnnoth's revisions to chapter 52, so you might want to re read that as I think it is now an improved experience.
Now to address that little issue. As you've seen in the latest chapters, I have not been posting them with beta revisions. This is because DragonofAnnoth has been a little busy and he tells me to wait longer if I want him to check my awful writing. He tells me to look into getting another beta-reader but I perhaps grew too accustomed to the way he improved my story. So while I appreciate the fact that has my one beta-reader so far to tell me he might not be able to do more work it's gonna be real hard to change him :( SO this is an official kind of announcement that I'm looking for a new beta-reader so if anyone is interested please PM me!
SkySlash9: Glad you like my story! There's more to come so stick around! IC0: I really can't express how happy I am that you are still this engrossed into my story, glad to see you are liking how things are turning out!
As always if you like what you or you would like to criticize something please leave a review I totally accept all kinds of feedback! That is all for today, I will see you all next week!
Next Chapter:"Uneasy Cooperation"
