Chapter 44: Mourning Dew

2023 June 23. Aincrad, Floor 30, Boss Room, 18:38, Aincrad Standard Time

'He still hasn't showed up yet…' Asuna thought to herself as the KoB stood at the entrance of the Floor 30 Boss Room. It wasn't like Kirito to miss a boss fight, let alone one that was a milestone.

"Let's begin." Heathcliff's strong voice resonated across the room, calling his guild to action.

2023 July 1. Aincrad, Floor 25, Boundless Overlook, 19:00, Aincrad Standard Time

Asuna wandered onto the balcony of the Boundless Overlook. The sun was just beginning to set, creating a spectacular view for the onlookers.

Asuna scanned the crowd...But coming to think of it, she wasn't sure how much good that would do. Argo's short stature wouldn't be so easy to spot. She made her to the railing, and stared out to the sky. The setting colors reminded her of the sunsets at her grandparent's home in Tanegashima.

Argo silently appeared next to Asuna. Her sudden presence startled Asuna a little bit.

"Sorry, I didn't see you come up." Asuna said, a smile on her face. It had been a little while since she had last seen Argo, for what she assumed would be leisure.

"No problem. Good to see you again, Asuna. I'm glad you're still around. It's beautiful out here, huh?"

"Yeah. It reminds of the real world." Asuna remarked.

"Want to go inside? There's a cafe inside." Argo offered. She kept her tone as neutral as possible.

Asuna slowly began to piece together Argo's mannerism. 'Did something happen?' The thought began to creep into her mind.

The pair took a seat in the open air dining area, which still offered a spectacular view. Asuna was served green tea, and Argo coffee.

"Asuna, what have you heard?" Argo asked.

"About what?" Asuna really had no clue what Argo was referring to.

"About...Kirito…" Argo clenched her glass, as if expecting Asuna to reply with bad news.

"I haven't heard anything, why do you ask?" Asuna replied with a tone of puzzlement and concern.

"Damn it!" Argo ferociously slammed her glass down, almost breaking it.

Asuna was taken aback by the minor fit of violence. It usually wasn't like Argo to react so vehemently to something.

"No one knows!" Argo exclaimed in frustration. Her hood fell down, and she clenched the front of her hair with her hands, looking as though she was about to rip it out. Tears began to well in her eyes.

Asuna reached out and offered her hands to Argo. Argo let go of her hair and took Asuna's hands in hers.

"Argo...what do you mean?" Asuna asked.

"No one's heard from him in a while. Has he shown up to any boss fights lately?"

"No, he hasn't." Asuna confirmed.

Argo looked into her eyes. Her tears were contagious as Asuna's eyes began to tear up as well.

"Argo…" Asuna began. She began to become seriously concerned, seeing Argo like this. 'Did he…' Asuna began thinking to herself. 'No…he couldn't…'. "It's kind of normal for him to not be around like this though, right?" Asuna asked, trying to rationalize Kirito's absence. Afterall, he wasn't exactly one to make his plans known, nor the most sociable.

"There was…" Argo began. Her hands gripped tighter around Asuna's. "A suicide here a little while ago. Around a week ago. People said they saw a player who looks like Kirito here. But they couldn't recall whether or not Kirito was the victim. And-" Argo tried to continue but was overwhelmed by a sob. "That's about since I haven't been able to keep tabs on him."

Asuna's tears began to run down her cheeks.

"No, that's impossible. He can't be…" Asuna replied in denial.

"Asuna, we need to find him." Argo let go of Asuna's hands and wiped her tears.

2023 July 1. Aincrad, Floor 10, Katy's Wares, 20:33, Aincrad Standard Time

"I hope he's still open." Asuna commented to Argo, approaching Agil's shop.

"I don't think we'll get too far with him. I was here a couple of days ago and he hadn't seen him." Argo contested.

"That was a couple of days ago. Maybe he has since." Asuna responded.

"I do-...Maybe you're right." Argo conceded.

The pair walked into Agil's shop. Looking upon the front counter, they saw him sitting on a stool behind it, perusing through a menu before glancing up to see who had walked in.

"No, I haven't seen him." Agil directed his comment to Argo, not acknowledging Asuna. Agil looked down at the counter after speaking.

Argo adopted his same expression. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that." Argo replied. Her voice began to crack at the end of her sentence.

Asuna turned to comfort Argo, wrapping her arms around her.

"I told you the other day, I would send you a message if he came around." Agil continued, giving his best effort to keep his voice as matter of factual as possible.

"Sorry." Asuna apologized. "Argo just told me what was going on. Without thinking we thought to come here."

"I understand. I'm sorry. I'm closing up early tonight." Agil retreated to the back of his shop.

Asuna and Argo vacated without event.

After the two girls had left, Agil returned to his stool, opening up his menu and locking his store. He was guaranteed solace.

Agil knelt his head, holding it in his hands. 'If he's dead then I have no chance…' Agil thought to himself. His mind flashed images of Katy.

He began coming to grips with the fact he would never see his wife again.

2023 July 2. Aincrad, Floor 25,Old Granzam, Giltstein. 00:09, Aincrad Standard Time

Asuna lay awake upon her bed, staring at the ceiling. A warm night's breeze circulated into her room through the partially opened window. The semi-transparent crimson drape adorned to the window caught flickers of moon and starlight as it danced with the breeze. She had only pulled up a sheet to cover her semi-nude body.

Anger. Guilt. Pain. Fear. Sorrow. Denial. Confusion. This storm of emotion ran through her second by second.

'This world killed him…'

'He died. I broke our promise…'

'He's gone…'

'I'm not going to make it through this after all, am I?...'

'I've lost him…'

'There's no way he died….right? He wouldn't…He's not dead.'

'Why do I feel so upset?...'

These thoughts cycled through Asuna again and again before she was drained. Her body and mind needed a rest, finally falling asleep.

"I think this is a good stopping point." Kirito stated.

"Why..are we out here?" Asuna asked. They had walked about a kilometer away from town, and were in the middle of a field.

"Look up." Kirito pointed upwards, as he shifted his head.

Asuna was enthralled by the beauty of the Aincrad night sky.

"It's beautiful." Asuna finally found some words. "How did you know about this?"

"Truth be told, I've never actually been to this spot. I just figured a clear area on a clear winter night, might be worth looking at."

"Well, I'm glad you thought of it." Asuna said with a smile.

Kirito sat down in a patch of grass, Asuna joined him, sitting fairly close to Kirito.

After a few minutes of silent observation, Asuna broke the silence.

"Hey, do you want to be stupid teenagers?"

"What do you mean?" Kirito shifted his gaze to look towards Asuna, who was looking at him as she asked the question.

"Come here."

Asuna pulled Kirito to her and kissed him. Kirito was shocked and understandably tense at first, but eventually relaxed into her embrace. Asuna loosened her grip she had used to pull Kirito as the embrace continued, shifting her hand down and meeting his, their fingers interlocking. She didn't know why, but it felt right. They pulled away from each other, hands still together.

The sky above them began to dance, as a meteor shower started. Once more their gazes were upward, observing this new development.

As their eyes began to meet each other again, acting on that compulsory feeling once more, Asuna leaned in for another embrace. Kirito was much more prepared, and placed his hands on the sides of Asuna's shoulders. Asuna did the same.

The two eventually pulled away.

"So, what does it feel like to be a stupid teenager?" Kirito inquired.

"Not too bad." Asuna replied. She moved and rested her head on Kirito's shoulder.

The meteor shower had concluded, but not before they had both fallen asleep under the night sky, Asuna still on Kirito's shoulder.

2023 July 2. Aincrad, Floor 25,Old Granzam, Giltstein. 06:24, Aincrad Standard Time

Asuna jolted awake. She could feel a cool sweat coming off of her forehead, her hair damp. She sat up, and felt droplets slide down her cheeks. She got up from the bed and walked over to the window, closing it and covering it with the drape.

She walked to the bathroom, and began drawing a bath. She paused to look in the mirror. The water running down her cheeks wasn't all sweat. She hadn't noticed she had been crying until now. The emotion simply not being processed properly.

She took a towel and dried her face and chest. Admittedly, she was having difficulty keeping the tears back, her body forcing the response. She reached up and tied her hair back into a bun, then unceremoniously took off her bra and panties.

She reached over and turned off the bath's tap. She stepped with her left foot into the comfortably warm water first, and then followed with her right. Asuna lowered the rest of her body into the water, shrinking down so the water was mid-neck level. She took her knees to her chest, and rested her head on top of them.

After soaking in the water for what Asuna thought to be an hour, her calm solitude was interrupted by an intrusive notification noise. A menu box popped up in front of and above her knees.

"NEW MESSAGE!

Open?"

Asuna was presented with the traditional binary options of Aincrad. The red 'X' for "no", and the blue circle for "yes". Asuna pressed the blue circle, and the message's contents displayed in front of her.

"FROM: Nautilus

My lady, where are you? You haven't emerged from your quarters yet. Please don't tell me you're going to run off again today. You know how concerned I get when- "

Asuna didn't bother to read the rest of the message. She pressed the reply option.

"You are dismissed today. That is all." Asuna typed out, and sent the message.

She unwrapped her arms and moved her legs out. She leaned back, resting her back against the wall of the tub. Asuna reacher her arms upward, and pressed her back down, stretching. She eased off, and let out a deep exhale.

'Kirito, I…' She felt tears well in her eyes once again, and couldn't finish her thought.