It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, unfortunately, I just lost motivation for writing for a while. But it's finally returned and I'm back here again. Slightly longer chapter than normal to make up for it though. And I'm going to be really interested to see the reactions to this one.

See you at the bottom.

Chapter 19

Summer Solstice

My eyes widened as I saw the streets through the window. It's almost like they had transformed overnight. Lamps were lit with blazing red fires despite being the middle of the day, supposedly to represent the Sun God Solus. Bases of trees were decorated with offerings to the Earth God Terraria. Banners hung between buildings. Stalls were set up with all sorts of sweets and cakes to celebrate the occasion.

I pulled on my purple jacket but didn't bother buttoning it up. Today was a day of celebration, so it was accepted if you didn't wear the clothing of your academy or Calling, but I didn't exactly have any other clothing. But having it unbuttoned was a nice change. Especially as the sun was high in the sky and staring right at Wesdarath. I went out of my room and saw Kimiko waiting.

Her hair was tied back like it had been in Vetal. She was wearing a black dress with a crimson red coat, a white rose pin on the strap of her dress.

"What are you staring at?" She turned away, her cheeks slightly pink.

"Sorry, just surprised." I couldn't really imagine her in a dress before. "Y-you look nice."

Her blush intensified. "We should go and meet Becchi and Luna." I looked at the bookcase instinctively, ready to put the Night Shadow Blade on my waist. "You don't need that." She shook her head, smiling.

"Yeah, force of habit." A pit grew in my stomach as I left it behind.

We headed out. Down the hall, I could see several people also getting ready to leave. As I shut the door, I noticed Diaz was staring at Kimiko, shooting me a look of…jealousy? I couldn't really tell.

Kimiko grabbed my arm and pulled me away. "Don't even look at him."

"Something happen?"

"He asked me out on a date…" She looked disturbed. "Well, asked isn't exactly the right word to describe it. More demanded that I go out with him."

"Oh."

"He wasn't exactly happy when I said that I already have plans." She let out a sigh of relief as we got outside. "Well, let's just ignore that. Becchi and Luna are over there."

Indeed they were. Luna waved at us as we approached. She was wearing a short sleeved white dress with blue roses stitched into the helm of the dress, a leather corset covering her stomach. On her neck was a silver chain with a bird shaped pendant, a ruby embedded into the eye. Becchi had a white shirt, leather waistcoat and his grey trainee slacks.

Becchi looked rather uncomfortable. When he joined the Academy, he hadn't had the best experience with nobles, and the initial few weeks with Luna making life harder for him didn't exactly help remove that distaste. Kimiko had a rough time convincing him to come out with the group today because of that. I couldn't blame him, but I wish that he would see that she's grown past that now.

"You're almost late." Luna said as she looked up at the sun.

"Yeah, but we're not." I shrugged.

Luna pouted. "You could at least let me try and annoy you every once in a while."

"Sorry, gonna have to try harder than that." I looked at the dress. "Blue roses?"

Luna nodded. "Apparently Da- I mean Mr Regal heard a legend while up in Norlangarth about it and had this dress commissioned for me." She did a small twirl. "You like it?"

"Yeah…it's nice."

"Aw, you'll make me blush."

I saw Kimiko's eyes widen sudden. She ran past me and went over to Lilith who was walking over to us, Kimiko throwing her arms around her.

"Is that Elite Disciple Kimiko's mentor?" Becchi asked.

"Yeah, that's Lilith." I nodded.

Becchi sighed. "Alright then…let's get this over with." He glanced back at Luna.

"Well, if you need some space, I'm sure you and I could go get a bite to eat or something." I shrugged.

He gave me a thankful smile, which immediately turned to annoyance as Luna went up behind him and started pushing him. "Come on then Becchi, we're not here to stand around all day."

"Hey Luna, don't torment him." I shook my head and followed.

Lilith was wearing the same outfit I saw her in the other day, but she seemed to be glowing with happiness today. She smiled at us as we approached. "Good morning." A put up a hand in greeting. "I was worried I'd oversleep."

"She's the one who beat Lord Grant?" Luna began circling Lilith, looking her up and down.

"Yes." I sighed, giving Lilith an apologetic look. I'm gonna have to keep Luna on a short leash aren't I? "Luna, leave her alone." I noticed Luna staring at the sword at Lilith's side with curiosity, knowing that she'd try and give it a swing. Heck, she tried with the Night Shadow Blade once, and failed miserably when she could barely lift it.

"Well you've certainly got a lively page." Lilith smiled. "And you're Becchi right? Has Kimiko been teaching you well?"

Becchi nodded frantically. "Y-yes she has. I'm very grateful."

"Good."

"I wouldn't try and do a bad job." Kimiko rolled her eyes.

Lilith wrapped an arm around Kimiko's neck. "I know, just making sure. After all, both of you have got to keep up the streak I've started." She glanced at me and Luna.

"I'm not going to let Kimiko beat me that easily." I shrugged.

Kimiko cleared her throat. "Enough chitchat, shall we get going?"

The streets were bustling with activity. When moving down a main street, you were constantly side stepping people who were pushing through to grab some sort of food or do some sort of game.

I watched Luna and Becchi arguing about something as I bit into the candy apple that Kimiko had bought for me, my coin purse feeling rather light as I hadn't bought much out with me, but I seemed to be spending at every stall thanks to Luna.

The two stopped arguing finally, Becchi letting out an exasperated sigh. I knew he needed a break now. "Hey Becchi, want to join me on a little errand?"

"Yes." He nodded frantically. "Where are we going?"

"Just into Norlangarth." I lifted the paper bag that had Luna's stuff in it. Before I could walk off with it though, Lilith snatched it from my hands. "I can carry it. It's not a long journey."

"Repayment for the other day." She shooed me away. I sighed, heading off with Becchi through the busy streets.

"So where are we heading?" He asked.

"To Sadore's Metalworking Shop. I've got something to pick up." I breathed a sigh of relief as we got into a wider street which had more room to manoeuvre. "You doing okay? You and Luna were getting rather heated there."

He took a look behind him as if to make sure she wasn't there. "She just so stubborn sometimes."

I chucked as we walked through the gate to Norlangarth. "Yep, I know. But that's part of her charm I suppose."

He looked at me with a confused look. "Sorry, but I find charm to be a bit of a strong word when she's the subject."

I shook my head. "Look, I know she's hard to get along with. Heck, for the first few days, I struggled to get along with her. But underneath that stubbornness is a good heart."

Becchi shook his head. "Just whenever we talk, we can't agree on anything. She started an argument over which way a sword should face when placed on a shelf."

I frowned, worrying if I was really the only one who actually got along with Luna. "Maybe try and avoid her for a bit then."

"I try to." He sighed. "Unfortunately, with you and Elite Disciple Kimiko being in the same dorm, it's inevitable that we meet up." He sighed. "I'm just going to hope we place in completely different positions in the Advancement Exam so I don't have to talk to her." A pit grew in my stomach, feeling terrible that they couldn't get along.

The rest of our journey was in silence. It didn't take long to get to Sadore's, but due to the silence, it seemed to take longer than it should've otherwise. When we reached it however, I stepped inside to see another trainee standing at the counter.

"Tell him it's nowhere near done. It's taken me this long to get the branch to even look remotely like a blade." Sadore sighed, pinching his brow and shaking his head. "Why'd he send you anyway? Couldn't he have come here himself?"

"He's with Elite Disciple Sortiliena today. He said he'd meet me here but he seems to be running late." The trainee with flaxen hair looked just as exasperated as Sadore.

I looked back at Becchi. "I won't be long. Take a look around if you want." Becchi nodded and began looking at the spare bits of armour that sat loose in a box.

"Either way, I doubt the sword will be ready for a while. Tell him he's better off checking nearer the end of the Winter Solstice."

The trainee nodded. "Knowing him, Kirito will be here next week to check."

My eyes widened at the sound of that name. Kirito…? The only person who might hold the answers as to why I'm here. He was here, in Norlangarth? He's been so close the entire time.

I snapped out of my thoughts to find the flaxen haired boy had disappeared. Sadore was looking at me confused. "What you standing there staring into space for?"

"Sorry." I stepped up to the counter. "I'm picking up the trainee rapier I commissioned?"

"Yeah, I got it right here." He leaned down and picked up a package wrapped in cloth. Inside was a thin sword in a leather sheath. I picked it up, noticing how light it felt, and drew the blade. The grip curled inwards, my palm resting comfortably on the top of it. The crossguard was elegant, curling inwards over where the hand rested and outwards towards the blade on the underside. It was amazing.

I returned the blade to the sheath, wrapping it in the cloth again, and bowed. "Thank you so much sir."

"No, thank you for giving me business." Sadore looked at his back room with an annoyed look. "I need it when I'm losing grindstones left and right."

I took a deep breath before asking. "Who's Kirito?"

"He's commissioned a sword from me made from a branch of that demon tree." Sadore shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "All I know is he's a trainee from the Norlangarth Sword Mastery Academy. To think that he got his hands on such a tough material…maybe he's the one who cut down the tree. That sword his partner has certainly would do the trick…" He snapped himself out of his rambling. "If you want to know more, you'll have to ask him or his partner."

Norlangarth Sword Mastery Academy doesn't allow other Academy students in unless it's for duelling. I'd have to think of a reason to duel someone there. I groaned inwardly. Despite finally getting some information, I was nowhere closer to finding out the truth.

I bowed again, walking out of the store with Becchi. "Why were you interested in a trainee from Norlangarth?"

"Don't worry, just something I'm trying to work out." I didn't really think that the explanation 'I heard a voice in my head saying Kirito's name' would exactly make sense.

We got back to Wesdarath pretty quickly. Becchi said he needed to go and grab something from his dorm, even though I knew it was just that he wanted to avoid Luna for a bit. I headed down the street that we left Kimiko, Lilith and Luna on.

Out of pure luck, I saw them standing next to a stall, Lilith embracing Kimiko. I headed over, about to call out when I saw the confused look on Kimiko's face, along with tears shining in her eyes.

"Where's Light?" She asked.

"He went to Norlangarth with Becchi." Lilith said, her voice soft as she cuddled Kimiko.

"Ah. Why didn't we go with them?"

"Light said he had an errand to run. And Becchi needed some space so he went with Light."

Kimiko nodded. "Sorry, I forgot again."

"It's not your fault." Lilith put her arms on Kimiko's shoulders and looked dead into her eyes. "Kimiko, have you told him?"

Kimiko shook her head. "I want to…but…"

I cleared my throat as I approached. "You all okay?"

Luna suddenly grabbed my arm. "Light! Let's go over here! I've got the craziest thing to show you!" She dragged me away from the other two.

"Luna, what's going on with them?" I asked sternly.

Luna shook her head. "Not now." That pit in my stomach began growing again. I wanted to go and ask Kimiko what was wrong, but Luna kept a tight grip on my arm. "She'll tell you when she's ready." She quickly snatched the cloth package that was in my hands. "What's this then?"

"It's yours." I said, taking a deep breath and turning my attention to her.

"Huh? But you're not supposed to buy me stuff until I hit you."

"Like that's stopped you today."

"I was going to pay you back…" She pulled the string that was keeping the rapier concealed. Her eyes lit up as she realised what it was. "Seriously!?"

"Yeah. It should help with your training." I couldn't help but smile at the look on her face.

She wrapped her arms around me, making me stumble back slightly. She held on for a few seconds before stepping back. "I-I don't deserve this."

"Why not? You've worked hard enough."

She gave me a half-hearted laugh. "I've been nothing but a pain since you started training me, and yet you give me every opportunity to be better." She looked up at me. I could see a spark of joy in her eyes that I've never seen before. "I-I'll beat you. I promise. I will make all the effort you put in worth it."

I nodded. "Then I look forward to it."

It was cold. The night sky was sparkling with a thousand lights. Posts with Light Elements now lit the streets. The festival was drawing to a close, with everyone going home.

I sat down on a bench next to Kimiko, who was staring off into space. Becchi had returned earlier, and was now talking with Lilith. Luna had gone back to the Academy to register her new training rapier.

Kimiko continued staring straight ahead for a while, not even really acknowledging that I was there. I let out a deep sigh, my muscles aching from the day.

"Light, we first met in the duelling tournament in Vetal right?" Kimiko said suddenly.

I was confused at the question, but nodded. "Yeah."

"I was angry because you had the same style as me. We used real swords in oppose to training swords. And because you had already been using yours, it broke. And then I repaired it." Her hand began shaking. "We didn't meet again until we joined the Academy."

"Yeah, that's right."

She smiled. "I haven't forgotten then."

"Why would you have?"

A few seconds of awkward silence passed between us. "I'm losing my memory."

Mic drop.

If you go back into earlier chapters, you'll probably notice that there are several small things that Kimiko has been forgetting. Small, but she has been forgetting. Damn I love foreshadowing XD

I'm kind of worried I packed too much into this chapter. Originally this was planned to be two separate chapters, with the memory loss and rapier parts being in another chapter or later down the line. But because of the delay on this chapter, I wanted to make it worth the wait.

Reviews:

Guest: Thank you. I've certainly got a lot planned for them. And I hope you will look forward to their journeys. I'm also looking forward to getting to the parts where Light's presence changes the events of Alicization.

Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I really hope you look forward to the next one. As always, Stay Cool.