Chapter Eleven- The Night That Covers Me

A/N: I tried a little experiment with this chapter. Let's see if it works…

Asuna

I tossed and turned in the hotel double bed that I shared with a slumbering Kirito.

It was the early hours of the morning and I was trying to get some sleep ahead of our train journey to Scotland later in the day.

Kirito stroked my chest that was covered by the pink night dress that I wore.

A small smile tugged at me as I lay in his embrace.

Kirito and I sometimes joke that we're saving all the fun in bed offline for our honeymoon so that we don't wake up Yui!

I gazed over him in his T-shirt and trousers his position not entirely relaxed but comfortable.

Truth is we equally cherish our quiet nights just being together as a family with her, if not more.

My smile turned into a frown and I turned upwards towards the ceiling as the events of this evening reared their head.

But right now, we're dealing with the news of Sugou's release.

I was back in that room of the police station for the final time a few hours ago.

Kirito looked utterly distraught on finding out on a rough day for him. Adding insult to injury the tracking device was taking longer to generate results than he expected.

Sinonon had looked furious. Not at us but the situation she found herself in. After all, after on seeing a fly half who looked like Sugou in The Tombstones in the Comity Stadium I asked her to check if he matched up to any criminal records Senate had.

The results had turned up negative and instead Shino had identified one of the other players in The Tombstones as the brother of someone senior in the English Defence Force.

Then just after the match which was a demolition by Coffin Team as some people called them my father messaged me with the news of Sugou's escape. Shino later received a dispatch from the National Police Agency that Sugou had boarded a private jet to Tampa in Florida under a false identity at the time and hadn't been seen since.

Some officials had been arrested but the whole cynical mess ran deep.

Far too deep.

It was my turn to lift everyone's spirits in any case.

"…Anyway, it was horrid news but I shouldn't be surprised that they're coming after me. Most people forget that although Kirito you've killed people from Laughing Coffin, I set the rules of engagement so that people could get killed. Besides when everything collided in Full Dive who do you think was making some choices that were trying to keep the best of the world alive without interference?"

Sinonon put a hand up.

"We can save the rest until tomorrow as I've got a ton of a lot of information to get and sift through now. On a more positive note we can begin to exonerate Megan."

She paused

"Are you sure you want to face him again though Asuna? I can book a flight-"

I stood upright

"Bring him on! If he plays against us, if he plays me then I'll deal with him. No, we'll deal with him together."

Kirito stared at me

"Asuna…"

I took his hand and kissed it as Yui hugged me. Then I stared into his eyes.

"Sugou took too much away from me in ALO. But the worst thing he did was hurt you Kazuto and all I could do was watch. Afterwards I vowed that if he ever got out of prison then I'd face him on my own terms."

Kirito's expression turned into one of pride.

"You gave me a fighting chance Kirito to be in a position do that and you'll give me that fighting chance again whether offline or online. I know it!"

I was back in the present looking at the strained yet closed eyes of my fiancé.

I wasn't just putting on a brave face either. I meant every word.

If it wasn't for my damn goal kicking…

I could feel those bone white goal posts begin to rise, coldness flooding in.

Kazuto's warm grip tightened just a little on my chest.

He's here supporting me even when he's shaken up himself.

So, for him not this time.

The posts continued to rise, that all too familiar weight pressed on my shoulders.

NO… STOP IT!

Kiritos grip tightened as the weight continued to crush me yet again.

I'M …

NOT …
THERE!

The posts disappeared as panting from the exertion I sat up with the person I cared about most in both worlds mercifully still sleeping.

"I'm… here… with you Kirito."

There… first little victory or more like a draw and the love of my life just helped me get it.

I shivered and took a little sip of water which was on a bedside table.

I'll have to face them again though… but not tonight and in nights like these I do have something I can use to help me.

After all, when trying to sleep in Alfheim in that cage Sugou kept me in I used to repeat it to myself in order to hold my nerve.

Quietly though… starting with the first line…

"Out of the night that covers me

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul."

There better… just about but still can't get to sleep. So, let's try remembering something else, shall we?

I travelled further backwards in time to a certain place, a certain incident.

That argument on Floor 39 in Aincrad… after all everything that's been going on seems to come back to it.

That dungeon was tricky to get through not because the monsters were demanding but because the we had to go over a lot of dunes IN it. Added to that the place was scratchily hot and we took increasingly irritating approach to the floor boss. But the icing on the cake was that we were assigned to work closely with a squad from the Aincrad Liberation Force who whenever they were on point kicked up sand into the rest of us. Their leader was a brash, sneery little Guajarati "Captain" several if not ten years older than me called Piranha who was an "aide" to Yulier.

Throw in that she came from Eastern England and with one outspoken Scotsman of a similar age on our team there was always the potential for a bird strike. That strike came as we hit the approaches mid-point when The Eagle of East Lothian tried to go sotto voce.

"Hey Skipper this arrogant little so and so must have been one of the stinking fish who was praying for the divine blessings of a no-deal Brexit."

But he misjudged his volume. Piranha heard him and made a swear-word laden remark about "… yet another stupid defeatist remoaner who couldn't get with the programme.". Then she returned to clearing the floor with us.

I glared at both of them and thought about saying something at that point. But I didn't. After all there were no rules forbidding discussing political and social issues, so long as you didn't kill or hurt someone over them. Thousands of people including Internationals and the first Fawlty Towers citizens were stuck with each other. So, you couldn't just demand that they keep their mouths shut all the time.

However just as we got to the floor boss a full-on row erupted behind me and by most accounts, it was The Captain who bit first.

"…Typical Remoaner, you can't accept that we were trying to take control of our own destiny."

That hit a nerve and Felix was all too prepared to respond.

"Oh, you took back control huh. Typical Brextremist Scum! If you took control why's our country descending into being controlled by the old aristocracy let alone certain corporate types."

Piranha bared her teeth

A lot of people including Kirito didn't understand the points that were being made between the two. But some did and there was an uneasy ripple through the assault team.

"Why couldn't you give our country a chance?"

People were standing back and suddenly I felt an unusual chill go through me as I remembered where I'd been before logging into Sword Art Online.

"We gave you a chance! It was called the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum."

Piranha snorted

"Yeah but you couldn't accept that you lost."

Felix swept his right hand in a cutting motion

"Because you were too hell bent on pursuing Singapore on Sea and just thinking that everyone would obediently fall in all line. Didn't expect us to fight back until it was too late and people of your sort started ending up dead."

Felix paused

"You didn't know when to stop then and you don't know when to stop now! "

Guptas fists clenched and Felix was prepared to shift to a defensive stance of his own.

That's ENOUGH!

I launched myself in between the two, downward pointing rapier creating an exhaust plume.

"Knock it off both of you! We're moments away from fighting a floor boss and you want to brawl over offline politics at this time?!"

I drew a line in the sand between the two of them.

"Once we've cleared this dungeon then you can sort out your differences peacefully and professionally away from the rest of us. But not before!"

Then I kicked the line away causing a mini sand storm as I stood upright.

"People are scared of never getting out of Aincrad. They should NEVER have to be terrified of point scoring shuha crap undermining our efforts on the front line. That's how we ALL lose!"

I turned to face Piranha, who on close inspection looked to be a bit of a brawler herself.

"Captain, get your squad and yourself into the backlines before you spend a night in the BlackIron Palace and don't start with me! I know far more about your country than you think."

Next up was Muldar who was standing to attention with his head dropped.

I don't need to be sharp with you but…

"We'll talk about this afterwards Muldar, now do your duty. That's what you're here to do right?"

He nodded

"Yes Ma'am."

Unusually polite for him with me yet both of them shuffled to their positions and before we went into the boss room, I saw Yulier have a quiet chat with her subordinate.

Thing is it wasn't just the argument was it?

I travelled forward in my memory.

It was the aftermath…

We defeated the floor boss without any casualties. Then after taking a brief look at floor 40 I went to see an embarrassed looking Felix who was sitting in the ready room back at KBOs headquarters.

The anger I'd felt had dissipated but my subordinate almost literally shrunk as soon he saw me.

"That was totally inexcusable Skipper. I've messaged Yulier and the person, no Piranha to apologise for my behaviour. I let everyone down."

I rolled my eyes as I sat beside him.

"You're not normally like that Felix, what happened?"

Felix shook his head

"I got chicaned coming in the approach to the floor."

Oh?

"Chicaned?"

Muldar shifted uneasily

"It's something that people with my condition can get hit by, sometimes badly. Coming out of one unexpected situation then having dealt with it only to get caught out by another one and lose control as a result. "

Ah I understand sort of…

"Why though? You know better than anyone there are Fawlty Towers people from all across Britain here."

Felix shook his head.

"Aye and I normally get along with them really well. However, although I heard that there were a few people of her sort in the game, I just didn't expect to have to deal with them as part of the Assault Team let alone in the Aincrad Liberation Force. I reacted poorly Vice Commander."

That's one way of putting you were plain afraid. I saw the expression in your eyes when you first found out what she was. Besides…

"I'm not against you debating Felix. You and I both know each-others backgrounds and I always enjoy our intelligent chats about the outside world here. Just as I did with those Scottish staff back at RECT including the neurodiverse ones. Besides aside from being drive by a sense of duty I know you want good things out to come out from this."

Felix nodded

"Aye and I appreciate them too. It's always nice to get a different perspective. Sometimes though with certain people… things go to stalemates with too much on the line."

I looked around.

"Nothing's on the line here Felix apart from us getting out of here or dying. Besides you're the one who wants good things who wants things to come from this experience. So, I've got a diplomatic mission for you."

Felix stared at me

"Go on."

Time to talk about what I cleared with Heathcliff

"I want you to try to clear the air with Piranha on neutral ground away from the front lines."

I could see him try to suppress a raised eyebrow.

"What if she refuses?"

I cocked my head

"Then she refuses but at least you've tried. You've talked about things descending into hell in the UK partly because both groups took and are taking defensive stance after defensive stance and misinterpret each other's position as offensive. A security dilemma or double empathy trap, right?"

Felix nodded and allowed a gap for me to get into.

"I'd rather that didn't happen here. So, I'm asking you nicely to hold out an olive branch and from what I know of Yulier she'll do the same with Piranha."

Felix nodded and stood up.

"Then there might well be a way forward Asuna. I guess anything's possible here given the cross-section of people that are stuck here. I'll see what happens and if anything, concrete does I'll let you know."

I stood up

"Do that. I'll be interested to know what comes of it."

He turned his head to face me.

"Oh, and Skipper?"

He had a look of pure admiration on his face.

"It's genuinely nice to see the younger generation going places in terms of thinking where older people may not be able to."

It's coming from a good place.

"Thanks, but don't write yourself off team member. No more bust ups on the front lines though, politically motivated or otherwise."

He gave a bow.

"Aye Vice Commander. Never again."

Both Muldar and Piranha issued a joint written apology about their dispute in the newspaper a day later and both guilds considered the matter closed.

The row gave me an extra incentive to take some quality time out with Kirito but other than that I didn't think too much about it afterwards.

After all it was one of those challenges that I HAD to deal with as the vice commander of a guild in the Assault Team. Yet… there was a nice moment a couple of days later when an admiring Kirito and I got politely interrupted by a Fawlty Towers couple who wanted to thank me for sorting things out while we were on a date. It was the only time for me when ethnic or minority group tensions crept directly into the campaign to escape Aincrad, although indirectly there were challenges around that to deal with…

In any case Muldar was "demurer" on his personal politics when we were on the frontline from then on. But he spent a fair amount of his free time in the lower levels debating by all accounts and talking with people including on floor five as Agils' text showed.

I resurfaced back in the hotel bedroom.

Still who's Piranha offline?

I've haven't met her at SAO survivor reunions, even ones including Internationals and I don't think that Kirito has either…

Wait a sec…

I was too tired to snap my fingers which wasn't a bad thing as that would have woken up Kirito.

…Still we're being based out of Edinburgh where Ymir is and Holyrood too so there are some things we can do.

I was still swirling with thoughts but I was getting sleepier too.

And where does Megan fit in?

At least she's been informally exonerated as a suspect but she's still in danger herself.

Kirito said he had an idea about what was going on. But given everything that's going on thought we should wait on the train to talk about them…

I closed my eyes and saw an image of the pugnacious sometimes bolshie wing who had played league before crossing codes when she couldn't find any teams after her family moved to Japan.

She could have easily gone with Migan or Megane but she wanted something more Japanese. She bought in to her adopted home in so much and her family were cool too. Visiting their house was like getting a blast of pure fresh air, as was being around her generally. That's why we made such a good team in the first place, for our club and then for Nihon…

Kind of like Yuuki, I wish that those two could have met.

But she was uncomfortable about going to England although she was really proud of being picked alongside me.

The only time I saw her really spooked though was when she saw the so-called normality around Coventry when we took a sight-seeing trip after the pool stage. She tried to act her usual self but when we were having drinks at a cafe, I could see her being uneasy.

"It's like the country's trying to hold on to something Asuna. Giving itself an and showing an illusion of still winning when it's about to lose horribly."

I looked at her and remembered an English phrase

"Sports-washing?"

Megan nodded as she stared around the city drinking water.

"Yeah. I'm trying to play what's in front of me like all the coaches are telling us to. But being here, it feels bloody weird, if not worse."

I smiled at her

"Keep on going you're doing good Megumi. We're doing good as a unit, aren't we?"

Megan's face broke into a grin

"Yeah, we two Raptors of Saitama! Bring on the English next, they won't know what's hit them"

I winked as our order was brought up

"So long as we finish this cheesecake first! Coaches treat after all."

We felt invincible back then relishing every opponent we took on together. I felt invincible back then…

I smiled at the memory my body relaxing just for that moment.

Yet that was one of the few times Megan was actually political and she continued to feel uneasy for the rest of the tournament. But she loved the rush of driving towards her opponents try line, finding that elusive gap between players, the feeling of slamming the ball into the ground and playing with her team mates. She wanted to represent her adopted country and she did with honour.

I wish I'd stayed in touch with her afterwards. But after that loss… I didn't want to talk with anyone from the team. That was one of the reasons why Kouchiro let me play Sword Art Online. Some of the girls like Tasha got in touch with me when I was in rehab and we sometimes meet up when I'm in Japan. But Megan had transferred to a different school so we lost contact until now.

So, I can't believe she's back here…

I yawned.

There's going to be a lot we're going to have to discuss tomorrow and when we get to Scotland there's things that we can do that will help us put an end to this.

But first…

Tension easing, I turned to face Kirito, drew myself in close and kissed his forehead.

I need to capture some shared dreams with this one!