A/N:

Oh boy, the hype for Yuuki is real! Not much to respond to so far as last week's reviews go, but I will address this one thing that came up. This Yuuki is obviously younger than her canon counterpart, and I've tweaked a few things timeline-wise to better explain her current position in this timeline.

Now, on with the show!

"Move, move, move! Outta the way!"

Expertly weaving through the crowd near the teleporter, Argo the Rat was a woman on a mission. It was a good thing she'd spent her stat points into her AGI mostly, otherwise the kind of rapid movements she was pulling off to avoid barrelling through the mid-level residents of the 27th Floor would have been difficult. To their credit, many of them scurried out of the way as Argo neared the teleporter.

Based on the confused expressions on some of the bystanders, obviously there was some curiosity about what in the world could spur Argo to make a beeline towards the teleporter. Some of the murmurs and whispers - eavesdropping was a specialty and art form for the Rat, after all - already spurred the rumor mill into full swing.

Was someone in danger? Perhaps Argo had some life-threatening information that needed to be delivered in person? Maybe she was simply late to a meeting?

All of them were wrong, of course.

The reason Argo was sprinting towards the teleporter was because of a simple message she'd received approximately one minute ago.

[Asuna: Found another Unique Skill user. If you want first dibs, come to the training hall.]

The information itself wasn't that important, relatively speaking; it wasn't information she was likely to make a profit off of. Argo wasn't one to just offer up information to others willy-nilly. Instead, she only sold information upon request or if it was relevant to the conversation at hand. She'd only sell information on John Doe if people asked about John Doe. She wasn't a newspaper, she was a broker.

Argo was in a hurry because frankly, she found the Unique Skills a fascinating mystery that demanded to be solved. Ever since their appearance on the 20th Floor, theories abound as to how and why their holders had them in the first place. They appeared overnight and gave their wielders incredible strength and utility. The fact that one had surfaced this late in the game, relatively speaking, could possibly shed some light as to what the qualifications were.

If she could crack that mystery, Argo would be the richest information broker - nay, the richest player - in Aincrad.

Finally, Argo slipped through the crowd and stepped foot onto the teleport pad.

"Teleport, Nelluon Arael!"

Light flooded her vision as she felt her avatar get squeezed through virtual space. It was always an interesting sensation, really. She had yet to find a way to properly convey just what it felt like to cease existing in one place and suddenly begin existing in another place without ever having in between. Feeling her body shift into the valley the Renegades called home, Argo began running even before her sight returned.

"OOF!"

Definitely a mistake, in hindsight.

Argo shook her head to clear her disorientation and looked up from her seat on the tree-like teleport pad. Standing above her with a devious grin that should belong on her face, not his, was the Crimson Samurai himself.

Klein.

"Going somewhere, Argo?"

Argo gave a brief pout as she leveled a glare at the samurai. "I think you know exactly why I'm here, Klei-bou. You gonna let me pass, or what?"

"That's not how this works, Argo." Klein parrotted something she'd said many a time to her clients. Oh, he was enjoying this far too much. "Where's the Cor, Argo?"

"Pretty sure Aa-chan gets that money, not you."

Klein shook his head. "Asuna sent me to collect payment from you here. See, once I bring you over to where they are, you'll see the Unique Skill in action. They're practicing right now."

Argo grumbled before producing a bag of Cor, tossing it to the samurai. "Fine, here. Now we gonna go or you gonna stand over a vulnerable girl you so carelessly knocked over?"

Klein flushed, and Argo smiled. Oh, how the tables turn. Even if she wasn't interested in him like that, he was just too easy to tease. After a moment, he recovered and leveled a glare at her.

"Fine." Klein muttered, pocketing the Cor before waving her over.

The Renegade training hall, unlike the other buildings in Nelluon Arael, was not located on the cliffs and bluffs on the side of the valley. Instead, it was housed within the great tree itself, in a room already hollowed out and repurposed specifically for this. Argo followed Klein down a set of stairs that encircled the tree's massive width before eventually reaching the door to the training room itself. Already she could hear the faint click-clack of training weapons.

While the Renegades opted to use the "First Strike" option for duels - in which the winner was declared by a successful first solid strike or by reducing their opponent's health by 50% before the time limit was up - they'd gone a step further when dueling against one another by using low level wooden training weapons when sparring with one another. Not only did using these weaker weapons reduce the chance of a critical causing lethal damage, but it also preserved the durability of their primary weapons. As Kirito had once explained it, their spars and duels were about improving their skill, not out-damaging their opponent. It led to longer duels than what was usual, but it was far safer and seemed to lead to better results. Some of the Renegades were considered expert level when it came to their individual weapons nowadays.

Klein opened the door and ushered Argo inside, where she was greeted with an interesting sight.

"Go Papa!" Yui cheered as she sat on Leonn's shoulders.

Kirito was dueling against a girl with purple hair, both combatants dashing to and fro about the small arena. Strange was the fact that both he and the girl were grinning madly as they exchanged blows. Kirito held a clear advantage in terms of experience with his weapons - something that was clear even to Argo's relatively untrained eyes - but his opponent seemed to be doing her best to keep up with the Black Swordsman.

Stranger still was the fact that the girl was wielding two swords, just like Kirito.

"You're shittin' me." Argo muttered before her look of shock morphed into a wild grin. "She's got ((Dual Blades)) too?"

"Mm-hmm." Asuna hummed, walking up alongside the Rat before bopping her on top of her head. "Language, Argo. But yes, we found them a few weeks ago on a lower floor. One thing led to another, and now Kirito's training her on how to dual wield properly. She only just now gave us the okay to tell you, by the way."

"One thing led to another…?" Argo asked dubiously. "Why you holdin' out on me like that? That's a good story if I ever heard one."

Asuna merely smiled, but there was clear mischief in those eyes. Kind of like her own, actually. "That's going to cost you, Argo. You know how this works."

"Damn, Aa-chan." Argo smiled, impressed with the fencer's shrewdness. "Alright, how much?"

Asuna raised a finger to her chin in mock thought. "10,000 Cor."

"10,000? I'm sure their little meet-up was interestin', but ten grand? Yer gonna have to do better than - "

"...It involves a new event boss."

"Deal."

Argo immediately fished out the desired amount of coin and handed the fencer a plump bag of Cor. A new event boss? That was worth the price in and of itself. The click-clack of wooden blades colliding seemed to increase in frequency and volume, and Argo found herself inching closer to Asuna to be better able to hear. Asuna leaned down just enough to meet her halfway.

"Her name's Yuuki. She's the guildmaster of the Sleeping Knights."

"Think I heard o' 'em. They're middies, aren't they?"

"Yep, mid-level. Leonn, Silica, and Nezha ran into them last month when they were farming mats in the 11th floor labyrinth. That's where they found the boss."

Asuna opened up her menu and sent Argo some notes that Leonn and his group had apparently taken of the encounter. Pretty standard fare, and the blade that Yuuki had gotten as a LA bonus was fairly impressive for its level. She'd have to add that encounter to her guide so other middies could, if they wanted to, tackle the event boss with a prepared group.

"Thanks." Argo said, closing her menu and making a mental note to go over it in more detail herself later. "Now tell me about Yuuki. How'd she get Kii-bou's Unique Skill?"

"That's the thing. She doesn't know either. She's been hiding it this whole time since Kirito already has it."

Argo looked down in thought. "Can't say I blame her. The outcry over Unique Skills was bad enough when they showed up, but now suddenly one of the more famous ones isn't so unique anymore. That could cause some trouble if it got out."

Asuna nodded. "Exactly. Kirito agrees, but he wants her to train with it here whenever she can. In his words, it's a trump card that should be ready to use at a moment's notice."

"When did she get it?"

"Apparently the same day the others did." Asuna explained, much to Argo's continued confusion. "She didn't notice it until a week after the fact. At the time, she was still living on the 1st Floor, so she didn't have much of a reason to check her skills as regularly as a Clearer would."

"...and by then, Kii-bou had made his debut durin' the boss battle." Argo concluded for her. "That explains why she didn't come forward with it sooner, and why she's so rusty at it."

A careful look at the duel underway was evidence enough. Yuuki was clearly right-handed, and the vast majority of her strikes seemed to come from that hand. Half the time, her left blade was awkwardly hanging to the side or clumsily used for a strike that always followed her dominant hand. Striking with her off hand was an afterthought, even Argo could see. Any time she went to block with her left blade, it wasn't accurate. The attack she'd try to block would slide off harmlessly or slide into her, dealing some damage anyway.

Kirito, having had a couple of months under his belt with the skill, was markedly different. While Argo knew he was right-handed as well, he attacked with his left just as much as his right. There was a sort of rhythm to his attacks, but at the same time it was a chaotic rhythm that was hard to pin down. Each swing of a blade was independent of the other, but always mindful of where the other was at all times. Argo snickered at the memory of some of Kirito's early attempts at dual wielding. One time he'd accidentally sliced off his own hand, much to Asuna's horror and subsequent anger.

It was probably why he hadn't had a repeat of that incident since. Even the Rat would admit that Asuna could be scary sometimes.

"Well, I can't say that helps me solve the mystery behind these Unique Skills." Argo sighed. "All we know is they came all at the same time and there's really no single thread that ties them all together. Well, except that seven of the now nine known Unique Skill holders are in yer guild."

"I'm surprised no one's made more of a fuss about it." Asuna commented.

Argo shrugged. "A lot of that died out when Kibaou left the front line. Sure, there are definitely a bunch of loud jerkwads grumblin' on the 1st Floor, but they got no room to talk. I don' see 'em up here riskin' their lives like you all are."

Asuna had nothing to say to that, apparently, having turned her attention back to the duel at hand. Yet, the small smirk on her face was enough to indicate her silent agreement. If there was one thing Argo knew about Asuna, it was that she was just a little bit prideful, and a lot a bit protective over those she called her friends. Her opinions of those who would sit back and criticize were obvious enough.

"So how'd the mat farming go, anyhow?" Argo said, reviving the conversation.

"Well enough." Asuna shrugged. "I just wish we didn't have to backtrack so much for mats. It really slows down our leveling and makes it harder to stay ahead of the curve when clearing."

"Why don't ya just buy mats off of some middies instead then?" Argo suggested. "Or even some of the upper middies like the Cats. Just hire 'em out for mats so you don' have to spend time goin' back to lower floors."

Asuna placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "That… could work. I know the Cats are raising money for a new guild base. Ducker's been practically dragging them from dungeon to dungeon for treasure to pawn off for Cor."

"Exactly" Argo agreed. "Keita and Ducker have been nagging me for weeks for new treasure locations. Hell, I just sold 'em info on some new rooms opening up in the 27th floor labyrinth."

"I still think it's crazy that people are still discovering new rooms on old floors." Asuna scoffed. "New bosses, even."

"I ain't complainin'." Argo grinned. "New content means new info that I can sell. The day nothin' new happens is the day I'm outta a job, Aa-chan."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd find some other way to extort people, Argo." Asuna smirked.

Argo opened her mouth to speak but was summarily interrupted by another collision between Kirito and his ersatz apprentice, this time resulting in Yuuki getting knocked to the side from a failed block. She winced as she saw Yuuki slam into the wall before the purplette extricated herself and charged back in. The girl had guts, she'd give her that much.

But would it be enough to best the Black Swordsman?

She'd learned a while ago that Kirito did not mess around.

Yuuki felt herself pushed to the limit as she tried another frontal assault on her kinda-sorta-but-not-really mentor. At one point, she swung with her right blade, only for it to be easily deflected by his left. She tried striking with her left to catch him off guard, only for him to dodge to the side with ease with a spin and counter with a swing of his left blade.

She reflexively leapt backward, lessening the impact of his blade. She grinned, staring down her opponent. The wooden blades didn't do much damage, but that wasn't the point of this exercise. Kirito had admitted as much. He was trying to get her to think with both blades in mind, not just one.

That was a lot harder than he made it out to be.

"Almost, Yuuki." Kirito grinned. "You're getting better with your off-hand."

"Not good enough, though!" She admitted. "Keeping track of both is hard!"

"You'll get there." He replied before cutting off any reply she might have said with a quick charge forward.

He brought his right blade straight down, but she hastily assumed a defensive stance she'd seen him deploy, crossing her blades. She struggled to keep his blade aloft and away from her face; the STR stat difference was blindingly obvious here. Then she felt the pressure lessen, only to feel his other blade smack her side. Caught off guard, she staggered to the side.

"Good block." He complimented her. "Against most enemies, that would work very well, but what's lesson number two?"

She sighed, reciting it verbatim. "Always be aware of your surroundings. How does that fit with what just… oh!"

He nodded. "Your surroundings include what your opponent is capable of with other parts of their body. Some mobs have tails or other appendages they can swing. You blocked my first sword, but forgot about the second."

"Right!" She nodded, steeling herself for another round. "Ready!"

"Good." Kirito said, smiling briefly before he shot forward again. He attempted the same strike, bringing his blade downward. She'd learned her lesson this time, choosing to slide to his unarmed flank before lashing out with her left blade. Much to her surprise, though, Kirito maneuvered his left blade around his back, lining his blade up parallel to his back to block her strike. So caught off guard with his unorthodox parry, she was left wide open to a spinning strike which floored her.

"What was that?!" Yuuki cried out before scrambling back onto her feet. Based on the impressed and shocked gasps coming from their audience, she knew she wasn't alone in her surprise.

He shrugged. "I'll be honest, it's something I saw on a show once. Figured I'd try it here and see if it worked. Good choice, though, dodging to the side where my other blade wasn't."

"How the crap did you even see her attack though?!" Klein shouted from the sidelines. "Let alone respond to it in time?!"

"It wasn't that fast." She and Kirito echoed at the same time. They both looked at each other in mild shock before looking back at Klein.

"Kirito's always had good reflexes." Asuna offered. There was a smaller girl to her side that was nodding along. Were those whiskers painted on her cheeks? "Yuuki seems to have reflexes that are just as quick."

"Thanks!" Yuuki exclaimed, taking the compliment for what it was. It wasn't every day you were compared to the Black Swordsman himself. "We still fighting, Kirito, or what?"

"Ooh, she's eager!" The whiskered girl said, looking impressed and sporting a fierce grin. "I like you already, Yuu-chan!"

"Yuu-chan…?" Yuuki mumbled before having to duck under a swipe from Kirito's sword. "Whoa!"

Already ducked down to avoid the blow, she swept her leg out to trip Kirito. Much to her surprise and glee, he stumbled for a moment as he abandoned his follow up strike to hop over her leg. Carrying that momentum, she sprang up to jab him in the stomach while he was airborne, knocking him up and away from her. To his credit, he managed to flip and land on his feet, whereupon he flourished his blades, grinned, and closed the distance once more.

Her confidence bolstered, she shot forward as well. Her mind raced even as she began to exchange blows with her mentor. Kirito was fast and strong, but he was also bigger than she was. She was much more nimble than he was, and quicker too. She wouldn't dream of reaching Asuna-levels of speed, but she was just fast enough to carry some advantage over Kirito.

Whipping back to the task at hand, she slipped to the side to avoid a ((Diagonal)) sent her way. While sword skills weren't the focus of these spars - so far as she could tell - Kirito did seem to like to throw one in now and then to keep her on her toes. He was unpredictable like that, but it only served to hone her reflexes and battle instincts. Pivoting around his side, she decided to unleash a sword skill of her own, a ((Double Circular)).

Kirito hurriedly blocked the strike before jumping up and over her. The moment his feet touched the ground, he sprang forward towards her exposed back. The recovery period of her ((Double Circular)) was just enough to give him an opening. Just before he closed the distance, she felt control over her avatar return and she whipped around, crossing blades with him. After a few moments, they bounded off each other.

"You're getting better, Yuuki." Kirito said, slightly out of breath. "You're using both blades equally now."

She blinked. Had she? She looked down at her swords and only then realized that at some point, she'd stopped thinking of which sword to strike with and just striked. She'd stopped favoring her right sword and now used whichever blade made more sense. She grinned.

"Awesome!" She cried out, raising both hands into the air in what would have amounted to a double fist pump were her hands not already occupied by her swords.

Funnily enough, that was when the duel timer expired. To no one's surprise, Kirito was declared the winner; not only had he landed more hits on her, but his strikes dealt more damage since he was a higher level. Yuuki didn't care much, though. The fact that she was improving was victory enough of itself.

"Not too shabby, Yuu-chan!" The whiskered girl shouted out, hopping down from the spectator area of the training hall and striding over her way. "Not often I see someone actually land a hit on Kii-bou."

"Thanks!" Yuuki replied, sheathing her blades. "I don't think we've met. Name's Yuuki!"

The whiskered girl grinned. "Name's Argo. Pleasure to meet ya!"

"Argo? As in Argo the Rat?"

"The one and only!"

Argo the Rat, one of the most famous - or infamous, depending on who you asked - information brokers in Aincrad. Known just as much for her accurate information as she was for her mischievous antics, Argo's name was one that was uttered with equal parts reverence and fear. If you somehow found yourself on her bad side, you'd beg for the sweet release of death. Rumor had it she was the one who drove Rosalia and most of Titan's Hand into hiding just through clever networking and information spreading.

"Yuuki, come on!" Jun called out, where he was waiting along the sidelines next to the rest of her guild. "Clear the field already! Tecchi and I are up next!"

The famed hospitality of the Resolute Renegades was completely true, as Yuuki and her Sleeping Knights had discovered some weeks ago. Ever since meeting Leonn, Silica, and Nezha in the 11th floor labyrinth, the Renegades' guild base had become a second home to them. Every chance they got, the Sleeping Knights were being tutored by a Renegade whose specialties closely resembled their own. Kirito and Asuna had taken Yuuki as their apprentice, with Kirito teaching her about technique while Asuna taught her how to use her innate speed. Kunimittz had taken Talken as his apprentice, since he was the only spear wielder in their guild. Since none of the Renegades wielded a quarterstaff, Nori and Siune were taken on by Kizmel, who apparently had enough knowledge of how to wield one where she could tutor them.

As Jun and Tecchi jumped down into the arena, so did their respective mentors, Dale and Liten.

"Guess we'd better clear the area." Kirito chuckled before walking towards the exit. Argo and Yuuki were quick to follow.

"So…" Argo began once the trio were safely seated in the bleachers. "Aa-chan tells me you're thinkin' of joinin' the front line one o' these days, Yuu-chan."

Feeling herself somewhat acclimate to the Rat's use of nicknames, Yuuki nodded. "Yup! We've been talking about it for a while now. Once we catch up, Jun, Nori, and I are gonna join the Assault Team while Talken, Tecchi, and Siune stick with exploration."

"In that case, ya might wanna consider recruitin'." Argo advised. "Once ya get to the boss battles, you'll be workin' with only half a party with yer current setup."

Yuuki's smile lessened a smidge, realizing the truth in the Rat's words.

"They could always just join one of our parties." Asuna said, sitting down right next to Yuuki. "With Lok, Wolfgang, and Mako focusing on exploring as well, we'd have the space."

"You'd do that?" Yuuki asked.

"Sure!" Asuna beamed. "I'd like to think we're all friends at this point, right?"

"You guys are awesome!" Yuuki squealed, latching onto her mentor and giving her a hug. Asuna seemed to hesitate for a moment before returning the gesture. For just the briefest of moments, Yuuki imagined she was hugging her late sister. The thought almost brought a tear to her eye, remembering Aiko.

Argo snickered. "Careful there, Aa-chan. Gonna make yer hubby jealous."

Asuna turned red, but Kirito was blissfully unaware, his attention wholly focused on the duel between Jun and Tecchi. Argo snapped her fingers in front of his face, whereupon he blinked and whipped his head over in their direction.

"Huh?"

"Teasin' the two of you ain't fun if only one o' ya's listenin'!" Argo chided. "Yer a frickin' battle junkie, ya know that?"

Kirito tried his best to level a glare at the Rat, but honestly it just came off as a pout. Kind of defeated the whole edgy look he was trying for, really, especially when Argo proceeded to poke his puffed-out cheek. Yuuki exchanged a brief glance with Asuna before both burst out laughing.

Wiping away a tear - the kind that came from laughing too much, not sorrow - Yuuki let her gaze wander back to the training field. Liten and Dale decided to jump into the fray themselves, letting their pupils watch from the side. Tecchi and Jun, to their credit, seemed to be watching intently, eager to glean any wisdom from their mentors' spar.

Yuuki grinned. Under the tutelage of the Renegades, the Sleeping Knights would undoubtedly become a force to be reckoned with.

Smithing was hard work, but it was honest and fulfilling.

Liz wiped off a bead of virtual sweat as she finished enhancing Agil's axe. She picked it up and gave it a steady, appraising look. She knew the enhancement stuck, and while nothing had changed about the appearance of the massive weapon, she wanted to take a moment to appreciate her work. After a moment and a satisfied sigh, she placed the axe on the weapon rack nearby.

With the 30th Floor boss fight coming up in a few days, she knew she had some catching up to do on everyone's weapons. The lower level materials - in that they came from lower levels, not that they were of inferior quality - they'd collected were already coming in handy. With the stockpile they'd collected, she'd be able to enhance everyone's weapons at least twice with their desired stats. Just like Asuna knew everyone's dietary preferences at this point, Liz knew everyone's modification preferences like the back of her hand.

Quickness and Sharpness for Asuna's rapier, as well as the dagger users' weapons. Klein's katana actually fit into this category as well, strangely enough, and while Kuroi and Silica's daggers needed the boosts more than Yuna's, she still made it a point to enhance everyone's weapons.

Sharpness and Heaviness for the longsword, greatsword, and saber wielders' weapons. The same applied for the axes, like Agil's and Beowulf's.

Accuracy and Sharpness for Sinon's bow as well as Kunimittz's spear. The great thing about ((Divine Forging)) was that it gave her the ability to work on bows, a task that had eluded her ever since she met the archer on the 3rd floor.

Durability and Heaviness for Liten's mace and her own warhammer, not to mention Leonn's maul. Despite the fact that he could block attacks with his body, he still had the annoying habit of swatting away attacks with his maul when the opportunity presented itself.

"Hey Liz?"

She looked over at Nezha, who was carefully stoking the fire in the forge. She dusted off her work gloves. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to thank you…" The former Brave said sheepishly.

She quirked an eyebrow. "What for?"

Nezha shrugged. "Well, for one, letting me help with the smithing. I wanna be useful around here."

Liz frowned. "Nezha, you're plenty useful without the smithing. You're one of two ranged DPS we have in the guild."

He shook his head before moving to grab Dynamm's shortsword from the table full of unenhanced guild weapons. "I guess what I mean to say is thanks for giving me something to take my mind off of… you know."

She winced. "It's… it's the least I can do."

Now Nezha raised an eyebrow, pausing before he went to move the shortsword into the forge for heating. "What do you mean?"

Liz, feeling just a little bit ashamed, rubbed her arm nervously. "I… I feel guilty."

"What do you have to be guilty about?"

"I survived when they didn't. If I didn't get caught by that stun, maybe Leonn could have saved them instead of me. I don't blame him at all, don't get me wrong, it's just - "

"Stop."

There was a moment of tense silence as Nezha seemed to think over his next words. After a moment, he looked up and met her gaze. Strangely enough, his gaze was not one of anger or scorn like she'd expected. Digging up those memories, she figured, would lead to feelings of resentment. Instead, he looked… empathetic.

"You have no reason to feel guilty. For one thing, they were already… gone… by the time Leonn saved you. Even if you'd escaped the stun, they would still be… dead." Nezha finally said carefully, metaphorically tiptoeing around the subject of their deaths. "I've known the guys for years, and I can safely say that if they had the choice again, to lay down their lives to save others, they would do it all over again. That's just who they were."

Liz gulped, but remained silent.

"They were the best, you know?" Nezha said wistfully, setting Dynamm's shortsword to the side as he leaned back on the counter and looked up at the ceiling. After a moment's pause, a chortle slipped past his lips. "Did you know Orlando used to be shy? Complete shut-in."

"Wait, really?" Liz asked, unable to picture the late jovial leader of the Braves as anything but extroverted.

Nezha nodded, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Oh yeah. Total dork around other people, especially women. Think Klein, but with Kirito's social awkwardness."

"Hah! What changed?"

Nezha's smile widened. "We sort of peer pressured him into asking a girl out."

"No way!" Liz guffawed, now fully invested in this story. "What happened?"

"Oh, she totally turned him down." Nezha said as casually as if remarking on the weather. His eyes met hers. "But you know what happened? He realized that all of those fears of rejection and socializing with others were completely ridiculous. He didn't feel as bad as he thought he would when she rejected him, and he found out that talking with people wasn't the most difficult thing in the world. In fact, he found he actually enjoyed it."

"He was always so sociable and friendly." Liz trailed. "It's hard to believe he wasn't always like that."

"Yup." Nezha nodded, picking Dynamm's shortsword back up and treating it in the forge. "Once he got past that hurdle, he came out of his shell more and more, got a job in customer service of all things, and finally saved up enough money for his own copy of SAO. The rest is history."

"I wish I'd gotten to know him better." Liz remarked. "We all liked Orlando, but definitely didn't know him as well as you guys did."

Nezha gave a bitter smile. "Well, he and Klein certainly got along. You ask me, I think the two bonded over their terrible luck with women."

Liz couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, Dale's working on that particular problem. They tell you about his slap counter yet?"

"I was there when he agreed to it!" Nezha laughed. "...and I've definitely seen Klein flinching anytime Dale gets suspiciously close."

Liz sighed and went to grab Leonn's maul. "Thanks, Nezha. I needed that."

"Any time." Her fellow blacksmith replied. "I'd be happy to tell more stories about the guys. Helps keep their memory alive, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that." She said softly after some time, finishing off this batch of enhancements.

As she and Nezha continued, cycling through the Renegades' weapons, she let her mind wander. Nezha's tale about how Orlando used to be reminded her a lot of herself, in a way. When she first started out in this accursed game, her self-esteem and confidence was pretty low. It didn't help that nearly every customer of hers either saw her as a naive, impressionable gamer girl who didn't know any better, or was outright obstinate in their ridicule of her at-the-time novice blacksmithing skill. It wasn't until Leonn and Asuna came along and gave her a nice little confidence boost that things started to change.

Now that she thought about it, a lot changed that day.

"Auntie Liz?"

Startled out of her thoughts, Liz saw little Yui poking her head inside, her dainty little hands grasping the door frame. She put down her tools and gave Yui a smile. "How can I help you, Yui?"

"Papa and Mama want everyone to meet in the hall."

"Why didn't they just message us then?" Liz asked.

The sound of a facepalm rang out behind her. "They did. We just didn't notice it."

"Yep!" Yui beamed. "That's why they sent me to get you and big brother Nezha!"

"You go on ahead, Liz." Nezha said. "I'll finish packing up here; just let them know I'll be along shortly."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go on ahead. Don't want the smithy burning down while we're gone, right?"

Liz chuckled before following Yui out, all the while wondering if the guild workshop could burn down. Now that she thought about it, things didn't usually catch fire here in Aincrad unless it was part of some scripted event. Then again, there weren't many items or effects that could feasibly catch something on fire. Their forge could be one of those items, she supposed, but the sheer negligence required would be -

"Auntie Liz, do you like Uncle Leonn?"

Liz didn't really watch a whole lot of anime anymore, but she was pretty sure she just executed a flawless face-fault right then. She quickly picked herself up off the ground, all the while Yui simply stared at her owlishly. Leave it to the strangely empathetic adopted child to so blatantly ask that kind of question without a hint of shame.

"...What?" Liz asked, still stunned at the sudden inquiry. "Why would you think that, Yui?"

"Your eyes always get super big whenever you see him." Yui explained as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world. "You also play with your hair a lot when you're talking to him, and you like to stand next to him a lot, and - "

"Okay, I get it!" Liz cut her off, already feeling her face flush at being called out by a child. God, either her crush was that obvious or Yui was more intelligent than she let on. She wasn't sure which it was, really.

Probably both.

"So do you?"

"I… I mean…" Liz stuttered before finally sighing. If she could read her this easily, there was no use in hiding it anymore. "Yes. Yes I do, Yui."

"Yay!" Yui started skipping off towards the guild hall. "Wait 'til I tell - !"

"NO!" Liz practically screeched. She quickly caught up to Yui and grabbed her firmly, but not harshly, by the shoulders. "You can't tell anyone, Yui. Especially Leonn."

"But why?"

"Because!"

Yui tilted her head in confusion. "Because why? Don't you want him to know?"

"No! I mean yes! I mean…" Liz stammered. "...it's complicated, Yui. I can't just tell him I like him like that. What if he doesn't like me back like that? I don't want him to get weirded out or treat me differently if he doesn't like me back."

Yui tilted her head. Liz would have squealed at how cute it looked, but she had other things on the mind right now. "Why does it have to be complicated? If it were me, I'd just give him a kiss! I wouldn't since he's my uncle and that would be silly, but you should!"

Liz felt her face redden again. "It's not that simple, Yui!"

"But it is!" She pressed with an adorable smile. "Kisses are simple, straightforward, and efficient!"

Liz blinked, caught off guard by Yui's sudden and impressive (for her age) vocabulary. Not to mention how surprisingly sound her logic was, even if it was childish. "I can't just assume he'd want a kiss from me, Yui. That sort of thing can make people uncomfortable if they don't want to be kissed."

She let go of Yui's shoulders and the duo resumed their walk towards the guild hall. Much to her delight and chagrin, the man in question was standing out front waiting for them. Damn him and his endearing consideration.

Yui looked deep in thought. "But that doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't you just want to kiss him? I'm pretty sure he likes - MMMM! MMM-mmm-MMM!"

Quickly covering Yui's mouth with a speed that would have made even Asuna blink, Liz leaned down to whisper in Yui's ear. "Yui, I love you, but please stay quiet about this. He's right there. Look, now he's looking at us weird. Hey Leonn!"

"Hey Liz." He smiled before his gaze shifted over towards Yui. "...Why are you covering Yui's mouth?"

"No reason!" Liz lied, taking her hand off of her mouth. "We were just talking about - "

"We were talking about who Auntie Liz likes!"

Liz's hand shot back on top of Yui's mouth before she could utter another word. "Y-yes, that's right! And remember how I said I didn't want anyone to know, Yui?"

She locked eyes with the little tyke before finally Yui nodded. It looked like she calmed down for now, at least. She'd have to really sit down with her and explain, in detail, why it wasn't okay for her to burst out like that. Maybe she could drag Asuna into that conversation, bringing a little motherly influence in. She already knew Asuna knew, so at least the secret wouldn't spread. If there was one person who would empathize with her and her feelings, it was Asuna.

"Oh." Leonn said, his smile faltering. "I… uhh… see. That's… great! That's great! I'm… uhh… happy for you. Whoever it is is a lucky guy. Or girl. I'm not going to assume or anything. Well… uhh… the others are waiting inside. We should probably join them. I'll… see you inside then."

Leonn quickly shuffled off, which was very out of character for him. Apart from rushing into battle, Leonn never seemed to be in a hurry to go anywhere, but clearly that conversation had made him uncomfortable. Not that she blamed him; the conversation made her just as uncomfortable, if not more so. She took her hand off Yui's mouth.

"I don't get it." Yui frowned. "Why did you cover my mouth like that? That wasn't nice."

"I'm sorry, Yui. Really, I am." Liz sighed. "But I'm sure you could see how uncomfortable that made him, too. We can't just blurt out stuff like that, okay?"

"But he was only uncomfortable because - !"

"Yui!" Asuna's voice rang out from inside. "What's taking you so long, sweetie?! Bring Auntie Liz in here already!"

"Look, we'll talk later, Yui, okay?" Liz said, offering a smile to show that she wasn't really upset with her. "We'll even bring in your Mama, okay? That sound good?"

"Okay!" Yui replied, scampering off inside.

Liz let out a long sigh of relief and dragged her hand over her face. That was close. Too close. Little Yui was a hop, skip and a jump away from spilling the beans. As comforting as some semblance of closure would be, Liz just didn't know if Leonn felt the same way. Hell, his change in mood just now could be just awkwardness at such a personal topic, or it could be…

…Oh no. It could be disappointment at hearing that she liked somebody already. She definitely would have been heartbroken if she heard that he liked someone already.

Damn it. It could be either one!

Hearing Nezha coming up from behind, she shook herself out of her thoughts and walked inside. Hopefully what was going on inside wasn't anything too serious. She doubted this had anything to do with the upcoming floor boss fight; the Assault Team hadn't scouted anything yet.

She was right, but not in the way she'd hoped. What awaited her inside had nothing to do with the next boss fight.

It was something much worse.