Welcome to KArgo week, Naintarlow checking in as usual.
Ready yourself to the wonders that were never seen before. For the mysteries that await to be solved. The mind-blowing twists that will leave you questioning your existence. And the fluff that will have you visit the dentist in the near future.
Be gentle and welcome the pairing that should have been canon. The pairing made by the fandom. And the pairing worshipped by a certain discord server that shall not be named. Welcome to seven days of Kirito x Argo. In other words: KArgo shipping, let's go.
Confused yet? It's a week of different prompts celebrating Kirito and Argo's non-canon relationship, be it friends, lovers or maybe even more. It's an idea that came to be on our SAO Fanfiction central discord server (discord . gg /z9Pz3Jzc7y) by Agent94 and Flamelordytheking. And as usual, most of the server was ready to jump into the ship without reservation.
Hopefully you will enjoy it, with me adding my own twists to it to spice things up. Onto the first prompt.
Day 1 Prompt: First Meeting
They say first meetings are special. That one's first impression is the first step that might lead to friendship, a relationship, or an ever-lasting rivalry. Some even go as far as to say that everything is already decided by that moment.
He never believed in things like that. It also didn't help that he wasn't much for being social at all, hence he never really took much stock or meaning into first meetings.
Yet as the black-haired man stood in front of the rather unremarkable-looking apartment door, slightly out of breath due to the two flights of stairs he had to walk up, he couldn't help but feel trepidation. He never cared about it before but suddenly anxiety whirled up inside of him as he tried to make himself look as presentable as possible.
Guess spending two years in a death game, fighting for your and your comrades' life tends to change you. Even now, one month after waking up, black-haired man still felt fidgety. Everything felt surreal and he almost expected some mob, boss, or even Heathcliff himself to jump out from behind every lamppost or trash can.
His view of reality was distorted, he was aware of that. Spending so much time in that world of swords and monsters, it was impossible to not feel out of place in a 21st century setting once again, without his sword, armor, or an enemy to defeat and farm. He didn't need to talk to those therapists that the government assigned to every 'victim', to tell that much about himself.
Otherwise, the swordsman wouldn't be so nervous and frozen up at the prospect of knocking on a simple door. If people could see the so-called Hero of Aincrad, no doubt their image of him would be surely ruined.
Admonishing himself for acting so much unlike his usual self, he forced himself to lightly press the bell. As the faint shout of 'Coming!' sounded from behind, he tried his best to calm his suddenly racing heart and keep a neutral face even as he felt butterflies waging an accurate replication of world war two in his stomach.
He did not need to be nervous, he knew it intellectually. Because while it would be their first meeting technically, it wouldn't be really the first meeting between them.
Such was the strange and extraordinary life they had. When you meet face to face for the first time, and it is already the third time it has happened.
A small smile appeared on his face without thought, as he used the precious few moments to reminisce how this whole thing started, more than two years ago. Even now, after overcoming various trials, he could hardly believe everything that happened, really happened.
Their very first meeting was much more different than this one. Neither wore their own faces nor did they use their names. It was like just two strangers meeting on the internet, talking, interacting without even knowing anything about the person on the other side of the screen. Though theirs was a bit more complicated than that, like everything in their lives.
After all, they met in a different world, as different people.
Back then he was Kirito, a budding swordsman in the Beta of the decade's most awaited game, the NerveGear console's first real game, Sword Art Online.
It was everything he wished for and even more than that. Here he was not girly-faced, withdrawn Kazuto but the confident and suave-looking swordsman with long, black hair that gave him a roguish charm.
And her? She was something else altogether.
He was walking in Urbus, just a few hours after they defeated the first of the floor bosses Illfang for the third try. Fighting a boss was nothing like the normal mobs on the first floor and not just a few of them freaked out at first, leading them to die and respawn in the Black Palace.
It took three tries before he figured out enough of the boss patterns, as well as found a raid group that managed to act cohesive enough to at least survive the first half of the battle. From there it was rather easy, he even landed the last blow, earning himself something that took all of them by surprise, the last attack bonus.
From there he was treated to the envious stares of other players, especially when it was revealed that the last attack bonus was a piece of accessory equipment giving rather large bonuses for so early in a game. He decided to take his leave and start exploring the new floor early after they started bombarding him with offers to buy it from him.
He was debating whether to go and upgrade his equipment before venturing outside of the new floor when a voice spoke up behind him, slightly surprising him as he believed he was alone in the rather large and open street.
"So you are that mysterious lone wolf who was making a name for himself. Kirito, right?" the voice was definitely amused and while it might have sounded like a question, it wasn't.
Kirito frowned slightly at the interruption of the peaceful quiet he enjoyed as he stopped and turned back, eying the new arrival. If he had to summarize their appearance with one word, it would be unremarkable.
A rather lithe body that would be hard to tell if it belonged to either a male or a female, covered by brown, rather light equipment, mostly thin clothes, a large cloak obscuring most of it. The player's face was mostly hidden behind their hood, except for a lower face that looked like the definition of gender-neutral, mischievously shining black eyes, a large, toothy smile, and 3 whiskers drawn on the side of their face.
His eyes slightly narrowed at the last detail, remembering a curious post he read on one of the forums the beta players frequented, about the appearance of a new 'class' of players, albeit their number numbered only one so far.
The info-brokers. And more specifically one going by the moniker the Rat.
"Depends on who is asking and what for?" he said back with what he thought was a mysterious and cool way, smirking at the end. Later he would be told that it was corny and way too clumsy to be anything close to what he was going for.
"Just a curious rat." the figure said with a smirk, and even their voice was hard to decide which gender it belonged to."Heard you got that famous last attack bonus, and from what I hear you figured quite a few nuances of the game already. Want to make a bit of a trade?"
"And why would I do that? I am a solo player, I can make enough cor by myself without giving out my secrets," he asked back, considering to humor the request. It was rare for info to be traded freely between players, even in the beta. Though not many tried gaining it by being so forward in the first place.
After all, what was helping each other and growing as a community in comparison to simply keeping a good quest to yourself so you can farm it to death, and gather enough gold to buy the shining, oversized, and completely impractical armor you always wanted, which you would lose at the end of beta anyway?
Not like he had any room to talk, he kept the details of how to get the anneal blade to himself during the first week of playing the game and only revealed it after he farmed three of them and upgraded his main one to +5 to be safe. There were truly very few more self-serving and greedy humans than gamers.
"I'm not talking about cor, I'm talking about something even more precious. information." the Rat explained as they walked over, a strange sway in their hips, he noted. Their stance was relaxed and oozing confidence that he never could replicate. He was painfully aware of that fact, even under the guise of the swordsman Kirito.
"Information?" he asked back dubiously but couldn't really hide the intrigue in his voice.
After all, with the game lacking guides or tutorials other than the most basic things, information was the key to playing, especially to a solo player like him. Almost every monster on the first floor had something different to it, introducing a new mechanic of the game, one of the countless ones that make up the combat system. If you can't learn and adapt to it, you will get killed easily and after a while, it would be quite tiring to constantly revive and walk back to your previous hunting spot.
Not to mention the almost daily updates from the devs, fixing smaller bugs, or introducing a few new elements of the game, making it a constant battle to keep up with everything.
"What would you say if I told you that I already have nearby fields mapped out and information on various mobs and possible farming spots?" they asked back, grin widening as he widened his eyes.
That quickly. It wasn't even that long since the news of the boss's defeat was shared and the teleport gate opened. Even then, it was not like there were any public announcements. Only those who participated in the raid would know it and it was hard to imagine that word would spread that quickly
"And how would I know how accurate your information is?" he asked back, almost desperately wanting to buy time and figure out if the trade would be worth it because it sounded almost too good.
"As good as my word." was the rather serious reply, with all the confidence and assurance, that he could think of no other objections.
"Guess I will have to see how good your word is then." he said in the end, a smirk forming on his face as he extended a hand."You've got a trade, Argo."
"Pleasure doing business with you Kirito." the information broker's smile was predatory as they accepted the hand, none of them knowing how that simple meeting would change their lives.
At first, it was strictly business. Then they continued trade info and just talked about whatever came to mind. By the time beta ended there was an easy friendship between them.
Then Sword Art Online started for real.
When they first met in that world, they were different once again. While they still went by their previous names, the confident swordsman Kirito was nothing more than a young girly-looking teenage boy with issues regarding his self-confidence and a little of self-hate, while Argo the Rat was mostly unchanged, save for the fact that she was a lot shorter and this time her gender was identified much easier.
He would say it was a dream come true if it wasn't for a nightmare that their life became that day.
"You know you are a hard man to track down, Ki-bou."
The voice was unfamiliar to him, too high-pitched but there was something in that nasal inflection that was barely heard and that address that made him raise his head.
He was sitting in a stupor, numb to the world, at the side of a house, clutching his newly acquired Anneal Blade in his hands. It was becoming too much for him, the events of the day finally catching up to him. So instead of even trying to find an inn, he just collapsed at the side of some building and let his overwhelmed mind drift off.
The first day of the long-awaited Sword Art Online, befriending a strange man called Klein, Kayaba's announcement, their new reality. Finally abandoning Klein to raise his own level, teaming up with Copper, Copper trying to monster PK him, and then finally falling to his own trick. It was too much for him.
He wanted to ignore the world around him, everyone and everything, just until he came to terms with it but even that little rest wasn't allowed to him. Still, he raised his head, something telling him not to ignore this person and his eyes widened as he took their form in.
It was a young girl, around his age standing in front of him but it was not what shocked him. Instead, it was a brown cape draped over her, the hood hiding most of her face, the really familiar whiskers on what was visible of her face but the most damning were the mischievously shining brown eyes and that wide smile that reminded some people of the Cheshire cat.
The face and the voice were not familiar but her stance and address of him on the other hand definitely reminded him of one person.
"Argo?" he asked with a shuddering breath, taking her new looks, her real looks, his mind reminded him, with a sense of awe
"Who else could I be but Aincrad's number one information broker?" she asked back in that confident, sassy way that he, she, his mind corrected, always boasted whenever it came to her own reputation.
Her hand reached up and almost absentmindedly threw her hood back, revealing the rest of her face. Curly blonde hair fell into every direction in a graceful mess, framing a heart-shaped face with the customary whisker marks. It was rather different from the rather gender-neutral face she wore in the beta but Kirito could understand it if she was a girl all around.
'Pretty' was the single thought that penetrated the fog clouding his mind, with that single-minded simplicity all teenage boys seemed to have when coming across the female of their species.
"Struck speechless? Not that I can blame you, I am pretty awesome after all." she continued taking his silence for his admiration of her real face. She was not wrong at the very least. "Not like I was any less shocked. Who knew mister tall and moody was such a girly-looking boy. I was quite taken aback the first time I saw you:" she continued, a teasing grin on her face but it completely failed to gain a reaction from him.
After all, he was pretty used to being teased about his girly looks. He could weather it up until crossdressing came into the picture. Damn Suguha, and her abominable puppy dog eyes.
Suddenly something clicked in his head, thankfully not connected to his previous thoughts and he looked at her questioningly and a slight wariness, born from his earlier experience with a fellow beta player.
"Wait. How did you know how I look like?" he asked, feeling a bit bewildered and maybe slightly worried. While he used the same name as in the beta, he did not have time to make much of a name for himself here yet, nor did he have any wish to. Certainly not since the so-called tutorial.
After all, it was only the first day, yet everything was falling apart already.
In response, the information broker simply smiled slyly, as she jokingly put a hand over her heart, acting like she was hurt.
"I am hurt, Ki-bou. I told you many times, never underestimate the resourcefulness of an information broker. I knew about you before you even logged in," at his blank and unimpressed look, she lowered her head, pouting as if denied a treat. It was kind of cute."Fine, fine. Ruin my fun, will you? I just stood near a certain familiar-looking lone wolf, when everyone changed faces, so I had a good idea who you are. It also helped that red-haired buddy of you calling out your name quite loud." she explained, acting as if she was greatly offended for having to do so.
"Right. The plaza..." he muttered, looking away ashamed as he remembered what happened.
Kayaba's announcement, their avatars mirroring their real bodies and the weight of reality setting in. His idea was to use the confusion and get a headstart. In order to achieve that he abandoned his friend. The silent goodbye with Klein, where he simply didn't have the strength to take up the responsibility of looking after another person.
After all, he was and still is a loner. Someone who only cared about himself and fought for himself.
Seeing the dim expression on his face, Argo's smile slowly receded, her cheery mask unable to keep up as she gazed at the mentally drained teen sitting in front of her. With the barest hint of a smile, she stepped in front of him and crouched down so they could be at eye level, and thrust her hand out, asking silently for a handshake.
"So you are that mysterious lone wolf who was making a name for himself. Kirito, right?" she asked, smile widening as he picked his head at the familiar words, a bit of life coming back into his eyes."Want to make a bit of a trade?"
Even he could not tell what went through his head at that moment but before he noticed it, his hand rose up, clasping hers in a grip that could have hurt her in the real world, clinging into it like a drowning man. Something changed on that day, where he took up the offer from one he called a friend.
The reality didn't change. Death lurked in every corner, just a tiny gap between life and death. They still had to go through one hundred floors and who knows how many trials. Yet, for some reason, the weight on his shoulders that threatened to crush him was suddenly much lighter.
He wasn't alone anymore.
The creak of the door opening spurred him out of his nostalgic memories and as he slowly turned his eyes, he found his heart hammering in his throat.
There should have been nothing to be nervous about. It's not like they were two strangers, meeting for the first time.
Except, it was the first time they laid eyes on each other in the real world, not as Kirito and Argo but as Kazuto and Tomo. And it was a sight that would be forever burned into his mind.
As expected she didn't look that much different than her avatar but there were qualities that SAO's engine, despite its capabilities, was unable to replicate faithfully. And because he saw a virtual replication of her face for two years, he was very much aware of those really small differences.
Longer than he remembered blonde hair now reached her shoulders, yet they were still the same mess that he was so well-acquainted with. Brown eyes, a bit more tired, but also just having a bit more of a real feel to it stared back at him with wonder, amazement, and, dare he say it, love. She lacked the whiskers but that fact was immediately forgotten as he was taken by the genuine and happy smile stretched wide on her face
"Ar-" he started to call out to her after he reminded himself not just to stare dumbly at her but he was cut off as a small body collided with him and arms were wrapped around his torso.
He was barely able to stop himself from toppling over but luckily he managed to avoid that. After catching his breath, he was quick to wrap his arms around her tiny, shaking form, trying to burn every little thing about her into his memory.
She was so tiny and frail. She was always smaller than him by a head, making it easy to cuddle with her and resting his head atop hers but there was always a strength to it. Argo, in his mind, was always like a coiled spring, ready to move any moment but you will never know when that moment would be exactly. Now, she was thin, just like him. After all, they spent two years lying on their backs.
He wanted to find her as soon as he woke up but it was fruitless. She was in another hospital and he was soon put under the care of the doctors and his physical therapy started. It has been two weeks since then and they finally met at last.
"You are alive. You really are alive." her voice was so quiet, so much unlike her usual upbeat tones. He felt her shaking and tears rained on his shirt but he didn't care.
He rested his head on the top of hers, just as he did many times, taking a deep breath, smelling her shampoo and suddenly it clicked, that it was real. That it wasn't a dream, nor a virtual reality. Finally, it happened, that last first meeting that they had to wait for two years.
He already knew the perfect words to say.
"Hey. Want to make a bit of a trade?"
So how was it? Good? Bad? Sweet? Sour? Tell me what you thought in the reviews so I can at least see what I need to work on more.
Now ordinarily, the next day I would upload the next prompt. Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Those who know me, know how I am with deadlines set by myself. All I can say is that it will be uploaded when it's finished.
Next Prompt: Food