~K2-Black-Panther~
Ooh, ever read Warriors by Erin Hunter? :D
Yup! I'll be writing a version where Leafa saves Kirito when he's unable to save Asuna :P
Hmm… I may add in Asuna somehow, I'm pretty annoyed by her lack of involvement in most of that series, but I do have a plan for it already! :D (Even though my mom just canceled Netflix -_-) Personally I believe Sinon's just his close friend who teases him like a sibling :P
Hmm… I partway have to disagree :P There are multiple versions of that particular episode in the books and manga and it all conflicts so I have my own personal opinion that Kirito doesn't at that point mainly to preserve Asuna's sense of pride and ethics. It mainly goes along with my extended version of SAO though because Asuna and Kirito are married for a year, they have Yui around for seven months, and Argo's more of a main character :P
~quidditchChick6~
Yay! That means I've got her character down! :D
The Yuki vs. Asuna rematch is on the way already :D I've done all the research (I've analyzed their fighting styles, stances, and sword skills) So it should be up soon!
I love the progressive books! They're soooo good so far and I love how Argo's seen a heck of a lot more and how the relationship between Asuna and Kirito is developing so far! The progressive books have been my latest read in the SOA stuff, that and the manga :D
Argo, Asuna's Honorary Big Sister
Kirito sat there in his backward facing wooden chair and rested his chin on his hands. He was watching Argo, the information broker and secretly practically Asuna's sister, try to soothe the caramel haired girl to sleep. He had tried coaxing Asuna into going to bed for an hour himself and eventually messaged Argo at the heartbroken expression Asuna had continued to give him. Thinking about it made his heart ache with grief, he had guessed Asuna was going to be affected by Yui's disappearance and essentially death but had hoped it wouldn't be this bad. And he couldn't do anything to help, every time he touched her Asuna started crying again and so he had retreated to his chair and contacted Argo, not knowing what to do.
Now Asuna seemed to be asleep, curled up on her side with her head in Argo's lap the sniffling had stopped and she was relatively still. Asuna's hands were clutching the necklace of Yui's heart in both hands, holding the jewelry close to her heart while she seemed to be finally dozing. Kirito couldn't see Asuna's face at the moment so he couldn't tell for sure but he needed to actually discuss what had happened to turn Asuna from a strong warrior to a blubbering mess in all of one day. "I'm sorry Argo-" he tried to apologize before the information broker used all of her agility to cover his mouth with a light shake of her head.
Argo softly shook her head and pointed to Asuna who stirred at the sound of Kirito's voice and lifted her head slightly. Argo then flashed Kirito a dirty look and mouthed a sentence, 'if she wakes up completely and starts to cry again you're going to be SAO's laughing stock Kii-boi!'
However, with no extra noise, Asuna put her head back down and gave a half-asleep mumble, "Argo?" She asked her friend in a barely audible tone. "Is Kirito still here?"
Argo brushed her fingers through Asuna's light-colored hair and spoke in a soothing tone, "yup A-chan, he's making sure you're okay." She gave Kirito a piercing look like she expected him to speak as well and see if Asuna wanted anything from him.
Kirito stood up, the chair creaking slightly as he stood and sat down on the side of the bed where Asuna was facing. "Feeling any better?" He asked quietly but didn't touch her, not wanting to have her start crying again with the knowledge that Argo would give out every little embarrassing detail she had on him.
Asuna's amber eyes were mostly closed and her breathing deepened further at the concern in his voice and the reassurance of him being there next to him. She reached for him and curled her fingers around one of his hands before she pulled his hand toward her and held his hand and Yui's heart close to her chest. Once she had done that her eyes closed completely and a moment later she seemed to go back to her earlier doze.
Argo scratched the top of her head and yawned after Asuna's eyes closed and idly scratched at the painted whiskers on her face while she waited for confirmation that Asuna was actually asleep and wouldn't wake up to her and Kirito talking. She had literally no idea what was going on besides the fact that Asuna's expression when she first arrived had been one of grief, Asuna had been holding a tiny game object close to her heart and Yui wasn't there. Something was really wrong if Asuna, the Lightning Flash, was this torn up over something to the point where being around Kirito just made her cry…
Argo straightened up out of her lazy slouch and narrowed her sharp green eyes at Kirito. If that oaf had something to A-chan once again, she was going to break her rule of making people pay for information and just give out as much embarrassing info she had stored up for blackmail. That or she would haunt him till the day he died. Of which she hoped was outside of SAO despite how much it felt like home now. Nearing three years in SAO, Argo oftentimes had to remind herself that she wasn't born here, she was trapped in a video game, and that people's lives were on the line all the time.
Kirito seemed to understand the words behind her glare and he violently shook his head and raised his free hand to emphasize his point. 'It wasn't me!'
Argo relaxed back into her earlier slouch but still frowned at Kirito for a few moments while one of her hands were gently stroking Asuna's long hair. Argo mulled over what she knew and blinked, why hadn't she seen it earlier? Her green eyes lost the narrowed glare and instead looked more worried, Yui wasn't there. Yui wasn't there with Asuna and Kirito, it was dark now, and Asuna had looked like she was grieving over something or other. "It's about Yui isn't it," Argo said once she noticed that Asuna hadn't even twitched when she moved Asuna's head to a different spot so her leg wouldn't fall asleep. Including the sensation of a limb falling asleep? Who exactly decided to put that particular feature into SAO?
Kirito's onyx colored eyes were on Asuna as he spoke, looking for any signs of her being awake when he spoke. "Yeah… Yui," he paused, "Yui's gone."
Argo's heart clenched but her facial expression only twitched, "She's an AI Kirito. AI's like NPCs respawn." She replied blandly as she tried to wrap her head around the idea that the little girl was gone, just poof, vanished. Yui had practically been Argo's niece with how close Argo was to Kirito and Asuna
"Unless they're deleted by the system," Kirito said quietly and Argo's eyes widened.
Deleted by the system?
"Yui saved Asuna and I by accessing the system… again." Kirito's free hand clenched into a fist around the sheets of the bed and tears welled in his eyes. "She helped us by deleting the boss trapped under the town of beginnings who was supposed to be on floor 95 after Asuna took a critical amount of damage."
Argo's green eyes gazed quietly at Kirito for a moment before her gaze dropped to Asuna, who was now asleep. Finally. "That's why Asuna's so…" Her voice wavered and died as she looked at the person who was like her younger sister. Even asleep Asuna looked rather upset, while the grief had mostly faded from her face her forehead was wrinkled slightly, her lips were parted but tugging downward into a frown, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed in distress, and there were tear tracks on her face. When under a massive amount of stress or emotion and a player cried, the tracks would remain on their faces until either the drying effect kicked in after the delayed thirty minutes and or they wiped it from their face.
"Heartbroken?" Kirito suggested when Argo's voice failed, "we lost our daughter. The only thing left of her is the tiny gameobject in Asuna's hands."
"You mean…" Argo looked back up at him, eyes rather wide with surprise.
Kirito visibly swallowed hard, fighting tears himself, "the crystal in Asuna's hands is Yui's heart." The tears threatened to escape as he continued in a rather thick voice, "it was all I could do. Asuna and I's daughter is gone with nothing but her heart left in our hands." Kirito quickly ducked his head as a few small tear droplets dropped onto the bed, leaving round wet spots. Kirito let his bangs hide his face, but couldn't hide the occasional falling tear.
Argo looked at him and the information broker's expression broke into a miserable but understanding one at the look on his face. Moving Asuna's head and tucking a pillow beneath her head she freed her legs and stood up. Going over to the black swordsman she pulled him into a sisterly embrace, silently holding Kirito and refusing to let go even at his small movements to push her away.
"Yui's your daughter too," Argo said eventually in a low and hushed voice, "it's not wrong to grieve Kirito." She used his real name to portray her seriousness and felt him bury his head in her blonde curls near her neck with a choked cry.
Argo sat in the wooden chair Kirito had been sitting in earlier, her legs drawn up near her chest as she rested her arms across her knees and studied the pair for a short distance. Kirito was facing away from her with his head in his hands, hunched over and likely trying to get ahold of his composure. Asuna was still asleep, the swordswoman hadn't moved much more than an inch since Argo had managed to calm her down enough to sleep. She had helped them both so much over the past three years that they were family, Asuna was like her little sister and Kirito was the oftentimes irritating brother-in-law. Losing Yui shouldn't hurt this much, it's not like Yui was her daughter, and nor was she her little sister.
Argo briefly shut her eyes to push away memories and reopened them to find Kirito gently stroking Asuna's caramel colored hair while rubbing strongly at his eyes. "She'll be fine soon Kirito," Argo said quietly and no doubt startled Kirito by the way he jumped a mile. "Asuna's raised Yui alongside you for more than half a year now, and while I know you're inwardly just as hurt about it, but…"
"I know," Kirito said in a thick voice, "It's different for Asuna."
Argo gave a small smile and shook her head, "no it's just harder to get over. Give her time Kii-boi." She nodded toward the sleeping girl, "and give A-chan all your love for the next few days."
This was rather refreshing to experiment with a character that not much is known about, I'm mainly going off of what I've seen in the Progressive books and manga with a few pieces of what I saw or read about her in the anime and in the original books and side stories. Let me know if you think I did okay portraying Argo outside of her information broker attitude!
