Hiya! Sorry I took so long! Apparently summer isn't a time where I have absolutely nothing to do. I had a lot of things to do and I still do! Waaaaaaaaah, why can't summer be a summer vacation for once?! Oh well. At least I'm finding time to write these chapters! And yeah, like I said last chapter, I was going to have a kick out of this, so I did. :D

Thank you so very much to EquinoxWolf, Delta Marauder, Krulla Chief, Midweekcomic13, DemonFoxBK201, skyrumen818, Guest, Lord Destroyer, .92160, Amyra Silverheart, Firehedgehog, The Magus Killer, Angelus Candida (From Chapter 1), Kragh50, and Dragon Silhouette for review last chapter! Really, thank you so much! (and sorry if I missed anyone, it was hard to pick out the reviews this time. DX)

DISCLAIMER: I only own Shiku, and Tonomi Suzuku. (Yes, that means that "Asada" is one of the original charaters in the canon) I don't own SAO.

Chapter 23: The Dark Repulsor

Klein groaned hopelessly as he walked into Agil's shop. Agil raised an eyebrow and watched Klein drag himself over to a chair.

"You look like all hell broke loose." Agil said rather bluntly. It was true. The usual spark in his eye had dimmed dramatically and his face was sullen. The man no longer carried himself with pride, but with weariness. Klein gave him a long, dead stare.

"It did." he deadpanned. Agil raised an eyebrow and opened up his menu. He flicked his finger up and down as he scrolled over his inventory.

"And how did that happen?" he asked casually. Klein suddenly sat up with a fire of irritation in his eye.

"The Black Swordsman, that's what! He keeps scaring me to the point where I don't know what to do anymore! Sure, he's opening up and all, but seriously, this is getting out of hand." Klein practically calmed at the end of his rant. Agil blinked in surprise at the mention of the infamous swordsman.

"You mean, Kirito?" he asked. He closed his menu and gave Klein a confused look. "Well, I heard from Argo that he's not that antisocial anymore. But, scaring people? Hardly…"

"You know what? How about I hand him over to you for a whole week?" Klein offered. Agil's confusion grew.

"Ah…Alright, it's not like anything bad is going to happen." Agil said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Oooohhh, you're going to regret those words, Agil. You're gonna regret those words..."

._._._._._._._.

"Haaaaah! It's finally good to be back!" Lisbeth said as she crossed the bridge to her shop. Asuna followed after her with a grateful smile.

"It feels even better since we got what we needed." she said. Lisbeth spun on her foot to face Asuna with a big smile on her face.

"The Crystallite Ingot!"

Just yesterday, they managed to get one by a complete and utter miracle. Bluntly put, they just ever so happened of find one near the dragon's lair...they were pretty lucky.

Lisbeth hummed cheerfully to herself as she opened her menu and unlocked her shop. Asuna couldn't help the grin they shared before opening the door.

"Kirito, we're ba-the shop!" Asuna exclaimed. Lisbeth's eyes were shadowed as they took a good look at the interior. Weapons of any kind were shattering here and there as their durability came to zero. Tens of swords were haphazardly thrown all around the store. Barrels and shelves were either tilted over or destroyed. Lances and axes covered nearly every foot of the floor.

"We were only gone for a night and half a day…AND THIS HAPPENS?!" Lisbeth cried, obviously devastated by the wreckage before her. Asuna carefully stepped over the fallen weapons and called out for Kirito.

"Oi! Kirito, where are you?" she said as she looked around. Lisbeth followed her with gritted teeth.

"How in the world could a pesky brat like him destroy a whole shop…!" she mumbled. "Come out and take my anger like a man, Kirito!"

"That probably wouldn't work, Lis." Asuna said with a sigh. She shook her head as Lisbeth continued to mutter under her breath and stopped at a seemingly barrel. She wasn't expecting anything, well, other than Shiku, but when she looked inside, she paused. "Ah. Found him."

"Really?! Where is he?" Lisbeth asked as she spun on her heel. Asuna didn't look up and pointed into the barrel. The blacksmith paused. "You're kidding."

Asuna didn't even need to answer as Lisbeth appeared at her side, peeking into the barrel, too. There, sleeping like a child, was Kirito, completely oblivious to the world.

"What in the world is he doing sleeping in a barrel?" Lisbeth asked. "Hey! Wake up! I got a bone to pick you!"

Asuna shook her head and reached in, patting Kirito's head in attempt to wake him up. "Oh, come on, Kirito. You can't sleep in there forever."

Kirito mumbled something incoherent and just leaned into Asuna's touch. The girls sweat dropped.

"So much for trying." Lisbeth mumbled. Asuna just laughed a little before looking at her with pondering eyes.

"Other than the fact that we found Kirito and the...wreckage of your shop, we still haven't found Shiku. Plus, we don't know if it was Kirito's fault if he really did wreck the shop." Asuna added as an afterthought.

"Well, you got a point there, but what in the world could cause this much damage?" Lisbeth asked her with confusion.

"Meow."

Both girls shared a short look of surprise before turning their heads to look behind them. Shiku sat on his haunches with his tail waving back and forth. There was a suspicious air of innocence around the cat-lion that made the girl share a glance.

"No way." Lisbeth stated, disbelief clear in her voice.

"That can't be." Asuna assured. They looked down at Kirito, who finally stirred. He looked up at the girls with tired eyes and a soft smile.

"Um…morning…?"

._._._._._.

Within two hours, the three managed to salvage anything that was still usable and stored it away. They cleaned up and fixed up the shelves, trying to make the place presentable again. It was pretty obvious how Kirito deliberately stayed several feet away from Shiku or ignored the cat if there wasn't much room to spare.

Once Lisbeth placed the last sword on a hook display, she turned to Kirito with her arms crossed. "Alright, I've been holding this off, so you better tell me what in the world happened while we were gone. Why'd you wreck my shop?!"

"I didn't wreck your shop. Shiku did. I stepped on his tail." Kirito said rather bluntly. Asuna stared at him.

"Eh?"

"I stepped on Shiku's tail." He repeated. Lisbeth shared a look of confusion with Asuna.

"Are you saying that a cat did this?" Lisbeth asked, putting emphasis on 'cat'. Kirito laughed timidly.

"Ahaha…ha…haaaaah…"

The said cat-lion sat on its haunches next to Lisbeth with a happy purr. The blacksmith looked down and up again at Kirito, who held up his hands and slowly backed away.

"Kirito, I'm sure Shiku wouldn't do all of this." Asuna said as she, too, crossed her arms. Kirito looked at her with wide eyes.

"He's a demon." he said with a dead serious voice. The girls were taken aback at the serious expression on his face. Lisbeth rolled her eyes and turned on her heel to her counter.

"Whatever, you're still going to pay for—" she cut herself off when she heard a crack underneath her boot. She looked up to see Kirito already halfway out the door with a shocked Asuna. Not even a split-second later, an inhuman screech made Lisbeth storm out of her shop at the last second.

Once she was a good ten feet away, she winced when she heard various thumps and smashes. She looked at Asuna with horror. The swordswoman gave a nervous laugh with a shrug as Kirito peeked his head from behind her.

"See! See?! I told you! It wasn't me!" he said. Lisbeth's face flushed in embarrassment.

"S-shut up! It's your fault for bringing that cat-thing with you in the first place!" she exclaimed. Kirito stepped away from Asuna.

"And I'm sorry! But really, you shouldn't have locked me in there in the first place!" he said, pointing at the shop.

"I wasn't the one who suggested locking up the shop!" Lisbeth defended herself. They both stopped and turned to look at Asuna. Asuna gave them a nervous grin.

"Ahahaha…" She began to slowly back away as Kirito crossed his arms while Lisbeth curled her fist.

"This is all your fault!" Lisbeth cried. Asuna felt her eyes widen and took off.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized as she ran. Lisbeth bolted after her with furious fists, leaving Kirito behind.

"Get back here!"

"Oi, oi! Let's all be friends now!" Kirito tried as he reluctantly followed them. As stupid and pointless it may have seemed, Kirito couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face. He was just having too much fun.

._._._._._.

"I'm really sorry..." Asuna apologized for the umpteenth time. After Lisbeth's rage cooled down, the group of three returned back to the shop. Shiku was rolling on his back and flailing his paws in the air when they found him on top of the counter. The store itself was nearly cleared out as most of the few weapons Lisbeth had left shattered apart. The blacksmith swore to forever hate the small cat lion. Of course, that (somewhat) included Kirito. Lisbeth crossed her arms.

"This is both of your fault!" she accused over her shoulder. As she opened her menu to take out the Crystallite Ingot and placed it on her work table, equipping her hammer.

"Technically, this is all Shiku's fault." Kirito said as he held Shiku in his arms. After all, nobody wanted to step on the tail again.

"Meow!" Shiku licked his paw with an amused purr, almost as if he was laughing at her.

"Ugh, that's it!" Lisbeth snapped, slamming her hammer down on the ingot. "Pets are banned from my shop!"

Kirito flinched at her tone and ducked his head. "Sorry."

Asuna laughed nervously as Lisbeth hammered the poor metal with a passion. She shared a look with Kirito, who shrugged, and began to wonder if her friendship with Lisbeth was still in tacked. Kirito moved to stand next to her.

"Uhm…does this mean I'm banned here, too…?" he asked, hesitantly. His question went unanswered as Lisbeth smacked the nearly flattened metal with an unnaturally loud thunk! In that moment, a bright light enveloped the sword and formed into a shape of a sword. A few seconds later, the light faded and all that was left was a beautifully crafted whitish-green blade. Lisbeth tapped the sword and read off the little screen that popped in front of her.

"…and this is for a guy like him? Hmmm…I guess," she muttered as she glanced at Kirito. She practically forged the sword out of frustration. In all honesty, she thought the product would become something menacing, but… it turned out much better than she expected. She looked up at Kirito and blinked. The Black Swordsman wore an expression that just made all of her anger and frustration melt away…although he actually looked like he was pouting.

Lisbeth sighed and shook her head in defeat. "I don't know how you do it, but—" she sighed again when she caught Shiku nipping at Kirito's hand. "—I can't stay mad at you for very long for some reason. I'll let this pass, I guess."

"Really?" Kirito asked as he perked up. He deliberately ignored Shiku's nibbling and sighed in relief. "That's a huge relief."

Asuna silently heaved a sigh, too, as she smiled. "For a moment there, I thought Lisbeth was going to ban me, too."

The Blacksmith huffed as she crossed her arms. "Don't push your luck, I might actually do it." She went to pick up the sword and stopped. The sword was a lot heavier than she thought. A lot heavier. She looked up at Kirito and gestured to the sword.

"Well, aren't you going to try it out?" she asked him.

"Ah! Right, hold him for me." Kirito said as he handed Shiku to Asuna.

"W-what?! No! I don't want to hold him!" Asuna said as she held her hands up on defense and took a few steps back. Kirito grinned and stepped toward her with Shiku in his hands.

"Oh come on! It's just for a minute. Please, Asuna?" he asked her, but Asuna still refused him with a shake of her head.

"I said no!" she snapped. Kirito continued to hold Shiku toward her as his grin turned a bit cheeky.

"I'll buy you a whole cake when we get back to Klein." He promised. Asuna paused for a second before giving in and hesitantly taking Shiku in her arms.

"Ugh, I better get castella for this." She grumbled.

"Of course!" Kirito said. He turned away from them and reached to pick up the sword. Lisbeth's jaw fell as he picked up the sword with absolute ease. He held it in his right hand before switching to his left. Asuna watched with amazement as he gracefully swung the sword horizontally, followed by an upward diagonal slice.

Kirito paused and looked at the sword in his hand in awe. "Whoa… it almost feels like I'm holding a replica of Elucidator." He turned to look at Lisbeth with a grin on his face. "Hey, what's it called?"

"Ah! A-ah, the Dark Repulsor!" Lisbeth stumbled over her words, slightly embarrassed that she was caught staring at him. Although, Kirito was oblivious to it as he looked thoughtful.

"The Dark Repulsor…hmmm…Where have I heard that name before…?" he muttered to himself as he looked over the blade. He had to admit, it was incredibly crafted despite the fact that it was forged by a fuming Blacksmith just seconds ago. Deciding that it probably wasn't important, he pushed his curiosity to the back of his head and focused on reality (well, in game, of course).

"Thanks for the sword, Lisbeth!" he said as he sheathed the sword and gave the Blacksmith a smile. "And sorry for all of the trouble that Shiku caused. I did promise to pay for the damage…"

Lisbeth stared at him for a second before grinning. "Oh, yeah! I totally forgot about that! Are you sure you want to pay for it all? I'll even charge you for the Dark Repulsor, too, since I practically need to start from scratch."

Kirito's smile faltered a bit as Asuna pressed her lips together.

"Uhm, I'll help with the cost, too, since it kind of is my fault…" Asuna said as she took a step forward. She was slightly nervous. In all honesty, she doubted that even with Kirito's and her Col would be enough to cover the cost of…practically everything.

"That's fine with me! As long as someone pays it." Lisbeth said with a smile as she opened her menu. A second later, Kirito and Asuna received a message. Kirito was quick to open his and paused. He just stared at it, making Asuna worry about it. Asuna had a bit of difficulty to open hers as Shiku squirmed in her arms and pawed her face. Once she did, she did a double take.

"W-what?! Hey, Lis-chan, are you sure?" she spluttered in surprise. Lisbeth just placed a hand on her hip.

"Yup, you either take it or take it." she answered bluntly. Kirito stared at her as a single thought went through his head.

'One thou—She's too cheap!'

Ahahaha, yup, I had one heck of a kick out of this one! So tell me what you guys thought! Was it a bit of a comical relief? Man, I enjoyed writing this chapter. XD

I totally forgot that I was going to say what Shiku's name means! Shiku's name actually means "lion's roar" or something along those lines. It was supposed to represent Kazuto's...muteness, I guess one could say, since he can't really talk in the first place (as mentioned in Chapter 13: The Forced Truth). I totally forgot about that! DX

Oh and to those who reviewed when I still had that note up, I think the system will tell you that you already reviewed, so if you really are that intent on sending me a review for this chapter, just review as a guest with your username. I've done that since it happened to me before. If not, I'm fine with that. :D

And one last thing, those of you who have read The Prince of Aincrad, who would like to see Morgan again...? :D

Preview!

"Okay! You're all set, Agil! I'll leave him in your hands for the week!" Klein said a bit too cheerfully as he patted Kirito's shoulder. Agil shook his head at the guild leader's actions and crossed his arms.

"You're acting as if he's that hard to handle, Klein." the shop owner said. The Black Swordsman gave him an odd look as he brushed off Klein's hand.

"Wait...Klein, you just told me that we were just gonna visit Agil." Kirito said as he crossed his arms.

"And I did! Just, I left out the part that Agil with take charge of you for a week. You alright with that?" Klein said with that weird smile of his. Kirito dropped Shiku in surprise.

"Mreowr!"

"Wait! You can't be serious!"

"See you in a week, Kirito! Be good to Agil!" was the last thing Klein said as he left the shop. Kirito couldn't help but stare after him in shock.

"Did Klein just...?" Kirito stopped himself from finishing and turned to face Agil. The shop owner had a concerning from on his face with his arms still crossed. Kirito gave him a sheepish smile. "Uhm...I'll be in your care...?"

Later!

-CloudyLightning!