I've been suffering form some severe writers block and insomnia, the only reason any of this got written was due to Lady Lily Anne pushing me to do so. Read, Review, and please, have fun.
"Keiko, wake up!"
Said teenager jumped into startled alertness a bit too quickly and rolled off her bed in a tumbling heap, all while being too out of it to react fast enough to stop herself from landing on the floor face first.
Lovely beginning of the day, truly.
Turning over onto her back with a groan she glared up at Asuna who easily dismissed said glare mainly due to the fact that it made Kirito look like an irate kitten. Obviously annoyed, but too cute to actually be considered all that threatening, a moment later she took to her feet with a huffing sigh.
Knowing full well she couldn't be bruised in the world of Sword Art Online the young teen checked herself for injuries regardless mostly due to time honed practice if nothing else.
You didn't train with a sadistic kendo master for half your life without being forced to learn to automatically catalog what was happening to your own body after all.
Oddly enough she was quite aware her departed grandfather would have happily approved of her assessment, and frankly she didn't know how to react to that realization and instead chose to ignore it, fewer headaches and questions that way.
Grunting in satisfaction that everything was functioning as it should be she turned to her partner while sighing lightly, "Couldn't you have woken me up in a more pleasant, less startling manner?"
Laughing Asuna walked towards the door, "I tried, it's not my fault you sleep like a hibernating bear. Now hurry up, I made breakfast and it's best to get to it before it goes cold." Keiko froze up at that, food she didn't have to prepare for herself, made by someone who actually knew how to work their way around a kitchen was a blessing that must never be dismissed.
Keiko sped downstairs without hesitation anxious to see what was awaiting her, leaving Asuna's lilting laughter behind in her rush.
Asuna may not have a lot of cooking experience in game, but it was already amazing because unlike Keiko, who specialized in fast yet filling meals in the real world, Asuna knew how to actually cook. Coming to a stop in the kitchen Keiko couldn't help grinning broadly as she let her nose lead her to the dining table, taking her seat the dark eyed girl let out a blissful sigh of happiness.
The meal smelled of ambrosia and truthfully she had no idea what caused it to be so, though she'd readily admit to not caring enough about the 'whys' to ask questions. Keiko was a straightforward girl and thus decided to simply pull her plate laden down with steaming food towards herself so she could indulge in its deliciousness. Preparing to dig in she raised her fork high to claim the first delectable morsel when it was intercepted by a kitchen knife.
Turning her quizzical gaze towards her partner Keiko stared at Asuna a few moments before the younger girl quietly spoke up in an almost hurt tone, "Why aren't you letting me eat?"
Kirito sported what was a rather adorable pout and Asuna would admit it was a damn powerful one at that, but her ulterior motives needed to play through.
Removing her knife from Keiko's fork Asuna nodded once keeping a serene visage on display, "First you have to promise that you'll go apologize to Argo, today. Don't drag it out any longer than you have to. After you promise, you get to eat."
Sighing in resignation, Keiko agreed. For someone who had only met her roughly a week ago Asuna was learning about her tells and weaknesses far too quickly.
Her fault for partnering up with a smart girl though, ah well. The meals she'd made thus far have made it worth it, plus it was really nice to have someone on your own level to talk to when you were in the mood for chitchatting.
It had been three days since the pair had earned their Martial Arts skills, and once returning to town Asuna and Kirito had taken up shop in one of the larger and nicer inns. This was mostly due to Asuna wanting a room with a kitchen to grind her cooking skill in and Kirito having the excess Col for her to do just that.
This skill grinding session had occurred mainly because of a rather nasty hiccup in the front liners ranks. While Diavel had wanted to scout the field boss days ago he'd run into something none of them had been anticipating nor where they prepared to deal with the repercussions entailed.
Namely, politics.
There were roughly three groups all vying for the leadership position, Diavel leading one of them of course, Lind, who was an unknown quantity, and for reasons no one could explain, Kibaou at the head of another. They couldn't reach a consensus on anything and after a time the girls simply walked away to do their own thing while the boys argued and postured.
While Kirito and Asuna were for all intents and purposes highly educated and well trained young ladies neither of them had any kind of patience for politics. Asuna had an understanding and respect for them due to her heritage but her mother's insistence to micromanage her entire life had prevented Asuna from getting any real training in the field.
Kirito on the other hand knew how to manipulate people for her own purposes and held no reservations about abusing her talents to sate her self interests. Playing mediator to a bunch of over bearing egos that looked down on her though?
Out of the question.
Not because she couldn't handle it mind, rather because she simply did not give a fuck what other people thought, like at all. Manipulating people into doing what she wanted? Yeah, fine, she'd do what was necessary to steer them where they were needed and wouldn't bat a lash in the process.
Becoming a bloody bureaucrat handling all the petty squabbling with no gain being visually present? Not happening, she only had so much inborn patience and placating self important windbags would easily consume what little she had.
This...was not something she would regularly admit to, but she felt no shame in her opinions.
If she gained nothing, she did not care.
Surprise.
Though there were limited exceptions to this rule obviously, her family for one, and rather recently Klein, Asuna, and Argo, but outside of that?
Yup, apathy.
So munching through her delicious breakfast Keiko mulled over the best way to confront...no...that was the wrong term wasn't it? The best way to approach Argo and explain her thought processes to the older teen, and hopefully retain a civil relationship with her in the aftermath. Not a good idea to alienate SAO's primary information broker after all, pity so many other people hadn't quite grasped that little factoid yet. Ah well, she was able to see natural selection in action regardless, good times.
Resisting the urge to lick her plate clean (and it was a strong one at that) Keiko sighed in satisfaction as she leaned back into her chair and contemplated the day ahead. Asuna was probably going to grind her tailoring while she went out to farm mats for their gear upgrades, both their coats and swords had quite a few levels to fill out after all.
Or, she could just get the Argo thing out of the way now and move on from there, and she already knew which option Asuna would want her to choose.
Path of least resistance it is then, turning to Asuna Kirito smiled wanly, "Do you want to message Argo, or shall I?"
Argo sprinted through Urbas's tight alleys doing her level best not to touch the grime stained walls in the process, a chore she knew that would be meaningless in the world of Aincrade yet she did it regardless.
Oddly enough the desire to avoid getting tetanus bled through into the digital realm, Argo had no explanation for it other then simple survival habits, humans were strange, incomprehensible beings like that. Plus, it was best not to get sloppy, she had these ingrained reactions for a reason after all.
Kicking off the alleys claustrophobicly close walls while gradually gaining altitude the young woman eventually landed on the balcony of her predetermined building with little sound. After pushing open the stain glass door she soon sauntered past the gathered rows of chairs. Approaching the single seated figure Argo came to a stop before coughing lightly to draw attention to herself.
"I'm here, Ki-chan" she began slowly, "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"
There was a tense silence and eventually a teenage girl stood from one of the chairs turning to face Argo, a moment later her contact dropped her shoulders while sighing deeply.
"I'm sorry Argo. I'm sorry for losing trust in you, I'm sorry for cutting you out, I'm sorry for everything. I was scared to let you in with your information network and all, I was just scared of what could have happened. I'm...sorry I didn't trust you as a friend, like I had before this entire death game thing. I don't like, nor trust people on a normal basis, and with it being life or death...well just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. I let that thought process control my actions...and I'm sorry. That's all I really have to say..."
Argo stared at the newly revealed Kirito a few moments before smirking slightly, nodding once in return she extended her hand and opened it revealing her open palm, "I accept your apology, now what do you want to do about it?"
Kirito grasped the offered hand squeezing it tightly while evenly stating, "Win this game and go home."
Argo grinned in response, "Good answer."
Kirito shifted about a bit before sighing and nodding slightly, looking a bit lost as what to say she eventually broke the silence sounding a bit unsure. Unbeknownst to her this demeanor made the young woman sound rather cute in the 'Completely clueless in social situations' kind of way but Argo would never tell her that.
"The real you looks good, by the way. Even with those damnable stripes on your cheeks."
Argo chuckled at that, "You and Asuna are the only ones who know why I have these bloody things. No one else will ever find out, Ill keep the Martial Arts skill secret by the way. Just you, me, and Asuna. I don't care about the potential profit."
Keiko tilted her head to the side staring at the young woman appraisingly before raising a single brow in question, "Why?"
Argo actually looked offended as she placed both hands on her hips leaning forward to place her nose against Keiko's, "Because you're my friend and I want to keep you safe. That also means I'll keep your talents secret so you can always have a leg up, I worry about you like that."
Not knowing what to say to this revelation Kirito stepped back and rubbed her forehead in confusion. Life was so much simpler when everyone ignored you, this having friends thing really complicated matters more than she'd like to admit.
"Ok...but...if you run into anyone who could really use it, excel at it even, please let them know how to gain it, ok? I...appreciate having something in reserve that no one can possibly prepare for but...well...I don't want to be responsible for anyone dying because I was being selfish. I don't think Asuna would be happy with me if she found out..." This last bit was muttered in near silence yet Argo's brows rose in interest.
"Ah, concerned about what A-chan thinks of you hmm?"
Kirito shrugged uncomfortably at that before nodding slightly, "I guess? It's...weird having a partner you know? With Klein it was different, it was like having this group of hyper big brothers who were intent in involving you with everything they were doing. I was...important, but more of an observer than anything else right? With Asuna we're...we're both invested in this, and I don't want to disappoint her..."
Argo had to resist the urge to squeal with delight, instead she just nodded slowly while glancing across the vacant hall, "Ah, I see. All right I promise to keep your wishes in mind. Also, well, I have someone I want you to meet." Tapping her menu a few times she sent Kirito a message which caused the other girl to tilt her head to the side in surprise.
"Who's this?"
Argo snickered a bit before waving a hand off to the side casually, "Just a mathematician and software engineer professor bored out of of his skull. It ends up he worked for Argus and was live testing the system when Kayaba trapped us in here. I mentioned you to him and he wanted to talk, like I said he's bored and wants to teach so he's looking for learned disciples to bestow his knowledge on. You interested?
Kirito tapped her forefinger against her chin a few moments before nodding slowly, "Yeah, why not? Asuna's gonna grind her tailoring tomorrow so I need something to distract myself with." Argo once again reigned in her desire to snicker at Kirito warping her entire schedule around her partner's whims while confirming her agreement.
"All right, meet him in the central gardens at noon, don't be late!"
Keiko awoke with a flustered snort sitting up as she took in her surroundings. Asuna was asleep in the bed beside her, cuddling up to a pillow while the pale early morning sunlight poured down on the pair.
It was a rare morning that she awoke first, which meant no breakfast, but it also meant not getting startled into falling out of her bed.
She decided it was a wash and simply walked away from the entire situation.
Cracking her neck to the side she equipped her armor and sword while tiredly dragging a loaf of cheese bread from her inventory, gnawing on her meal she stepped out into the sunlight glaring up at the sky.
It was so obnoxiously blue..
Pushing that rather idiotic thought aside Keiko continued walking down the street and absently checked her calendar, oddly enough she was actually almost on time. A bit early but hey, who was she to complain?
Weaving her way through the early morning travelers Keiko plopped down in an open seat outside of Urbas's largest bakery and quickly ordered a glass of mead. She wouldn't be disabling her morality functions, not in the open like this, but mead was rather tasty and she had the Col to burn, so why not?
Sipping on her newly arrived beverage Keiko micromanaged her personal army's material issues while mulling over the best person to turn the entire thing over to. She had no desire to lead these people any further, and while she felt responsible for them she just couldn't bring herself to care enough to wear the mantle they wanted her to.
Maybe she could give them all to Diavel or Klein? They both excelled at leadership positions after all...
Her musings were halted when an older man chuckled behind her, "My, you're a bit of a workaholic aren't you?"
Leaning her head back Keiko met the man in question's gaze evenly, "Subordinates exist solely to make life more difficult for you as they poorly handle everything you assign to them. It's why you become management and they, do not."
The man laughed a bit before pulling a chair out and plopping into it, starring at Keiko a few moments he eventually nodded, "You're Argo's friend aren't you? Kirito?"
She nodded slowly closing her menus before responding, "Yes, your the mathematician and professor she was talking about right? The one who was bored out of his skull and actually worked for Argus?"
He nodded slowly as he ran is finger down the tables wood grain, "Yes, I am. I hope you don't hold my association against me."
Kirito laughed at that, "You're just as trapped as me my friend, can hardly hold that against you. So, if you're bored, and you need someone to bat around the gray matter to keep yourself sane, what do you wanna talk about?"
The man grinned, "How about Artificial Intelligence? Oh, and please, call me Heathcliff."