Author's Note: Hey, guys! Thanks for the responses, I've decided to split the chapter down the middle so that you could enjoy some regularity with updating. The winners of the poll were chosen and had the ~14k word document sent to them, so congratulations, and I hope you enjoyed. You know who you are.

Update 19 May 2019: I went back and updated some info to be canonically correct and cleaned up grammar errors that I spotted.

18 July 2024
Lisbeth's Smith Shop
08:45

*BZZT BZZZT BZZZT* *BZZZT BZZZT BZZZT*

Again? Damn it, I swear that stupid thing's been going off since I woke up.

I reached up and hit the snooze button for about the tenth time this morning. Even though I woke up about an hour ago, I hadn't felt the urge to get up. Lisbeth was still asleep next to me, still drooling on my sleeve, and still taking most of the one-and-a-half-by-two-meter blanket the way she'd been all night. THe light pouring in from the dining room window moved slowly from the headboard to my eyes to my chin as time rolled by. Before long, it'd be right in her ace to wake her as it did me. I glanced down to see the light illuminate her soft pink hair, made into a mess by adjusting overnight.

Thinking back to last night, though, I realized that while she's essentially all for a romance, I have a difficult time reciprocating any feelings back to her. In the romantic sense, at least.

Don't get me wrong, I like spending time with her and joking around, but... how could I fall for somebody who I really don't know much about? Sure we've spent hundreds of hours together and had many conversations, but they've all been about things in-game. I don't know her name, hell, I don't even know her age! She can be five years older than me for all I know. With that, she doesn't even know my age either. And how can I be sure that she loves me? What if she loves the strong-and-enigmatic Kirito instead of Kazuto Kirigaya? She knows as much about me IRL as I do her. How does she know it's something real instead of just infatuation? How do I know I'm not just infatuated? And what if we start something under impulsive feelings and end up hating each other in the end?

The easy thing to do would be to follow along with things now and see if something happens, but what if nothing works out? What would it do to her if she feels that I just led her on?

Is it that I'm afraid to start something? That I'll just fail her the way I did my old friends?

*sigh*

I care about her. She renewed my purpose in this game, fought by my side in countless quests, and is even willing to put up with my sarcasm and arrogance. I'm comfortable with a companionship if nothing else, but there are just too many questions that need answering...

Damn it, Kazuto.. This is why you weren't around girls much. Well, at least part of the reason. I don't want to tell her something that'd ruin what we have now, but at the same time, I don't want to lead her on and crush her... What do the Americans call it? Being stuck between a rock and a hard place?

So I lay there with my right arm under the pillow and my left arm bent under my head, thinking of how to handle our companionship while she finally wanders into consciousness. She inhaled sharply and slowly lifted herself above the mattress before sitting on her legs. I guess the sun finally found its way to her eyes. She squinted around the room briefly before turning back to me.

"Hey," she greeted wearily," Did you... sleep well?"

"Yeah, I guess," I responded. "It looks like you were awfully comfortable. I take it you did?"

"Mm hmm..." she nodded her head while stretching, exposing part of her lower stomach beneath her shirt. "Where did you want to go?"

"For what? I asked, running my hands through my hair as I say up.

"Breakfast, dummy! Did you forget?"

"That's right... There's this place on the 60th floor my info broker told me about a few weeks ago. According to her, it's some ind of atomic-age American place, complete with jukeboxes and milkshakes."

"That sounds great! Hey... about last night..." she started.

"How about we... umm... talk about that over there?"

"Uh, sure," she nodded her head and started towards her room, " I'll go and change really quickly."

"Okay, I'll be here!"

I stood up, folded the bed away while she disappeared into the halleway, then opened the apparel tab in my menu.

Maybe breakfast can help me figure out how I can handle this... I'm probably thinking too much...

"Ready to go?" A voice called from behind me.

"Huh? Oh, you're done already?" I turned my head to see Liz standing outside the hallway, wearing a solid light-blue tank top with a white cardigan, finished with a pair of dark blue jeans.

"Well yeah, I wasn't kidding about the "really quickly part."

"Obviously. I guess I'd better hurry up."

I changed into black jeans, a dark gray shirt, and a black jacket with dark gray cuffs.

"Do you ever wear anything besides black? There are other colors too, you know," she said jokingly as she headed for the door.

"Of course!" I responded, going with her humor. "Can't you see I'm also wearing gray?"

"Oh shut up! You know what I mean," Liz returned. "Let's hurry up so we can get back and finish the sword."

"All right, right behind you."

Floor 60
Anders Business District
09:18

The light at the teleport gate faded as we stepped into the middle of ANders, floor 60's second largest city. It's modeled after a typical suburban environment, similar to Taft, and features a forested resort in the outskirts. The buildings don't exceed three stories, and the streets are only about ten meters wide, giving a crowded, chaotic atmosphere outside the main plaza.

We made out way south into the heart of the city, following the coordinates of the restaurant.

"So where's this place you were talking about?" Liz asked while we were bustling through the streets.

"According to the map, Jesse's Speedway should be up ahead on the right."

"Over there?"

Lisbeth pointed to a red, blue, and white storefront, featuring a painting of a bright red Edsel.

"Yeah, I think that's it," I said as I led us to where she was pointing."

We walked inside the bustling restaurant and got approached by an NPC usher from behind a podium. She was wearing a white button-up shirt, a blue apron with the diner's name and logo, and black pants. In her hands were a couple of menus.

"Hello! Welcome to Jesse's Speedway, would you like a table or booth?" she asked cheerfully.

I looked over at Liz for her input.

"Umm, let's go with a booth for two," she told the usher.

"Sure thing, right this way." The usher started leading us to a booth at the far end of the diner. "I hope you don't mind a seat away from the window."

"That's fine, thank you." I took the menus and slid into my seat across from Lisbeth.

On the wall next to us was part of a mural that went around the diner and was connected to the outer walls. Painted on them was a racetrack with old cars of all shapes and colors racing around the circuit while countless fans in the stands cheered them on. Across from the front door, a bar with about ten seats stretched across the wall with a person in a white apron and hat took orders from those seated. To the left of the entrance next to the bar resided a jukebox, blasting everything from Buddy Holly to Dion and the Belmonts. Sorry, I know my American music. The white tiles, red seats, blue tables, and organized chaos seemed to create a leisurely, casual atmosphere in the diner. With as hard of a time developers give us in dungeons or fields, I can't deny that thery did a good job with the diners and the cities as a whole.

"It seems a bit out of place, don't you think? A game full of taverns, castles, and medieval weapons suddenly has an atomic-age diner in a minor town?" Lisbeth asked as she admired the scenery.

"It seems really out of place. I guess the devs were sick of creating generic taverns and cafes and wanted some spontaneity in the game. I don't know. But it's here, so I guess we may as well enjoy it!"

"I guess you're right," she responded.

She took her menu and began flipping back and forth through the pages, scanning each one repeatedly.

"See anything you like?" I asked Liz as she re-inspected the second page.

Yeah, but everything here seems a little pricey," she remarked.

"Oh don't worry, I'll cover everything."

"You sure?"

"Of course. I mean, you did save me the trouble and expense of renting an inn last night."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said with a playful, yet devious smile.

We took a minute to decide our order, told the waitress what she wanted, and sat there in silence for a few moments.

How do I bring it up? Is it even worth bringing up? Well, I imagine it would be, seeing as to how you I spent a night next to someone who loves me. Does she still feel the same way? Or did she get over some sort of initial infatuation? Did I lead her to think that I matched her feelings? Am I just worried about nothing?

Fu-uck... Maybe I should've spent more time socializing IRL so I would have an idea of what to do.. I'd better pay for everything now, just in case she takes off...

"Hey I'll be right back. I'm going to handle the bill so it's out of the way."

"Oh, okay... Um, hurry back!"

She seemed surprised, understandably, at the sudden departure, but almost relieved as I stood up to look for the cashier.

I found my way to the front, where I had to wait a few minutes to pay. Once I recovered from the price of two breakfast specials and two tall milkshakes, I made my way back to the booth, where she had her plate sitting in front of her.

"Sorry for the wait. How long has the food been here?"

"It got her eabout a minute or so after you left. I thought I'd wait for you to get back before I started."

"Well that was nice of you," I said with a smile as I sat down.

"It's no problem! Hey, so about last night..." she started nervously as she looked down for her her fork.

"Yeah.. umm.. Where do you want to start?" I swallowed and blinked hard.

All right, let's do this.

"Well, I don't enjoy beating around the bush, so I'll try to make this straightforward: what are we exactly?"

Lisbeth's words carried control and confidence, but her body language was giving me a different story; her breathing seemed irregular, her hands were twitching, and she was also blinking frequently. If I'm not mistaken, she's as nervous as I am!

"I-I'm sorry, I don't follow," I responded sheepishly.

Damn it, why did I make her do that? She's the one showing courage and putting herself in a vulnerable spot, and here I am leaving her in the open longer than she'd like to be...

"Actually, I think I have an idea of what you mean," I began, "You see, from the start, things have been a little confusing between us. I admired our character and personality, and you said that you thought you fell in love with me. I accepted your feelings, but was scared to return them because of my old guild."

Tread carefully, Kazuto...

"So we carry on as companions, completing quests, orders, and occasional grinding," I continue, "And then we have a night like last night... We depended on each other and trusted each other with our lives, and we did our best to pull through. And afterwards... we... talk about our feelings and spend a night together, then wake up tangled in each other. We are companions here, and there's nobody else I would have rather had against Vintrum or down the dragon's nest, but outside of combat, we act as something more than companions. I know, that's what you're wanting to ask about - if we act as more than companions outside of combat, then what does that make us? Well, this moring, I tried to think about our situation and a couple of questions came up."

Liz stil hadn't started her plate, though she was mixing her eggs around while she thought about what I'd said.

"What are the questions? she asked, looking up at me.

"They're not easy questions, so it's okay if you can't answer them here and now. First question: how do you feel about me.? Do you still love me? If you do, is it the same or different from our nest incident? Or id you find that it was a type of strong crush? Or just infatuation?"

The blacksmith looked down, bit her lip, and closed her eyes before looking back at me with a menacing glare.

Oh shit...

"Do you mean to tell me that after all that's happened so far, you think I just have some infatuation with you?!" She asked angrily, loud enough to make nearby players glance in our direction

"Damn it, are you that dense? Why would I tell you that I love you, cry to you about it, give you a damn sword, keep a major secret, have your back on countless quests, and offer comfort when you needed if I were just crushing on you?! Huh?! Do you seriously think that I would do all of that, and more over some guy who I think is cute? Or who I'm enamored with?! I was there in all of that to show you how much I care for you! Not just say 'Oh you saved me! My hero! I love you!' and stroke some ego! I spent the night with you, for God's sake!" She bit her lip and balled her right hand on the table.

"Or what," she continued," Did you see some girl head over heels for you and think to yourself 'Hey! Let me see what I can get from her before friend-zoning her!', then proceed to take a sword from, spend a night with, then put her down easy over breakf-"

"No! Wait, hold on!" I interrupted her and leaned forward to grab her free hand and fist, "It's just that we've spent a lot of time together and confided and stuff, yet there's so little we know about each other."

Her angry expression slowly diminished while her fist relaxed.

"I... I guess what I'm saying is that I would like to get to know the person behind the smith shop, behind the avatar, and behind the eyes that were just burning a hole in my head.. I would like to know if you love the Sword Art Online player Kirito or the player wearing the NerveGear. Not just the enigmatic person who lost all his friends in-game, but the person I am outside of it.

She stayed silent for a few moments, then sighed and pulled her hand out of mine and set it below the table.

*sigh* "In that case..."

Oh no, don't tell me I worded that poorly...

"I'm sorry, you're right... I guess I jumped to conclusions too quickly. Do you still want me to answer your questions, or did my rant do that already?"

"you made it pretty clear how you feel, and don't worry about the ranting," I responded. She sighed again and looked down.

"So," she started.

"So what?"

"So what would you like to know?" She looked back up and had a small smile in the corner of her mouth.

With a sigh of relief, I smiled back and extended my right hand.

"Let's start with a name! My name is Kazuto. Kirigaya Kazuto!"

"Well hello, Kazuto! I'm Rika. Shinozaki Rika!" Liz, I mean, Rika, took my hand and shook it heartily.

"Is it okay if I call you by your real name, or do you prefer your avatar name?" she asked.

"Well, when we're out and around, I'd prefer that you stuck to my avatar nae, but it doesn't really matter in private."

"I'll hold you up to that! Now I have a question for you: how old are you?"

"Wait, what?"

"How old are you? Did I ask in English? I'd like to have an idea of the age of the person who I let stay at my house and fell for..."

"Fair enough. I'm 15, born on 7 October 2008, what about you?"

"Wait a minute, I'm the older one?" She asked, visibly surprised. "I'm 17, born 18 May 2007. Honestly, I thought you were about a year or two older than me, not over a year younger."

"Well, I guess I'm just full of surprises, eh?"

"You really are," she said with a smile.

"Feeling my face grow red, I returned her smile.

"So what are some things you're into?" she asked. "Any sports? Hobbies?"

"Well, when I was a kid, my grandpa made me do kendo with my younger cousin for a few years. With all the training and competing, we eventually made it into the top ten of our age group in Japan."

"Wow, I guess that explains why you're so good with swords. Is that what made you wanna play the game?"

"No. I quit kendo after a few years and started getting really into computers. My aunt's career is tied to them, and I guess at some point I started picking them up. The constant exposure and advancements over time made me fascinated with them. I mean, look at what computers did to us here..."

"Don't tell me twice. But why did you quit kendo if you and your cousin were good at it? Wouldn't you want to keep going to be the best?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes, but those weren't normal circumstances, so I didn't. Shortly after computers, I hacked into the national public archives and started digging around. I started with my family's records, hoping to get a better idea of what they were like. What I found out though, was that my 'parents' and 'cousin' were really the aunt, uncle, and cousin I grew up with. My real parents were killed in a car wreck when I was an infant, so my aunt adopted me and changed my last name from Narusaka."

"Oh no.. I'm sorry." A sympathetic look covered her face.

"It's okay. I made peace with it a long time ago. Finding out that my family wasn't really who I thought they were had really messed me up back then, so I inadvertently put distance between myself and them. That led to getting further into computers, and by extension landing here. One major backfire was that since I spent all my time staring at a screen or internal parts, I never made any real friends. There were people I'd greet in passing at school, but never anything more than that."

"I guess things just have to balance out, right? Becoming a computer genius at the cost of social awkwardness."

"When you put it that way, it makes sense. Well, enough about me. What are some things you're into?" I asked.

"I like to watch and play a few sports, but my favorite one is football."

"American?"

"No, real football! Why do Americans call their sport 'football' when most of the players who touch the ball use their hands?"

"I don't know. I never really understood that either. Did you ever play for your school?"

"No, but I did a lot of pickup and sandlot games."

"Were you any good?"

"I was pretty good, I guess. I'd play wherever the team needed me, but I always preferred to be the goalkeeper."

"As long as you're having fun while playing, right?"

"Right! It's nice to hear somebody who thinks that way. My parents and friend always insisted that I'd be better off playing competitively, but I thought that would take the fun out of it."

"It gets old eventually. It's a lot of fun at first, but before you know it, you're not practicing to have fun - you're doing it to win. That's where it becomes more arduous than fun."

"Maybe... I just wonder how well I could have done had I joined a team," she lamented.

Aww, she's opening up...

"Hey, I'll tell you what: we help each other get out of here, no matter what, and I'll go watch you play each game with your school team!" I suggested with a reassuring smile.

"You know what? Why not?" she looked up her plate and returned the smile. "And maybe I can see you compete in a kendo tournament?"

"Haha, of course. Maybe I can replicate sword skills in real life just for kicks."

"And if they work, you can try the higher-level skills!"

"I could already picture my cousin frantically asking what I'm doing," I laughed.

"If you don't mind me asking, what part of Japan are you from? It'd be pretty hard to go to each other's events if we're really far away in real life."

"Good question, I hadn't even thought of how that would work. I'm from Kawagoe City in the Saitama Prefecture. I'd started my final year of junior high before planning to go to Kawahara Preparatory Academy in the western sect of Tokyo, but there was a new game I just had to play."

"Wait, are you serious?!" Liz nearly leaped forward from her seat when I finished talking. "I just finished my first year there! It looks like it'll be no trouble being together when we get out of here!"

Wait a second, does she mean..

"Sorry, that came out wrong.. I meant that as a 'hang out' sort of.. well, you know what I mean.." she quickly corrected herself before letting her voice fade away.

"Don't worry, I getcha. It sounds like it'll be fun!" I responded cheerfully.

Lisbeth giggled for a bit before starting.

"Listen, it might not be accurate to say that I love you, but... at the very least, I really like you," she said shyly. "I feel like I can be Shinozaki Rika around you, not just master blacksmith and shopkeeper Lisbeth. You can be a little stubborn or overconfident sometimes, but.. most of the time, you're really nice to me and constantly care about my safety. I've lost count of how many times I've avoided dropping into yellow because you'd take a nasty hit for me, or you'd prioritize monsters attacking me during material hunting. Or heck, even that time you told me and Craig to hurry out of the cave when Vintrum busted in, and you held him off until you knew we were out. Yeah, we were both working for a common thing, but you'd always do everything in your power to make sure that both of us made it out of each cave, field, and labyrinth."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but how do you know somebody else wouldn't have fought as hard? I mean, I do care more than I can describe, but what makes me different from everyone else in that aspect?"

She took a moment to gather her thoughts before she answered.

"Because nearly everyone else who I've gone hunting with has either barely held up their end of the work or had us teleport when things went bad. Or if they did help the same ways you would, they'd try to use that to win a date or some sort of discount. Whe nwe go and fight, you hold up your end, take some of mine, and apologize for not being able to do more, then you never bring it up afterwards. And I'm not saying that I like you to make things easier on me no strings attached. I like that you're doing it for the sake of protecting a person in a game, not demanding some sort of payback. You make me feel safe whenever we'd leave safe zones... I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have around."

So I guess that means she isn't just infatuated... she really.. cares.

Butterflies filled my stomach and a strange happiness came over me when she finished talking.

I wanna tell her how I feel... But I need to be careful so I don't say something that I'm not completely certain about... Well, here goes..

"I'm glad you feel that way," I said with a smile, "And in all seriousness, I think I really like you too. You're somebody I can trust, with both secrets and dark areas of my past... You're somebody who gives me purpose in the game, and somebody I can look forward to seeing outside of it." I reached over and rested my hand on hers. "I'm so happy that I can turn to somebody like you with in-game and personal matters, and everything in between. Before I met you, I'd spend hours bawling on my own about things I've been through here.. losing friends, combat fatigue, and months of bitter loneliness. Now that you're here, there's somebody not only willing to deal with my faults, but my mental burdens.

It's just that I'm afraid of losing somebody I really care about again. You know the story of my old guild... and how it happened. I'm terrified that one way or another, I'm going to lose somebody like you. Somebody who I can confide with and fight alongside. Somebody who I can be of help to, and somebody who cares about me as much as I do them, if not more.

Despite my fear, I want to get closer to you. The thought of learning about each other that one of us can't stand scares me because I really treasure what we have-"

A tear started forming in my eye as I continued.

"Hey, do you think we can finish this at your shop.? I don't want to break down in front of everyone here..."

"Y-yeah, of course," she answered hastily as she began getting up from the table.

I stood up with her and began following her to the door when she stopped suddenly.

"You don't mind if we save time, do you?" she asked as she held up a blue teleport crystal.

Without answering , I pulled out a crystal of my own and nodded.

"Teleport, Lindas!" we said in unison.

Floor 49, Lindas
10:09

As soon as the light at the teleport gate disappeared, I grabbed Lisbeth's hand and started sprinting to the outskirts of town. Through the main plaza, past the market district, around the residential areas, and into the rolling steppes.

Liz, who I should've been gentler with en route to the shop, started calling to me over the wind and loud footsteps.

"Would you mind slowing down some? You're about to pull my hand off my wrist!"

Damn it, I can't be hurting her like that, but I wanna hurry so we can talk in private! I hope she doesn't hate me for this..

"I'm sorry!" I said before I picked her up into a cradle position and started running again.

"Hey, be careful! I know we're in a rush, but don't get us hurt!"

"I'm being careful!"

After crossing the bridge a half kilometer outside of the city gates, the shop started coming into full view in the distance.

There it is. Why does the place have to be so far outside of town?

In that minute, I was able to get us to the front door and set her down in front of it. The gentle breeze rocked the wooden sign above the door back and forth, and the morning sun was shining its last few rays before disappearing behind the base of floor 50.

"Well that was really something," she said as she pulled out her key ring, "I'd forgotten that you were able to run that fast."

"Come on, Liz! I ran up a slippery wall once and almost made it through."
"Until you slipped and left a craer in the snow," she giggled and opened the front door for me and followed me inside.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember," I grumbled.

"Did you want to talk in the back?" She turned and locked the door behind us as I made my way through the inside.

"Yeah, please..."

Once we made our way into the room with the forge, she went and sat on the small bench by the door. I pulled a chair out of a nearby table and set it a half meter in front of her. I felt myself start to shake and my mouth dry as I tried to piece together my words.

Why am I so nervous about this? She's already well aware that I like her and what I'm afraid of, but why are the butterflies still in my stomach, and why am I still trembling?

"I-I'm sorry, where did we leave off.?" I tried horribly at stalling. I already committed to finishing the statement, but it's just so damn hard to say!

"You were talking about how you really treasure what we have now, and then we started heading over here," she answered nervously.

"That's right... I'm sorry... I'm terribly afraid that if we... get too close too quickly that we'll.."

"Hate each other?" Liz asked.

"E-essentially. You're the first person who I've genuinely been able to open up to since day one... Yeah, there's Klein, but as willing as he is to lend an ear, I've never felt comfortable enough to talk to him about anything outside of SAO. And with my old guild, I was usually the one to help others with their problems. As clsoe as I was ti them, I was never able to truly be part of their camaraderie. I just... I don't know what to do about us two," I choked out the last part before covering my tear ducts with my thumb and index finger.

"Listen, Kirito, I'm always going to be around for you, okay? And don't worry about us two too much, silly... I'm just as scared of losing your company as much as you are for me." She went around to my back and hugged me from behind, resting her head near my right shoulder and letting her hands slide down to my stomach. I wrapped my right arm around her hea and my other hand was over hers on my torso.

Wow... I can't describe how much I'm enjoying this... I feel... safe... Does she really mean that?

After a moment in that position, she began to straighten her posture, moving her hands and her head from their places.

I guess now's a good time to ask her.

"Do you r-" I looked up and turned to ask her when I suddenly felt a warm breath sweep over my lips.

When I realized what was happening, my breath stopped, my heart rate skyrocketed, and I began to tremble. Her ace was in full view of mine and our lips were barely touching.

We stood there frozen for what felt like forever, each of us as surprised as the other. My best guess is that she was going to kiss my cheek and I'd turned into it. Unable to do anything else, I just finished my question.

"-really m-mean that.?" I asked, my lips grazing hers with each word.

She didn't blink nor breathe. All she did to respond was give the slightest nod. W-what do I do?! I haven't kissed anyone before! At least I don't think I have... And I certainly didn't expect to do it here and now!Are we kissing?

Before my mind could create any more questions, Lisbeth backed away about a half-meter with her hands over her mouth.

"I-I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" she stammered, her ace quickly filling in with red.

"T-that's o-okay.." I replied. By now, my rational thought was fleeting fast, and flawed logic began taking over.

W-well if we've gotten this far, what's the harm in the last push? If she wants to fully kiss, of course...

I stood up, walked towards her, and moved her hands away from her face. Next, I placed my hand on her right cheek with the other just above her hip. Ever so gently, I started pulling her back in.

Please don't hate me for this...

After a few more seconds, we finally reconnected. We close our eyes, then slowly came together completely. The warmth of her lips finally returned to mine.

Instantly, our lips began to tremble, and I lost my ability to think. The kiss was both electrifying and numbing at the same time, if that makes any sense. In that moment, only Lisbeth and I existed in that world.

I can't move... I don't want to move..

A few moments later, I felt Liz's hand move behind my head and her other aroud my back, then pulled us even closer. Sadly, that only lasted for a few seconds, as she pulled away to catch her breath. Following her first breath, she moved both of her arms behind my back and rested her head on my chest. Instinctively, I hugged over her arms.

Oh no, what did I do?!

"H-hey, are you okay.?" I asked hurriedly as I caught my breath.

"Yeah, I... I'm okay," she assured me, loosening her grip and moving away from my chest.

Lisbeth looked up and blinked at me.

"Hey, maybe it's about time we completed that sword order; he's supposed to be coming for it later today," Lisbeth suggested. She opened her menu and equipped her smithing gear: her signature pink dress, white apron, knee-high boots, and elbow-length gloves.

"O-of course, I'd hate to get in the way of that after what we did to get the stuff for it."

I went and settled down on a stool by the wall opposite of her forge while she ignited the black coals. While she was setting that up, I did what I could to keep my mind busy. Normally, I'd watch her as she went straight through each phase of crafting, but... adter today, I thought she might have wanted a bit of room to concentrate.

What'd I do... Why'd I do that... I mean, I don't think she hated it, since she did intensify it, but... doesn't that just make things more complicated? Isn't this the 'getting too close too fast' that I was worried about? Now what if something happens? Damn it, I should've controlled myself better... What's she thinking now?

While looking around the room for something - anything - to distract myself, I noticed a small bulletin board Lisbeth had set up and covered with notes and photos.

Strange. In all the times I've been here, I never noticed that she had this here.

On the board were a few hastily-written notes about weapon recipes, locations of materials, and future weapon orders. Between the colorful note pages were different photos of Lisbeth with different groups of people. Some I couldn't recognize, others I did, but knew I'd never see again, and finally, a few who I was too familiar with. Each Polaroid-style photo had a footnote written in its white portion. The photos were placed out of order, but dates written in the footnotes helped me organize their sequence. The earliest photo was of her on a large, olive blanket with Asuna, with a mallet, anvil, and modest "Lisbeth's Smith Shop" sign hanging on the angil in the foreground. On the bottom, Liz wrote "First customer! ^-^, Town of Beginnings, 12 November 2022."Both were giving a bright, cheerful smile.

Looks like she waited a day or two to get her shop going. I also almost can't believe that she and Asuna go back that far. And Liz had brown hair at one point? I guess that's her real hair color. Idiot me, I should've known that she didn't log into SAO with a head of pink hair.

The next were of different friends and events, like birthdays, holidays, and other parties. ABout three months after her shop opened, there was another of her and Asuna in a busy marketplace entitled "New hair dye! :) BUt late for Valentine's Day :\ 19 February 2023."

"Whatcha looking at, Kirito?"

"Oh, hey Lisbeth!" I turned around, thoroughly startled, to face Liz. "Just taking a look at the photos you have up here. Letting the fires smelt off the unwanted metals?"

Is she wanting to talk about earlier? Or go along with this and wait for later?

"Yeah, after I extract the iron from the ore, I need to let it sit with a bit of carbon so the steel can form."

Thank God...

"And then you reheat the metal to its dark-purple color, then beat the heck out of it until a sword forms."

"You know it. Did you find anything interesting in the photos?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Why did you dye your hair pink?"

"Do you not like my hair color?" she asked quizzically.

"It's not that, it's just that you looked really nice in your light brown hair, and so I was curious about the change."

No, you look amazing in your pink hair! Damn it, Kazuto! Control yourself!

"You see, since I spent so much time trying to promote my shop, I was far behind the other players' skill when I actually brought people in. And because those I brought in didn't think I was as good as the others, I lost potential regulars. Eventually, I caught up to the quality, but I could never seem to get as many customers as the other shops. I thought that players trusted the manlier-looking smiths more, since you'd expect one to look big, strong, and dirty instead of a small-framed girl. With that i mind, Asuna thought that I should try dyeing my hair and use my looks to attract more players, then keep them using my skill. Eventually, word got arond that there was a pretty blacksmith who could create masterpieces, and I earned enough to get the shop."

Wait a minute!

"So that explains why he sent me here," I thought aloud as I started to laugh.

"Who's 'he'? And what's funny?"

"My buddy Klein," I answered, pointing to the photo of her and the Fuurinkazan.

"Oh, the samurai?"

"Yeah, he has a habit of going around Aincrad, looking for the fairest lady in the land, and introducing himself to them in hopes of landing a date. Between kicking ass on the front lines and hanging out with his guild, of course."

"Really now? And he's the one who recommended me to you?"

"Yup. He mentioned a pretty, pink-haired blacksmith who I could go to for my second sword. Then he proceeded to tease me about hitting it off with you if things were in my favor."

"Oh, o-okay," Liz stammered as her cheeks slowly turned red. "I guess his awkward introduction was good for something...

"Let me guess: he bowed, extended his right hand, and started with 'Hi, my name is Klein, I' twenty-four and...'?"

"Actually, yes he did. Does he do that often?

"More than you think... It's kinds funny how things turn out, right? All he was doing was helping me find a good person for a sword, and here we are," I said with a smile.

"Yeah," she blushed and smiled back. "Here we are..."

She turned to look at the wall clock, then back at the oven.

"Looks like the smelting is almost done, I gotta go take care of that. I know I came here, but I'll need about the next half hour uninterrupted so I don't mess anything up."

"Sure thing, Liz. I know the drill."

So she went back across the room and, when the time expired, removed the chunk of metal, set it on an anvil, beat off the remaining ore, then set the ingot in a clay container with glass shards and carbon samples. From there, Liz turned up the temperature of the furnace and placed the container with the ingot, glass, and carbon into the fires.

Twenty minutes went by, and I'd finished memorizing each recipe, order, and photo caption on her bulletin board, then counted each brick on the wall. Twice. And ther was still time to go in the steel making.

"Hey, this is taking longer than usual. Do you think you can open and take care of the shop for me?"

"Is it time to open already?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's five 'til eleven," she responded, goggle-covered eyes and glove-covered hands working on the oven across the room.

"I can do that!" I called, "But don't you have a clerk NPC?"

"Usually, but not today! I went down to four days per week with him to cut down on wage costs!" she called back.

"To an NPC?"

"Realism of the store! Stupid devs thought of everything! And you know how he is!"

"Gotcha!"

Gotta love capitalism. And sadistic game developers messing with players. Time to make a good name for Lisbeth.