The Captive Swordsman
Chapter 2— Blinded by Love
..
Original Title: Sword Art Online(ソードアート・オンライン)
Original Concept by: Kawahara Reki
written by: wrathie
Author's Notes: Thank you, bowpurity for the beta. and welcome to the next installment of Yandere Asuna, -wait, what?
Well, it's a running joke between the two of us~
That said, I'm currently running negotiations with Knowledgeseeker66, who is the author of 'Fairy Dance Alternate', since we share some similar concepts. Negotiations are ongoing, but I'll just like to mention in passing that yep, we do share the common idea of Asuna taking Kirito's role in ALO. This is a sign of respect for one that has published before me, as well as the acknowledgment of what he/she has written so far.
Of course, in my defense, I have no idea existed prior to the publication of 'Fairy Dance Alternate' prior to this, and my story is entirely original.
Thank you to my reviewers who pointed that out to me.
..
Even if Asuna knew what she had to do, that was, to save Kirito-kun from the grasp of that madman, and slimeball, she wasn't sure where she should start.
All she knew of the situation was that Sugou probably had Kirito-kun trapped somewhere where he had power over him. Was he blackmailing him to not log-out? That was entirely possible, and even if Asuna felt uneasy that Sugou was probably blackmailing Kirito-kun by using her, somehow, she couldn't help but feel a little happy that it was her who could be the reason for him not waking up.
It was a conflicting feeling of both love, fondness, relief as well as horror, fear and disgust all rolled into one. Asuna also realized that this wasn't the time to be happy about such a horrific fate for her husband, but still.
Still.,, it was kind of romantic in a way.
'W-What am I thinking about?'
Asuna clapped her hands over her burning cheeks as she knelt besides Kirito-kun in his ward. That was not what she should be thinking about right now, she had to focus, his safety was her priority after all.
And besides, this wasn't the first time that Asuna had questioned about her 'love' for Kirito-kun, and whether it was something, well, natural.
..
Asuna hadn't fallen in love before meeting Kirito-kun, so he was her first-love. She was pretty sure that it was the same for Kirito-kun as well, despite all the attention that he received from several female friends that he had. Her best friend, Lisbeth, who was a blacksmith in SAO, and had met Kirito-kun through her introductions, had a crush on him as well.
A crush that Asuna was glad that had been suppressed, or perhaps given up by Lisbeth herself when she had seen her with Kirito-kun. It was something that was left unsaid between the two, and even if Asuna herself didn't want to admit it to Lisbeth, she wasn't sure what she would have done if she hadn't interrupted the two's conversation that one time. Lisbeth had no doubt wanted to confess to Kirito-kun, and although she had no idea at that time, she was panicking over Lisbeth then, subsequently she had been very glad that she had interrupted them then.
Of course, Kirito-kun had to be a gentleman, or being incredibly dense, had tried to comfort Lisbeth as well, not knowing what Lisbeth had wanted to say to him.
Sometimes, Asuna wasn't sure that Kirito-kun was blessed being dense or cursed for it, as she was sure that if she had not been as demanding, as well as obstinate about being with him, would he would have realized, or had started to develop the feelings she had for him?
Their relationship was something that she cherished, and that she was profoundly glad that had happened, but there were times when she wondered if it had happened some other way, if it was not for all the danger that he had gone through because of her, would it have ended up the same way?
He was willing to die for her, and her for him, but looking back at all the things that had happened, it seemed like she had caused nothing but pain for him.
One thing Asuna had to admit was that, until he had opened up to him, Kirito-kun had seemed like a very conflicted being, whose personality didn't always remained constant.
Asuna didn't blame herself for not knowing more about Kirito-kun, it had been a long time since their first meeting till they had met again after all.
..
She could remember, what had happened on their first meeting, the first Boss Fight that they had taken on together in a party.
He had swore to her that he would protect her then, and even if it had probably been said as a reflex, and Asuna really didn't believe him, he had been as good as his word.
The two of them had worked well together too, as if they were made for each other, but he had been the one to sever the contact they had with each other or with anyone else for that matter.
Kirito-kun was the Black Swordsman, a Beta and a Beater, and most importantly, a solo player, an extra oddity amongst SAO, for to many people, there were strength in numbers.
Asuna was always in the frontline, and as Kirito-kun had always participated there as well, they 'saw' each other, but had not spoken to each other.
It was like there was forever an invisible line that no one was able to cross, a boundary that Kirito-kun had marked himself to keep his solitude. He was alone and he wanted it this way.
Asuna didn't know what to make of it, but she too was kept busy and occupied with clearing the floors that she couldn't invest the time to know him better, something that she wasn't sure if she regretted even now. For Kirito-kun was not only a very conflicting person, he was also one who carried so many things on his shoulders. The weight of his promises to others, the weight of his own guilt, the weight of the ones that had been lost and the ever crushing guilt of loneliness that was eating away at him.
He was being torn apart by his own demons, demons that taunted him for what he had done, what he had failed to do and his own failures.
Kirito-kun had been a beta, and as with many of them, was occupied with gaining strength to survive, to clear the levels, but at the same time, he wanted to save all that he could as he had a very strong sense of justice. It was hypocritical of him, for he had given up on the masses by forging ahead, by not lending his strength to others to help the greater good, and yet he too was the one who gave hope to many through the strength that he had gained from abandoning others.
..
Asuna admitted that till he opened up, till he told her what had happened, she did blame Kirito-kun somewhat for his actions, for not putting in his all when he could obviously use that power to better help others to clear the floors, even if did participate in all the boss battles. It was exactly that frustration that had led Asuna back to Kirito-kun, and for the most part, his contradictory and hypocritical way of life had remained.
He was indeed the strongest Solo player in SAO, the Black Swordsmanwas both hated as well as revered, respected as well as loathed, supported as well as shunned.
The second true meeting between the two of them was after a strategy meeting for the battle to reach the boss room of the Fifty- sixth floor. She had seen spotted him slacking off, napping in the sun by himself before she had approached him, and demanded to know what he was doing.
She had valid reasons for being mad at him, but perhaps it was the contrasting way in which he had behaved that made her want to chew him out. Kirito was the one who had objected to her plan for defeating the boss by using NPC5 as meatshields after all.
The subsequent duel that had ended up in her defeat had stung, but that wasn't part of the reason she had sought him out. She wanted to know more about the conflicted Kirito-kun, how he claimed and defended the weaker players while being one of the strongest, and how he could still enjoy life in Aincrad while possibly being the one who wanted out the most.
Why Kirito-kun would shun away from guilds, from other players, from bonds, and yet strive to defend other players, to help them, and to even speak up to defend NPCs despite opposition from his fellow players?
Kirito-kun did want to help the players, right?
So why was he against the most effective method that would enable them to accomplish their goals?
If he truly wanted to help them, why was he wasting valuable time to just laze around? And yet he would always be there on the front lines, giving his all and risking his own life in the boss battles. Did he love Aincrad, but at the same time hate it? What did he truly feel about the situation?
All that, Asuna had no answers to at that point of time, and that was why she approached him then, out of simple curiosity at the twisted individual that could do so much, did more than he should have done, and yet done so little as well.
..
His own actions, behavior, as well as goals were so conflicting that Asuna couldn't place him. That she couldn't understand him, and she did wanted to know more about him.
She had, in the end, fallen in love with him too, but that was a story for another time. They had fallen in love, and he had changed his way of life to fit her inside it. No, that wasn't right, they had made each other the sole reason for living. That, was something Asuna would never forget and would forever cherish. Even if it meant that she would be pulling his strength away from the others who might have needed or wanted him, even if it might have made him weaker because of her, even if she might have been a burden, even if it meant that their paths would now be in conflict with the rest of the players.
For no longer would they be fighting for everyone, they would be fighting for themselves, and it was something that Kirito-kun had declared without hesitation to Commander Heathcliff himself when they returned to the front lines after their honeymoon together. Remember what he said: "Asuna's safety was his top priority", Asuna still get goosebumps and would even squeal like an insane fan-girl when she remembered how he phrased it to Commander Heathcliff.
They would fight, and die, for each other. Asuna wasn't sure if it was natural, but she realized that even if it wasn't, she didn't want to care. No, she couldn't care, she did not want to care even if it wasn't natural. She had fallen in love with the conflicted Kirito-kun, and even if it meant that the Kirito-kun she had fallen in love in was gone and replaced with the one who could only look at her, she was happier for it.
That was also why she probably knew deep down that it wasn't natural, that her love would probably be odd, perhaps even crazy to others, bordering on obsession, but Asuna didn't care. For if she did care, she wouldn't be prepared to do die for him. It was her first, burning, and unrelenting love that gave her the strength and determination to get this far ahead. For she was weak and she would continue to be weak, if not for Kirito-kun. For that alone, disregarding everything else, she loved him. She will always love him, that was her solemn promise to the world. Even if she might never truly understand Kirito-kun, nor why he felt the same.
They were all right, love could blind one to everything else.
..
Even as Asuna reflected upon herself, she could feel the determination building inside of her. She had to do something, anything at all and just sitting here, reminiscing about the past wasn't going to get her anywhere. Yuki Asuna was the daughter of the CEO of RECTO Progress Inc, and as such was in a position to gather information about the company if she asked her father for assistance. Since Sugou was an employee with RECTO Progress, and they had quite a base in the VRMMORPG market, it was a logical place to start.
However, due to the earlier fallout she had with her father, Asuna wasn't sure if her father would help her without any proof of wrongdoing. Anything that she would try at this point would simply be viewed as a way to get out of the arranged marriage, and to be honest, Asuna felt that if she could get them to call off the engagement due to this incident, she would be killing two birds with one stone. A complete rout, if you could call it. It had been quite promising how her father had accepted Kirito-kun at the start but had probably been persuaded against it by her mother.
It was also sad for her to admit, but she knew next to nothing about the company, or how she would be able to find a way to dig up any information by herself. Well, there were a few people she did recognize, but it would mean asking for personal favors. That would be unpleasant indeed.
Even if she had recorded the conversation earlier, it was only circumstantial, and seeing that Asuna had everything to gain, and nothing to lose from that conversation, Asuna was sure that it would be difficult to persuade her father of any wrong doings on Sugou's part.
So she had to approach this from another angle, to find a way to present her findings so that it could be proven without reasonable doubt. Asuna was born in a very privileged environment after all and had the best schooling available since a young age, even if she was nothing but a glass vase and political vessel to others. People always tried to get close to her to gain access to the influence and power that her status gave her. Even if her father stepped down as CEO, he would still wielded a great amount of influence, no doubt that lecher wanted that, probably her body as well.
Just thinking about it made Asuna want to clock him badly but that would not help her right now. Asuna also knew that it wasn't impossible, if she was able to make a substitute for Soy Sauce, and Mayonnaise within SAO by analysing, and studying how the mechanics in-game worked for generating taste, she would be able to find a way to locate Kirito-kun. Especially because it was for Kirito-kun. That much, Asuna was aware of. Regardless of the price she would have to pay.
..
Asuna gave a friendly wave to the barkeeper of Dicey Café, a bar/Café that was run by the individual Andrew Gilbert Mills. But to Asuna, he was Agil, a friend of hers and Kiritos in Sword Art Online.
Despite being quite intimidating due to his stature and serious expression, Agil was a very kind-hearted individual who had helped many of his fellow players in SAO. That, and he was also one of the few people that Kirito called on as a friend. Asuna hadn't been sure what to feel about him at the start, but had gradually warmed up to him, even if she wasn't a regular at his shop in SAO, preferring to patronize Lisbeth's shop. He was also one of the few players who were foreign but despite all the differences, they still got along. It had been become a tradition for the players of SAO to gather at the 'Dicey Café' once in a while when they were all mostly recovered, but this was their first official gathering together.
'Good afternoon, Agil-san.'
'Ah, good afternoon, Asuna-san.'
It was also a sign of respect for him, as well as the players of SAO that they referred to each other with their in-game names. Sword Art Online was not a game, it was more than that, it was something that all of them hated and at the same time accepted at the same time.
People died in that game, but at that same time people lived in it. It was two years of horror, of fear, of despair, of regret, but at the same time it was two years of growth, of experience, of friendship and of love.
It was something that couldn't be replaced, something that couldn't be denied, something that was horrible, terrifying, painful, cruel, but was definitely not meaningless.
It was not meaningless and it would be disrespectful for those who had died if they were told to forget what had happened. To those who had survived, to those who had given up all so much to it, just to return to the life they had lost, a life that was now so priceless to them when it was taken from them, it would be like a slap to the face.
For Asuna, she could rightly say that she was now living her life to the fullest, cherishing it, as well as loving it due to her time in SAO.
Those two years were notmeaningless, it was a time where lives had been changed, would forever be changed, and for the survivors, would always influence, would always remind them of what each and everyone have gave up to reach this far.
They would remember, for only they knew, for only they could relate to it, for unless one lived through it, no one could understand what they felt and what they experienced.
In the end, they couldn't deny that SAO had touched their lives, had changed it, for it had. To deny it would be to reject what so many of them had valiantly fought for in the two years and to those whose lives were lost in the struggle.
Whether it was for their bravery or for their foolishness, their weakness or just being plain unlucky, SAO was surely something that could never be replaced in their hearts, for good or for worse.
..
'Thank you for agreeing to host us on such a short notice, Agil-san. I am very thankful for your assistance.'
'Don't mention it, even if I never told him that directly, but we players should stick to each other.'
Agil echoed his own sentiment even as Asuna smiled in agreement.
That's right, even if everything has ended, their bonds with each other certainly hadn't.
'Thank you once again, Agil-san, has everyone arrived yet?'
Asuna turned to look around at the Café, and was surprised to see that the Café itself was packed full of people, this was a much bigger crowd than she had invited. Some of them who she recognized, and some of them who she didn't, but they were no doubt players.
'Someone had the bright idea of spreading the word.'
Agil gave an embarrassed cough even as Klein gave a shrug from where he was resting his head on the table.
'Oi, I thought that the more help we have, the better right? Geez...'
Klein, or Tsuboi Ryotaro was another of Kirito's friends in SAO. He was also the guild leader of an established group of cleaners who helped out in the front line as well. As Asuna was the vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, she had frequent dealings with Klein as well.
Klein was a friendly person by nature, and his guild was one of the few who actively helped out the middle-leveled players as well, despite being in the front-line. As a result, his guild was respected in SAO, and his connections were wide and diverse as well.
Asuna just didn't expect him to be a white-collar employee in real life.
'Good afternoon to you too, Klein-san. Thank you for taking time off to attend today's gathering.'
'No sweat Asuna-san, if its for Kirito, I'm sure that most of the guys who knew would come... but I sure didn't expect the girls to come as well. Oh wait, was that the other way around?'
Klein grinned teasingly as he jerked his thumbs towards a small group of girls who were gathered at one corner of the Café as well. Asuna for her part, felt a little upset at what Klein was insinuating, but shrugged it off easily. It was silly getting jealous, she knew of Kirito-kun's feelings towards her, so there's no reason for it.
..
'Ah, its Asuna! Yo! Asuna!'
Asuna gave her best friend, Lisbeth a big smile and a hug as her friend glomped her from the get-go when she spotted her.
Lisbeth or Shinozaki Rika, had been her best friend in SAO, and that sentiment had carried over after they met in real life. They had kept in contact and was one of the individuals who had helped spread the word about this meeting.
'Lis, it's good to see you again, thank you for helping out.'
Asuna gave her friend a sincere smile even as she blushed when Lisbeth nudged her teasingly with her elbow.
'Ah, I have to support the lovey-dovey newly weds don't I? Don't worry Asuna, I'll help out as much as I can. But it wouldn't hurt for your husband to treat us to a shopping trip when we're done, right?'
Lisbeth winked even as she pulled Asuna into the middle of the Café. The other players, most of them whom recognized her as the Flash as well as the vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, gave her both meaningful and respectful nods while Asuna cleared her throat to start the meeting proper.
'Everyone, thank you for gathering here today on such a short notice.'
Asuna felt everyone's gaze on her, but with the experience she had as the Vice-commander, she shrugged the feeling of butterflies in her stomach off as she looked around, getting the attention of everyone.
'I called this meeting as I believe that I have found the reason, as well as location of the ones who had not woken up from the SAO incident.'
Asuna's words made grim smiles appear on many of the player's faces. When Kirito-kun had cleared the game, it was supposed to log-out all the players that had survived. But instead, around 300 of those who had survived hadn't woken up.
Kirito-kun was one of them, and it was a mystery that all of them wanted to be solved and as quickly as possible. This nightmare wasn't over yet, like Agil-san had said, it wasn't over till everyone was saved.
'I've called for this meeting to ask for everyone's help in locating them. Just recently I stumbled upon a lead, I might be wrong, and it might not yield anything, but I would like to ask for everyone's help in order to find them. So please, could all of you lend me your strength?'
Asuna bowed to the group of players, all of them who were silent till Klein started clapping, followed by Lisbeth, and then Agil, and then everyone else.
..
'That's why we came here for, Asuna-san. You're the vice-commander after all, you shouldn't be shy in asking for help like this.'
Agil remarked even as he continued to clean glasses on his bar-top, causing Asuna to narrow her eyes slightly before she sighed.
'I'm... not the vice-commander here, Agil-san. We're looking for a needle in a haystack, there's just no way of confirming my suspicions... and it's nothing but a rumor... even so, even despite all that, would all of you be willing to help me?'
Asuna asked again, and this time she saw everyone nod their heads in agreement.
'Show us what you got, Asuna-sanl We'll get cracking on it immediately!'
Klein waved his hand sloppily in the air and as if it was a signal to everyone else, all of them waited patiently for Asuna to start the meeting proper.
..
It was also a nostalgic feeling, like she was the Vice-Commander all over again, discussing the plan for taking down a boss even as they all gathered around her, even as Agil pushed a whiteboard for her to display her findings.
'It is my suspicion that the remaining players of SAO were all trapped and confined here.'
All of the players of SAO knew about Nervegears, as well as VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Mass Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game), what one doesn't know was the extent and spread of uses for the Nervegears. Besides playing games, they could also be used for rehabilitation and other uses, but due to the SAO incident, the market for Nervegears had their strong growth and expansion plans slashed, and their market share had reduced over the past two years.
The entire VRMMORPG market had dwindled significantly since two years ago, and it hadn't came as much of a shock for Asuna to find out that RECTO Progress has purchased, and was running the servers of SAO.
Asuna suspected that the purchase of SAO, Argus, who had to file for bankruptcy due to the excessive amount of damages it had to pay out, was due to her father's personal vested interest in her safety. Whatever the case, it had also given Sugou the opportunity to mess around with SAO as well.
So, at least in theory, it made sense that Sugou would have been able to have access to all of SAO's data, and potentially had the chance to do some fiddling with it.
Asuna was a little uncertain as to how the players would react to how she had gotten that lead, but when she explained to them that she had overheard of one the leaders of the team who watched over and maintained the SAO servers talking about trapping people, and using references to Nervegears, they had agreed that it was probably too much of a coincidence.
The difficulty however, was that they had absolutely nothing to go on besides the fact that RECTO Progress had a subsidiary that were running other VRMMORPGs. Due to the SAO servers still being kept online, partly due to the fear that the 300 or so players were still stuck in SAO, and how no one was willing to take the risk to log in again to find out if that was true, no one was quite sure whether those players were stuck in SAO, or were just unconscious due to other reasons. It was better to play safe however, and thus SAO servers were still left online.
Even Asuna, who would do anything for Kirito-kun, was not going to risk logging into SAO again without strong, definite proof that he was there. And even if he was, what could she do once she was there anyway? Did they really have to defeat the level 100 boss to log-out again? Even if she was willing to do that for him, with all those unknown variables, she couldn't truly justify trying that unless she had absolute proof that she could do something to help there. She wasn't afraid, far from it, if she was sure, she'll be there in a heartbeat.
But since she wasn't, she couldn't take the chance that she was wrong and she would have risked the life that Kirito-kun gave her for nothing.
..
But back to the topic, besides maintaining SAO's server, RECTO Progress Inc was running another large VRMMORPG as well, and it could be within that particular VRMMORPG, that Kirito-kun and the rest were trapped in.
It was a long shot, and like Asuna said, it was probably something that was hard or impossible to prove, but it was still a chance, a possibility that existed.
'So you're saying that it's possible that the guys are trapped in that game like we were in SAO?'
Agil spoke thoughtfully as Asuna finished, she had done quite a bit of research on the mentioned, the only one that RECTO Progress was running by themselves, and she wasn't sure if she had found something or had drawn a blank.
'Yes, if it is true that the employees of RECTO Progress were the one responsible for the players not waking up, they could have covered their tracks when transferring the player's data from SAO to the other game. But it would also be hard for them to do so by themselves, the servers are constantly monitored within RECTO Progress itself due to the SAO incident. It would be hard for them to do so without father or someone else knowing about it. But it is entirely possible, especially if it was one of the lead programmers or the lead engineer doing this.'
Asuna nodded her head even as Agil rubbed his chin contemplatively.
'I, would like to make my position here clear. I am the daughter of the CEO of RECTO Progress... and, to be absolutely honest, I have absolutely no proof of any wrongdoing, and I could not determine what exactly do they wish to accomplish from this... however...'
Asuna announced to all of them, causing many of them to murmur and mumble amongst themselves as Asuna decided to show her hand.
'It might seem that I'm crazy, and it might be that I'm totally wrong... and it might seem that I have a grudge against RECTO Progress, or at least someone in the organisation. But all I wish to do, is to save all of our fellow players, those who were trapped with us, those who fought with us... and the one who saved us. I'm willing to put my reputation on the line, my ties with my family on the line for them. I... I understand the risks that could be involved if they found out what we are doing, or what we are insinuating, but... I cannot stand still and do nothing about this. If there's a chance, a slight chance, even if it's one in a million... I would want to take that risk, because I have someone that I wish to save. So...'
Asuna closed her eyes, and bowed to them again.
..
'Please, could I borrow all of your strength for my selfish request, I need to know more, I... I want to save them, but to do that, we must find them. They must be somewhere in there, where... they might know that if they died in- game, they would die... but the other players might not believe or know about that fact...'
Asuna trailed off even as everyone paled. If someone died in SAO, they died in real-life as well. For many VRMMORPG, heck, in any MMORPG, dying would result in people respawning with a death penalty, but for SAO, it was different. Players might not even realize the implications and killed people by accident without knowing.
'Well, I'm in for sure.'
Klein's voice was the first to reply, raising a hand as he grinned at Asuna.
'Time for me to pull Kirito's ass out of the fire for once. That kid won't know he's on fire until he gets someone else caught in it.'
Klein's comment made Lisbeth giggled but it was someone else who responded after Klein.
'I guess we adults have to be responsible for you kids too, you shouldn't be getting involved with such dangerous things without some supervision.'
Agil sighed as he smiled as well, Lisbeth was next, going up to squeeze her hand as she pledged her support as well. This was followed by the rest who nodded in approval.
Like Asuna had thought before, they were all in the same boat, something that was echoed and shown today.
'Thank you, thank you... everyone.'
Author's Notes: If you like the story, drop a review! Or just comment on whether Asuna seems like a yandere at this early stage, that would be nice too.