GBK 4
Hey guys, has everyone been looking forward to this? I hope so, so let's get right into it! Enjoy watching Kirito throw down with some of the Riser's pieces.
Disclaimer: I don't own SAO or DxD, though I seriously considered asking for them with my birthday wish.
"A-A-Asuna...?" He said in shock, and she just sighed.
"Of course it is, dummy." She smiled, "Who else would it be? Now come eat breakfast. I'm not just cooking for my health you know."
"Y-Yeah," He stuttered, walking over to the table and sitting at one of the places Asuna had set, "What're you doing here?"
"Well, when I got out of the hospital a few days ago, Rias apparently made arrangements for me to be enrolled started next week, so I moved into the dorms." She said while continuing to make breakfast, "She didn't even mind when I asked if I could be your roommate. In fact, she apparently gave us this room with that in mind."
"I'd say I'm surprised, but at this point, I don't think I could." He chuckled while digging in to the delicious meal. Meanwhile, in order to keep with Rias' instructions to take it easy, he decided to devote the rest of the time before the game trying to unlock his sacred gear.
"I hope you know I'm going to want a full account of your training camp." She continued without even turning back to him, "I've only been here a few days, but I've already heard the rumors about this 'Issei Hyuudou'. If you let him talk you into doing something stupid like peeking on the girl-"
Kirito immediately started to choke on his food for a few seconds before he was finally able to breathe again, "Of course not!" He said quickly, "I wouldn't!"
"Not even on me?" She grinned, and he was at a complete loss for words until she broke down laughing.
"That was so mean." He sighed, "So how are you doing?"
"Alright I guess." she shrugged, "I'm fine standing, though walking is still a bit of a problem without crutches. I'm getting better every day though."
"I'm really glad to hear that." He said honestly.
"How about you?" She asked, dishing up the last of the food. Kirito hurriedly ran to her aid, at a complete loss of how she managed to bring the rest of the food over if she could only walk on crutches.
"Fine I guess." He shrugged, and to his surprise Asuna grabbed his hand a lot harder than one would expect from someone who literally hadn't moved for over two years.
"What's wrong?" She asked him with a worried look, "I know that this... game thing of yours, is a pretty big deal, but I've never seen you with such a serious look on your face."
Sighing, he gave her a slight smile, "That easy to read?"
"Always." She smiled back, letting go of his hand and grabbing the crutches leaning against the counter, "If you tell me, maybe I can help."
"It's a little complicated..." He started to chuckle until something hard landed on his foot.
"I do hope that you don't think that weak line is going to let you get away." Asuna warned, digging the foot of her crutch into his foot, "We've got all the time in the world today, so you're going to explain it over breakfast. Understood?"
"Yes." He said quickly as soon as she finished talking, and thankfully she released his foot and walked over to the table. Grabbing the additional two plates, he followed after her.
"I guess the situation in a nutshell is that I'm the weakest link on the team." He said as soon as he took his seat and Asuna gave him 'that' look. The 'start talking before I find my rapier' look.
"I find that hard to believe." She said encouragingly, "You're Kirito. You can't be the weakest."
"I'm not Kirito." He shook his head, "I'm just Kazuto. I'm the devil who can't use magic. All I have is my sword, and I know it won't be enough."
"Kazuto..." Asuna started, but he just shook his head again.
"Rias and the others are counting on me, Asuna. We can't win the Rating Game against Riser if I'm holding us back. And the only way I change that is if I can unlock my sacred gear, which I have no idea how I'm supposed to do." He sighed again, "And whatever it is, I've got two days to find it."
"Two days will be plenty of time." Asuna smiled, grabbing his hand once again, "Because this time, I'm here to help. And you and I have never met a boss we couldn't beat, have we?"
Kirito gave a small smile, "Nothing but the Fatal Scythe."
To his surprise, Asuna smiled, "That why we're missing one person from this party, aren't we?"
After a very filling breakfast, Kirito went with Asuna to her room (Their room, she reminded him) and retrieved an old laptop from one of her bags. He'd left the laptop with her when he went off to training camp. In the living room, they sat next to each other on the couch and opened the laptop.
Immediately, their daughter, Yui, appeared on the screen.
"Good morning mommy!" She smiled, "And Daddy's home too!"
"Morning Yui." They said at the same time, with identical smiles.
"Okay, Yui, Daddy needs some help." Asuna smiled, leaning in to whisper to the microphone, "Think you can help us out?"
"Of course!" Yui said proudly, "Leave it to me!"
"See?" Asuna smiled at him, "Between the three of us, we can figure anything out. So, let's get started. What do you need to do?"
Asia Argento hummed a tune to herself as she walked through the halls of Kazuto's apartment complex. So far, she'd been around to everyone else's homes to check in and the worst injuries had been a few bloody knuckles that Koneko got while doing a light workout. Though it wasn't just Kazuto she was here to see.
Knocking on the door, she heard someone on the other side say that it was open, so she stepped inside.
"Excuse me." She said politely as she closed the door behind her. She didn't really have to look very hard to find him, sitting perfectly still on the floor in the living room. On the couch behind him, a woman with long chestnut brown hair waved happily after setting aside a laptop.
"Hello." she smiled, "You must be Asia. Rias told me you'd be stopping by. I'm Asuna Yuuki. It's wonderful to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Asuna." Asia smiled, looking over to Kazuto who hadn't reacted in the slightest to her presence "Is he alright?"
"I think so." Asuna nodded, "But when he's training, he tends to block out everything else."
"Is he still trying to unlock his sacred gear?" Asia asked, but it wasn't Asuna who answered her.
"Of course! Daddy's training really hard to beat up that bird guy!" The computer said happily.
"Yup." Asuna smiled before looking at Asia's shocked expression, "Oh, that's right. How rude of me." Turning the computer towards Asia, she saw a girl with long black hair smiling back at her, "Asia, this is Yui. It's a little strange to say this, but she's our daughter."
"Your daughter?"
"It's a really long story..." Kirito sighed, getting back to his feet, "Still nothing. I feel like we're missing something."
"We've got time." Asuna smiled.
"Good afternoon, Kazuto." Asia bowed politely.
"Good afternoon, Asia." He replied, "Here to check up on me?"
"Yes, and Rias asked me to see if I could do anything to speed up Miss Asuna's healing as well." She nodded happily.
"Thank you, Asia." Asuna smiled at her.
"It's my pleasure." Asia blushed.
While the two girls excused themselves to the bedroom, Kirito sighed and laid down on the couch.
"Are you okay, Daddy?" Yui asked worriedly, "I'm sure we'll find a way very soon."
"I know." He nodded, closing his eyes to get some rest, "But the question is whether I'll get it in time."
Two days later, at eleven o'clock, Kirito climbed out of bed and strapped his sword to his back. Even with Asuna and Yui's help, as he thought, unlocking his Sacred Gear in two days was impossible. The only thing he could rely on was the sword on his back.
"Wish me luck." He whispered to the sleeping Asuna before walking out the front door.
The Occult Research Club met, like always, inside the old school building. Kirito was one of the last to arrive, just in front of Issei and Asia at eleven thirty. Rias looked around at all of them and smiled.
"Is everyone ready?" she asked them confidently, "Tonight's the night that we show Phoenix that Gremory doesn't shy away from fire and battle. Even if our foe is the immortal bird itself, we will be victorious!"
"YEAH!" They roared loud enough to almost deafen them all.
"Rias." A voice said from the door, along with a knock.
"Come in, Sona." Rias said, sitting back in her seat while her friend walked into the clubroom.
"Forgive the intrusion, but I wanted to wish you all the best of luck." She said with a very slight smile, and to Kirito's surprise, someone else followed her in.
"Kirito..." Asuna smiled, walking towards him without the aid of her crutches thanks to Asia's healing.
"Hey." He waved, "What's up?"
"I asked Miss Sitri if I could watch the game." She answered, "I'd expected you to wake me up before you left though."
"sorry." He apologized softly, but she just shook her head.
"Don't be." She told him, "But I had something I wanted to tell you before the game. I'm glad I made it in time." Adopting a serious face, she gripped his hand lightly, "You can do this."
"I'll do my best." He nodded, but she just gripped his hand tighter.
"No, I don't just mean the game." She told him, "I mean that you can unlock your sacred gear."
"Asuna..." He shook his head, but she responded by stomping on his foot.
"You can do it." She repeated much more forcefully, before she returned to a smile, "You're the Black Swordsmen. You can do anything you set your mind to because you don't give up until you have. And the only place you belong is on the front lines. You could never move forward just sitting around the house. That's why, I know. Kirito, you'll do it tonight."
Kirito just stared at her in stunned silence, along with the rest of them, but as the words sunk in, he felt his heart start to race. Whether it was because what she said was true or simply because he loved her, he didn't really care. Gripping her hand back, he turned to Kiba, "I'm gonna need that second sword."
Five minutes later, he held Dark Repulser in his left and Elucidator in his right. And with that second sword, he felt his strength return. He could do it. He WOULD do it.
"Thanks Asuna." He said, sheathing both blades on his back, "Wish me luck."
"Always." She replied, kissing him on the check, "Just make sure you kick his ass once for me."
"Only once?" He snarked, "You've mellowed out since we left SAO."
"Fine. Kick his ass until you're satisfied." She laughed back, but her face turned serious soon after, "Just make sure you come back to me in one piece, alright?"
"Always." He responded, hugging her tightly for a moment before Sona cleared her throat.
"Then we'll be taking our leave, Rias." Sona bowed, "We are in charge of the broadcast, after all."
"Well, I hope we can put on a good show." Rias waved back to her.
"Oh, that's a given." she answered, "But if I was a betting girl, I'd say we're about to see you beat him seven ways from Sunday."
The moment the door closed behind them, Issei swung his fist at Kirito while shedding tears. The punch was slow, and the tears clouded his vision, so he easily sidestepped it, though the act was still a surprise.
"Get over here!" Issei shouted, swinging at him again until Kiba managed to get between them, "Damn you... how could you... I thought you were just full of it when you said you had a girlfriend... I trusted you!"
"Really Issei?" Rias sighed with an amused smirk, "Now is hardly the time to complain about your love life."
"But president-!" Issei cried, "It's bad enough that he's a damned pretty boy, but for him to flaunt his girlfriend so blatantly-!"
"If it's that important to you, then let's make a deal." Rias smiled at him, "Issei Hyuudou!"
"Ma'am!" He said immediately, complete with a salute.
"If we prevail in this battle, I will allow you to accompany me on a date." She said, cupping his chin, "So, can you forgive Kazuto for his offense?"
"A date... with the president..." He gulped, "Like, a real date, date? Not just a 'me buying you lunch sometime' date, right?"
"Of course." She replied, "So, what'll it be?"
Issei turned to Kazuto and he was actually shocked at the amount of passion burning behind his eyes, "Kazuto! LET'S KILL THEM ALL! LEAVE NOTHING STANDING!"
"That's no fair!" Asia protested, "I want to go on a date with him too!"
"Asia?" Issei stuttered, staring at the healer in shock. But he became even more shocked when Akeno draped herself over his shoulders.
"You sounded pretty manly just now, Issei." She whispered softly in his ear, though the stunned silence of the room made it easily audible to all of them, "I wonder... would there be another date open for me...?"
"A-A-Akeno..." Issei whimpered, completely unsure of how to respond.
"Am I interrupting something?" Grayfia asked as she appeared in the room from a large blue magic circle.
"Not at all." Rias answered with a straight face as Akeno climbed off of Issei and assumed her role as the dignified VP, "So, it's about time to get started?"
"That's correct." Grayfia replied, "My lady, I believe that you should know that Lord Lucifer will be watching the game tonight."
"Brother's watching?" Rias said in shock, but her shock was nothing compared to Kirito, issie, and Asia's.
"Your brother is Lucifer!?" The three gasped at the same time, and Rias sighed.
"...He is. "Rias sighed, "Didn't he have work? He can't just drop everything to watch every little thing I do..."
"My lady, as this rating Game was his idea, Sirzech felt that it was only proper to observe personally." Grayfia answered, waving her hand a creating a magic circle on the floor, "However, I've ensured that all of his work has been complete prior to tonight's game."
"Thank you, Grayfia." Rias smiled, "I'm grateful that my brother has someone like you at his side."
"Think nothing of it. If you're all ready, we can proceed to the arena." she bowed, "My lady, though I will not take sides, I wish you luck."
"Thank you." Rias repeated, walking past her and into the magic circle, followed closely by the rest of her forces, "Then let's get started."
When the magic circle activated, the Occult Research club was transported from the clubhouse to-
"The clubhouse?" Issei said, looking around, "Um, not to rain on anyone's parade, but I don't think it worked. What happened? Did I fuck up again?"
"Look outside." Akeno replied, pointing to the closed window which Issei quickly opened. The sky outside was purple, "This is an alternate space built solely with this game in mind. It might look like the school, but we can go all out if we want. There's no penalty even if the arena's not left standing at the end."
"Good evening, noble devils." Grayfia's voice echoed around them, "My name is Grayfia, a servant of the house of Gremory, and for this Rating Game between Lord Riser Phoenix and Lady Rias Gremory, I have been named as arbiter. The stakes of the game are as follows. Should Lady Rias be victorious, her engagement to Lord Riser will be void. However, if she falls, she will lose all standing to object to this marriage."
"I just have to win." Rias muttered softly to herself in the back of the room.
"It was decided that the choice of arena should be left solely to Lady Rias to decide." Grayfia continued, "As such, we have constructed an exact replica of Kuoh Academy, the school in the human world which Lady Rias attends. The Gremory team will be based in the old school building, while the Phoenix team will hold the new school building. Pawns may promote if they make their way to the opposing team's base. The battle will begin in thirty minutes."
As soon as Grayfia's voice disappeared, Rias started to unfurl a map of the school and placed it over the desk in the clubroom.
"Alright, we need to sure up our defenses." She said, gathering them all around the desk, "Any thoughts?"
"We can't exactly just waltz up to their base, can we?" Kirito asked them, accepting a communication device from Akeno.
"Not if we want to win." She nodded, "We don't have the forces to launch a frontal assault against him from the outset."
"A problem Riser doesn't possess." Rias added, "Which means that we'll need to leave someone here to guard against his pawns. Being flanked by eight queens would be the end of us."
"I can hold the line." Kirito suggested, "I've done it before."
Rias shook her head. "No, I'll stay here with Asia." She replied, "I can't move freely at this stage anyway, and with Asia's healing, I can take care of anything short of their queen or Riser."
"And if either of them do come for you?" Kiba asked her, and Rias just gave a slight smile.
"Then it's up to you guys to take out Riser before they can take me out."
"What's the plan, then?" Issei asked.
"Koneko, you and Kiba should go set some traps in the forest." She said, tapping the forest by the old school building on the map, "It's out of the way, but it's also a likely approach for the enemy, so we need to make sure it's secure. Akeno, you as well."
"Yes president." Akeno bowed, following after Kiba and Koneko. It didn't take long for her to work out a simple plan, but if it worked, they might just have a chance of pulling of a win.
"Kazuto, once the time's up, I need you to act as a decoy." Rias turned to him, "I need to draw out his queen as quickly as possible."
"So, I'm charging straight at them?" Kirito asked, and she nodded grimly.
"You won't need to win. Just keep her busy while Akeno finishes with the first stage. Once we've taken care of it, Issei and Koneko will join you and together you can take her down."
"I can manage that, I guess." Kirito grinned, "But does that mean that if I see an opening, I can't take her down solo?"
Rias gave a smirk, "Absolutely. You have my blessing to crush her mercilessly."
"Understood." He saluted, "Until then, I'll go get warmed up. Wouldn't want to get beat without a fight, now would I?"
"Please do." Rias said as he left the room, and then she turned to Issei, "Now, Issei, come over here and put your head on my lap."
A loud gong sounded thirty minutes later, and Rias' voice came through the communication device.
"That's your cue, Kazuto." She told him, "Think you'll be okay on your own?"
"Probably not." He replied honestly, "But too late to think of another plan. I'll head out now."
"Issei and Koneko are on route to the gym, and Kiba's guarding the forest, so hopefully they'll have thinned out the enemy ranks." Rias said while Kirito was running straight towards the main entrance to the school, "Akeno's on standby as well. If everything goes as planned, then all of you will be able to team up against Yubelluna. After that, it's just a matter of time."
"So, I've basically gotta hold off the boss until reinforcements arrive?" Kirito sighed, "Guess that makes me Heathcliff..."
"Sorry, what was that?" Rias asked, and he shook his head.
"Nothing. Just talking to myself." He replied, stepping out from behind one of the storage sheds onto the sports field. "I'm heading in. Wish me luck."
"Be careful." She replied, and the communication cut off.
Drawing both his swords from the sheaths on his back, Kirito charged forward and shouted, "Riser! Get out here and face me!"
For a few moments, there wasn't any response, but eventually a girl stepped out of the school entrance. She was dressed in a plain silver plate body and a white headband.
"Lord Riser is far too important to deal with a lowly devil like you." She said, drawing the sword she wore at her waist, "However, as a Knight of Lord Riser, I will be your opponent."
"So, you're a knight too?" Kirito asked, "Then I guess I'll have to defeat you in order to get to him."
"Not just her." A voice said from behind him, and he spun around. More of Riser's peerage had snuck around him, and he'd been so distracted by the knight coming at him from the front he hadn't even noticed.
'One, two, three...' He counted quickly, "Well Rias, no luck drawing out their queen, but it looks like I drew out the rest of them."
"Siris, this is my fight." The knight in front of him declared, "Stay out of it."
"Give it a rest with all that knight's honor crap." The girl with the broadsword as tall as she was replied, "Lord Riser's orders were to eliminate the enemy."
"Seven against one, huh?" Kirito said, taking a deep breath, "Well, it's been a while since I was this outnumbered, but I'll give it a shot." Pointing his two swords at the knights, "Bring it. You've got your orders, I've got mine. We'll let our swords do the talking."
"Ni, Li, take him out." Siris snapped, and the twin catgirls jumped at him. Blocking with the flat side of Dark Repulser, Kirito ducked under Li's attack and kicked her legs out from under her. A follow-up slash at her, however, was avoided when Ni pulled her out of the way.
"This guy's not bad." Ni said, noticing a nick on her shirt from Kirito's blade.
"But we can't let lord Riser down." Li told her, charging at Kirito again. This time, since the attack wasn't coordinated with Ni, Kirito sidestepped the attack and drove Elucidator hilt first into her stomach. With the wind knocked out of her, he hit her with a weak attempt at Dual Circular. It was enough, though, and Li was knocked backwards in a shower of golden lights.
"One of Lord Riser's Pawns has been retired." Grayfia's voice boomed overhead, but Kirito could only hear it for a second before he was blindsided by Ni. Her savage punch knocked him across the field, where he was grabbed by the rook with a mask covering half her face.
"Don't think that we'll be thrown off by you defeating a single pawn." She warned him, "This isn't our first Rating Game, you know. You shouldn't let your guard down."
"Yeah, you're probably righ-" Kirito started until the area was rocked by a devastating explosion.
"Three of Lord Riser's pawns and one of his Rooks have been retired." Grayfia announced, and everyone reacted this time. This wasn't just a lost pawn. A full quarter of their forces were lost in an instant.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Kirito swung the Dark Repulser, forcing her to let him go in order to avoid it.
"Don't let your guard down." He mocked her, taking a quick look around to size up the remaining enemies.
"Kazuto, can you hear me?" Rias asked, and he nodded, "Issei and Koneko are on the way. Hold out for a bit longer."
"Roger that." He replied, blocking Siris' massive broadsword and jumping back to avoid a wave of flames from the bishop by the school entrance. Unlike before, it was fairly obvious that they weren't going to wait for him to get beat like they did before. Now he just had to hold off six of them until his backup arrived.
Asuna sat in one of the free chairs in the student council room, watching the live feed of the Rating Game. Sona and Tsubaki were charged with the broadcast feed for the underworld, and their feed was displaying multiple areas of action. Grayfia, meanwhile, was observing all of the battles at the same time, removing any members who she deemed to be unable to continue and sending them to be treated.
The feed that they'd set up for her, however, was locked to Kazuto. Next to her, she'd linked Yui's computer into the monitor so they could watch it together, and at least cheer him on since they couldn't help him with this fight.
"Kirito..." She said worriedly when the other six members of Riser's group started to attack him at once instead of one or two at a time.
"You don't have to worry, mommy." Yui tried to encourage her, "Daddy's too good to lose to them."
"Normally, yes, but..." she muttered, watching Kazuto narrowly avoid the attacks from the two bishops. Chancing a glance over at the other screen, she saw Issei and Koneko run to join the fray and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was now three to six, so at least they had a chanc-
A thunderous explosion filled her view, and she looked away from her screen over to Sona's. Issei and Koneko, just a few feet from Kirito, had been hit with an explosion. Koneko was able to push Issei out of the way before the impact, but she took the brunt of it and was left lying in the center of a crater.
On a separate screen, Kiba had eliminated all three of his opponents effortlessly, but he looked up at the sound of the explosion.
Across the room, Grayfia conjured a magic circle and Koneko became surrounded by golden light. The three that Kiba defeated quickly got the same treatment.
"Lady Rias' Rook, retired. Three of Lord Riser's Pawns, retired." Grayfia announced as the Phoenix queen came into view.
Next chapter has the ending of the Rating Game, though I won't say anything more then that. Oh, and the game takes up literally the entire chapter, so expect a lot of fights. I'm going to upload it either as soon as I finish chapter 6 or next friday, whichever comes first.
And keep telling me whether you think I should write the unimportant SAO arcs or just leave them as happening offscreen. At the moment, I'm leaning towards writing them, though not in depth. However, that won't be for quite a while yet, so there's plenty of time for me to change my mind.