Well I disappeared for quite awhile. Wonder if anyone is still here.

Hey its an actual chapter! (Even thought its a rather short and crappy one, its something!) Its Sword Art Online : Rebirth of the Absolute Sword (No longer is it Atarashi no Kisetsu, rest in peace that name.) There's even a new summary!

Whelp I can't hide the fact I disappeared for 3 months and its pretty much because school started once against and high school life is a pretty mean master. Though, I'll say I have adapted to life and am ready to begin writing again!

Please enjoy Chapter 6 and leave a review if you had enjoyed it(Or you didn't or you just wanna slap me for vanishing, my body is semi-ready ;~;)

Chapter 6 : Melancholy of the Black Cat Pt.1

Labyrinth of the 8th Floor, March 15th

"Keep at it guys! We're close to killing it!"

Keita shouted, encouraging his guild members to continue standing firm as the mini-boss they were fighting "Elder Basilisk", was down to its last health bar after the other four had been depleted. The gigantic snake raised its massive frame and with a sinister hiss, it slammed its huge body onto the ground, creating a shockwave which knocked back the forward member of the guild, Tetsuo, who was sent flying and landing a significant distance away, dazed and unable to recover from a temporary stun status. But he would not be joining the Moonlight Black Cats anytime soon and that posed a huge problem as he was their only forward member. That meant that now, the rest of them were open and unguarded without their tank member.

*Hissssss*

Without the pesky player with his annoying unbreakable shield to hide behind, the Elder Basilisk went for the rest, the ones who had been causing it pain and distress for the past 15 minutes of combat. Its tail lashed out, slamming into one of its attackers, a tiny girl wielding a spear twice her height and she fell back, releasing a wimpy scream as her health bar dropped from the safe green to the blaring red of near-death.

"No! Retreat! Ducker get Sachi!"

"Roger leader!"

Keita sent Ducker because in the guild he was had the skillset commonly seen in RPGs as a "Thief" (He prefers Treasure Hunter, thief sounds less cool) and thus, had the highest agility stat and fastest movement speed amongst all the members but as he tried to run for Sachi, their fallen female member, the Elder Basilisk had already encircled its frightened prey with its long body, closing out all routes of escape.

Seeing Ducker dashing for her, she thought that maybe, just maybe she might get out of this and see another day but then, murky-green leathery skin blocked her vision. Looking up fearfully, she saw the snake bare its fangs as the black darkness of its mouth planned to swallow her whole. So after five months of trying to live, this was how she would die. But she did not want to die. Even as she felt useless and a burden, death was still too scary for her.

"Crap! Sachi!"

Ducker shouted drawing his dagger but he knew it was hopeless. There was no way for them to eliminate the boss before it finished off Sachi. No way for them but not so for the swift shadow that suddenly shot past Ducker.

She began with a One-Handed Sword Skill [Ascension], a 3-hit combo which consisted of two uppercut strikes followed by a powerful downward strike. Immediately after the three attacks had landed, her long, thin rapier-like longsword had already changed from the shining green light of [Ascension] to the dim yellow light of [Cross Spike], a 3-hit combo with two slashes following the shape of an "X" ending it with a devastating lunge in the middle. Having received an immense amount of damage delivered in just a few seconds, the [Hate] (Its a SAO mechanic for like errr ... target switching ... sort of) of the Elder Basilisk increased so much that its attention switched from the victim it had caught to the newcomer whom was a way bigger threat than the whole guild of the Moonlight Black Cats had been. It had expected to the unknown player to be stuck in [Post-Motion] after having used two high-level Sword Skills (at that time) but somehow, she was still moving and it was in the motion of another Sword Skill, [Shadow Strike] (A weaker version of the more famous Vorpal Strike), a 1-hit skill which seemingly extended the blade by half its length and increasing the weapons potency. The big slit eyes of the Elder Basilisk only saw long lustrous purple hair and a pair of fiercely determined crimson-colored eyes before the bright violet sword pierced its weakpoint, its unguarded eyes, deducting the few hitpoints it had left from the brief assault.

Later in the day

"1, 2, 3!"

"Thank you Yuuki-san!"

The five members of the guild, Moonlight Black Cats shouted, raising their glasses in gratitude to their savior seated down between them. The purple-haired girl awkwardly waved her hands, trying to avoid the looks and stares of the other patrons of the inn they were currently celebrating in.

"It's alright but isn't this abit too much?"

"Don't sweat it. After all if not for you, Sachi here would not be with us now."

Their leader, Keita said, patting the only female member in the guild on her head, Sachi.

"Treating me like a child again Keita!"

She pushes Keita's hand away, sticking her tongue out in rebellion before bowing in Yuuki's direction to show her sincerity which made Yuuki feel all the more embarrassed by the amount of thanks she was receiving.

"Well ... its all over already so lets just celebrate!"

"Yeah!"

Keita had dug deep into the Col reserves of his guild and it transitioned into the beautiful feast laid out before them. Everything that you might have expected to see at an expensive restaurant back in the real world. Steaming hot meat, glittering from the thin layer of oil that shrouded it. Fresh and clean greenery as well as a few huge jugs of sparkling fruit juice. Since they had went and bought all this despite to Yuuki's refusals, it would be a waste not to just let it slip and enjoy her one day of fame in luxury.

"Mind if I ask more questions? What's were you doing down in the first place?"

Keita asks while stuffing a fat yellow potato into his mouth. He had been asking Yuuki questions on the way back to town and till she had revealed that she was level 35 and one of the front liners, the players that fought on the highest floors and defeated the floor bosses to open the way up to eventually end Sword Art Online. Initially, the Black Cats stoned out, their frozen brains trying to process what they had just heard before tripping over themselves, throwing more questions in though Yuuki had managed to calm them till now. But now, after the barrage of questions, gratitude and celebrations, she forgot why she was even there in the first place.

At least she finally remembered when the door to the inn slammed open as another person stepped in. She was one that Yuuki recognised and she helped jogged Yuuki's memory.

"Oh I remember. I was here to collect some plants from the 8th floor. Oh ..."

As Asuna approached the table where Yuuki sat, her face became clearer to Yuuki who started to break out in cold sweat. She was looking down the lion's mouth and when the lioness finally arrived at the table and gripped Yuuki's shoulder, she felt a shiver go down her spine from the silent firm strength behind the hand.

"Yuuki~ lets go outside shall we~?"

The falsely sweet voice rang alarm bells in Yuuki that the lioness behind her that was emitting an extremely menacing aura was really pissed. Putting on a shaky smile, she nods to the members of the Moonlight Black Cats who seem to be stunned by the appearance of a recognisable front liner, the fastest rapier user, Asuna the Flash.

"S-Sure Asuna ... Well ... you guys have me on your friend list. See ya around!"

'Yeap ... definitely in trouble.' Yuuki thought as the grip tightens, forcing her to stand up and head towards the door which led to a reprimanding with Asuna guiding her from behind with a menacing aura. The members of the Moonlight Black Cats awkwardly wave their goodbyes and then proceeded to chatter excitedly amongst themselves about meeting two front liners in just one day.

Outside the Tavern

"Asuna ... I-I'm ... you know ..."

Yuuki tried to begin as she continued forward with Asuna behind like a guard watching its prisoner but then there was a light knock on the back of her head.

"Honestly what was I worried about. I came down here after you never returned and there you are relaxing ..."

"Hee hee ... sorry Asuna, forgot about you."

Yuuki scratches her head and laughs it off, seeing that Asuna was not crazy mad. She however sighs and shakes her head in exasperation.

"You remind me of him you know. So carefree and easygoing."

"Who's him?"

"Who else? Kirito-kun."

The name triggered off a landmine and Yuuki suddenly felt less interested in talking altogether, her usual big excitable smile fading to a smaller sad one. Asuna easily notices this and goes on.

"Don't think I haven't noticed. You two have been pretty quiet on the front lines as well. Did something happen?"

The regular meetings in the front lines to discuss the strategy and disseminate information involved the top players and guilds which are the front liners that Yuuki, Asuna, Kirito and several others belonged to. As Asuna had noticed, Yuuki had been avoiding Kirito and he seemed to have not minded.

'Or maybe he didn't notice because of the denseness of his brawny head'

Asuna thought silently as she glares at Yuuki unrelentingly till she finally gave an answer. Time passed on with the lioness staring into the brick wall before she started thinking back to where all this could have possibly happened and then it dawned on her.

"Christmas ... something happened on Christmas right?"

'Is Asuna some detective goddess' Yuuki thought, not managing to stop herself from licking her lips, a sign that Asuna saw and knew that she was on to something. Stepping closer to Yuuki and bring her mouth to Yuuki's ear, she slowly asks.

"Do ... you ... like Kirito-kun?"

The fresh tomato-colored ears gave Asuna all the answers she needed for now as she sighes for probably the third time in their chat, going to ruffle the shorter girl's hair.

"I thought it was something more serious like a fight. Why not just tell him?"

"Sorry Asuna, I can't do that."

It wasn't only the immediate response that surprised Asuna. It was the defeated and emotionless tone behind it.

"Why?"

This was something she had not told anyone. And it was likely she was never going to do so. She was too scared to give her real reasons.

"I'm scared Asuna. But its not what you're thinking of. I would want to tell Kirito but ... I don't want to make him sad ... and you too."

When Yuuki looked up, Asuna wondered how well she knew the person she considered one of her best friends in this world. There was a clearly forced smile which looked more depressing than placating and while Yuuki's red eyes were seemingly looking into Asuna's, she knew they were looking past her, to somewhere she couldn't see, to the reason why her friend was still a big mystery to her. Seeing such a sight, she gave in for now.

"Who knows when that may ever change? Just to let you know Yuuki, I-I might s-steal him away b-because I-I too l-l-like K-Ki... Kiri ... to-kun."

Yuuki lost her frozen, lost look and giggled, hearing how hard it was for Asuna to even admit such a thing and seeing her facial expressions as she did so. Maybe it may change she thought.

She hoped for it to change though it would need a miracle.

It would never change.

11th Floor, Taft, April 17th, 00:14

Stepping out of the teleportation gate, Yuuki shook her head again to get her bearings and to keep herself awake before opening her menu with a swipe of her left forefinger and checking the message that she had received minutes ago.

[Yuuki-san. Hello, this is Sachi from the Moonlight Black Cats. I hope you still remember me. Do you have time to come down to the 11th Floor? I want your help.]

"Yuuki-san, thanks for coming."

A black-haired girl steps out from the shadows, bowing her head to Yuuki and as she closed in, it was recognisable to be Sachi. Yuuki however, noticed the difference in that behind her back wasn't the long spear she had used a month ago but a large tower shield and a simple longsword on her belt.

"No problem Sachi. You needed help?"

Sachi nods again in reply but then bows her head lower instead of raising it, as if pleading with Yuuki.

"C-Could you please teach me how to fight forward?"

That was completely unexpected and Yuuki was unable to respond for a moment. Sachi misunderstood and took it as denial.

"Please Yuuki-san. I have no one else to ask except for you. I don't know any other forwards other than him."

Yuuki figured that the 'him' that Sachi mentioned was Keita, the mace-wielding forward in the Moonlight Black Cats and their only one. She could only wonder why Sachi chose to become a forward fighter and why she did not want to ask Keita.

"I haven't taught anyone before. You sure?"

Sachi looked a little disappointed before perking up, finally realising what Yuuki had said.

"You'll do it?"

The black haired girl was ecstatic that Yuuki had accepted. Now maybe with a guidance, she could stand on the same level as him and maybe, he would notice her more and see her as an equal rather than a pitiable coward.

"Kirito-san. Get ready."

The girl whispers to herself, unheard by anyone but her excited self.

That chapter title seems pretty dark.

All I will say is

THE DARK, GETS EVEN DARKER

Err ... I'm back, so hi peoples! I'll write more!

Ermmm ... [insert 101 excuses]

Please check out my other project, Sword Art Online : Alone in the Radiant Night

It is a darker story of Sword Art Online, going more on a dramatic and psychological theme