Level Five: Memories

Level Forty Five: Grandure City

Kirito was sitting in the bath tub in the fancy inn that he was staying at with Black Fox. He was going through his inventory and checking for anything he could sell, wanting to get an item for Black Fox that she'd seen in the shop on this level that she'd wanted from the Beta, but she'd been spending her money on her Skill Enhancements and Potions for the dungeons, mostly the ones that helped her with her Chi-User drawbacks. But she'd also been buying all their food, and she wouldn't let Kirito pay for anything except desserts. He sighed, closing his inventory and leaning back in the tub a little, staring up at the ceiling. 'What am I doing…? She's four years older than me… I don't even know what she really looks like… But she's making my heart race whenever I think about her…' he shook his head, trying to dismiss the thought.

Meanwhile, Black Fox was sitting in the bedroom, going over a few things and checking in on some of the people that she and Kirito had come in contact with over the months. She counted the days and realized that it had been exactly one year since Kirito had started travelling with her in Ryuuko. 'A whole year already…' she thought, sighing. She looked over at the bathroom door, staring in a daydream for a few moments before she felt her face coloring and she forced herself to turn away. Kirito was too young for her, she had no place feeling this way for him. After about 10 more minutes, she heard the bathroom door open and turned to see Kirito in his long-sleeved shirt and his long pants, a towel draped over his head.

"Do you want to use the bath now?" he asked, looking over at her from where he stood, pulling the towel from over his head to around his neck. She smiled a little and got off the bed.

"Guess I should…" she said, having been wearing her simpler outfit rather than her corset dress. She wandered into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, leaning against it and closing her eyes. She took a deep breath, mentally slapping herself for being such a pervert. She glanced at the tub, cheeks coloring again. Kirito had been in here just now… in that tub… she kept scolding herself for thinking about it as she undressed and filled the tub back up, trying to remain calm. Kirito was a friend… and it had to stay that way. She closed her eyes once she got into the tub, remembering the first week of the Open Server…

It was day one as Black Fox and White Fox wandered through the first town together, both in their beginner uniforms and wearing their signature fox masks. "So~ Are you going to go looking for one of the beta boys and hook up~?" White Fox asked, grinning. Black Fox turned to her, shaking her head. "Aww why not?"

"White Fox, there's no time for me to get involved with a man… you know that school and my family take up all my time… if I hook up with anyone, I'll never go back to reality…" she mumbled.

"Oh there you go again, being depressed… your self-confidence is non-existent… I swear if a man managed to see you in real life and he didn't think you were at least cute, I'd rip their face off." She scolded her partner. Black Fox sighed.

"Again with the violence… Well, whatever… I'm going to go look for food for the next few levels… maybe go do that veggie spread from the mission from the market girl…" she said. "What about you?"

"I'm going to go training~ I'll see you later~" White Fox ran off without another word, Black Fox being left in the dust. She just shook her head a little at her friend before she wandered to find the market girl and go do that mission for her. After all, that veggie spread was Kirito's favorite- wait… why was she thinking about Kirito? She shook off the thought and just went back to looking for the girl.

A few hours later, Black Fox was done with the mission and was wandering the town, having bought some food and been waiting for White Fox for over an hour. The sun was going down soon. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Hibiya and a small group of others, all looking like they belonged in different classifications. "Hibiya?"

"Hey, Black Fox~!" he grinned, tousling her hair. "You actually look cute as a newbie~!"

"H-hey!" she complained. "Don't talk to me like I'm a kid!"

"Awww, she's so cute, Hibiya~!" the girl grinned. "She your GIIIRLFRIEND~?"

"Wh-what? N-no way, she was a beta like I was!" he stated, blushing. "D-don't go there, Suzuka." He mumbled, looking embarrassed. Black Fox sighed again, knowing exactly why he was so panicked. "A-anyway, where's that partner of yours?"

"I dunno… she was supposed to meet me back here an hour ago." She said, glancing around. "I haven't seen her since this morning when the server opened… she went off to train."

"I see…" he nodded. "That's not good. Should we help you look for her?"

"No, she can handle herself…" Black Fox said, looking at the group. "So, introductions?"

"Oh, right… These are my friends who want to make a guild with me… I wanted to ask if you and White Fox wanted in." he said softly. "Saito here's our archer." He pointed to the first, shorter boy. "Then we have a sage, Kagami… and then our Swordsman, Tatsuro…" he motioned to the two boys around the same height and with similar faces… enough to be related. "And then Ogawa is our Martial Artist." Hibiya motioned to the tallest boy who gave a grin and a wave to Black Fox. "And then Suzuka-"

"Is your apprentice." Black Fox said, noticing the gun and holster on Suzuka's side. "Same model and everything, huh?" she chuckled.

"Yeah~!" Suzuka said with a huge smile. "Hibiya said the gunman was super good in the beta, so I figured it would be a good path to follow~!"

"Nice to hear." Black Fox said with a small smile. "… oh I see… You want White Fox and I to finish the line up, right?" she asked Hibiya, who flinched a little but grinned and nodded. "Unless… your OTHER motive is what's driving you to ask us?"

"Wh-what other motive? I just… don't want you to be alone is all…" he asked, trying to be oblivious, earning egging-on from his soon to be guild-mates. "A-anyway, let's go wait at the pub." He said, escorting Black Fox there, his friend making fun of him the whole way.

The group spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for White Fox, but even another hour later she wasn't looking like she'd show up. Everyone decided to head out when she finally showed up, the bar empty and void of everyone except them and a solitary bar tender. "White Fox, there you are." Black Fox got up and went over to her friend, but Hibiya beat her to it. He seemed really happy to see her, offering his hand and motioning for her to join them. And then in an instant, everything changed. A whisper from White Fox… a sickening slicing sound… Hibiya dropping to the floor in a huge pool of his own blood…

"Another one lost to your bad luck." White Fox said, staring right at Black Fox, holding the weapon that had stabbed Hibiya. His HP bar dropped to nothing almost instantly, and instead of coming back after a few seconds, he disappeared into nothing.

"H-hibiya!" Black Fox stood and watched as Suzuka and the others ran over to their friend as White Fox vanished in a swirl of autumn-colored maple leaves. She heard a notification alert and opened her personal panel… White Fox had just disbanded their partnership. She looked over at the others before falling to her knees. It hit her in that instant… Hibiya… was dead. And he wasn't coming back.

For the next few days, Black Fox spent her time looking for some other betas to warn them… looking for clues as to what was happening… despite still being able to log out every day, she was still scared about what happened… but she had to keep coming back. She had to stop White Fox somehow… And then she saw him… Kirito was walking by in the main square. She blushed and hid in the alley, trying to be calm. She glanced at her beginners uniform… it was in tatters because she'd been training like crazy whenever she wasn't looking for leads. If she approached Kirito… would he be killed too? White Fox always joked about her crush on him… he was young, she knew that much… how young, she wasn't entirely sure. She had to remain calm… collected… Kirito was probably her only hope of taking White Fox down… she would wait till the end of the week… she had to be stronger before she could ask him for help…

Black Fox opened her eyes when she heard someone knock on the door. "Black Fox?" she sighed a little. It was Kirito. "Are you okay? You've been in there for over an hour."

"Has it been that long?" she asked, getting up and out of the tub, quickly drying off and dressing herself, opening the door. "Sorry… I was thinking." She said with a smile. He shook his head.

"Don't worry about it…" he mumbled, looking a little embarrassed as he stared at her. He'd been doing that a lot recently… and whenever some other man looked at her he'd get this jealous little-kid look on his face and it made her smile. Despite telling herself that she couldn't have him… she just kept feeling more and more attached to Kirito. "Um… you gonna go to bed?" he asked her, cheeks pink. She nodded, the towel draped over her head. They both walked to the bed and sat down, Black Fox still drying her long hair as Kirito made himself comfortable. When she was done drying her hair, she tossed the towel into the corner and laid down in the bed with Kirito. He stared at her for a minute when she got under the blanket, blushing a bit.

"Your face is red…" she chuckled. "Do you want a hug?" she asked, a teasing grin on her face. But Kirito, much to her surprise, nodded and averted his gaze a little, fidgeting under the covers. She nodded, going closer to him and wrapping her arms around him, making him blush more. "Kirito… Is this… strange to you? I mean… it's not like we know much about each other in real life… and if we ever get out of here…"

"We will get out of here." He stated, letting her hold him close. "And… when we do… we can figure things out, okay?" he got a little closer, leaning his head against her shoulder. Black Fox nodded, petting his head carefully. He was willing to wait… but for now, this was okay… she smiled a little as she leaned her head down and pressed her lips against the top of his head.

"Right… when we get out of here…" she said softly. "… can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" he asked her, looking up as he felt her pull away a little to look at him.

"How am I going to find you when we get out of here?" she asked, looking a little sad. He smiled a little, taking her hand again like he had before… as though she were a princess and he were a knight.

"I'll find you… it's not as weird for a 15 year old to come looking for a college student, right?" he smiled, making her blush a little. He kissed the back of her hand. "May I have your name, princess?" he asked, nuzzling against her shoulder a little.

"… It's Akemi… Akemi Ryugazaki…" she said softly, smiling at him. "And may I ask your name, my dear Knight?" she asked, petting his head again.

"Kazuto Kirigaya…" he replied, enjoying the feeling of her running her fingers through his hair. He wondered why her name sounded familiar and he looked up at her, seeing her eyes closed. She must have been exhausted, so he just let her sleep, laying there next to her.

Level Forty Five: Grandure Park

Black Fox was sitting around, waiting for Kirito. He's said that he wanted to go on a hunt, so she was resting on a bench in the park, staring up at the white and gold shower trees. She noticed him heading her way and she stood up to greet him, a cheerful smile on her face. "Welcome back… ready to go?" she asked. But he shook his head, walking up to her and looking her in the eyes. He smiled, dropping to one knee after taking her hand, reaching into his pocket and opening a box as the wind picked up, the flower petals falling from the shower trees.

"Akemi… will you marry me?" he asked, making her cheeks burn red. He'd used her real name… he was down on one knee… she looked at what was in the box and saw a small ring… the Chi-User diamond from the shop on this level. She dropped to her knees, hugging him around the waist.

"I will…" she said cheerfully. She was happy, despite her paranoia of White Fox that still lingered… the here and now was overwhelming. And it was also she cared about, at least for right now… Kirito was here… with her… that made her happy. But she knew that the happiness couldn't last unless White Fox was stopped… "… Kirito?"

"Yeah?"

"… I know this is weird to ask but… should we head to the front lines?" she asked. He looked at her as she pulled away a little, knowing she was worried. He nodded, kissing her cheek.

"We can get married on level 50, right? There's a chapel there and everything." He smiled. "Do you know where the front liners are right now?"

"Yeah, they're on level Fifty themselves… and they're stuck because they need a Chi-User to unlock the doors to the upper levels… I figure White Fox isn't into helping them, so if we go, I can probably help them out…" she said, looking happy that he kissed her cheek, putting her hand on the spot with a smile on her lips.

"Then let's go…" he said, taking her hand and helping her stand, leading her towards their lodging. "But first… maybe we can talk a little more? I have a feeling that once we join the front lines we won't have any time for chat…"

"… probably." She said with a small smile as she followed him back, blushing a little. They spent the rest of that day talking to one another about what they did in the real world… what they were like… they had to get to know each other, after all… if they were going to find each other once they got out of this death game.

((Was it any good? ; u ; They're gonna get married~! Ahaha- *falls over*

A-anywayssss... Things to expect in the next few chapters:

Dramatic Fights o u o

Lovey Dovey relations between Kirito and Black Fox

Jealous little Kirito = u =

Black Fox's reaction to women hitting on Kirito

And stuff like that... ; u ; Thanks for Reading~))