Level Eight: Retreat

Level Fifty Four: Bayou Dungeon

Kirito and Black Fox had worked their way through the Bayou Dungeon, the front lines having gone ahead the day before. They were working their way to see if they could catch up, playing a hunting game to make it more interesting. Whichever one won would be able to ask one favor of the other without any complaints. Kirito knew what he wanted from Akemi… he wanted her to promise that they would go out in the real world. But he glanced over at her, wondering what she wanted. He knew she liked to mess with him in the game, but he didn't know exactly what she wanted in the real world… or moreover if she wanted to use her favor while they were still in the game or there… He just sighed and trudged on with her. But the thought kept bothering him… even after they made it to the Fifty fifth floor, it bothered him. Despite having won the hunting game…

Level Twenty Five: Fern Town

About a month after Level Fifty Five had been reached, Kirito and Akemi had decided they needed a break from the front lines. They decided that because it was Christmas time, they would spend their late "honeymoon" in this level. A cute little town that was the most festive in this time of year, and a good place to relax for a couple of days from the hectic front lines and all the emotions getting slung around, mainly bits of jealousy and other such negative emotions… and a tense atmosphere that hadn't faded since Kirito's run in with White Fox on level 52. But right now they were working on their relationship. They were walking through town and holding hands, a lot of the vendors complimenting them on being a cute couple and whatnot. It was nice not to have to worry about age here… but it would probably be different in the real world.

"Shall we head back?" Kirito asked, noticing that it was getting late. Black Fox nodded, smiling as they headed towards their lodging for the night. When they got back, they saw gifts on the table from the lodging staff, who had insisted that the couple take this suite, which was a very cozy space that was perfect for a budding love… or so they said. Kirito went through the gifts to make sure nothing was a trap, Black Fox standing behind him to keep an eye on him. Every so often she'd run her fingers across the back of his shoulder or around to his arm, as though she was trying to keep in contact with him at all costs. "Are you alright…? Should we go and lay down?" he asked her, glancing up at her. She managed a small smile, nodding at him.

"You're getting good at reading my emotions…" she said as she helped him to the bed so they could lay down together. After a few more silent minutes, Akemi managed to get Kirito into her arms and was holding him in a way that made him feel like this death game was just a bad dream. But he knew that wasn't true. She kissed his forehead, holding him in a way that made it hard for him to look up at her face. "I'm sorry… for these past few weeks… I've been really distracted."

"Don't apologize… it's not your fault." He said, letting her hold him there. He put a hand on her hip and leaned his head against her collar bone. "… so… don't worry. I don't want you to be all upset… we're supposed to be on our honeymoon." He mumbled, kissing her collar bone a little, hoping she'd feel better if he did something that made her embarrassed. She sighed gently as she felt him doing little things that made her cheeks red, smiling a little and letting her bear-hug grip go.

"Right… sorry." She said, petting his head. "I appreciate you trying so hard for my sake…" she put one hand on his lower back, the other on the back of his neck. "Let me repay you tonight… ne?" she smiled in a way that made Kirito's heart beat faster than he thought he could handle, but he didn't panic. He leaned into her a little and felt hike his heart would burst when he heard her whispering into his ear. Strings of "I love you" and other sweet nothings that he was glad to hear, he felt her hands moving along his back in an almost loving, comforting manner… however she never strayed below the waist of his pants.

"A-akemi…" he mumbled, not understanding why he was so weak in her arms. Why just this was making him feel like he'd melt away, his face so red that he looked like he'd been in a steamer. "I-it feels… strange…"

"Strange…?" she asked, stopping what she was doing. She felt him trembling a little, a look of great concern on her face. "Kirito?" she sat up and reached to turn the light on, only to have him grab her wrist to stop her.

"A-akemi…" he mumbled, laying on his back, short of breath and holding weakly onto her wrist. She put her hand to his forehead, withdrawing a few moments later.

"You're running a fever…" she mumbled, sighing. "We were out in the snow for too long… I'll go run you a bath."

"Don't go…" he mumbled, clinging to her. But she just picked him up and carried him into the bathroom, placing him down on the floor next to the tub as she began running his bath. He just looked at her and watched as she rushed around him, doing things. Once the tub was full, she went back over to him, cheeks pink.

"Can you get into the bath yourself, Kirito?" she asked. He paused, then tried to get out of his clothes, ending up getting tangled in his own shirt. She sighed, shaking her head and helping him out of his shirt, worrying over him more than she thought she should. It was so much like when she helped her brother… but she was so embarrassed just to see him shirtless. He looked over at her and chuckled.

"I'll be fine…" he said, kissing her cheek. "If you're that worried, you can just turn around till I get in and sit against the wall till I'm ready to get out." He stated, enjoying her embarrassment despite being exhausted from this fever. She turned around and blushed more, Kirito taking that as his cue to get into the tub. Once he was, he leaned against the side of the tub, tapping her shoulder. "Are you really okay?" he questioned.

"F-fine." She stated, turning back around slowly. "I'm fine…" she looked at him, blushing more as she noticed his smile. "D-don't make that face at me… Y-you need to let your body rest… and you also need to keep warm… I'll go get more blankets from the closet, so-"

"So?" he asked, grabbing his in-game wife's arm, tugging her closer. "Would you be mad… if I said you should be the only one to keep me warm?" he asked, making Black Fox's face go bright red. "I mean it…"

"Stop that, you're not thinking straight as things are…" she sighed, cheeks even redder than before. "You need REST. No more romantic things until your body is healed. The front lines won't mind us being away for another day or so…" she mumbled, staring at him. He pouted at her, pulling her even closer. "Kirito-"

"Don't call me that… call me by my real name…" he whispered, kissing her gently. "Please?" he pleaded. Black Fox mumbled again, this time a curse about being unable to handle his cute face. "Akemi…"

"Kazuto… you need to rest… please…" she stated. "It bothers me to see you looking like this…" she rubbed the back of his head. "I want you to get better… I really do… so please let me care for you…" she mumbled, leaning her forehead against his. "Please…" she whispered, Kirito feeling something warm land on his hand. He looked up and saw tears streaming down her face, sobbing silently.

"Akemi…? Wh-what's wrong…?"

"Kazuto… please…" she mumbled through her tears. He didn't understand why she was crying, but it if upset her this much, he wasn't going to mess around…

After things calmed down, they were laying down again on the bed. "… So… what was it that set you off?" he asked her softly. She sighed, looking at him, her eyes still a little red.

"My brother… almost died once… because he wouldn't let me take care of his fever… he said he was fine… he was trying to be strong, since our mother had just died… our father was drowning himself in his work…" she mumbled. "Sorry about breaking down like that…" she ran her thumb over his cheek. "I… was scared I might lose you…"

"… sorry… I didn't mean to mess around…" he said, worried that he'd upset her. "I wanted to see how far I could go… guess I pushed too far." He scooted a little closer, nuzzling her neck. "I'm sorry… Akemi…"

"… no, I'm sorry." She said. She kissed his cheek, comforting him in a less romantic way than before. "I… um…"

"I wanna use that favor now." He said suddenly, shocking her a little. "I want you to-"

"If you're gonna say something that has to do with me forgetting about this and getting back into the mood of a honeymoon, don't." she stated. "I don't need you wasting the favor on this…" she said to him, smiling at him. "I promise, I'm fine… so… let's get some sleep…" she said softly. He looked up at her before burying his face against her shoulder, feeling her tucking him in with the comforter as the snow began to fall.

Level Sixty Eight: Scrawl Tower

Kirito and Black Fox were sitting atop Scrawl Tower, staring out at the sky. The Front Lines had finally cleared level 71, and it had been 1 year and four months since Ryuuko had become a death game. "Our levels are getting up there, huh?" Black Fox asked, looking at him, her mask in her inventory instead of on her face. "… I hope we can get out soon…"

"We will." He said, taking her hand. "I promise."

"… I hope so…" she sighed. "Well, shall we head out?"

"Yeah. It's about time we got back to the front lines again." He said, getting up and taking her hand. "Let's go." He said, kissing her cheek as they transported to the level that the front liners had made it to.

Level Seventy Two: Char City

The pair arrived on the floor, glancing around. It was eerily quiet… where were the assault teams? The front liners? They were nowhere to be seen. They wandered a little before they found someone. "Excuse us… um… do you happen to know if a group of people passed through here recently?"

"You're with the front lines… poor dears… they ran off into Charred Forest without a clue… as to the danger that resided… they came back with only half their numbers." The old woman said, pointing to the hospital. Black Fox thanked her quickly before rushing to the hospital, Kirito following. What had hurt them? What had happened when they were away?

Upon arriving in the hospital, they searched for the others, soon finding Versais and Mabashi sitting in a hospital room. "M-mabashi! Versais!" Black Fox rushed in. "Wh-what happened?"

"Black Fox… Kirito…" Mabashi mumbled, covered in wounds. "Glad to see you two are okay…" he managed half a smile. "… we lost a lot of people… White Fox ambushed us… but she'd been looking for you two… guess it was bad luck that we didn't have you around to help…"

"… Damn it." Black Fox mumbled, her fist balling up as she heard this. White Fox had done this… half of the front liners gone… just like that… "… who did we lose?"

"Trinidad… and Mugen…" he mumbled. "Asuna was hurt, but she managed to get out safe… same with Cecile…" he stated. "We lost a bunch of our swordsmen though… and most of our archers and sages…" he said. "But… there was a chi-user on their side… I didn't know them in the beta, but I think you might know them… his name was Florien."

"… that no good… damn it all." She grit her teeth. "Of all the people… why him?"

"You do know him… who is he?" Mabashi asked. "He was impossibly strong, and he didn't let White Fox lift a finger…"

"A flunkie with a serious over devotion to White Fox… I hate him…" she mumbled, backing up against the wall. "He… was such a freak…" Kirito grasped her wrist, feeling her trembling. She didn't seem to calm down, despite Kirito trying for five minutes straight.

"Just relax…" Versais stated, looking up at them. "Kirito. Get her out of here… she needs to calm down… being around all this isn't helping her…" he said. "Maybe you need to distract her with some love." He grinned, grabbing Mabashi around the neck to keep him from protesting, Kirito nodding and helping Black Fox out of the hospital and to find lodging.

That night, Kirito walked out of the bathroom to see Black Fox sitting on the bed, staring at a bunch of her items in her inventory, going through them like there was no tomorrow. "…" he wandered to sit next to her, staring at her for a minute before he kissed her cheek. "Hey… you alright?"

"Fine… sorry… I've gotta go and do some serious leveling over the next week…" she stated. "And I have another quest to go on…"

"I'm going with you."

"No, you're not-"

"Don't argue. I'm going and that's that." He stated, knocking her on her back, causing her menu to close. He was leaning over her, pinning her against the bed. "Don't get all lonesome on me… okay?" She stared back for a minute before chuckling, wrapping her arms around his torso.

"… Sorry… I guess… I'm just riled up…" she mumbled, pulling him so he landed softly on top of her. "You can come with me so long as you promise that you won't panic if I get attacked… I have to finish the dungeon with a 100% score." She said, tousling his hair. "Though, that only includes the monsters with the symbols I need…" she nuzzled him, making him blush more.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, hoping she'd calm down soon.

"I'm fine now." She replied. "Just… one thing."

"What's that?" he asked her, feeling her pulling him closer.

"I want you to kiss me… and tell me this nightmare will end soon…" she mumbled, her eyes closed as she smiled, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. He wiped away the tears, leaning in to kiss her gently.

"We will get out of here alive… I promise…" he said softly, petting her head. "So… try and get some actual rest this time…" he said, knowing that she'd been skipping on sleep a lot. This must have been stressful… especially because she'd been separated from her little brother, who she cared about above everyone else before she came to Ryuuko… she'd been telling him about how close they were… "I will get you back to your brother, Akemi…" he whispered into her ear. "I swear…"

"… Kazuto…" she hugged him closer, managing a smile. "I should be promising that I'll get you home… I'm the older one." She stated. "You… have a family to get back to…" she nuzzled against him. "My brother will be okay… at least for now… he's a strong boy…" she mumbled. But she was exhausted from worrying and over thinking… "But thank you… I've never been this happy…" she said. "I… really hope that we get along well once we're home…" she managed to say before kissing his cheek, passing out not a moment later. Kirito watched her sleep for a little while, glad that she was happy with him. But he glanced at the window, staring out into the night for a minute. Would everything be that easy? After all, this was the only way… fighting their way out of the game… he turned back to Black Fox, staring at her for a second before he closed his eyes, falling asleep next to her. He could wait to worry about that… right now, so long as she was happy… that was fine.

(Another chapter ; u ; Was this one any good?

I'm planning on one more before I go back to school, since I managed to finish this one tonight.

The next chapter will contain good things and not so good things o u o;;;

So I hope you're looking forward to it.

-Winter Cheshire)