Level Nine: Preparation

Level Seventy Two: Char City

Kirito opened his eyes as the sun streamed in to the room, feeling strangely warm. He looked up and realized that he was lying against Black Fox's chest, blushing a bit as she rolled closer to him, her chest coming dangerously close to his face. He nuzzled against her shoulder a little, knowing that she was sleeping. He just watched her, wondering if she was going to be better than she had been last night. But that wasn't all that bothered him. He looked over his shoulder and out towards the Charred Forest. It was completely blackened, the clouds that hung over it seeming like smoke that had been trapped under a dome or something. He felt Black Fox shifting, turning to see her waking up. "Hey… you're up…" he smiled at her, making her look up and lean in to hug him.

"Too early…" she mumbled, closing her eyes after she leaned against his shoulder. "Why are you up so early?" she asked, trying to hide from the sunlight.

"I'm up because we need to go and check on the others…" he said, holding her to shield her a little more from the sun. "Do you think you can wake up now?" She mumbled and sat up, staring at him for a minute before she rubbed her eyes.

"Right…" she sighed, getting up from the bed, changing out her sleep clothes for her corset dress, cross boots, and her mask taking its place on her face. "Gotta make sure everyone's okay…" she said, turning to him. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah…" he got up and changed out of his sleep clothes into his knight clothes. He walked over to her and took her hand before they headed out the door towards the hospital.

Level Seventy Two: Char City Hospital

Once at the hospital, Black Fox seemed to be fine. She went to get a death count from the others while Versais had a talk with Kirito, Mabashi still resting. "So… is she doing better?" the hammer-wielder asked as he leaned back against the wall. Kirito nodded. "Good…"

"What exactly happened, anyway?" Kirito asked. "In the Charred Forest…"

"… We were ambushed… we were going to head through to the next floor, and we cleared many of the dungeon rooms… but just before the boss door… we got ambushed by White Fox and a bunch of her flunkies…" he stated. "But she didn't even fight… she stood there… watching." He grit his teeth, holding back his anger as much as she could. "She watched all those people die…"

"How many exactly?" Kirito asked.

"Twenty two people…" Black Fox said, going over to the two. She looked solemn as she walked, taking Kirito's hand. "And many are still recovering from Florien's attack… his chi-user techniques were always frightening…" she said. "Anyway… Versais… how many other soldiers did White Fox have?"

"She had only about 50… but man… they were all super strong. I'd bet most of them were at least level 80…" he said. "Either by knowing what to do as a beta or having hacked the system." Black Fox nodded at his words. "Anyway, while we're recovering, you two should go back home. You need rest."

"We aren't retreating." Black Fox said. "… I'm going to go into the forest."

"You can't!" Mabashi exclaimed, having sat up during their conversation. "You'll be killed!"

"Mabashi, lay down!" Versais said, trying to make his friend calm down. "Your injuries are some of the worst!"

"Versais, you can't let her go in alone-!"

"She won't be alone." Kirito said. "I'll go with her." The two older boys stared at him, Versais grinning and Mabashi sighing a little.

"Man… I didn't expect you to be so devoted to her… I've really got no chance." Mabashi sighed, managing to smile. "If you're going with her, you'd better make sure to take care of her." Kirito nodded, squeezing Black Fox's hand.

"Right."

"Man, even now you two are all lovey dovey… I'm jealous." Versais grinned. "Make sure you come back alive, alright?"

"You got it." Kirito shook hands with Versais.

"Hey wait for me." Asuna walked over to them. "I wanna go too."

"Asuna, wait up!" Coming from down the hall came two figures.

"S-suzuka? Cecile?" Black Fox went over to them, seeing as both were still in bandages. "What were you two thinking? You're both in no condition to be moving around."

"Black Fox, we're going whether you say we can or not!" Cecile stated, looking like she'd be crying. "I have to take out the guy who killed Mugen!"

"… Cecile…" Versais walked over, comforting the girl he saw as a younger sister figure. "Cecile, calm down… I know you loved him but-"

"But nothing, Versais! Please, Black Fox, you have to let me come with you!" the girl exclaimed, sounding desperate and angry about everything that had happened to them.

"…" Kirito stood with Asuna, watching Black Fox calm the girl. Suzuka wasn't as badly hurt, so it was no problem bringing her… but Cecile was covered in bandages.

"Sorry, Cecile…" she mumbled. "I can't. Tell me the name… I'll take care of it." She said as Versais held Cecile to calm her while she cried. "I promise."

"… h-his name was Higaki… an archer… please, Black Fox…" Cecile grabbed her sleeve. "Please… avenge Mugen for me…" she sobbed.

"I'll do my best, Cecile…" she said, letting Versais escort her back to her room. She turned around to look at the group so far. Kirito, Asuna, Suzuka… that wasn't enough. They still needed at least a fully rounded team. That meant finding an archer, a martial artist, and a sage. Since Versais seemed to be holding down the fort in Mabashi's place while the Knight healed up, she'd have to seek out another martial artist. Suzuka walked over to her.

"Hey. You want to make a rounded team, right?"

"Right."

"You can use my old team. They're all here and in fair condition… except for Tatsuro." She said. "He's in almost as bad shape as Cecile… but everyone else is ready." She stated. Black Fox nodded. "Great. I'll go get them."

"Meet us at the pub for a briefing on the objectives." Black Fox said to Suzuka before the girl ran off to get her teammates. She looked at Kirito and Asuna. "Let's go… we need to eat." She said, taking Kirito's hand as they walked out of the hospital, Asuna trailing behind the couple. Once there, Black Fox seemed to finally realize that Asuna was there and apologized for walking off so suddenly, the orange-haired girl just smiled.

Once everyone arrived, they began their meeting. "So we've got a good line up… now we just have to figure out the plan." Black Fox said, looking around the table. "Who's alright with taking out the flunkies? The swordsmen and the martial artists… and the sages too." Suzuka, Ogawa, and Kagami raised their hands.

"Leave them to us. We're a good team as it is." Black Fox nodded at them.

"Alright… so then… the Knights…" Asuna raised her hand.

"I'm more than fast enough to take them out." She stated. Black Fox looked to Saito.

"You can help her out, Saito… your aim is better than Suzuka's, despite you being an archer, your power is also extremely high." The archer nodded. "Good… That just leaves Chi-users, archers, and gunman."

"Leave the Archers to me." They all looked up to see Agil. "I can take them on with no problem."

"Agil-san…" Black Fox paused, then nodded her head. "Right, I'll leave them to you." She paused. "The gunmen… those will be a problem." She mumbled. "We'd need some heavy hitters to take them out."

"Shall we go ask around the hospital to see if anyone can fight with us?" Asuna asked. But Black Fox shook her head. "Why not?"

"Because." She smiled a little. "They've come to us." She looked up at the door, seeing two hooded figures standing there. "What kept you two?" she asked, looking up.

"Hey don't blame us." The first figure removed their cloak and face mask, revealing a tanned boy with black hair, grinning as he walked over. "You called us up from our work on the lower floors. We were training in the dungeons." He pat her back. "Great to see you're still alive, Black Fox."

"You too, Jagger." She said, smiling. She looked up at the other figure as Jagger let go. "Orion, come in." she said as the other walked inside, removing her hood to reveal her long brown hair. "It's good to see you…"

"You too." The woman said, hugging Black Fox. "What did you need us for?"

"We're going after White Fox…" she stated. "You two willing to help us out?"

"Of course!" Jagger exclaimed. "This is what we do!"

"Yes… it is." Orion nodded. Kirito stood up to stand next to Black Fox. "Oh? Is this your husband?" Orion asked.

"Yes." She said with a smile. "Kirito… I'd like you to meet Orion and Jagger. Orion's a Battle Sage… she got to level Sixty in the Beta."

"Wh-what, seriously?" everyone looked shocked.

"Yes well… I don't look like much, but my skills will be showed off on the battle field." Orion said, greeting everyone with Jagger, getting to know their teammates.

"Jagger's a Gunman, and a strong one. He's backed with Chi-user attributes that seem to top many of the other's skills." Black Fox said. "He was a solo player in the beta, but he managed to get all the way up to level fifty back then."

"Impressive." Agil said as they continued to talk amongst themselves. Kirito watched, looking up at Black Fox.

"Something wrong?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"I'm glad they showed up… I think we should head out tomorrow… I don't want to rush, but this has to end… White Fox has to be stopped." He nodded, standing there with her as the others continued to get acquainted. They had their team… now they just had to go to Charred Forest and find White Fox's army. Tonight they would prepare… and tomorrow, they would be ready to fight, should they find the enemy.

That night, Kirito sat on the bed, waiting for Black Fox to come to bed. She finally emerged from the bathroom, wearing a large, baggy collared shirt and a pair of shorts, her hair around her face clinging to her cheeks from the water. "Hey." She mumbled, opening her eyes a little when she pulled the towel off of her head. "Sorry I kept you waiting." She tossed the towel over a chair, going to sit next to him. He scooted a little closer to her, leaning his head on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it." He mumbled, leaning up to kiss her cheek. "So… um…"

"Um?" she turned to him, smiling in a way that made his heart feel like it would burst out of his chest. "Are you nervous about tonight, Kirito?" she whispered softly. His breath was caught in his throat as he felt her push him down onto the mattress. "I won't be mean, I promise…"

"D-don't take advantage of being older…" he mumbled, trying to calm down. "I-it's not fair…"

"Do you really expect me to play fair when you make a cute face like that?" she asked, smiling as she rolled over next to him and put her shirt and shorts back in her inventory. His face got even redder as she turned to him, hair still sticking to her face a little. "Come on, you too…" she tugged on his shirt a little. "Please?"

"D-d-don't… s-say stuff like this…" he mumbled, trying to make himself relax, but she just kept doing little things that made his face feel like it was on fire. He glanced at the lingerie she wore, thinking about how good she looked in the black lace and silk, stopping himself before he could think about it anymore. After a moment he removed the shirt, but he left his pants on.

"Aww, modest little baby…" She giggled, hugging him tight and pulling the blankets over him as she turned the lights off. "Sorry… If I'm overwhelming you…" she said lovingly. "You're just way too cute… I can't handle it sometimes."

"Th-that's fine… just… don't say weird stuff, okay?" he mumbled, leaning against her shoulder, trying not to look at her chest. "A-and when we're back in the real world, too…"

"Oh don't worry… I'll be a little more modest in the real world." She said with a smile. "So anyway, go get some sleep. Just this is good for tonight."

Level Seventy Two: Charred Forest Entrance

It was time for the party to head into the Charred Forest, Kirito and Black Fox staring into the dark forest and the path that Mabashi and the others took when they ran into White Fox. If they were still here, then they were in for a huge fight… Black Fox sighed, turning to all of the team members. "Alright… let's go in." she stated, taking a deep breath.

"Right." They stated, readying their weapons. They went into the dungeon, Black Fox leading the party with Kirito, being wary of the surrounding area. This was dangerous, but they had to do something. After all this was the only way out.

((Chapter Nine ; u ; Ahahaha... sorry i know it's kind of shorter than the last few... I start school in a few days and I don't feel ready at all... but here's hoping I manage to pass all my classes ; u ; I might be able to update one more time... maybe... before the first day... we'll see...))