Level Thirty One - Normalcy

Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture - August 6th, 2025: Akemi's Apartment

Akemi was reading through some information from work, having just finished eating dinner. Makoto was doing some research for himself when he heard his sister drop what he assumed was her phone. "Nee-san?" he looked over at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Makoto." She replied, shaking her head.

"… That's a terrible lie." He replied, turning back to his computer. "… Is it Uncle Tamaki again?"

"No." she looked over at him. "It's not that at all." She smiled a little. Sure, her Uncle had been bothering her, but that wasn't what bothered her at the moment. She'd been messaging Asuna all day, having just now gotten a message from the girl that mentioned about Asuna's fast developing crush on Makoto. Now though, Asuna was saying that Makoto seemed to be showing absolutely no interest in her and that she was being brushed off. "Have you talked to any of the girls from the game recently? Like Liz or Silica? Or Asuna maybe?"

"No, why?"

"Well they were worried when they heard you got sent to the hospital." Makoto made a face at his sister. "Look, if I hadn't said anything at all, they'd have been heartbroken that you were ignoring them." She shrugged.

"… You're weird, Nee-san."

"Says the boy who's always burying his nose in a computer screen and forgetting to socialize with girls aside from his older sister." She stated, smiling a little. "You should consider talking to them more." She added.

"… Depends on what they have to say." He replied, glancing up at her before going back to his computer. He paused though, eyes widening. "Nee-san."

"Yes?"

"Open your email." He stated, tacking away at his keyboard. Akemi heard a ping from her phone as she reached to check it, opening the email her brother just sent her. She stared at the screen, reading the headline from the Willow Lake Pure BBS.

"Co-conspirator of Ryuuko Incident Beaten by a Hero." She mumbled, opening the article and reading it over. But before she was done reading, she got a message from Kazuto.

"Did you see that article?" he asked.

"You mean the one about you putting Higaki in his place? Yeah I'm reading it now."

"Its gonna make going around difficult though." He replied quickly.

"We'll be fine." She messaged back. "I promise." She knew it was going to be a pain in the ass, but at least they might be able to have more in person meetings instead of in game ones.

Willow Lake Pure: Level 25 - August 14th, 2025

Kirito walked into town with Black Fox, glancing around. "Kirito." Cecile was standing with White Fox at the monument for the fallen players of Ryuuko, holding a bouquet of pastel flowers. Black Fox let him walk over, standing back a little ways. "Thank you... for beating Higaki..." she smiled at him, seeming much more relaxed than she had been since Mugen had passed away.

"No problem." he replied, shaking his head. "Hopefully now that the Allegiance of Red Rain is disbanded, there won't be any more problems with those guys."

"... Yeah." Cecile smiled, looking slightly unconvinced. "I hope so..."

"If there are, we'll fight them together." Black Fox stated. Cecile nodded, smiling a little more.

"Definitely~" Cecile smiled cheerfully. After laying the flowers and spending a few moments infront of the monument, the small group headed out of town. They spend some time chatting, parting ways with Cecile about half way down the path.

"So~" White Fox grinned, latching on to Black Fox as they headed down the winding path towards the cabin. "Are you and your hubby going to lay low for a while~?" she asked, grinning. "Or perhaps you will take my advice and form a guild~?" she poked at Black Fox's cheek.

"No way." Black Fox replied, making White Fox pout at her. "Running a guild is way too much work." She stated, crossing her arms.

"Hehehe, you SURE you aren't forming one just so you don't have competition for Kirito~?" White Fox grinned, looking to the little black-haired swordsman. "I mean, he's so famous and all~"

"If I have to deal with competition, I'll just smoke them all out and send them packing." She stated flatly, Kirito sighing at the pair's banter. White Fox had gotten unusually aggressive with her teasing lately, ever since Akemi had come back to Willow Lake Pure. But considering that Akemi didn't really seem bothered, he didn't want to interfere. After all, the last time he tried, White Fox had turned her focus onto him, and he didn't want that to happen again.

"So scary, Black Fox~" White Fox chuckled. "Well, you two love birds go have fun at home~ I'll talk to you later~" she said cheerfully, letting go of Black Fox before rushing off down a side path, leaving the two black-clad figures to wander down the rest of the path towards their little cabin.

Willow Lake Pure: Level 45 - September 27th, 2025

Weeks went by and Willow Lake Pure was getting cleared level by level, just like when Ryuuko was active. Upon arriving at the level where Kirito proposed, the black-haired warrior was strangely apprehensive. Black Fox noticed Kirito going off on his own a lot, wondering what he was doing all on his own. Grandure City was hardly a place to train on your own, let alone wander by yourself. And the revamped version was even more maze-like than the original. She was concerned for him, but she didn't want to get into his business if he wasn't willing to talk with her. He was probably just sick of all the attention he was getting. Currently, Black Fox was wandering around the shopping area, looking for something to do. This place held many fond memories for her, even if it was different than it had been in Ryuuko. It still held many of the same shops and many of the same NPCs. She paused at a window where someone was putting up a new display. "Someone must have bought something." She muttered to herself, carrying on with her walk through the streets. She was stopped a couple of times but it was bearable. She smiled a little to herself, remembering that when they arrived on this level, Kirito's ever growing fan base was waiting. He didn't really want all that attention from all those people, it made him anti-social.

"Black Fox!" the woman turned to see two people rushing over, eyes widening when she realized who they were.

"Falcon?" she seemed shocked. "Whoa, you're actually playing!"

"Of course he is." Kage smiled. "I told him you played this game and that there was a gunner class and he immediately went to make his character. He's been leveling in Rise of the Autumn Moon up until recently." Kage stated, crossing her arms. "What are you doing here, though?" she asked.

"I'm looking for something to do. Kirito kind of ran off so…"

"Eeeh, your boyfriend left you alone?" she asked, making a face at her friend. "That's not cool."

"It's not like she minds, right?" Falcon asked, patting Black Fox's head. "After all, you've never been the type to cling."

"Hah? What, did you know someone she dated in another game?" Kage asked.

"Haha, you could say that." Falcon laughed.

"Oi oi, I told you don't bring it up." She retorted, punching Falcon's arm lightly. "Anyway, you're a Gunner, huh?" she looked at his weapon. "That looks a lot like your weapon from AGSO." She stated, the man nodding his head.

"Yep, I got one with as similar a feel as I could get." He replied. "After all, I'm so used to the gun in AGSO that I had a hard time adjusting."

"That's a lie." Kage stated. "No way you had trouble adjusting to a gun." She shook her head, Falcon laughing and admitting that she'd bested him, not wanting to prolong any conflicts. "Anyway." Kage turned to Black Fox. "Falcon here's trying to clear as many levels as he can before he has to get back to AGSO."

"Get back…?" Black Fox tilted her head.

"He's aiming to win the next Ballad of Bullets." Kage told her friend. "Not like I'll let him, though." She grinned. "You gonna join in this time?"

"Mm, maybe not." She shrugged. "I don't know if I can handle juggling two games at once."

"Well if you change your mind."

"You should definitely come back and play." Falcon stated.

"I'll see." Black Fox smiled, waving them off as she continued on her walk. She was glad that despite all the stuff going on, no one treated her any different. But then her mind fell back on what she was going to do with herself from now on. "Aah, how depressing. I have to do research later." She smiled a little as she kept walking.

When Black Fox arrived back at the cabin, Kirito was waiting there already. "Hey." She waved at him.

"Welcome back." He smiled, closing out his inventory panel. "Have fun?"

"I should be asking you that." She chuckled. "I figured you wouldn't have stuck around, but I couldn't find you anywhere."

"… Yeah, sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I was um… doing some stuff… scouting new shops and whatnot." He leaned back on his seat. "What kept you?" he asked as she sat down next to him.

"I ran into Kage and Falcon. They asked me to come join them back in GGO, but I told them another time." She replied, smiling. "Cause I don't wanna go back if I can't scare some people into leaving you alone~" she wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him to her, smiling cheerfully. But Kirito looked up at her, smiling a little.

"You're feeling better, huh?"

"A bit." She chuckled. "I've gotta do a lot of research and work soon though, so I might not be on for a while."

"Well, don't let me get too far ahead of you in level."

"Haha, very funny." She nuzzled him, the teen's cheeks coloring. "Once I'm done researching I'm gonna level grind so hard you'll be the one having trouble keeping up."

"We'll see about that." Kirito stated. "First person to level 70 gets a favor from the other person?"

"Ooh, a challenge. I like it." She tousled his hair. "You're on, Kazuto~"

Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture: Akemi's Apartment - November 13th, 2025

As the days continued to fly by, Akemi had been researching in her spare time about how she would go about getting into the field of medical research for virtual reality games, occasionally getting some help from her brother or Ayaori, but it wasn't enough. This morning was her day off, but she wasn't about to sleep in. As she rummaged through countless sites full of speculation and criticism for the subject, she got an email from her uncle. "Akemi, I heard from Aya that you're going into medicinal research for gaming. Here are some of your mother's old files. Hope there's something useful in them." She mumbled as she read the email, clicking the links to open them. She read over the pages, noting that there were notes and essays, research and dissertations, all sorts of information was coming to light for the glasses girl. "… Mama was so thorough…" she pulled up an argumentative paper that looked like it was meant to tell off the critics in the most polite way possible. Akemi smiled a little, taking a breath and leaning back in her seat. "Haha, I don't have nearly so much tact…" she told herself.

"Nee-san?" Makoto walked into the main room and yawned, going to look over his sister's shoulder. "More research…?"

"Yeah, Uncle Yuu sent me Mama's old notes and stuff." She smiled at her brother. "I'm getting a lot of good information here, so I might just be able to get some serious points down so I can find my way into the research and development field."

"Mm…" Makoto looked at the pages, patting his sister's head. "You're crazy."

"You can say that all you want, kiddo." She chuckled. "But I take that as a compliment."

"Mm… are you leveling up at a good pace? Kazuto told me he's only a few levels off from 70."

"I'm at 63, but I'm taking tomorrow off from researching." She stated. "So I'll level grind as much as I can in that time period." She looked at him and smiled. "And how are you, my little game junkie?" she asked, ruffling her brother's hair, making him pout at her. "Ah, you're wearing your glasses!" she stated, noting his black frames perched on his nose. "Haha, you look even more like Aya." She grinned.

"… Does it bother you?"

"Nope. Not a bit." She smiled. "You hungry? I can make something to eat." She told him, making him nod his head slowly. "Sweet eggs and hotdogs sound good?

"… Yeah." Makoto watched as his sister walked to the kitchen, soon going to help her out.

Later that night, as Akemi was finishing up reading over her mother's notes and whatnot when she got a message. She looked to her phone, seeing that Hiwa called. She dialed the girl back, hearing the line click. "Hiwa. You called?"

"Akemi~" she giggled. "You're still awake?"

"Yeah… why?"

"I wanted to tell you something~" she said cheerfully. "Guess~"

"No."

"Aww, fine." Hiwa said. "I heard from Takuto that there's gonna be some sort of special tournament event in Rise of the Autumn Moon early next year, but the sign ups start on the 30th of November and I wanna check the details on the boards since they're gonna be put up tomorrow afternoon. We should go check it out tomorrow."

"You do realize I'm trying to study…"

"You need a break you crazy girl." Hiwa giggled. "Come on, please~? For me~?"

"… Buy me a fruit tart, then we can talk, Hiwa." Akemi stated. "And throw in a strawberry milk tea if you want cooperation, no questions asked."

"Haha, okay okay~" Hiwa grinned. "So tomorrow around 7 then?"

"Sounds good. I'll call you if things change, though."

"Got it~ Thanks Akemi~" Hiwa hung up, leaving Akemi to stare at the ceiling for a moment before putting her phone down.

"… Man, that girl seems to have all the time in the world." She sighed a little. "A tournament, huh…? Wonder if I should even bother entering…" she pulled off her glasses and put her computer down on her desk, and then lay back on her bed. She spent an hour wondering, pondering about all this. Sure, she still loved gaming, but competitions were less and less interesting to her. All she wanted to do was play the game. She closed her eyes, still thinking about it until she passed out.

Rise of the Autumn Moon, Grand Arc of the Sea Dragon - November 14th, 2025, 7pm

Akemi was waiting with Hiwa for Kage, since the girl had logged on specifically to check out the tournament information. When the girl arrived, they went to check the board, seeing a notification when they walked close enough, pressing the blue button and reading over the information. Hiwa and Kage both started talking about entering, but Akemi closed out her window. "You two can have fun with this one. I think I'll pass."

"Aww but Akemi!" Hiwa pouted, but Kage stopped her friend.

"You're really going all in on this studying thing, huh?"

"I've got to." She stated. "If I'm not serious about it, I'll never get in to the program, right?" she smiled.

"Eeeh. Kirito's gonna ask why you're not participating, though…" Hiwa made a face at her friend.

"I can handle that much." She said. "I'll see you two later. I'm gonna go level grind a little more before bed."

"Alright, see you later."

"Bai bai, Ake~" the two waved her off as she headed out to the sea so she could find a monster or two to take down, checking her current level.

"63, huh?" she smiled. "… Wonder if Kirito's at level yet?" she sighed. She ruffled her hair and grumbled to herself for a while before she looked out at the expanse of water that was the vast majority of this Grand Arc. "I'm not gonna catch up at this rate…" she stretched a little, waiting for something to come at her. "Oh well..." she smiled as a large fish came up from the sea. "I guess I'll take out my pent up aggression on you, Mr. Fishie." She smiled. "I really don't like being stuck on a decision like this… It's bothersome." She said, the fish launching attacks at her one after the other, Akemi dodging left and right. "To choose work and a future, or the here and now…" she activated her little leviathan summon, the creature cutting up the fish into hundreds of pieces as she landed on her feet. "… What kind of a choice is that?" she asked, sighing again. "… Maybe… I should go home." She looked up at the sky, staring at the sunset colors changing into the night time colors. "… I suppose I haven't seen anyone in a while… I wonder if they'll mind?" she took a breath, turning back to the ocean. "Just 7 more levels to go… I can cover at least 2 tonight." She told herself, seeing the glowing eyes of the night creatures of the harbor coming to the surface.

((Just a few more chapters~ Ready for the last segment~?

-Winter Cheshire))