A/N So, I just want to preface this by saying that I am by no means a psychologist or a therapist. So if there are inaccuracies in the below section (and the fic in general) then that's why.
Sinon and Kirito's room, the same night.
Sinon and Kirito had decided earlier that it would be cheaper and easier to get an inn room with 2 beds then two separate rooms. Something that the others in their friend group generally decided and each shared a room with at least one other person; though predictably Asuna had a room to herself.
Inns in SAO definitely leaned more towards 'this is still obviously a game' side of things instead of the pseudo-realism that was rather prevalent in a lot of other features and aspects of the game. For starters, the amount of space inside of an inn can be rather…distorted with the maximum number of rooms available for booking being significantly larger then should be possible judging by the external size of the building.
Secondly, if a room is booked in a player's name and the door is closed the room becomes completely soundproof blocking sound from exiting the room, but sound can still enter the room if the owner desires. The only way to get around this effect even somewhat is to have a very high level in the listening skill, which would take a concerted effort over a prolonged period of time, much longer than would be possible to have at the current point in the game. And even then it only worked if pressed directly up against the door, but the sounds would still be somewhat muffled.
So, it is with this second feature in mind that the two felt it safe to discuss the things they had noticed about their potential friend Asuna without risk of anyone overhearing. After they had both gotten settled and changed out of their gear into more comfortable sets of pajamas, Sinon decided to broach the topic.
"So, you've noticed it as well, I'm guessing? Something seems up with Asuna, being as expressionless and monotone as she likes to be is not something you really see in well-adjusted people. Like, I know some people generally have a more inflectionless tone of voice naturally or don't emote much; like Harry but something about it with her seems…off. Like she is intentionally doing it, or perhaps it is subconscious but then that would just raise more questions. I'm not going crazy and projecting right?" Her series of questions started out being clear and easily understandable but then devolved into something of a ramble by the end.
"Yeah, while I'm not as perceptive of these things as you are; something does seem up with her. I don't think you were close enough to tell earlier during the boss fight but from what I saw and heard during it; she is capable of feeling emotions but doesn't let herself express them most of the time, which has some pretty concerning implications."
"So you believe that it might be less of a forcibly repressing her emotions thing and more something else? Maybe she was conditioned to, intentionally or otherwise, to not show any emotions? We shouldn't jump to any conclusions though. We've effectively just met her today, other then the few minutes we talked at the meeting. So trying to work out her secrets or any traumas she might have probably isn't going to work. However, to add onto the list of such potential issues, another thing that seems a tad odd is that she seems to…like us for lack of a better word, and I don't know why. We haven't done anything out of the ordinary or different then the others have." The two of them were both puzzled and somewhat worried by Asuna's behavior.
"Now that you mention it, she did seem just slightly more open when it was just us and her during the wasp killing compared to when we were with the others. I don't know why, but it's possible she is just a serious introvert and doesn't like groups of people and there isn't some deep underlying issue. We shouldn't jump to any conclusions like you said."
"Ugh, you're right. We do not have nearly enough information to really assess her mental state beyond the guesswork we already did. However, moving on from her situation, there is something important that I should ask you, Kirito."
Not expecting the sudden subject Kirito can only respond with a confused "and what's that?" before Sinon continues.
"Unless you have some sort of secret tragic backstory you haven't told me; today would have been the first time you've seen someone die. And I know better then most the effect that can have on a person, so how are you feeling? No trying to redirect it by asking how I am doing either." She said while staring Kirito down rather intently
"Well, we don't have any proof that people who die in here actually die-" They are cut off mid-sentence by Sinon forcibly interjecting "And nobody who has died has respawned, we'd have definitely heard about if that was the case. Also, since the servers and game are still running its likely safe to say that none of those that did die conveniently woke up in the hospital perfectly fine. Otherwise the power would have been cut and the game would have crashed, presumably freeing us. Though the details don't really matter in our case. Also, quit stalling and answer the question."
Seeing their only defense/stall tactic thoroughly shot down and called out, they had no chance but to sigh and answer. "It certainly wasn't pleasant, that's for sure. I realized what was going to happen at about the same time as Diabel did, but by that point it was of course too late to do anything. The look on Kibaou's face as he also realized what was happening is probably going to be burned into my mind for a long time. Hopefully I don't have any nightmares or anything about this, but I'm not going to get my hopes up."
Hearing them actually answer their question prompted a sympathetic sigh from Sinon as well. "Yeah…it's not really something you forget, that's for sure." Followed by an intense look "However, and this is important, you need to remember that his death wasn't your fault, and that you did everything you could to prevent it. No matter what anyone else says, you are not responsible for it."
"…I know that, intellectually speaking, but actually accepting that is a different matter. It's going to take some time to process all of this, particularly that part where that one guy actually blamed me. Like, that was some serious audacity on his part."
Despite the tense atmosphere, Kirito's little quip manages to get a laugh out of Sinon. "Yeah, real dickmove that guy pulled. Seemed like he just wanted someone to blame, not really surprising in hindsight since he willingly joined Kibaou's group." She lets out another sigh, though this more fond instead of a sympathetic "Seriously though, I'm here for you, like you were here for me when we met. Still are here for me, and I'm sure that the rest of the group will be as well, they're good people."
The genuine affection from her led to Kirito giving her a legitimate hug, something the physical affection averse teen almost never did. "Thanks Shino, it really means a lot to me to hear you say that. Now, let's actually go to sleep, it's certainly been a long day and I'm drained both mentally and physically. We can discuss the rest of the serious stuff later, ok?"
"Ok, night Kazuto." She said with a small smile, though it wasn't visible due to them still hugging.
The next morning, Urbus' Square
The group had gathered together in an attempt to plan out their day, and were currently talking amongst themselves about what would be the most efficient way to go about things. While also being the least repetitive or monotonous. The discussion was primarily between the more talkative members, but the others did chime in on occasion.
It was during the middle of this when they saw the teleporter activating, which by itself was nothing of note, considering it happened pretty often with people arriving or leaving the floor for whatever reason. What was of note however was a person in one of the standard brown cloaks sprinting out of the teleporter the second it was finished teleporting them. With several other people wearing what looked like various pieces of gear mixed together to create a sort of budget "ninja" look to them running after the cloaked individual as soon as they were teleported as well.
They couldn't make out the appearance of the first person from where they were standing but they were about the same size as Argo, and suspicious looking individuals chasing others is effectively never a good sign.
"...we should probably chase after them shouldn't we? That group looked pretty shady." Anna is the one to speak what everyone is thinking. Prompting the others to start chasing after them, somehow almost perfectly in-sync.
Luckily a group of like 5 or 6 people in all black clothing running through an small city weren't hard to follow, and about 10 minutes later they managed to catch up to the weird knockoff ninjas and the cloaked person, both of which had stopped near the base of one the many mesa's.
"Will ya idiots give it a rest? I already told ya i'm not sellin' this info! So go bother someone else!" It was at this point that the group -sans Asuna who had not met her- realized the cloaked person was actually Argo. Who had apparently encountered trouble.
One of the aggressors yelled back in what was probably supposed to be a demanding tone of voice, but came out as a whine instead. "But we need it to complete our ninja roleplay! So name your price already and tell us!"
"I. Don't. Care. what ya need it for. I'm not going to tell you. So again, leave me alone." While saying that Argo had surreptitiously equipped her katars, in case the schmucks decided to try their luck.
It was at this point that Kirito and Co decided to announce their presence, which had somehow gone unnoticed up to this point. "Hey guys, when a lady tells you to leave them alone. You do it. It should be pretty easy to understand." Klein was having precisely none of these guy's shenanigans
The ninja cosplayers spun around upon hearing someone call them out on their behavior, with surprised looks on their faces. As if the idea that someone would follow them had never crossed their minds. They stood for a few seconds, presumably trying to process the appearance of others.
Eventually another of the unusual players says something, who also tries to sound more imposing then he actually is. "Hmm…would seem that the magic users are in league with the Rat. Perhaps we should withdraw for now and return to base."
After their leader(?) says this, the rest of them proceed to stop standing around and naruto run back the way they came. With the leader(?) throwing down a pebble as if it was a smoke bomb, and then running off also.
Everything is again silent for a bit while they also try and process the ridiculous display that just happened. Some of them looked back and forth between where the dorks were, and where they went, as if they couldn't actually believe what they just saw.
Eventually Asuna breaks the dumbfounded silence with a question. "Would one of you please explain to me what just happened? I saw it, but I didn't understand any of it."
Kirito, Sinon, and Argo look at each other and back, silently communicating about who has to explain things to the others. A few seconds of this and it is decided that the duty falls to Kirito, who lets out an exasperated sigh.
"That unusual group of people were the….I think they called themselves the fuma ninjas or something equally odd. They were in the beta, and wanted to try and make their characters into stereotypical ninjas, but as you could see, weren't very good at it. They were known for doing really stupid things like attacking a large group of monsters, and then running away from them when things got difficult. Which would sometimes lead the monsters into other groups of players, causing problems for them as well."
"Thank you, but that only explains who they were; not why they were accosting the other young woman. What does she have to do with them?"
"Oh, that's Argo. She is basically an information broker, who tends to go by the alias 'The Rat'. You can get information about various things from her if you give her some col in exchange. A lot of the more general information in the guidebooks that were published was added by her."
"Ah, that makes sense then." She then turns to Argo and introduces herself with a small bow. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my name is Asuna."
"Nice to meet ya as well. As Kii-bou said I'm Argo, and I buy an' sell info.
Some time later; a particularly hard to reach mesa
"Is this really the place she said to go? Because I'm not seeing anything other than more stone. And cows." Dynamm asked, not for the first time. Before muttering under his breath "Why does this place have so many cows? They are everywhere."
"It is, this is the same place it was located in the beta. The npc should be just past the wall up ahead. Hopefully they are less ridiculous then they were back then, because I do not want to be here longer than needed." Kirito said while gesturing forward, some annoyance beginning to leak into their voice.
"Oh, is this that one quest you spent like half an hour complaining to me about? It's not often a quest annoys you, so it kinda stood out." Interjected Sinon rather curiously.
The others appeared interested as well, because it was true. Kirito rarely seemed to get annoyed at anything, and so far, never at quests.
"Come on Sinon, I don't think it was that long was it? But yeah, that one." They then directed the next sentence to the rest of the party; who was walking a short distance behind them. "You'll see why I don't like it once we start it. The reward was good but man was it annoying to actually do."
They continued onwards for a bit before Issun realized something "Uh Kirito, what even is the reward? You never did say what it actually was. Just that it was why those weird roleplayers were pestering Argo."
This caused Kirito to stop in their tracks, and nearly resulted in Sinon bumping into them due to the sudden stop. Needless to say, they apparently hadn't noticed that until it was pointed out. "I didn't? Thought for sure I did…well it's a special quest that you can do, and when you complete it you unlock the "Martial Arts" Skill." -This was said with prominent air quotes- "What it means in practice is that you get some skills that let you do legitimate damage with unarmed attacks. Pretty sure the moves aren't actually based on a type of martial art despite the name, but I could be wrong."
Shortly afterwards, they arrived at their destination. A secluded corner of the mesa that had a medieval-looking small hut with a thatched roof and several large boulders lying scattered around the area. One of which had a stereotypical bearded old man meditating on top.
Figuring he was the npc they needed to talk to, they all approached. Causing him to conveniently stop meditating and jump down to greet them. "Greetings travelers, have you come to learn my secrets and master the power within?"
A/N This chapter was going to be longer but I haven't had the desire to write lately, so I figured it would be better to post what I have now. Instead of waiting an indefinite period of time to finish it according to my original plan. So the next chapter will likely be the rest of this plot point and maybe…area boss? Zone boss? The weirdly named giant bull thing, and probably another scene or two.