Date posted: 16th November 2021
If you're expecting much shooty bangs-bangs in this chapter, sorry to disappoint! If you're expecting some fluff, I got ya' covered!
Chapter 8: Fluff and Fries
Gunfire rang in the dead city of Konya. A trio of holes pierced the scrap metal that was the frame of an ancient car. Sinon emerged from cover and nailed the enemy with a burst from her Daewoo assault rifle, the raider's leather armour did nothing to stop the 5.56 rounds. Another poked a hockey masked head from behind a brick wall and she ended his life with a round to the dome. More were emerging from cover, advancing towards her.
She was outnumbered eight to one. By all accounts, it was a fair fight.
Sinon grabbed a grenade from her belt and tossed it to the cluster of raiders who unwisely stuck together. She killed two with the blast and gravely wounded the third. She used the opportunity to seek better cover and found herself in an old convenience store, one of many dotting the dead city.
She hiked up the stairs of the store to gain a better vantage spot. The raiders dressed up in bright and garish armour, were as clear as targets on a range.
She swapped her assault rifle for her Remington MSR and took a shooting stance and did what she did best.
Crack! The raider with the double-barrel fell face first into a trash can.
Crack! The raider with the machine gun lost an arm, dropping his weapon and clutching his stub.
Crack! The raider with a pinned grenade fell, taking him and an unfortunate comrade nearby in the blast.
The building shook as the familiar blast of an RPG slammed into it, enough to drop debris from the ceiling. Another hit like that and the building would collapse on her; GGO was advanced enough to replicate that. Cursing, she launched herself from the second floor and landed clumsily onto the pavement. She was that close to breaking her ankles from all the gear on her.
She was out in the open, she had one chance. Her eyes scanned the windows, the cars, the overpass … there he was! Four hundred meters away.
She crouched as the rocketeer reloaded. They aimed at each other. He was fast. She was faster. Crack!
Boom! The overpass detonated as the raider shot himself. Just as the streets were filled with the chaos of fighting, it suddenly ceased. The only sounds were her ragged breathing and the sweet sound of progression.
«You have levelled up to Level 50!»
Damn, that never got old. God, she loved this video game.
"That was absolutely beautiful."
She turned around to see a man with big purple eyes and long hair, a warmask hung from his belt. He was clad in all black instead of the usual multicam that almost everyone wore, leaning against the wall of the store she just jumped out of. The only weapon he had on him was … a sword?
Instincts kicked in. She reached for her sidearm and pointed the CZ75 at him. "Who the hell are you?!"
"Aww, Sinonon. Don't you remember?" He approached her, unfearing. Damn, he was pretty.
He reached with a gloved hand and pushed the pistol down. "It's me: your boyfriend."
Then he kissed her and all hostility left her body. She leaned into him, his soft lips against hers. Her gun clattered to the ground.
"Oh, Kazuto …"
"Oh, Shino."
He was biting her neck now and she gripped his soft hair. He even smelled good. "Mmm, yes?"
"Shino …"
"Say my name again …"
"Shino. Shino?"
"Sinononononon. Wake up. Come on, we've got stuff to do."
Shino woke up to a familiar face. Said face was bathed in the low light of a smartphone. His gaze stayed on screen. "Morning, sleepy-head. Sorry for entrapping you with my masculine charms last night."
Well, this was the first time where reality was better than the dream. Rising to the challenge, Shino swiped the phone and planted a kiss on Kazuto's lips. Not even the bad breath of yesternight could dampen her enthusiasm. When they parted, Kazuto licked his lips. "Not bad, 6.5/10!"
"6.5?!" She sat up on the couch. "Looks like I need more rounds at the range."
"Do you always compare everything to guns?"
"Do you always compare everything to swords?"
"Touché, my feline girlfriend." He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck. They engaged in another kissing session and she was acutely aware that he was the veteran in this engagement. She felt his hand reaching for her stomach, how he trailed his fingers over the bump of her toned stomach.
He was caressing them now and his rough fingers were not unpleasant. "How did I ever land a strong gal like you?"
"You like strong girls, huh?" she asked between kisses.
"Mmm." His hands now trailed to her shoulders and she felt shivers down her spine as he caressed her neck. "You're the whole package."
"It's like I'm talking to someone completely different."
He was kissing her neck now, just like in her dream. "Oh, how so?"
"You're romantic! And handsome and cute! Much prefer this to complaining about SAO all the time."
"You said you don't mind if I did!" he pouted and looked like a sad puppy. Shino only laughed and kissed him on the forehead. It was a sunny day and from their window, the streets were covered by a light sheet of snow.
Kirito continued, "Anyway, as much as I like another make out session, we should have breakfast before the major yells at us. We have a couple of hours." It was just a quarter past eight.
"Plenty of time! More pancakes?"
"Always."
Shino rose from her human chair and Kazuto grabbed the coffee, which he had the decency to apologise for not drinking. Some quick riffling of the cabinets, she reported, "Uh, looks like we're out of food."
Kazuto snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, it was my job to stock them up a few days ago. Sorry."
"Don't worry, you were busy travelling through the Wastes, my brave swordsman." He blushed at that and Shino was delighted how quickly he went from dominant to bashful. "I know a nice restaurant and there's a grocery store not too far from there. Wanna go?"
He smirked. "Shino Asada, are you asking me out on a date?"
And just as quickly, she was on the backfoot. "Uh, well … I guess?"
He grabbed onto her hand and kissed the back of it. "I would be delighted."
Shino's face turned into a facsimile of a tomato. Oh no, he's hot!
Fifteen minutes later, they were taking a train to a grocery store near Shiba Park on the account of Kazuto still hadn't gotten around to changing his motorcycle tires for winter. It was a Saturday morning and the train was packed but nowhere near as much as it was on a weekday. The two were seated in a corner, a fair distance away from the nearest clump of hungover salarymen.
However, there was a problem - a test that would dictate their new relationship: Kazuto insisted they buy groceries first and eat later. Shino was the opposite.
"You shouldn't shop on a hungry stomach, we might overbuy!" she said.
"Yeah, but going shopping on a full stomach sucks!" he countered.
"I don't like leaving my groceries on empty chairs while we eat."
"That's not a problem, not like anyone's using them."
She looked aghast at what he said. "But … what if people need them?"
"Well it's our table, so it's our chairs."
She sighed and folded her arms. "So selfish …"
"I understand, you're an austere and disciplined person. You follow schedules and routine like a soldier, you take notes on everything. That's what I respect about you as an individual," Kazuto said, without malice and a charming smile. "Not even twenty-four hours and we're already arguing - that's a record of some kind."
"Are you trying to charm me so we go shopping first?"
"... is it working?"
Shino couldn't meet his big brown eyes and turned her gaze to the windows. "Nice try, but we're having breakfast first."
After a brief stint of silence, she felt his hot breath on her ear. "If we get groceries first, I'll kiss your abs."
Five minutes later, they were at the entrance of NakaMart. "You … you promise?"
"I'm a man of my word, Shino-chan." They were holding hands when they entered, and she was flustered at how natural he was taking it all. Despite his eccentricities, Kazuto was far more experienced in the ways of romance than she was and like any good student, she would be taking notes. Speaking of which -
She pulled out her phone. "I've got a list of things to buy, what say we split up and get this done quicker?" He agreed and she sent him the bottom half.
She was in the dairy part of the store while Kazuto was off looking for toiletries. The place was mostly empty despite it being half an hour past eight. She was too engrossed checking the expiry dates of milk bottles to notice the man next to her.
"Asada?"
She turned, surprised. "Chief?"
The man in question was a far cry from the man at the office. Washed out jeans, an oversized t-shirt that was far too thin to be comfortable for the cold weather, and a … fishing vest of sorts? He was a rough looking man in his forties, a worn weather face with a thin moustache and ending with a sharp jaw. But above all, he was still wearing that damn beat up cowboy hat - the only man in the office that did. In his hand, he too was examining a cartoon of milk.
And was he wearing Crocs? Oh my God, he was.
Daisuke Shimada looked her up and down. "The hell you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?"
Shino suppressed a sigh. "Chief, I took leave for personal reasons, remember? Also, it's the weekend."
"Oh right. Forgot about that. No wonder coffee's been shit lately." She was the resident coffee expert, a role she took pride in. He grimaced at the milk carton. "Damn, milk price is high these days. What's up with that?"
She wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that.
"Anyway, don't you live a bit too far away to be shopping here?"
"I'm out on a …" she chewed on the word for a bit, "a date."
At the mention, the older man's perma-scowl turned into a grin and he slapped her on the back. Just like one of the boys. "Oooh, no wonder you're taking leave. Who's the lucky lady?"
She sighed. "Chief, how many times do I have to tell you I'm not interested in girls?"
"I still doubt that sometimes. Never seen you staring at other dudes, not even those K-Pop stars we were guarding last year. And I'm pretty sure even some of the boys were eying em'."
She shrugged. "They're just not my type."
"Uhuh. Anyway, no need for the whole 'chief' thing out of work. You can just call me Daisuke." He produced a cheap cigarette from a pocket and handed it to her. "Smoke?"
The tobacco made her gulp and her mouth water but her will won out. "I cut that habit a while back, you know that. And besides, we're not allowed to smoke indoors."
"Ah, right. Damn laws, back in my day ..." He muttered and placed the cigarette behind his ear. "Anyway, I know we ain't supposed to talk about work off hours, but I got a proposition to increase the team's combat effectiveness. I'd run this down with the boss, but I want backup, and the boss likes you. Wanna hear it? If you don't, that's fine, I wouldn't push it on ya' on your leave."
Her ears perked up at that. She was one of the company's best shooters and she took great pride in that. It was also why she respected Daisuke; as her senior, he knew his boundaries. "Of course! Better than briefing me about this at work next week."
"Great, I knew I could trust you, Asada. Onto business: so, you know about the rising price of ammo these days, right?"
"Of course." She also helped keep track of the company's armoury; which mostly consisted of handguns, SMGs, and shotguns. Nowhere near the exotic arms in GGO. "The price of 9mm went up recently and we're really rationing our ammo and time at the range."
"Yeah, that. See, at first I thought we'd do more airsoft but airsoft ain't effective in teaching how to deal with gunfire, ya know?"
To hear Daisuke suggest something aside from airsoft surprised her - the company had no official 'airsoft budget' but even he saw the benefits of them and had pooled money for the squad. He had tried to implement one for the entire company, to no avail. The boss simply had no faith in it and preferred 'real training' - that was shooting at a range and obstacle courses. Shino didn't even disagree but the budget was tight this year and may even be tighter next year. She must have shot only half a dozen times this year alone, nowhere near enough to keep combat retention.
He continued, "So what's the best way to get the boys be more familiar with guns, have combat training, and build esprit-de-corp?"
Shino snapped her fingers. "Documentary night!"
"What? No! How would that help?"
"Well, I have a lot of cool documentaries, though they're usually in English and have no subs …"
"Okay, good idea, let's keep that as an option. Ready to hear it?" He finger gunned her. "Video games!"
"... video games? Like LAN parties?"
"No, Asada! VRMMOs! You ever heard of this game called Gun Gale Online?"
She gulped. "G … Gun Gale?"
"Yeah! I hear it's super realistic despite being a video game. What's the term? See-moo-lay-sho-nees?"
"Simulationist." Well, GGO wasn't technically simulationist with all the monsters and sci-fi stuff, but it was still more grounded than most Seed games outside of edutainment.
"Ah right, that. So, my idea is …"
"You want to use a video game to train the squad in lieu of actual firearms training," she stated.
"Exactly! Like, I know it's a long shot, but I think it could work. I've been playing it lately, and it's a lot of fun!" He snorted. "I'm level 16 now, got a nice rifle and everything. Some of the boys have been playing too. I was able to rope in Eikichi and the rest, got a pretty nice guild. I'd have invited ya', but this is a pretty recent thing and you were busy. You familiar with it?"
She can't help but smile too. "Yep. I'm level 48. Wait no, level 49."
Daisuke made a face, deflated that his accomplishments weren't as impressive as he thought "Damn, Asada. Always above and beyond. If I knew that, I'd have invited ya' sooner."
"How did you get the cash to buy the consoles anyway?"
"Oh that? Well, I requested 'extra off-duty training funds'."
She gave a deadpan look. "You didn't tell the boss about this."
"Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission!" He barked a harsh laugh, which sounded like a sputtering engine. "Anyway, I'm actually going back in-game after this. We all have the DLC and decided to tackle it first, and I know, it ain't smart, but we all wanted to try it you know?"
Shino rubbed her chin. "Hey Daisuke-san, I too have an idea. Where's the rest of the squad?"
"Still in Glocken, why?"
She gave a smile that Daisuke was all too familiar with. "I've got a plan."
On the other end of the store, Kazuto was checking his notes until he quite literally bumped into someone. "Hey, watch it!"
"Sorry! I - Ryoutarou?"
"Yo, Kirito!" The two men instantly went for a fist bump - an ancestral gesture ingrained in all of brohood since Adam. "Didn't know you lived around here?"
"I don't. What are you doing here?"
Ryoutarou, or Klein as he preferred to be called, was a lean man a few years Kazuto's senior and a few inches in height. His shock of red hair was tied back in a bandana that he, and only he, thought was cool, as was his leather jacket. Kazuto always prodded him about the jacket, and told him it'd be more fitting if he owned a bike like he did, but Klein was very much a car person. It was an old beat up Honda Accord that somehow still used gas in an age where half of Japan were already using electric or hybrids.
He was also his senior back at uni, and a long time friend made via their shared experiences of a certain MMORPG.
"Oh, you know." He gestured to his own handbasket filled with numerous toiletries, beer and instant noodles. "Stuff."
"Right, right. So … work's good?"
"Absolutely not!" he said in a tone that Kazuto was all too familiar with. "Boss being an asshole, as usual. You know how it is."
Kazuto did. Though he knew Klein during his SAO days, he had also worked with his current company on a freelance job. Kazuto saw the state of the employers, did his contract as quickly as he could (it was updating some old software and other boring bookkeeping stuff) and noped the hell out right then and there.
That was a year ago. "Oof, sounds bad, Ryou."
"Ah well. Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I shit on company time." He laughed at his own joke. "By the way, you still play SAO?"
Kazuto shook his head. "What, after the whole Kayaba = Heathcliff incident? No way. You?"
"Exactly. Just deleted my profile right then and there." He wrapped an arm around the smaller man's shoulder. "So whatchu got there?"
"Toiletries."
"What are those?"
Kazuto looked down to where he was pointing at. "They're called pads, Ryou."
"Oh. I see. For what? You building up a first aid kit or something?"
Now, Japan still wasn't very good at the whole sex education thing, but this was really bad. "Aren't you like thirty?"
"Hey! I'm only twenty-nine!" When he looked at Kazuto's face, he understood. "Oooh, right. It's for your smoking hot athlete sister. She's still single right?"
"Please stop asking me about my sister. And no, it's not for her. It's for my -" He shut his mouth.
Ryoutarou's eyes widened. "Damn, my boy! You got back with that Asuna chick right?"
"Klein."
"Like holy hell, I ain't never seen a chick with curves like that."
"Ryoutarou."
"Good thing you're back at it, because man. She had a great piece of -"
"Dude."
"Oh right, sorry. Anyway, I'm happy for you, bud. Good on you for bouncing back."
Kazuto screamed internally. "It's not Asuna. Anyway," he said, trying to divert the topic. "You played any new games recently?"
The two made their way down the aisle, Klein casually dropped a pack of toothbrushes into his small pile of beer. "Oh yeah, about that! So I convinced the rest of the FurinKazan to leave. We've been moving from VR games, like wandering ronin, seeking fortune and fame."
The FurinKazan were Klein's long time circle of friends, all of whom Kazuto knew also as uni seniors who had started as a guild back in SAO. MMOs were the few ways all of them stayed in touch considering they were all over the country and one of them was even in Korea. "So how's that going?"
"Not well, I'm afraid. Asuka Empire, Alfheim Online, StarNough Online, that one Star Wars game too, which was actually an older MMO but transplanted into SEED as I understand it. They just ain't scratching that itch!" He tipped a massive bottle of soap into his ever growing pile. "It's been a few months, and if one of us doesn't like it, we tend to jump ship."
"Oh, that sucks." An idea came to Kazuto. "So, have you tried GGO?"
"Oh, that sweaty milsim? Yeah, we've been playing that for a couple weeks or so. Well the thing is, the rest of the guys love it!"
"I sense a but."
"But," he sighed. "Melee isn't viable!"
At that moment, Kazuto felt such kinship with his old senior. "I know! It sucks!"
He looked surprised. "Oh, you play it too?"
He smiled at the memory of meeting Shino, it felt like ages ago. "I actually met my girlfriend in-game. Kind of. It's a long story."
"I got time."
He gave a condensed version of events, with the highlight of the boss fight of the Thunder Fighter from last night. As he told his tale, the more excited Klein got, and already he can see the gears in the other man's mind working on making melee viable. Realising he was done with his list, he made his way to the counter. Klein followed.
"So you're doing this new Old Earth DLC right?"
"Yeah, more or less."
Klein bit his lip. "I could break that rainy day jar, get the DLC for the rest of the lads."
"Oh? You want to tackle it too? It's recommended you're level 15 at least. And I think you can buy it in a bundle and get a discount."
"Most of us are around that level range ... I think we could do it!"
"Well, okay, but I gotta check in with the major about that."
"Sure! Wouldn't want to interrupt another guild's business, that's just bad etiquette." He made a face. "Wait, wait. If it isn't Asuna, then who -"
"Kaz, over here!"
Klein looked at the girl at the self-checkout counter. She was a pretty girl with big brown eyes and short black hair. Besides her was a man in a weird getup with a cowboy hat (and were those crocs?) next to her, scanning a bunch of cartons of milk. "Hey, come over here!"
As the two groups met, the girl said, "Hey, Kaz. This is my superior. From the office."
The other man looked Kazuto up and down, eyeing him less like a stranger and more like a threat. "Ah, you must be Asada's new roommate. The name's Daisuke Shimada."
"Kazuto Kirigaya."
They shook hands. "Strong grip. I like this guy already."
Klein introduced himself and gave a similar grip, "I'm Ryoutarou Tsuboi, though people call me Klein. Nice to meet you."
Klein then eyed Shino, thankfully, nowhere near as badly as that time he eyed Suguha when they first met. "Well hello there, miss." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You must be Kirito's new girlfriend. He has spoken so much about you."
Kazuto rolled his eyes.
"Oh, he has?"
"He spoke of your great beauty and awesome gamer skills."
Now he was staring at Klein with daggers. She laughed and blushed. "Oh, of course Kaz would say that."
Daisuke Looked at Shino with surprise. "Of the three years we've worked together, I have never seen you blush. You must like this guy."
"D-Daisuke-san!"
Klein sniffed. "My boy, already moving from one hot chick to another. You really are a harem protagonist."
"ANYWAY," Kazuto half shouted, "So, Shino, Ryoutarou has agreed to jump into GGO to help us with the uh, thing."
"Hah, the more the merrier I say!" said Daisuke. "My guild's name is called Black Dog, my player name is Dyne. Hope to see you there, Klein-san."
They shook hands. "You too! My guild's name is FurinKazan. Cool hat!"
Daisuke nodded appreciatively. "Cool bandana." At the compliment, Klein was speechless.
"Nice jacket, Ryoutarou-san. You should get one too, Kaz. It'll match your bike," said Shino. At this, tears were swelling in his eyes.
Oh God. "So, can we meet in a couple hours?"
The four of them exchanged contacts. The other men finished their checkout due to them having less items, leaving the two alone for their far more considerable load. "I like your superior, he seems cool," said Kazuto as he started placing the groceries in bags.
Shino was on scanner duty. "Even if he's low level, he's ex-military, and so are quite a bit of the guys. If anything, that gives them a huge advantage over the rest of the playerbase whose main tactic is charging in dual wielding machine guns." The scanner went beep! over a loaf of bread.
"Hmm. Klein's and his buds are salarymen, but they've got some super tight teamwork. He was able to beat bosses with six men when thirty couldn't."
"You admire him a lot, huh?" Beep!
"Despite his bad taste in fashion, he's a cool guy."
"His fashion is fine, I think, Mister I-Wear-Black-All-The-Time. Even your bike is black!" Beep!
Kazuto mumbled under his breath, "Black is totally cool, shut up …"
When they were all done, Shino insisted she pay. "You can pay me half later."
"That's cool." He turned to the door, there were more people coming in. "Anyway, onto breakfast."
Beep!
He turned around. "What was that?"
"Nothing."
He raised an eyebrow. "I heard a beep."
"It's from the other counters."
Kazuto looked around, there was a single person at the very end of the six self-checkout counters. He narrowed his eyes. "Did you just buy something that's not on the list?"
"I've no idea what you're talking about." Shino swiped her card on the reader and quickly shoved the receipt in her pocket. Kazuto had to admit, she had an excellent poker face. "Now come on, I want breakfast."
As the two exited the NakaMart, something fell onto the sidewalk. Kazuto spotted it before Shino could snatched it back up.
He smiled. "Shino."
"It's - it's not what you think." She held the thing in her fist. "It was my keys."
"That didn't sound like keys falling on pavement." With a quick poke to her side, the thing fell from her hand and Kazuto quickly grabbed it.
"I can't believe you tickled me! In public!"
Kazuto examined the packet in his hand. "You haven't even bought me dinner yet and you're already buying condoms, huh?"
He had never seen her face so red and he had seen her drunk. "Well, you know … you gotta wear protection before going into a gun fight."
He slipped the packet in his back pocket and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Gosh, you're so cute, you know that?"
She was red the whole way to the restaurant.
The restaurant was situated within Shiba Park, itself one of Tokyo's most popular parks. Hardworking groundskeeper kept the paths clear of snow and families were already skating on the frozen lake. Dominating the skyline was the Tokyo Tower, proud red against the blanket of white. He looked at it with a sense of nostalgia, and he recalled that was where he had his first kiss …
Dammit, Klein. Why did he have to bring up Asuna?
"Sir, excuse me?"
He snapped out of his reverie. "Ah, sorry. I'll have what she's having."
The waiter jotted down the order and left. The two of them were in, of all things, what appeared to be an early Americana style diner - complete with black and white check mark tiles, people slurping milkshakes, munching burgers, and the staff wearing appropriate era accurate uniforms. There was even a jukebox blasting 50's era music, where the King of Rock and Roll was pleading to someone to not be cruel.
"Heavy breakfast, today, huh?" It was already 9:15 am.
"We've got a lot of gaming to do today," she said excitedly. She had her phone out. "I've been following the news on the frontline on the forums and the players are barely making a dent. I also messaged Major Nikita about reinforcements, she said it would be fine."
"Well, according to that stranger on the radio, he says he knows an alternate way. You never know, it's a big game."
GGO itself was much larger than SAO was and there were still discoveries being made in that old game; who knows what secrets and easter eggs GGO's Wasteland contained? Only those other space related VR games could compare and even then, they're more traditional levels and procedurally generated worlds, not the more traditional handmade sandbox that was post-apocalyptic earth. It was highly likely that GGO would expand to cover the rest of the world at some point - at a one-third rate of course.
"It's quite clearly just added in the DLC, or maybe it was there before, and was repurposed for the game. I don't know, I'm not a game designer."
"Right, so. We're gonna discuss strategem, tactics and the art of war?"
"Um no." She did not meet his gaze. "I was hoping we could get to know more about each other."
"Ah, so this is a date."
She shrugged and blushed. The plastic bags next to them gave Shino no anxiety on the count of they were sitting on bright red diner benches and therefore, could not be borrowed. The diner itself was already lively with half the customers seeming to be made up of tourists.
"It doesn't feel any different from all the times we've had meals," she admitted.
"You know, I think this is actually the first time we went out. For a meal, I mean." Their busy adult lives ensured that they often didn't meet each other outside of dinner time, and even then, both of them were proficient enough cooks. "However, it's way more romantic!"
Outside, Shino looked at a pair of parents trying to teach their toddler how to walk with mixed results. "Your idea of romance is taking a girl out to have burgers?"
"First of all, you picked the place. Secondly, burgers are the single most romantic meal choice for any date and I approve of it." Asuna would not have agreed with him on that. Just as quickly as she came to mind, Kazuto quickly banished her from his thoughts.
"I'm not sure what boyfriend/girlfriend do for small talk." She pursed her lips. "Is this where we talk about our hobbies? We already do that!"
Kazuto scratched his chin and hummed. "Well, have you seen those new trials the German army is doing to replace their aging sidearm?"
She gave him a look. "Kaz, they already replaced their sidearms half a decade ago. They're using the SIG M17 like the Americans are using."
He snapped his fingers. "I totally knew that!"
She sighed, more out of habit than annoyance. "Uh, I guess we could talk swords."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure sure?"
"Yes! So, what's the difference between a longsword and an arming sword anyway."
It was amusing to see him switching from suave flirting (or at least, that's what she thought was suave), to childlike enthusiasm. He clearly had a great interest in warrior culture, whether that be knights, samurais or mamluks. He explained that thanks to early tabletop roleplaying, that many RPGs mislabel longswords as one-handed weapons instead of two-handed weapons, how broadswords were used to refer to arming swords. ("Ah, I see!) Kazuto talked of sabers, scimitars and shamshirs, of axes and maces, the pros and cons of the longsword vs the katana.
Did … did she sound like that when she talked about guns? She hoped that he found it as endearing as she found him right now. Kazuto did not stop talking about swords for a whole fifteen minutes until breakfast arrived.
"Oh wow, I didn't realise you hadn't had a word in. Sorry about that." His throat was parched at the lecture he just gave to his unwilling audience.
"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I do the same with guns."
"Pretty sure? Shino, you went on a ten minute rant last week about someone putting a red dot sight on a Garand."
"Putting a picatinny rail on a such a beautiful rifle should be a war crime," she said with conviction.
Kazuto examined his meal: a double patty cheeseburger the size of a house, a bowl of fries large enough to feed a small village and a chocolate milkshake as tall as the Tokyo Tower in the horizon. It was so American, that somewhere, a bald eagle shed a tear of happiness. "Wow, I don't think I can finish this ... shoulda paid more attention at the menu. Shino, are you -"
Not even an itadakimas and the girl in front of him was wolfing down the burger as if she hadn't eaten in days and her chewing sounded suspiciously like nom nom nom and he was reminded of an ancient meme from before his time regarding felines and their love of this specific food. Why, she even placed the fries on the burger before eating them. How decadent!
She was a quarter way on her meal and he himself had not touched it. She caught his glance and asked with a mouthful, "Whaff?"
And suddenly, he was no longer looking at his new girlfriend. Instead, in his eyes, she appeared as a fuzzy blue cat, trying and failing to consume a burger the size of her own torso.
He looked away and held back laughter. "Sinonon can has cheeseburger?"
"Excush meh?"
He calmed himself and reached for his shake. "Nevermind."
They returned to their virtual bodies at 10 am, in game it was 2 pm, not that he could tell. Kirito felt the weight of his new weapon leaning against him, the chainsword brutal and fearsome compared to his elegant plasteel blade. They were still in the BTR though they weren't moving, and the rest of the Zakon I Dolg were chatting about other things. When they noticed him and the cat awake, they gave a cheer and hearty slaps.
"Well, well, our hero returns!" said Corporal Dave. "How was breakfast?"
Kirito considered his words. "It tasted … of freedom. And obesity."
"Huh?"
"Anyway, what's the sitrep?" At the use of the term, he realised how much the cat in his lap had influenced his speech. Sinon sat upright, looking as serious as a cat with a scarf could be.
Dave, ever the professional, explained. "Well, we're in a tunnel of sorts. In front of us is a huge pile of rubble, which methinks will make our vehicles unusable in the coming battles."
"Is there no one here?"
"There is, but the major asked us to wait for reinforcements. I prefer to do things within the guild but in this case, I'll make an exception."
Kirito exited the APC to a dim tunnel, the few emergency lights somehow working after centuries of neglect. At some point while waiting, the Zakon troopers had made campfires. It was not too dissimilar from SAO where the fire was a point of comfort, even though most of them likely had their meals. At one of the fires, he spotted Vladimir with his fancy tea kettle, having a cup with Sergeant Gregory. Above one of the APCs, Major Nikita stood tall, as if trying to destroy the rubble before her through sheer will. It wasn't working. Sinon clambered up Kirito's shoulder and launched herself up, and he followed suit, heaving his heavy sword.
"When are the reinforcements arriving?" she asked.
"Well good morning to you too."
She ignored Kirito's comment. "The commissar and his men are nearby, and they'll wait to greet your friends. As I understand it, these small guilds are relatively new. I expect them to follow orders."
Sinon meowed, Kirito translated. "Sinon says most of her friends are all ex-military. My friend's guild are mostly normal folks, but they've got years of experience."
"Good, they will be a boon. As per Zakon I Dolg's contracts, they'll have a share of the loot."
Contracts? At least, this was preferable over all the PvP and toxic arguments over the Last Attack bonus from SAO. "Sooo … what are we doing?"
"Waiting."
"Well, yeah. But like …" he waved a hand towards the rubble. "There doesn't seem to be anything here." Kirito couldn't spot any other side entrances either.
"Sinon, I require your help. If you please?"
"Nya?" She walked up to the major, then suddenly, NIkita grabbed the cat by the scruff of her scarf and hurled her forward like a football. "NYAAAA!"
"What the hell?!" The blue fuzzball special was heading straight towards a spiky piece of rebar and Kirito couldn't look away. He did not sign up to see a cat being impaled.
As gravity did its work, Sinon phased through the rubble, and landed onto the broken asphalt. The rubble flickered in and out of existence. All the troopers rose from their seats, hands on their arms. "A hologram!" shouted Gregory.
The cat turned around, and let out a string of curses; she could curse like a sailor if she really wanted to, but instead her angry yelling came out as, "Nya nya nya nya nya nya nya nya nya nya!"
"Took you long enough to notice," buzzed the radio on Nikita's hip.
Already, the rest of the Zakon soldiers raised their rifles towards the door, the other half aimed to their back, fearful of an ambush. The APCs' turrets came to life and were on standby. Lyubimiya 1.0 and Lyubimiya 2.0 rose from their slumber, crimson eyes flashing in the dark.
"Well, are you going to open the door or what?" she snapped into the radio.
The line went dead and the ancient blast doors opened, groaning and screeching like some sort of dragon. Kirito readied his weapon and realised how damn heavy the thing was, and how, for the first time in many moons playing GGO, he wanted his AR-15 instead of his sword. He wasn't even sure how to switch the thing on. So he held it forward in the chudan posture, realised this was tiring, slung it awkwardly on his back and pulled out his Scorpion SMG. He should level up at some point.
Below, Sinon stood ready, a vanguard against the approaching danger. Woe betide to any foe that angers such a fearsome beast.
The blast doors stopped, not entirely opened but enough for the convoy to pass through. Nikita took the hint. "Zakon, we move forward. Kirito, you're on point."
It was a curious feeling, scouting in the near darkness. Kirito hung a flashlight on the cybersteed's neck, it was far more convenient using flashlights than using NVGs. He had his AR-15, retrieved from storage, on his back, alongside his chainsword; SMG in a saddle holster; and sword-lance in hand. At some point, someone must have duct-taped the thing after it broke after his duel with the Thunder Fighter. It looked dependably solid.
"Sinonon, what do your cat eyes see?" His girlfriend was in his saddle bow and had far better vision than him. It was also, really weird, to call a cat his girlfriend; he better not bring it up to anyone else.
"It's clear … for now. Wait! There's someone up ahead!" Nodding, Kirito reported to the major. He needed to make a loop on his stirrup to rest his lance, all the weight on him had probably made him weigh as much as a knight in full plate.
A single lone soldier stood in the middle of the road, PKM in hand. He said something to his radio, and suddenly, a wall to Kirito's left slid up: a hidden entrance! Wordlessly, the guard directed the convoy to enter. Kirito went in first.
To his utter surprise, there was an entire compound hidden away, as big as any warehouse. There was a checkpoint guarded by a couple of serious looking men; they looked ragged, scarred, more akin to NPC insurgents that made up a good chunk of GGO's enemies - the freedom fighters that fought against the Overlords of Glocken. They wore robes under their flak, and had a mish-mash of rifles from FALs to AKs, their faces hidden under keffiyehs. If they thought there was something weird about the cat with him, they said nothing.
One of the guards directed Kirito to what was clearly a motor pool which consisted mostly of trucks, bulldozers and other construction vehicles. On the ceiling hung multiple turrets, barrels pointed at the newcomers.
A few minutes later, the rest of the convoy came to a halt. Vladimir rolled up on the Wall's Harley-Davidson, looking like some sort of Wasteland Scientist with his lab coat, goggles, flak and Gucci Glock in a shoulder holster. He looked about the place. "Fascinating. An entire base within the mountains. From what I recall, we are under Mt. Parnassus. There's a ski-resort atop, made into a dungeon."
"Parnassus? We're a bit away from Corinth, aren't we?"
"We are, but I believe we'll have our answers soon." Vladimir turned to see the rest of the Zakon I Dolg stream out of their APCs and motorcycles. There were about twenty of them and an almost equal number of the mystery soldiers in the compound, chatting, smithing, sleeping. In one corner, a row of beds covered by high curtains, in another room were gunsmiths and other crafters. There was even a bar of sorts and a kitchen. The familiar hum of cloning vats could be heard even through the thick walls, python-size cables hinting at their true hiding spot.
Despite the relaxed atmosphere, they were in foreign and potentially hostile territory, and Kirito's many years of playing video games had sharpened his senses to a fine edge. At least, that's what he told himself to sound cool.
They all gathered in front of what appeared to be an office, the windows were covered by blinds. A man came out from the door, dressed like the others in the compound, tablet in hand. "Well, well. You're three dozen men short."
"We have more on the way," said Nikita. "Who are you, and what guild is this?"
"The captain will explain. The rest of your men are allowed to rest and use our facilities." He thumbed towards the door. "Go ahead. And bring the cat too."
Kirito looked at him suspiciously, but his face was covered leaving only steely eyes. "Do we know each other? And why do you want the cat?"
He only winked at him and returned to the office. Kirito and Sinon exchanged glances. Nikita said, "Corporal Dave, you're in charge. Be sure no one gets into any trouble."
Kirito, Sinon, Nikita and Gregory entered the spacious office. Multiple comms staff were speaking into their radios, giving orders and intel, people bustled about with documents, jotting down notes. It was a proper war room and at the end was a long table and a man sitting behind it. Besides the table, the man with the tablet stood, folding his arms. They approached.
On the table were two small hills of handguns; 1911s, Glocks, Heckler and Kochs, Sig Sauers, CZs, it was endless. The man sitting behind was doing checks, loading a mag, checking the chamber, as efficient as a machine. He was in full flak, his face covered by a gasmask with mismatched coloured lens, the left red, the right green. Upon his helmet was a white bandana and written upon it with a red marker was IDDQD.
Kirito and Sinon recognised him instantly. "C-CHAD?"
Mister Shinigami didn't even look up from his inventory work. "Kirito, Sinon. I'm glad you're both here. I will be brief: Sinon's transformation into a cat is vital to finishing the DLC. She is the key to this entire conflict."
Sinon blinked her big blue eyes. "Nya?"
I thought we were finishing in chapter 8, but I guess not! Hopefully this will be done in 10 chapters, 11 at most. I'm excited to finish the story, but also move on to other projects. A certain Merchant calls for me.
Dyne's real name and his guild name is courtesy of Shinobi no Ryu's Neon Rain, which was recently updated! If you want some sweet KiriSinon and a bit of KiriArgo, go check it out! I mean, you probably have, it's waaay more popular. Leave a review and tell him Agent sent you. Speaking of which, go check out Schoolsenpai's StarNought Online and Nain Tarlow's Star Wars x SAO fic. Nain, I know you're reading this. Update, damn you.
If you want some KiriArgo, do check out How to Find Virtual Love in a Death Game by myself. Seven chapters of sweet Rat goodness. Some of you might be wondering why I didn't put Argo in this story. To be frank, if she was in this game, the story would be twice as long and I would be tempted to write KArgo instead. So sorry, Rat fans, no Rat Girl for you. Maybe some other time.
That's all for now. Until next time!
