Floor 61

The two Black Cats looked around, eyes wide, gawking like a bunch of tourists.

Selmburg was a beautiful castle-city located on an island in the middle of a lake. The sun had almost set, and the final rays of light lit the streets a dark purple.

"Hmmm. It's large and has few people." Kirito commented. "I like how it feels so spacious."

"Then why not move here?" Asuna asked sincerely. "It's not like there aren't vacant player homes."

"Can't," Kirito answered casually. "We've been saving up for a different place."

"Also, Keita wants our guild to be based in an area that's easy for people to find," Sachi added. "That way we can be commissioned for requests easily."

"Hmmm, not a bad idea," Asuna mused. "Still, I'm sure you two would like to have your own place," she said while giving them a sly look.

They both blushed at the accusation.

"M-more, importantly, was it really okay to leave your bodyguards back there?" Kirito tried to change the topic.

Asuna looked at him with a good-natured smile. "What? You think I can't take care of myself?"

"N-no," he responded, a bit flustered. "I just meant… I mean…" he paused. "You know what? You're right. Why do you even need bodyguards? It's such a waste of time and people."

Her brighter expression slightly faded away. "It's true that some bad things happened some times before… but…" she trailed off as she had a nervous look on her face.

Concerned, Sachi hesitantly gave her a sympathetic touch on her arm.

Asuna looked surprised for a bit, but it was quickly replaced with a more grateful look.

"Well the members say it's guild policy but…" she looked away nervously. "But sometimes I feel like my leader is trying to make sure I never leave…"

There was an uncomfortable silence between them.

"Well, if you ever need a place to escape to," Sachi spoke slowly, "you know where we live."

Asuna smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks… but so do they…"

Turning away quickly, she didn't notice Sachi smiling ruefully at her own words. …I wonder… if I had said that back then…

It didn't take them long to get to Asuna's house. Her home was a small but pretty three-floored maisonette. Something far outside of their budget in-game and probably a hopeless dream to get IRL.

Suddenly conscious of their different stations, the two Black Cats couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious.

"Are you sure about this?" Sachi asked nervously. This wasn't exactly her first time entering a residence owned by Asuna, but that didn't make her any less worried than the other times.

"Of course," Asuna said without a care. "You're my friends."

And with that, they steeled their resolves and followed Asuna inside.

They were greeted by the sight of a beautiful room, decorated with what was most likely the highest-quality player-made items.

Still, it gave off a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere.

"Wow," Sachi breathed as she looked around. "Your home is beautiful, Asuna."

The girl in question smiled at the compliment. "Thank you."

"Anyways, let's get changed." She punctuated her request by flicking the gold and silver armour on her friend's shoulder.

"So I guess I should just wait here?" Kirito asked, sounding a little lost.

"Can you please message the others to come?" Sachi requested. "We shouldn't take too long to prepare."

"Sure," Kirito answered obediently as he opened his menu.

"Actually, scratch that," Asuna interrupted. "Why don't you pick them up from the teleport plaza? You can show them the way here from there."

"Sounds like a long walk…" he grumbled, although he was turning his head towards the door.

"Which should give us time to get ready," she replied without skipping a beat.

He shot an annoyed look at Asuna before turning to Sachi with a questioning look, asking for her opinion.

She smiled and slightly nodded in response, silently asking him to do so.

"Fine," he griped. "See you soon."

And with that, he left the house, leaving only the two girls.

"Phew, he's finally gone," Asuna said brightly.

"I miss him already," Sachi sulked a bit.

As soon as she said that, she felt a light slap on her back, making her stand up straight.

"Then let's get the food ready!" Asuna said cheerfully. "What were you planning?"

Admittedly, Sachi didn't think about that just yet. Things had progressed too quickly for her to decide or even ask for her partner's suggestion.

She was almost about to say that, 'anything would be fine' and leave the decision up to Asuna, but she thought better of it.

"How about stew?" she suggested.

"Oh, I see, because «Ragout Rabbit» has «ragout» in its name, smart."

Sachi smiled and nodded her head to agree.

After quickly changing their clothes, they immediately got to work. With practiced movements, they each pulled out a metal pot and put their respective slab of meat into it. From her inventory, Sachi pulled out a few varied herbs and looked them over. Coming to a decision quickly, she added 3 different varieties into the pot before returning the rest to her item list. Pouring in some water, she immediately closed the lid and put it on the stove.

"It's kind of disappointing that SAO takes out a lot of the fun of cooking," Sachi lamented as she was about to press «start». She couldn't help but remember how in many games she played in the past, there were cooking minigames in which one could get delicious-looking food with minimal effort, back then it was a reprieve from her cooking duties IRL. Now, she almost missed the feeling of taking her time to prepare a meal.

Still, cooking was something that put her mind at ease in the preceding years.

"Maybe," Asuna put in. "But it does save up a lot of time."

At the same time, they started their respective timers and stepped away.

"And we can use that time," Asuna continued, her face morphing into a playful grin, "to finally have some girl talk."

Uh oh! Sachi panicked. It was obvious what Asuna wanted to talk about.

"So, how are things going with Kirito?" Asuna asked teasingly, immediately going for the heavy topic.

The other girl immediately panicked and almost dropped the things she was holding.

"I-it's going good…" she stuttered timidly.

"That's good to hear. I can't believe a guy like him could actually keep up a proper relationship for so long."

"Well he is a bit awkward," Sachi couldn't help but frown as she got defensive on his behalf, "but Kirito is a really good person."

"I guess," Asuna said wistfully.

When she heard her friend's tone, Sachi couldn't help but feel a little bad. She knows that Asuna sincerely loves Kirito and that they were very close once. But we have to respect his decision… even if I can never understand why he picked me…

The truth is that he has told her why he picked her… but she couldn't quite bring herself to believe that…

"Good to know that you two are dating," Asuna interrupted her thoughts. "Your friends seem a bit too unsure about that."

Sachi couldn't help but smile shyly. "Well… it's not exactly like we're «dating»…"

"Oh… is that so…" Asuna couldn't help but sigh. Suddenly, she turned to her with a slight smile and a resigned expression. "Well if you want my advice…You're better off confessing to him immediately… After all, you don't know about tomorrow…"

Sachi knew exactly what Asuna was talking about.

"I'm not worried about him leaving…" she almost whispered, "we have a bond that can't be broken… Besides, if he leaves, I'll just follow after him again."

Asuna looked at her skeptically, however her eyes immediately softened. "…I wish I did that…" she whispered.

… "Well…" She wanted to make Asuna feel a bit better, and she knew something that usually brightened her mood. "Despite his «solo player» tendencies, I think Kirito can appreciate someone by his side. He's strong but it's worrying. I mean, have you ever seen him fight?"

Asuna blinked before her expression lit up. "Are you kidding? Please tell me he's told you how many times I've had to save him back in the early days?" she asked excitedly.

"One or two times?"

"Hah! I've lost count!"

Before Sachi could think of a response, a light notification sound rang in her ears.

Quickly opening her menu, she scanned the message that she received.

"Hey, Asuna," Sachi beckoned her friend. "What kind of cake do you like?"

Asuna looked at her curiously, no doubt thinking that Sachi was trying to change the subject.

"Kirito is asking," she informed her. "Apparently, Keita is insisting on bringing a cake if they're visiting your house."

"What a gentleman," Asuna pretended to swoon before answering. "I have always been partial to strawberry cakes."

Sachi nodded and sent the reply.

At the same time, the timer for her stew went off.

With quick and easy movement, they picked up the pots and put them on the table.

By the time there was a knock on the door the table was fully set with enough bowls, plates and cutlery for everyone.

"Come in," Asuna called. A second later, the door opened and framed in it were 5 boys, three fifths of them looking extremely nervous.

They awkwardly smiled before walking in with slow, shuffling steps.

"Hello, Asuna-sama," Keita greeted. "Thank you for inviting us over."

"This is my first time at a girl's house…" Ducker commented as he looked around. "It's nice."

Suddenly, he stumbled forward.

"Don't block the doorway," Sasamaru admonished him. Giving his companion another friendly push, they walked in.

"Don't be so rough guys," Tetsuo said as he walked in. "This isn't our house."

"Maybe not," Asuna cut in, "but still, make yourselves at home."

"Your bodyguards aren't here, are they?" Ducker asked as he looked around nervously.

"Don't worry," Kirito assured him, "we ditched them earlier."

"Good," Sasamaru put in. "The old guy creeps me out."

"'The old guy' is just doing his job," Keita said tactfully. "We shouldn't talk about him behind his back."

Out of sight of everyone else, Sachi rolled her eyes at her childhood friend's words. She respected his diplomacy but sometimes it was a bit too much.

Once all 5 boys stepped inside, Sachi noticed Keita give some kind of hand signal.

As one, Keita, Ducker, Tetsuo and Sasamaru gave a kind of formal bow, as Tetsuo spoke for all of them.

"Thank you for inviting us, Vice Commander Asuna-sama."

Seemingly taken off guard, Asuna stared at them for a solid 5 seconds before answering. "It-it's no big deal…"

"Tehe…" Sachi couldn't help but giggle at her friends' antics. She never really said it aloud, but it was these things that they did that helped her cope with their situation over the last 2 years.

"Don't mind them," she quietly assured Asuna. "They're harmless."

Ducker immediately stood up straight to give her a good-natured glare.

"And strange," Kirito added. "You guys don't need to still be so overly polite with Asuna. Once you get to know the real her, you'll see that."

"…That's enough out of you, Kirito," Asuna said with an edge of annoyance.

The boy shrugged as everyone – including Asuna – laughed at the display.

As everyone continued to banter with each other, they sat at the table which was able to seat all 7 of them.

Going through one pot at a time, the gathered friends quickly went through consuming the meal.

The two girls who made it chose not to reveal who made which dish, wanting to see whether the boys could figure it out through taste alone.

Unfortunately, their little joke was thwarted by everyone refusing to answer which stew was better – Although Sachi and Asuna both wanted to admit that the other girl's cooking was better than their own.

Finally, they all cleared out the dishes – in every sense of the word – leaving their empty plates in front of them. They collectively let out a big sigh as the traces of their meal lingered on their tongues.

"Ah...we did well to stay alive till now..." Kirito said with a big sigh.

After that meal, everybody had to agree – silently though, as they all wanted to savour the delicious taste.

"It's strange actually..." Ducker said randomly. "You ever feel like… I don't know, how should I put it, like, we were born in this world and we've been living here until now or something."

Everyone turned to him, a bit taken off guard not just from the fact that Ducker was sounding philosophical, but that he was right about how they were feeling.

"It's not like you to be so deep," Kirito teased his friend. "Though you took the words right out of my mouth."

"I have my moments," Ducker shrugged with a grin.

"He's not completely wrong, though," Asuna put in. "It's not just him either... Recently on the front lines, there have been less people who are obsessed with «clearing» or «escaping» nowadays."

As everyone around her spoke, Sachi couldn't help but look down at her plate, a bit worried. Are there people who don't want to go back to that world…?

"…Maybe that's why we've had more luck recruiting players from the lower floors," Keita added. "Somehow, I think that since they have less freedom there, they are more willing to try their luck."

"Actually, I wanted to talk about that," Asuna said suddenly.

Everyone looked at her curiously.

Shifting to a more professional behaviour, she explained. "As I'm sure you've noticed, after the 70th floor, there have been hypotheses that more random variants are appearing in the monsters' algorithms." This was something that has been noticed and spread throughout Aincrad – Even to the lower floors so that all players would be more careful should they encounter strange monsters. "Naturally, that has made it more difficult when fighting monsters, especially for solo players or smaller parties."

Not sure of what to say, the Black Cats nodded.

"I'm actually glad that we were all able to meet up like this," she went on, "because now we can finally discuss a plan I had." The chestnut-haired girl nodded in a way that she was trying to reassure herself. "I want the 7 of us to go on a scouting mission in the labyrinth as a joint effort."

She said it plainly but somehow her words still held an air of easy authority.

"You see, I was hoping to send a message to some players who may have recently lost their drive. Perhaps by showing that there are still people who would still fight to clear the game, we could show them that all hope is not lost." She paused and looked at them dramatically. "Inspired by a group of players who have been taking their time to train up players from the lower floors, my idea is that by going as a small team, we can prove that anyone can make a difference in the effort. That anyone can fight."

There was a few moments of silence as everyone looked at each other, not quite discussing her plan, as each of them already knew the consensus of their guildmates.

"Wow. You leader types really have high ambitions, don't you?" Ducker broke the silence to compliment her. …Was it a compliment?

"I'll take that as a compliment," Asuna countered, clearly thinking it was one.

"That may actually work though," Tetsuo conceded. "Lead by example, right?"

"That's right," she answered.

"Why can't you be our leader?" Sasamaru snarked. "You have better ideas th-"

He was cut off by a push from the boy on his side.

"I like this idea," Keita said with a smile that he was clearly trying to use to hide the disrespect he was getting. "And to think that the Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath would offer us such an opportunity – To bring hope to this world."

Asuna gave him a determined look, as if there was a lot for her to say.

"You can think of it as an honour, or you can think of it as a favour to me." She gave them a slight smile.

Suddenly, somebody laughed a bit, breaking the silence.

Asuna immediately looked at the culprit with a sort of restrained anger in her eyes.

"Something funny, Kirito?" she asked somewhat dangerously.

Kirito looked up from his teacup with a fearless expression that was still amused. "Oh, just thinking about the real reason you're offering this opportunity to our lowly guild."

Asuna closed her eyes and smiled, making her look fairly scary.

"And what reason do you think that is?" she challenged.

Out of sight of everyone, Sachi quickly nudged Kirito in the side, urging him not to anger their host further.

"Are you sure you want me to say it?" Kirito went on, unafraid. "In front of everyone here?"

"Go on."

He grinned as he bobbed his head playfully from side to side. "Don't worry, I think it's a wonderful thing," he spoke in a friendly voice. "After so much time being on your own as a leader, it's great that you're finally making friends of your own. Especially ones on the frontlines."

Everyone stayed quiet at the accusation. Asuna merely glared at Kirito, although she didn't seem completely angry.

"…Of all the people who could have said that…" she spoke in a low, dangerous voice, "somehow it actually hurts coming from you…"

There was a few moments of silence as the Black Cats looked at Asuna whose face was starting to turn an exaggerated shade of red.

Ducker was the first to break into a fit of laughter, and that broke everyone else as they all joined in.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Sachi tried to apologize in between laughs.

"How can we say 'no' to that?" Keita was barely able to let out.

Once they were able to restrain their amusement a bit, the others tried to salvage the situation.

"It's fine!" Ducker assured her. "We still like you!"

"Plus, we are still playing an MMORPG," Sasamaru put in.

"It's only natural to make friends," Tetsuo completed his opinion.

"True," Asuna stated, somehow composing herself. "Plus, if Kirito of all people can join a guild, I think it's fine for me to network my friends."

"Hey!" Kirito sounded insulted.

"…She isn't wrong about you," Sachi whispered to him which was something he would later tell her was rich coming from her.

"So I suppose that means that you all agree?" Asuna asked when she was able to get a word in between them.

The Black Cats looked between each other, although without looking at each other or speaking they all knew the answer.

"How could we possibly say 'no'?" Keita answered for them all.

Asuna individually fixed them all with her hazel gaze as she gave each of them a nod.

"Well then," she confidently spoke. "Tomorrow, I will be in your care, Black Cats."

However, unknown to the others, when Sachi's eyes crossed with Asuna's, she could've sworn that she saw a glimpse of satisfaction in her eyes, as if everything went according to her plan.

Once they finally finished the dessert which was made up of a gigantic birthday-style cake decorated with large, bright red strawberries that the Black Cats bought from an NPC-run bakery in their town, everyone got up, finally ready to depart for home.

Sachi asked everyone to head back before as there was something more for her to discuss with Asuna.

Once they had headed out, Sachi asked her friend the question that she wanted to ask.

"So did your plan work? Did you get what you were hoping for?"

Asuna looked at her with a playful glint in her eyes as she smiled. "I have no idea what you mean," the girl replied unconvincingly.

"…Of course…" Sachi replied. This wasn't something worth pursuing.

"Anyways," Asuna said suddenly as she pulled out a vial with a piece of paper inside. "Here's the formula, as we agreed."

The blue-haired girl took the bottle and put it away into her inventory. "Thank you, Asuna." Shifting on her feet she went on in a timid voice. "Today was fun, I hope we can meet up like this again sometime."

"Of course," Asuna replied. "We're friends, aren't we? All of us I mean."

"Yes… we are."

It was a bit odd. Admittedly, Sachi didn't really have many friends outside of the Black Cats, so maybe she just appreciated somebody calling her that at all.

"Well, let's make tomorrow a productive day." As she said that she pulled out a small key and presented it towards the other girl who took it with a slightly bewildered expression.

"See you tomorrow!" she said with a polite bow before she turned on her heel and headed out the door.

As she quickly walked through the streets, Sachi couldn't help but think back to today's conversation, focusing on the idea that there were some players who probably didn't want to return to the real world.

The truth that she couldn't say to anyone was that she often thought that her guildmates were actually enjoying this world even more than the real world.

She took a look at the huge iron cover that blocked out the artificial sky. Despite everything, she knew that she certainly wanted to escape from this virtual prison. Part of that was due to the fear she often felt just being here, knowing that her life was in danger whenever she stepped out of a town… but there was more, maybe even answers that nobody could find out here.

«Why was this world created?» «Why did they have to be trapped here?»

There was a person who certainly knew the answer to such questions, but – despite some theories that they passed around between themselves – nobody knew where he really was.

Taking one more glance at the starless iron cover, she finally reached the «Teleport Plaza». Sachi saw her partner illuminating the area with his presence along with the rest of her guildmates standing around, looking in her direction.

Still, I suppose being forced into this kind of life hasn't been completely bad…

With a slight smile, she quickened her pace as she joined them where they all headed home together.

Note to self: Avoid thinking that future chapters will be easier to write because they're shorter or if I think I know how they'll turn out, somehow that always makes them take longer to complete and release…

My original plan was for Asuna to only invite Kirito and Sachi to explore, however I decided to include the entire guild because I have to accept that this is a team story.

The way Kirito describes Asuna in this chapter of the LN makes me wonder: «What if the anime were to purposefully use a different animation style in SAO compared to the real world or even the other games?» It would be interesting but probably jarring. Although I have vague memories of a live-action show doing something like that, but for the life of me, I can't remember what the title was. EDIT: Looks like I was thinking about "Zixx", a series that used live-action for the real world and used computer animation for the «Keep» (VR) parts.