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The two walked silently through Malin, the main town of the 26th floor. Kirito looked up at his partner, ever since the first floor, who was now being distant from him. He did not know if it was because of the major tragedy that happened to ALS or his rejection towards Heathcliff. It was clear that Asuna’s answer towards the man’s entreaty was different, even though she didn’t speak about it.
He wished that she would speak to him about it, instead of this silence Asuna has been giving him now and would probably go further on. The thing was that he sort of wanted to hear that it was only about the ALS that was making her uneasy. Of course, he could not read minds so it was up to her to tell him.
Kirito was inwardly attached to her now. Everything they did was now this normality waking up, to her nudging his shoulder early in the morning so that they can go mat hunting to reinforce her rapier before the two guilds get up or her rolling her eyes and even play along to his weird antics. There are times where his heart would quicken a little when their eyes connect.
It was assured that he thinks he may have fallen in love with the fencer. Hard telling though, because this is the first time he has felt like this. He wonders if she feels this too, but like himself, he couldn’t pick up the hints that it is love that they have.
With all that had happened up until now, would it even be appropriate to be feeling this way? Just now there was a big reminder that they both could have been the same way if they were not careful enough. It could be any day now, the bosses are going to get harder and now there are less people in the front lines since the ALS has traveled back down to the lower floors and will probably never come back.
Kirito almost ran into Asuna due to her abrupt stop. She turned around, her eyes filled with sorrow but determination.
“Kirito-kun, I have to talk to you,” she took a couple steps back so she was able to see Kirito’s face better.
He nodded, “I do too.”
“Oh, what is it you have to say?”
Kirito paused, he was not too sure what to pick to talk about. Was it possible for him to mix his feelings and acknowledge her aloof state into one sentence? He knew that he was running out of time, one of them was going to die without his declaration. At this moment, he has a chance to tell her how he feels, it does not feel right though.
“Uhm, I think you should say what you need.”
Asuna glared at him, “Kirito-kun…”
“Sorry.”
Her eyes softened and her lips tightened as if she was trying to find her words.
“I think… I think I want to join the Knights of the Blood Oath.”
Air escapes Kirito’s lips and his heart plumments to his feet.
“Oh.”
“I’m really sorry, I just think it would be better to move on from this partnership. If there are going to be more deaths coming up, we shouldn’t risk our lives just to keep this party going. Plus, we need to build another guild to strengthen up the front lines to beat this game faster. I was asked to join, and I want to help build up that guild.”
It was all in her breath that Kirito noticed that Asuna was ready to leave Aincrad as soon as possible. Kirito also wanted the same thing, for the pace to quicken, but like she had said, there is only one major guild in the front lines right now, and it would be impossible to take down a floor within a week like they had been doing. It would take them two weeks to clear the dungeons, find the boss room, gather information, get resources, and defeat the boss.
This is pretty much every sane person’s goal at the moment. It has not even been a year since they have gotten trapped in SAO, but for some reason, it feels like a normal routine, up until what had happened with the ALS. It was a snap back to reality for the people in the front lines. It had probably also clicked with Asuna who was scared and Kirito is scared.
He had to be reasonable about this, he understands what Asuna is going through and it would be selfish to keep her by his side.
“It’s ok, I did tell you that we would be partners until you were strong enough to be on your own.”
The misery in her face washed out a little bit from hearing Kirito’s words. As if she was worried what his response was going to be.
“I’m glad you understand.”
Before she said anything else or any other thoughts entered her mind, she turned around and walked away as Kirito watched her figure disappear.
He just stood there, his vision blurring from tears forming. Using his gloves, he kept wiping them away but they only kept coming back.
If only he was stronger, he knew that one day Asuna would move on from bigger and better things. During that time, he did not get stronger enough to move on. Because right now, he felt like he was still on floor one where everyone in that room wanted nothing to do with him. But yet, Asuna, Agil, and Argo cherished him. Even that Heathcliff guy wanted him to join his guild, the first ever request he got ever since he talked to Klein.
Kirito feels so alone now, but he’s not strong enough to do anything about it.