Sword Art Online - Alternative Reality

The Calm- CHP.2

After finishing off a few custom orders, the rest of the day had been completely uneventful. Since there was nearly no foot traffic for maintenance and repairs, I ended up resting on my rocking chair that Makhol had made from our horrible mushroom expedition last month. With a stomach filled with Asuna's fabled tea and biscuits, the relaxing atmosphere in front of my shop put a heavyweight on my eyes. There was hardly anyone even walking the streets, although it looked like there was some sort of commotion on the other side of town. Ashley would let me know if it was important though...but it wouldn't surprise me if those two were somehow involved.

I wonder if Ashley asked Asuna to try out those dresses yet...

The sound that filtered into my ears as I closed my eyes was not the rhythmic thumping of my store's water wheel or the singing of the birds, but the idle chatter of a classroom. Based on the topics that I could make out, it was probably my math class where I always ended up dozing off. Still, it was the best class to fall asleep in, since the surprisingly young teacher was kind enough to not yell my head off. Instead, he would gently tap on my shoulder and in a calm, gentle voice would call out-

"Um, excuse me-"

"W-wah?!"

Startled by the familiar voice that called out to me, I launched myself forward and felt a distinct impact on my head as a dark figure was sent reeling back as purple effects sparked in front of me. I cupped my head as the impact had sent a static shock throughout my body.

"Owowow...what the..."

Looking to the cause of my discomfort, I was about to help them out when I saw who it was. Clad in his personalized KoB uniform as he lifted himself onto one elbow, his annoyed expression replaced my concern with pure irritation.

"K-Ky?! What's the big idea?! What the hell were you trying to do?!"

"Well excuse me, you weren't getting up when I called out to ya so I tried shaking you a bit, only for you to bash my head in. Man, what type of professional sleeps on the job?"

"Th-that's the last thing I want to hear from you! Aren't you always going around finding the best places to waste time and sleep?!"

"At least I don't headbutt someone who's politely trying to wake someone up."

With our back and forth getting nowhere, I could only sigh as I noticed the distinct lack of a certain someone who should have prevented this travesty from happening in the first place.

"Whatever...where's Asuna anyway?"

"Ah."

Clamming up as he rubbed his head, this was a 10/10 on the suspicious reaction scale. He jumped up to his feet as he pointedly brushed off the 'dust' on his coat and looked towards the direction of Ashley's shop.

"Ashley wanted her help with something tomorrow, but she decided to get a head start to clear up as much as she could today. I'm banned from joining so I thought I could seek out the grandmaster blacksmith of the 48th floor, only to be thoroughly disappointed."

"You!"

Waving a fist at him, I suppressed my surprise at Ashley's proactive attack. I was well aware of the only thing she would ask Asuna for while preventing Kirito from joining. If things were going as she and Argo discussed, odds were that they wanted me to keep him away in case his curiosity got the best of him. As calmly as I could, I readjusted myself on my chair and acted as clueless as I could.

"Well I'm sure it's something you would have probably messed up, but why did you come to me then? I already did maintenance on your gear when you dropped by earlier."