September 20th, 2024
A few monsters were being struck down by a boy dressed in a black coat, wielding a black sword which defeated them with ease. At the same time, his guildmates watched over from behind him, curious as to when they would get a chance to fight.
Currently, four members of the Moonlit Black Cats were walking towards the exit of the labyrinth of the 60th floor. The day started with a routine excursion into the dungeons.
Well mostly routine. Today's group was composed of Kirito, Ducker, Tetsuo and Sasamaru.
Earlier in the day, Keita told everyone that he was going down to the lower floors in order to spread info to the players there. For the last few months, the Moonlit Black Cats had been finding areas on the higher floors where it would be safer for lower-level players to train and gain EXP.
Evidently, he didn't want to go alone so he had asked everyone if they would volunteer to accompany him.
Nobody offered. Everyone, except for Keita, found the meetings to be incredibly boring, so they would often try to find ways to get out of them whenever they could afford to.
Eventually, he settled on asking Sachi to come with him.
"We haven't spent enough time together recently," he had claimed.
And that was enough for her to agree. Sometimes I think you're too nice, Sachi.
Unfortunately for Kirito, his friends were not above teasing him about the situation.
A «friend date» is what those idiots called it. According to them, the two of them used to do that a lot back home, often leaving them behind unexpectedly.
It was a joke of course. A very insensitive one, but a joke nonetheless.
After all, having spent what felt like a lifetime with the girl, he knew that if nothing else, Sachi was faithful. And having known his leader, he knew that he wouldn't dare impose on the relationships of his friends...
Still, seeing the two of them together as they left, he was reminded of a certain insecurity that he first felt a long time ago.
In fact the feeling was so bad that he felt the negativity chilling his body.
Calm down, he told himself as they entered the safe zone nearby. I shouldn't be upset that she's hanging out with a male friend. They insist that they're like siblings... just like me and Sugu and there's no way we'd ever start liking each other like that, right?!
"Hey," a male voice broke through his thoughts. Looking up, he saw Tetsuo looking to him with concern. "You okay, Kirito? You aren't making a very happy face," he pointed out.
"I'm fine," he lied. However his voice was difficult to get out. What the hell? he thought as he realized how badly his body was feeling. He felt a piercing cold penetrating deep into his muscles and bones. Admittedly, he had used more effort than normal to fight off the monsters, but that shouldn't make him feel like this!
Looking down at himself, he quickly turned back to his friend and shook his head with a startled expression.
He collapsed to his knees, unable to stand on his shaking legs.
"Hey! Kirito!" he heard someone who he thought was Sasamaru speak.
"Can't handle it!" he barely choked out as his vision began to blur. "Get help! Get Sa-!"
Before he could bring himself to finish his sentence, he lost consciousness.
***
"Kirito! Kirito!" Sasamaru kept shaking their guildmate.
YOU ARE READING
Sword Art Online - The Midnight Shadow
FanfictionUsing all his power, Kirito was barely able to save the lives of his guildmates, but his guilt of putting them in danger drove him to leave them anyways. However, he did not have to return to be a solo player, as there is someone who will always sta...
