Secret of SAO

Team Rivalry

They hung out in town for a while, because even though he was rude about it, Kirito did present an excellent point.

Asuna started to fear what would happen, when they had to logout and leave the trio unattended. Asuna hated the idea, but if she could get close to Eugeo, which wouldn't be all that difficult, she could count on him to keep Kirito's reigns in. But she didn't want to hurt Kazuto, in the process. Would Kazuto understand what she was thinking of doing? Would it even matter? If he dies, it will all be for nothing, anyways. She could always try to explain it to him later... She just dreaded the drama that usually came on swift assumptions. Sure Kirito didn't care, but if Kazuto remembers what happens in game, she would have a lot of explaining to do. If only she could explain it to him ahead of time, but that would defeat the purpose. Kirito would know that she was using Eugeo and as a good friend, he would rip Eugeo away from her. Then they would leave the guild for sure.

Asuna watched as the three friends seemed so happy together. She could only imagine what they were talking about, as they were goofing off. They wanted some time to catch up, so Asuna and the others, gave them some space. She just hoped she wouldn't regret it later. Another thing she noticed, was a change in Kirito that seemed to have resulted from the realization, that they haven't died in game. But the reality of it is, they are still dead IRL, which is horrifying. Kirito must think that he can just respawn, like a normal game. "Don't you get it, Kirito? If there aren't any cursors, they are dead IRL..." Asuna mumbled under her breath.

"I'm worried..." Leafa was standing right next to Asuna and she hadn't even noticed. "What if Kirito decides, he doesn't want to go back to the real world?"

"He has to. This isn't living. His time is short, even IRL..."

"If he gets himself killed-"

"Don't even say stuff like that!" Asuna cut her off. "Kirito wouldn't. He has to understand the importance of that."

"Kirito always fights better, when he thinks his life depends on it... But now..."

"He won't take it seriously, anymore..." Asuna felt the tears tug at her.

Suddenly, the others joined the two 'stalkers'. "One more floor and we will have reached the next gate." Klein reminded everyone.

"How many gates are there. I am all for expansive gameplay, but if we have to beat the game to force Kirito to logout, I wish they stuck to the original servers." Sinon didn't want to think about dealing with Kirito for 81 more floors, if there even was that many.

"I remember what it was like to be stuck in SAO and I thought that was bad." Klein complained.

Asuna sprung up in sudden realization. "Kirito said that we had to defeat Hades! He didn't say we had to make it to the last floor."

"He did say that." Leafa renewed her hope too.

"What does he even look like?" Sinon pondered out loud.

"I don't think we are supposed to know that or it wouldn't be as challenging, I guess." Klein stood there for a moment wondering himself.

Asuna got Klein's attention. "Klein? Remember in SAO, it wasn't any of us, who figured out Heathcliff's real identity..."

"It was Kirito!" Klein finished.

"Exactly." Asuna looked back at Kirito, who was still conversing with his friends and looking pretty cheery, while doing it. "If Kirito was able to see through General Heathcliff, then maybe he can shed some light on Hades' true identity, as well."

"You really think Hades is a person and not a monster?" Sinon asked suspiciously.

"It makes sense. When we were in SAO, Kirito had pointed out an interesting fact."