Absolute Bond (Yuuki x Kirito)

Chapter Seven: Aftermath

Aincrad, Floor 64: Village of QROW 10:47 AST (Aincrad Standard Time) 

"Mhhhm..." A strong sensation of warmth rushed over Yuuki as she awoke, her sleep clouded eyes peering idly from behind her parting eyelids as the usual view of the rented inn room greeted her slightly distorted gaze. Yawning she sat up, grimacing at the fatigue that clung to her newly opened eyes, she turned to the side her weary gaze falling upon her sleeping partner, her irritated expression melting into a smile, she chuckled softly, placing a hand on the mop of unruly hair which threatened to engulf his sleeping features and gently began to rock him. "Rise and shine K'" she laughed once more at the muffled protests from the sleeping boy as she attempted to rouse him. Leaving him to awaken she pulled the covers off herself and got out of bed, the girls grimace returning as the cold latched onto her bare frame. Stepping into the shower Yuuki hummed softly to herself as the water cascaded down her. Collecting her thoughts, her mind drifted to the previous night as a small smile graced her lips as the memory of their shared moonlight washed back to the front of her mind, turning off the stream of water she stepped out, her hand opening the character screen and reequipping her usual outfit which had been hastily discarded the previous night. Moving from the bathroom, Yuuki slicked back her lilac bangs, her smile growing at the sight of Kirito finally rising from the bed, clearly suffering from the same grogginess she had experienced. "Morning sleepy head" Yuuki's words and following giggle drew the swordsman's attention, his head turning towards his partner,  "Oh morning Yuuki." he stood, raising his arms above his head and stretched, an audible crack coming from his shoulders, he winced at the unexpected noise; Yuuki drew his attention again, "Get ready soon, I think we should head to Floor 72 I hear the clearers are struggling with the field bosses, something about not having enough DPS players, you in?" Kirito's raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "72?" his expression only grew more confused as Yuuki nodded, "We only just reached that Floor why the sudden push?" The development was indeed confusing, Aincrad's field bosses were usually only situated near and in the infamous Labyrinths, which in tern were located at the very end of a Floor, connecting it to the upper levels; "Heathcliff" came Yuuki's reply, Kirito's face immediately darkened and he shared a grim look with Yuuki, "He's back?" she nodded, "Apparently the guilds reconstruction is finished, he's back on the front lines. Word has it he's making up for lost time." Heathcliff, master of the Knights of the Blood Oath had pulled the guild from the front lines after Asuna's death for an apparent vetting of all members to ensure no further incidents occurred, the guilds return was a game changer, whether for the best or not. Kirito sighed, a hand coming up to his face, "His constant pressure to push further and harder is the exact reason we lost so many, not just her..." Yuuki's face dropped as she saw Kirito crumple slightly at the mention of Asuna's loss, the scars still lingered on all of the clearers. "I promise you it'll be different this time." she pulled Kirito's bare torso into a tight embrace, stroking his raven hair tentatively, he leaned into the embrace savoring the warmth that poured from the swordswoman, "I ca-n-n't lose you Yu'" he mumbled into her hair, the smell of her shampoo invading his senses. Yuuki pulled him back slightly and stared into his eyes her own filled with burning determination that seemed to burn straight through him, "I won't leave you alone, not ever, I won't allow it." He simply stared back at her, mesmerized by the inferno raging in her crimson orbs, he saw a promise among the flames and knew he wouldn't be left alone, not again; A small smile crested his lips and he answered meekly, "Ok." Yuuki pulled him back into the embrace allowing the emotions words couldn't express to flow through them, gently separating Yuuki smiled at him, "Breakfast?" Kirito smiled once more, the anguished memories extinguished, "Defiantly." 

"H-how are you doing by the way?" Yuuki looked up from her meal in surprise at Kirito's line of questioning, "What do you mean?" she asked, one eyebrow disappearing up into the purple locks. "Y-you know, after..." he trailed off his cheeks burning, "I didn't, y'know, hurt you?" Yuuki's own cheeks briefly flashed scarlet before her composure returned, "Not really, quite the opposite in fact." a smirk gently replaced her neutral expression. Kirito's blush deepened further, "r-Really?" Yuuki giggled softly, placing a hand upon his, "I'm sure K', it was wonderful, thanks to you and Elucidator Jr there." He looked up in confusion briefly, "Elucidat- ?" his face suddenly burned crimson once more as he processed Yuuki's comment, "y-YUUKI!" she laughed jubilantly at his flustered expression before melting back into a gentle smile, "Ok, ok i'll stop." she took a moment to compose herself, "But really thank you, that ment a lot to me, it was the first time i've ever, y'know..." a mirrored blush painted her own face as Kirito's lessened as he squeezed her paled hand and smiled, her own blush gradually reduced and she returned the gesture; "There is something else i've wanted to ask you..." her voice trailed off as if she seemed to gather her thoughts, "When this game is cleared... will we ever see each other again?" Kirito once again looked at her in surprise, "Of course Yu', we both live in Tokyo after all, it wouldn't be any trouble at all, and..." he looked deep into her eyes, "My feelings for you don't just run game deep, I love you, truly." Two tears rolled down Yuuki's cheeks as Kirito finished and he gently brushed them off with his free hand, "Thank you K', I haven't had the... easiest life." her eyes flickered with what may have been sadness for a brief, fleeting moment before rebounding to a joyous glow, "But i'm happy to know i'll always have you." 

"Attack coming in from the left!" Yuuki raised her lilac blade to deflect the incoming attack from the axe wielding field boss, the axe's jagged head grated off the smooth surface of her longsword before rebounding, it's arms rising over it's head from the reversed momentum; "Switch" she yelled, springing backwards out of the bosses attack range as Kirito rushed forward, issuing a ever accelerating series of furious jabs and slashes, his own longsword becoming little more than an ebony blur as the boss became inundated with scarlet lines and it's health bar dissolved, with a final roar the Level 80 Field Boss "Tyrian" reared it's head and burst into numerous aqua colored shards. Kirito allowed his shoulders to slump as oxygen rattled into his overworked lungs, the tip of Elucidator pressing into  the ground as he lent on it, legs threatening to collapse, Yuuki enveloped him in a hug from behind, her own breathing as strained as his own. "W-we did it K'" she heaved pulling both of them onto the soft blades grass beneath their feet, "G-guess we did" he chuckled weakly as the exhaustion involved with beating a Field Boss caught up with him. The two warriors lay for a moment, allowing them to regain their breath and slow their racing hearts only interrupted when they became aware of multiple players approaching, a stern and slightly bemused voice rising above the growing noise; "Well, well it seems someone has beaten us to the boss. men lower your weapons." Yuuki sat bolt upright at the voice, feeling Kirito follow suit, there was no mistaking the gravely voice, the unruly silver hair and the crimson armor the figure was clad in, Yuuki saw Kirito stiffen out the corner of her eye and then stand, his fist clenched. 

"Heathcliff" he growled. 

(A/N: I am deeply sorry for the enormous amount of time it has taken to publish this chapter, i've been bogged down by work and multiple network issues since returning from my holiday in France but hopefully I should be back on track now. Also... thank you for nearly 400 reads! It seems this story gains momentum faster than I can keep up, so my thanks go out to every single one of you who has read this story thus far and I hope you continue to read the future chapters. That being said this story will not have a set release schedule anymore, it will still be roughly once a week but with work ramping up I want to make sure I take my time to make sure each chapter is as good as it can be for you all! 

Thanks. 

-MurphyJP