Sword Art Online: Nice Boat

Chapter 2

After countless negotiations and arguments, Asuna had managed to gain ownership over a small boat that would barely fit our members into it. With Klein taking helm as the boat captain, we aimed to sail down the river and reach the next town within 24 hours. With the many raids being part of the guild had entailed and the many other jobs that had bogged us down, Asuna and I finally had a moment to sit down and enjoy, if not the space we were in, at least the time we would have together.

"It's been a while, huh..." she muttered, skipping stones across the water. They began with a passionate vigour that, after every skip, gradually died down, subject to that final sink to the bottom.
"Yeah..." I could only look up at the night sky again, and trace those constellations I had kept to myself.
"Kirito, I feel like you've been keeping yourself from me for a while... If anything's wrong, you're allowed to talk to me, alright?"
She looked over to me with a glamour in her eye that I had not seen in a long time.
"It's nothing Asuna, I've just been tired lately."
It's always around this time that I'm tired – the anniversary of my failure, in which Sachi's face would flash in my eyes during my deepest, most restless dreams.
"I wonder if you're even really cut out to be fighting all the time like this, Kirito..."
Twiddling her thumbs, she fixed her attention to the warped moon that shone from the river.
"...that Kanta guy in the guild... He's quite admirable, don't you think?"
Mayonnaise sandwich in mouth, I muffled and nodded as my eyelids twitched from exhaustion.
"Always looking forward and charging ahead. He's a good commander, and at the core, he just wants to escape from this place..."
With a hint of a blush shining on her cheeks, I rose up from the ledge and walked over to the wheel, boots clicking louder than I had intended. I tapped Klein's shoulder, drooped over the boat's controls, "Klein, I'll take it from here – go get some rest..."
Submitting himself to the gravity of sleepiness, he plopped himself in the corner at began to snore immediately.
"Asuna, get some sleep too, your strength is needed."
Lizbeth breathed quietly, embracing the disgruntled, sleepless Silica. On the opposite corner, Asuna tucked herself in, with a warmth in her heart that carried her through these days. I looked over to everyone and set my eyes ahead – I was to face this night alone.

--End Chapter 2--