The New Beginning (Kirito x Yuuki)

Defeat

Kirito

Can't move my body... everything is black... where am i? Even though it's pitch black and scary, i'm feeling very comfortable right now. I feel so warm and safe. "kirito..." Huh? What's that sound? Who is calling for me? "kirito... Kirito?!" A flash of light appeared in front of me, engulfing me. I open my eyes to see Yuuki's face up close with tears in her eyes. Turns out, my head is laying on her lap. She looked relieved that i woke, then i immediately get hugged. "Kirito, you reckless idiot!" "Hey Yuuki, please don't hug to hard or i'll loose the rest of my HP." Klein came up in front of us. "Hey Klein, how long was i out for?" I asked. "Just for a few minutes. You were on the edge of the grave back there." "Yeah... I just got lucky on the hits." "Well, Kobatz and eleven of his men aren't very lucky." I gasped. "Damn, we haven't loss anyone in a boss fight... since floor 67." "That wasn't a boss fight, that was suicide. Kobatz was a Damn fool... There's no meaning to this if you die!" I looked down and stayed silent. "Well, you're not off the hook either, what the heck was that you just did?" I looked at Klein with a blank expression. "I think it's better if you don't know." "Oh come one, i've never seen anything like that?!" "Well, it's a unique skill that i picked up, called [Dual Wielding]." Everyone gasped. "Dude, are there prerequisite?" "If there is, i would've shared it by now." "I've never met anyone who has that skill. Amazing. How can you kept a huge secret like this from me???" He said teasingly. I looked away for a second. "I... I just don't want people blasting me with questions." "I guess you're right, people will get curious if they knew a skill like that exist. Even i'm jealous you got such a cool skill... And that." He said with a smirk looking at Yuuki. I blush a little. "Well, we're going to go open the door to the next floor, you coming?" He asked. "I think i'm going to stay here for a bit and recover my HP." He nodded and started walking, but stopped again. "Oh yeah, Kirito uhh... What you did back there... Rushing forward to go save everyone... Well, i'm glad you did." He said and wiped off a tear. "Well, see ya." He said and walked off to the next floor. It was silent for a good minute. Yuuki is still hugging me, so i asked her. "Hey Yuuki, what's wrong?" Yuuki shook a bit. "I... I thought... you were gonna die. If you've died, i won't know what to do." She said still crying. "What ere you talking about, you were the one who rushed in first." "Kirito, please promise me to not do anything reckless. We promised to beat this game together." My eyes widen. "... Okay, i promise." I said and hugged her back. We stayed there for a long time, enjoying the moment. After that, my HP recovered and we went home. It was night and while we were walking, i noticed Yuuki still sad about what happened. I decided to pull Yuuki closer to me. I smiled at her and it seems to calm her down, then she lay her head on my shoulder as we walk. We got home and went straight to bed. She was exceptionally close tonight, but i don't mind. We cuddled all night, and at one point i felt something warm on my cheek.

Yuuki

I woke up with my head on top of Kirito's chest. He's still sleeping. I blushed and pecked him on the cheek then slowly got up so he doesn't wake up. I wash my face and went to go make breakfast. I set the food on the table and Kirito came out. "Morning Yuuki." "Morning Kirito, breakfast is ready. I made your favorite omelet." He smiled and sat down. "Hey Yuuki, can i ask you about that skill you used yesterday? I've never seen it before." "Oh that, it was a unique skill i got on a quest while you were gone. It's called [Mother Rosario]. It's an 11 hit combo skill. You do 10 stabs and 1 finishing blow. It's very powerful." "Wow, but why don't you use it more often?" I giggled. "Same reason as you, i don't want to attract attention to us." He smiled gladly. "Thanks Yuuki, that helped out a lot." I smiled back. "But what about you? Where and when in the world did you get that incredible skill?" I asked curiously. "Oh, uhh... Actually, i don't even know how i got it. A couple of months ago i was looking through my menu, and just came across it. Strange thing is, no one have this skill. Argo was the one i told first about this skill, she doesn't know anything." "Wow, since when Argo doesn't know something." We laughed a bit. We finished up and decided to pay Agil a visit. While we were walking, people around us just kept staring, mostly at Kirito. When we finally reached Agil's shop, we were greeted with a guy coming out of the shop looking disappointed. "Still the same with those deal of yours huh?" Kirito said coming in with me behind him. "Ah, welcome you two lovebirds. I was expecting you two." Kirito made a weird face and i just giggled. "Well, what do you mean by 'expecting'?" Kirito asked. "Have you heard? A minotaur wielding a giant sword wiped out a whole squad of soldier and a 50 hit combo from a duel wielder took down the boss by himself. Sound familiar?" I was surprised, but Kirito is making this otherworldly faces. "Ho-How did you know all that?!" "Someone from the liberation army posted this news, and is spreading wildly. Look, there's your face." He showed a newspaper with a picture of kirito in it. "So this is why people were staring at us." I said. "God dammit... I can't believe this. Now what are we gonna do?" Kirito said frustrated. "Well it's going to come out eventually right?" Liz suddenly came out from the back room carrying boxes full of material. "Liz?! What are you doing here?" I asked. "I came to pick up some material for future crafting." "So, you know about it too?" "Well of course, this thing is blowing up everywhere." "Jeez, i think we need a new place to stay, it's a matter of time before people starts banging on our door." Kirito said sitting on a chair. Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. I opened the door to see someone wearing an armor with a red and white design. "Excuse me, but i believe that a person named Kirito was spotted here. Do you know where this person is?" He asked. "Umm... Yeah, let me go get him."

Kirito

"Who is it?" I asked when Yuuki came back. "I don't know. This guy in red and white armor just came and asked for your where about." I was confused but decided to meet him. When i came out the door, i was greeted with this person. "You are Kirito?" I nodded. "You are invited to meet with Commander Heathcliff at our guilds home base. It's regarding about what happened yesterday. Would you kindly come with me?" I realize that i'm going to be in a lot of trouble, but i went anyway.

20 minutes

Me and Yuuki are face to face with the commander of the strongest guild in the game, [Heathcliff]. "My apologies for the sudden invite." "It's alright, i don't have much to do anyway." "I believe that we've met before in a past meeting." I nodded. "Let me get straight to the point. Due to your action on exploring the labyrinth alone, Lieutenant Kobatz from the [Aincrad Liberation Force] along side some of his comrade were killed. And because of that, it is decided that you will be punish." I don't know what to say. I looked down without sating anything. "Hey it's not his fault that the Liberation Force were wiped out, he only-" Yuuki started complaining but i stopped her. "Stop Yuuki, i'm sorry but i think he's right, it's my fault that they were killed." "Bu-But..." I took a step forward. "Okay, what's the punishment?" I asked. "You will be joining the [Knight of the Bloodoath]." I was taken aback, and got pissed. "NO WAY! I'd rather be in a party with Yuuki than joining the strongest guild. I'm not going to leave her side."

Yuuki

My heart skipped a beat.

Kirito

"Hmph, quite the bond you got there. Alright, how about this. We'll settle this with a duel. If you win, the issue regarding your action will be discarded and you are free to refuse. But, if i win, you will join our guild and are going to participate in every meeting and boss raid." "A duel it is then." He got up and lead us towards the arena. "Kirito, are you sure you want to do this?" Yuuki asked with worried eyes. I pat her head. "It's okay, if there's a chance that i can stay beside you, i'll take it without a second thought." Her face turned red so fast. I then realize what i just said and looked away blushing. "Haha, you two are making it hard for me to do this." Heathcliff said with a smirk. We made it to the arena, and Heathcliff asked for Yuuki to stay behind the gate. He send me a duel request. I accept. "Let's make this quick, i have an appointment after this." He said while taking out his sword and shield.

The count down reached zero and i went straight at him. I started slashing at his shield hoping that i can geta good angle on him, but his defense is absolutely crazy. He suddenly push his shield in front of my face and caught me off guard, then he swing his sword upward and i barely manage to block it, but his strength is also incredible that i got pushed back some distance. He then ran at me and was about to swing his sword again, but then suddenly uses his shield to hit me right in the stomach. "Gah! His shield?!" i got pushed back quite far. He then rush me again with his sword, but i manage to parry his attack. I jump back to make some distance. I then use a skill [Double Circular] and charge at him at high speed. I let the skill kept pushing me and manage to push him a bit. We took a breather. "Your reaction time is outstanding." He said. "Yeah, and your defense is quite formidable." We continue fighting with the cycle of parries, blocking, and dodging. I kept swinging my sword at him without stopping hoping to create an opening. NOT YET! I kept getting cuts which made my health cripple down little by little. I then manage to scratch his face which caught him off guard. NOW! I activated my special skill [Starburst Stream] and went all out on his shield. Doing 4 right swing and an 'X' form swing followed by a reverse 'X' swing. I then stabbed his shield and pulled my sword down which made him stagger and pushed his shield away, creating a huge opening on his body. I then went for the finishing blow, doing a downward slash on his head. Right when it was about to connect with his head, i suddenly feel something strange. He then suddenly disappear and reappear with his shield above his head. My sword then hit his shield and i slipped, letting my whole left body wide open.

Yuuki

"No... KIRITO!!!"

Kirito

I feel my face distraught. I got a quick glance at Yuuki. Her face is fill with horror. Shit... Forgive me Yuuki. My left side got stabbed. My body went flying. I looked at my health slowly goes down to the yellow zone. For the first time ever, the defeat notification appeared in front of me.

"I...Lost?"