Chapter Text
Recap: In order to escape the uncertainties and problems appearing in his life, Katsuki Yuuri applies for and participates in the SAO Beta-test. Entering the game under the name Ryuu, Yuuri meets and eventually befriends another player named Kirito.
In the beta’s final minutes, the two make a promise to meet again once the real game goes live.
Now, a few short weeks before his 14th birthday, Yuuri enters into the Virtual World of Sword Art Online once more.
~o~
November 7: (1:00 PM)
It was all so beautiful, just like Yuuri remembered.
The midafternoon sun hung high in the sky, lightening the cobblestone roadways leading in every direction from the large circular Town Square. The red and gold rooftop tiles glisten brightly and the stone buildings stood just as tall and breathtakingly as he remembered.
The atmosphere was even more animated than during the opening of the Beta. It made sense since the amount of people had multiplied by a factor of ten. The new players and faces were browsing through the various alleyways--taking off in whatever direction caught their eye--eager to explore this new world just like Yuuri once was.
Some walked down the Main North road, where Yuuri recalled an NCP-operated merchant shop sold decent leather armour for players under Level 3. Others began to peruse the various stalls of the Bazaar-styled market that filled the smaller, but no less busy South Boulevard. And still more could be seen to the East as they stopped and stared at the artistry and beauty of the East Alleyways where the more luxurious items and eateries were located.
Yuuri himself wanted to explore the bustling city of his memories that he had not laid eyes on in over five months. The air, the colors, the atmosphere, the sounds. Everything held a place in his heart, reminding him of the adventure filled summer he had spent in this world.
But a promise weighed heavy in his mind and he was determined to fulfill it.
He was already running a few minutes late; the work at the inn on the busy Saturday tripling for the lunch hour. (Yuuri didn’t blame them for flooding in. His mother’s cooking was to die for, after all.) A small mishap in an order had led Yuuri to being a few minutes late logging in.
Once he had logged in, the option of using his Beta-Test information had stalled him even more.
Wouldn’t it be a cheat to use it? He had gotten to a rather high level by the time the Beta had finished, and he had worked hard to get that far so he wasn’t too keen on throwing away all his efforts and hours of trial and error.
(The athlete inside himself cringed at the idea of letting hard work and constant training go to waste.)
But if there was one thing that Kirito had instilled in Yuuri during their time in the Beta, it was that the game was inherently “fair,” following a certain logic of numbers and statistics that could not be disputed. If the game system itself was giving Yuuri the option to use his past data, then it must have been adjusted somehow so that is was still fair to the others new players.
Decided, Yuuri had chosen to use his Beta-test information.
Now, standing in the main city square of the [Town of Beginnings], Yuuri opened his menu by swiping his right hand downward.
In line with his suspicious, he is at level one and none of the equipment or items he had amassed during the beta-test were present in his storage. His skills and preferred weapon were gone as well. Yuuri began to think that there was no difference between using the Beta-test data and a new avatar until he opened his friends list.
There--at the very top as the one and only player Yuuri had added to his list--sat Kirito’s name.
So that the difference; I get to keep my contacts, Yuuri realized. He also supposed that he saved a few minutes while logging in by not having to recreate his avatar once again, but this is the more obvious and appreciated advantage.
It made sense to a certain extent. If you don’t train constantly, you will lose your muscles and suffer a decrease in ability. But just because you don’t see someone for a few months doesn’t mean that you forget them instantly.
(Yuuri recalls fondly that Kirito had often berated him for applying real life logic to a gaming world ruled by codes and numbers, but it had worked when they both began developing their own swordplay styles so Yuuri figures that it wouldn’t hurt to view the rest of the game in the same way.)
Entering one of the smaller pathways between two unassuming shops, Yuuri found and slipped into a small, shaded niche as to not draw unnecessary attention to himself. Clicking on Kirito’s name, he sent a quick message, curious to see if it would go through at all.
<< RYUU: Sorry. Running late. Are you at the fields already? >>
Yuuri didn’t even know if Kirito had managed to get a copy of the game, so it wouldn’t hurt to check first.
He didn’t have to wait long for a response.
<< KIRITO: Ryuu? How are you contacting me? The game just started! >>
Kirito’s response came almost instantly and the little bubble of worry that had started to form in his stomach began to uncoil and loosen. His friend was here--had come back--just like Yuuri.
<< RYUU: I used my Beta-test data? It saved me time logging in and I figured that if it was something they are offering than it couldn’t be seen as cheating. >>
<< KIRITO: ...I should have known that THAT of all things would confuse you. When a game lets you use your past data, it is just so that you can use your past Avatar settings. Here, it looks like you can access some of your past map data and your friends list as well, I guess. >>
Internally trying to reign in his embarrassment for still needing explanations about game mechanics from Kirito, Yuuri almost missed the next message from Kirito. When he read it, the worry in his stomach began to resurface and tighten once more.
<< KIRITO: I am already at the West Fields. I got stopped and asked by another player if I could show them a few tricks. >>
Another...player? As in another person?
Despite the competitiveness and lone wolf tendency that most of the other Beta Testers operated under, it was not so unusual for Kirito to stop and offer help to other players--just look at Yuuri’s own first encounter with Kirito. During the Beta, the two of them would often pause in their journey to save a hapless player from an enraged horde of monsters or offer advice on where to get better items.
(“But never the best items,” Kirito had stressed after the player had departed. “Remember this, Ryuu. There is being generous, and then there is being stupid. The early bird gets the worm and the third dog, the bone.”
Yuuri thought the small glint in his eyes and the proud smirk on Kirito’s face--like he had just delivered some profound knowledge--was completely unnecessary (and a little creepy) but since Kirito was sharing his knowledge on hidden quests with Yuuri, he supposed he had no right to complain.)
As far as Yuuri could see though, Kirito never tried to actually communicate with the other gamers beyond an exchange of hints and information. Yuuri had stayed out of those conversations, largely because he knew he would just get in the way with his lacking and meager knowledge, but also because he didn’t want to hold Kirito back from meeting with other people that would no doubt have much more in common with Kirito than Yuuri himself.
(He can’t be selfish. He can’t just ask someone to stay, not for his sake. If Kirito had wanted to leave, then it was not Yuuri’s place to stop him.)
By the end of their first boss fight, most of these doubts and worries had been extinguished from Yuuri’s mind, but this was a new game, a fresh start. Maybe Kirito wanted to party with someone else. Maybe these last few months apart have made him see the faults that Yuuri had failed to hide. Maybe Kirito doesn’t want to be friends with Yuuri anymore and that is why he was surprised that Yuuri contacted him.
(Not good enough, never good enough--)
Halting his thoughts with a resolve and strength that he usually lacks in reality, Yuuri steels himself and prepares for the worse.
<< RYUU: What happened with the player? >>
<< KIRITO: He came with me to the fields. I figured you wouldn’t mind if we showed off a bit before moving on. Besides, his reactions are amusing when he gets hit. >>
And...Yuuri should stop being surprised. Because Kirito always, always seems to know what to say to make Yuuri’s worries disappear and seem like they were nothing at all.
(He’s not going to leave, he’s staying! Yuuri’s not going to be alone--)
A smile grows on his face--slowly but no less sincere--as the knot in his stomach and pressure on lungs lessens. He can feel the stronger him, the better him, Ryuu, rise up from inside and begin to take over once more.
<< RYUU: You mean I wouldn’t mind if you showed off? And don’t make too much fun of the beginners Kirito; you have NO room to judge. Remember the [Bluegill Carp] on Floor 3? I am sure that nothing he does will beat your reaction from then. >>
<< KIRITO: It tried to EAT me! A fish! Tired. To. EAT. Me! There are some things that just aren’t acceptable and live sushi trying to consume me is one of them. >>
<< RYUU: Setting aside your obsession with sushi, I see you haven’t curved your tendency to rush headfirst into things. >>
<< KIRITO: Don’t just write it off! And what’s that supposed to mean? >>
<< RYUU: Did you buy any recovery potions at all before you went out there? >>
There was a short pause. Yuuri can almost see Kirito’s scrunched face--stuck somewhere between frustration and chagrin--as he tried to find a rebuttal to an argument that he knows he is losing.
<< KIRITO: I swear, having you around has ruined me. I was not like this before. You and your constant re-stocking of equipment have spoiled and ruined me. >>
Thinking back on it, Yuuri supposes there is some truth in that. While Kirito is the one who had originally pointed out the items that would work the best, Yuuri had taken over the purchasing of potions and elixirs when it eventually became apparent that he was the more likely of the two to survive and not die in a reckless crusade. He also had better dodging skills so he functioned as a healer (or “priest” as Kirito had called it, jokingly)--staying farther back if necessary and throwing the recovery potions at Kirito when he needed them.
<< RYUU: Well, if you are just going to be in the lower level areas then there is no real need for you to have any items. Even at your current level, you shouldn’t have any problems with the monsters there. But, I am pretty sure you don’t want to stay in that area when we go out into the fields, right? >>
<< KIRITO: ...You know me well. >>
<< RYUU: It was either learn or die when your plans backfired. Either way, it looks like there might be some special stores hidden in the East Plaza. I’ll go there, get some items, and meet up with you later. >>
<< KIRITO: See. This is what I mean. Spoiling me. How did I never notice your mother-hen tendencies before this? >>
<< RYUU: ...You know what, just for that, I am going to walk VERY slowly and waste as much time as possible getting back to you. Have fun teaching the newbie how to defeat such challenging monsters! ヾ(＾∇＾) >>
There is a long enough pause afterwards that Yuuri is sure that Kirito is realizing that, yes, he is going to be spending time in one of the lowest level fields, against the weakest monsters in the game, for as long as Yuuri is gone. He imagines that Kirito is accepting this response in his typical fashion: his head resting in his palm as he clenches his eyes shut and sighs despondently. Satisfied with his revenge, Yuuri closes his menu and begins his slow trek down a random eastbound pathway.
(Yuuri might want to see his friend again, but that does not mean, that as Ryuu, he has not learned how to be a little petty. But this is pretty normal behavior for friends, right?)
~o~
(1:30 pm)
With the game’s inhabitants increasing so much, maybe Yuuri should have put a little more thought into exactly just how crowded the main Plaza of the eastern sector would be. Everywhere he turned there were players rushing around, entering the various establishments and stores that held new and unique items. Being born in a tourist hot spot, Yuuri couldn’t help but cringe when he saw how some of the new players were being swindled out of the scant amount of money they were awarded at the start of the game. It was a fairly common practice in his hometown: make tourist buy the overpriced and worthless products made to look expensive with shiny bits and tacky, bright colors. They would learn, eventually, how to tell the difference between the quality equipment and the (obvious) junk.
(Just like they would learn that there is absolutely no point in trying to complain or trying to sue a NCP clerk; there is no government to complain to in the first place.)
Another glance revealed that there were no “hardcore gamers”--as Kirito had called them--in the areas around him. By their lack of presence, Yuuri assumed that these more serious players had chosen to either go directly to the fields or had gone to the more obvious weapon stocked stalls in the North and West sections of the city.
Yuuri, himself, initially went to those areas as well, but he knew better now.
It was on the 4th Floor--when he and Kirito had stumbled into a half hidden alcove in the commercial district of the main city--that the two of them began to search in the most unlikely of places for hidden shops within the main villages. After all, that small hole-in-the-wall shop had contain an apothecary that sold relatively high level potions for a very small amount of money--that is of course, if you helped them in some way first.
Even if the two of them had never fully explored the [Town of Beginnings] after their initial discovery, Yuuri had no doubt that there would be some form of obscure shop here as well. It was just a matter of finding it.
Sticking to the least crowded roads as he searched, Yuuri let the various excited chatter and merry voices wash over him and act as background music to his adventure.
It was a freeing feeling, just strolling through the town like this. No one knew or bothered him here and he could walk openly without fear of judgement or others eyes. He could be anything he wanted here, he could be the person he so struggled to be in reality. He didn’t have to be Yuuri all the time while he was here and the escape itself--(the option)--made his heart feel light and let his lungs breathe easy.
(He had missed this. Truly, utterly missed this sense of freedom and safety. He had missed being Ryuu more than he can ever safely admit aloud, even ( especially) to himself.)
~o~
(2:30 pm)
Following the small signs and hints that indicated where a secret item store was not easy, but Kirito had painstakingly mapped out a method to locate them that worked about 70% of the time and Yuuri had been diligently in learning it himself. After forty minutes of searching and twenty minutes of helping the elderly NCP medicine-man find the 10 missing pages of his favorite book--“ Apothecary 101: An A to Z Book of Herbal Concoctions for Cures and Curses” --Yuuri left the invisible gold mine of potions--cleverly concealed as a rustic bookstore--with six Level 5 [Recovery Potions] and a cooking book for beginners as a bonus.
(Yuuri knows how to cook, is actually rather decent at it, but he has no idea how his skill is going to translate in SAO so he had chosen the beginner’s book just in case.)
Now, Yuuri leisurely strolls through the elegant and ornate structures of the East sectors, peering into restaurants, cafes, and trinket shops, as he slowly head toward the West Fields.
Part of Yuuri is begging his legs to move faster, to hurry and meet up with Kirito already. Another part is telling him not rush as he doesn’t want to seem too desperate, too needy and make his friend unwilling to be near him. And still another wants to delay this meeting as much as possible.
(What if the other player is still there? What if this person doesn’t like Yuuri and tries to make him leave? What if he is cooler, stronger, better than Yuuri and he has to watch as Kirito finds someone worthier as a party member--)
Needless to say, Yuuri doesn’t change his pace at all and continues at his moderate speed.
He is just passing by one of the larger, marble sculpted water fountains when he is pulled from his thoughts by an excited cry.
“Wow! So cool! This is amazing!”
Normally, such a statement would not be enough to pull Yuuri’s attention (seriously, he has heard it enough in the last one and a half hours that he swears it must just be playing on repeat as background music somewhere). And, in truth, it is not the words themselves that call Yuuri’s attention to the speaker.
It was the fact that they were spoken in English.
As far as Yuuri knows, the Japanese server for the game was the only one ready to go live at the moment; the other countries individual servers were still being constructed and converted into their own languages. And while the Main Menu of their own server was in English, that didn’t necessarily mean that players had were able to speak it. In fact, Yuuri was sure that most couldn’t speak more than a few sentences or words of basic conversations.
(Yuuri was lucky enough that his parents had exposed him to the language early on due to the amount of foreigners that would come to the inn. Not to mention, he had studied English even more intensely after he decided to compete in the competitive circuit of figure skating.)
But even if a player could barely understand English, the system was made so that if you hover over or hold an option on the menu for five seconds then it will give a brief summary of the icon in standard Japanese. No English knowledge--written or otherwise--was required.
Which was why Yuuri found it strange that a player chose to speak it at all.
Investigating, Yuuri’s gaze fell on a player around the same age of his own avatar--18 years old--and stood a few inches below his own height. He had golden tan skin--a color that Yuuri had never seen outside of the occasional foreigner at Yu-topia Akatsuki. (It was much too cloudy and cold year round for the locals to get more than a light tan even during the sunny summer season.) The young man’s hair was bleached white--very similar to Yuuri’s own--which he found rather interesting. It was not a common choice of hair color as it stood out very easily on the fields.
Kirito had found it very helpful and amusing.
(“It’s so easy to find you like this. You’re like a light bulb. Ya just can’t miss it.”
At first, Yuuri had thought Kirito was complimenting the color. He later realized--as he ran away from the monsters that hunted by sight--that Kirito was simply thinking of using his hair as bait .
He felt righteous indignation for himself (and his idol) and was only too happy to shove Kirito into the next river they had come across.)
Resurfacing from his memories, Yuuri watched as the excited player zoomed around the plaza, using the [Screenshot] ability on the menu to take various pictures of the sights around him, all the while letting out random strings of English and another language that Yuuri could not identify.
The passionate person had stopped and was attempting to get a clean picture of the tile mosaic on the facade of a random restaurant. He was having difficulty because he could not back up enough in the narrow street to get a good angle on the artwork.
“Aww~it's too big. Can’t fit it all on the screen.”
He sounded so sad and disappointed, his shoulder falling and head hanging, that Yuuri was unfortunately reminded of a dog with drooping ears and tail. The image of the man with a dog’s tail and ears was enough for him to let out a small, breathy chuckle that he immediately cut off for fear of being discovered watching. Yuuri didn’t think that he was loud enough to be heard but the players must have very good hearing as he still paused and turned toward him.
Sh-shit! He is going to think I was laughing at him! Cover, cover! He thinks frantically.
“S-sorry. I was not laughing at you. Your ex-exist-excite-... happiness was nice to see. Very funny and amusing to watch someone have so much fun.”
Well...Yuuri never claimed that his spoken English was great and it only got worse when he was nervous and actually had to use it to communicate with someone.
(Great, could you be any weirder? And I don’t think you mangled that sentence enough. Want to try again? Maybe this time bite your tongue to make it sound even worse?)
The boy was looking at him with large black eyes and blinked them rapidly as he processed what Yuuri had said. “You understand me? You speak English?”
“A-ah! Yes, I speak English. Enough to talk, at least.”
“That great!” The player was visible vibrating with happiness as he zoomed over to where Yuuri was standing still as a statue, a large smile resting on an open and inviting face. “This is my first game so I have no idea what I am supposed to do, but everything is so beautiful and I just want to take pictures of everything, but I was afraid that there would not be anyone here who would understand me! Especially someone my age! Umm...well, maybe my age, people can change to be older or younger here, right? But still! Yay! We can talk! Oh!”
The boy steps back from where he had been gradually leaning into Yuuri’s personal space only to straighten and make a quick, semi-formal bow.
“Sorry, bad manners. My name is Agni. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“A-ah...same,” Yuuri sketches his own short bow--far more formal and stiff. “Nice to meet you, my name is Ryuu.”
Yuuri has a polite smile on his face, born from hours and hours of catering to customers at his family inn. He hasn’t managed the levels of sheer warmth that his mother and father can achieve, but he can at least present a calm and pleasant external mask.
Internally, however, is a whole other story unfortunately.
(Did he breathe at all during that speech? I swear he didn’t take a single breath. And how can someone be this friendly and talkative to someone they just met? Even Yuuko takes a while to get to this point after she meets someone new! What did he even say? He was speaking so fast, I don’t know if I understood everything. Though that might not be all my fault since his accent started slipping halfway through...oh crap, he started speaking again-!)
“So, Ryuu do you know if there is any way to take a better picture? I tried to take picture of this wall, but it wouldn’t fit in the frame,” Agni said with a petulant face, shoulders visibly drooping in remembrance, as he looked back at the mosaic that he failed to capture.
Why does he think that would know anything more about the game than he does? Yuuri wonders. Not everyone who entered SAO is a frequent gamer, after all.
“I don’t know how to make the screen larger, but you could try entering one of these buildings and go somewhere higher to get a better angle.”
“You can do that?! Enter other buildings? I thought you could only go into places if you got permission or if you had a secret password or something. ‘Open Sesame!’ or something like that.”
(...Where did he get that idea? Forget the weird logic, this isn’t even a magic game! Why would he think of Arabian Nights?)
“Err...well, there are some places that you need permission to enter because they are hidden dungeons and personal...homes, but everything that you see here is something that you can...explore,” Yuuri intones haltingly. It was rather hard to translate his understanding of the mechanics of SAO into a different language, but now that he wasn’t exactly rushing, he could chose his words a bit more carefully and hopefully not sound like a complete idiot.
“Really? Then, Ryuu, do you know anywhere where I could go to get good view of this?”
Yuuri scrutinized the area around him thoughtfully for a moment before pointing to the kota brown brick tower on adjacent street connected to a nondescript and seemly empty outlet shop.
“That tower will let you see this whole street easily. Most people will not think that they can't enter it--since there are no doors, but that is because the...entrance is in the small red building next to it.”
“Cool, let’s go there then!”
...‘Let’s’…?
His train of thought could not go any further before Agni grabbed Yuuri’s hand and dragged the two of them through the slowly thinning crowds, across the street, and through the wooden, saloon doors of the small outlet. Once inside, Agni dropped Yuuri’s hand and raced toward the back of the store where the stairs leading up the tower revealed themselves. As he began his rapid ascent to the top of the structure, the words “picture, picture, picture~” resounded and echoed down to the dumbstruck and frazzled Yuuri on the bottom floor.
More than a little confused, Yuuri stood still in the desolate saloon as he tried to puzzle out what just happened. For one, the dark skinned player had nearly given Yuuri whiplash from how fast he had navigated through the crowd, almost seeming to teleport him from one side of the street to the next within the same breath. If he was telling the truth about this being his first game then Yuuri wouldn’t be surprised if this boy was an athlete in reality as well. (Maybe a runner of some sort…?)
But more importantly, Yuuri was curious as to why his fellow silver haired player brought him along for the ride.
Ascending the staircase himself--feeling that it would not be right to just leave without saying goodbye at least--Yuuri found himself fighting back laughter (and a bit of well-hidden panic) as he came across Agni once again, his head and upper body sticking far out of the street-facing window as he worked out how to adjust and zoom on the screenshot menu. A quick sidelong look at his face revealed a tongue poking out of his mouth in extreme concentration.
“Darn it, almost...got it-There! Ahaha! Take that! There is no picture that I cannot get!”
Agni returned to an upright standing position once again, staring at his menu window thoughtfully.
“Awwww...if only I could figure out how to take a selfie, too, then everything be perfect. Oh! Ryuu, you are here now! Do you know anywhere else to take good pictures? Any places that are really amazing?”
“Why?” Yuuri can’t help asking.
(Why does he want to spend more time with me? Doesn’t he realized that I am not a tour guide? Or that I am a terrible person to shop around with, that I am no fun?
Why? Why me?)
“Why what?”
“Wha-oh!” Yuuri really needs to stop getting sidetracked here, no matter how confusing this guy is being. “Um...yeah, why do--Why do you want to take pictures!”
(Yeah, that. Let’s go this that. A much less heavy and confusing topic.)
“Why wouldn’t I? Look at all the beautiful and pretty things around!”
“No, I mean, yes I see them, but why do you want to do that only ?” Yuuri tries to clarify, his English clearly failing him going by the confused face of the dark-skinned man. “Other players...want to shop or explore the fields or learn about Sword Art Online. You, only want to take pictures.”
“Oooo! Well that is because that’s what I came here to do!”
...What?
Yes, Yuuri knows that people all play games for their own reasons and he shouldn’t pry (he and Kirito both non-verbally agreed to never discussed their own reasons), but to come into this virtual world just to take pictures of random things seems just a little strange.
“Ahh...That just made it more conpli-complex...confusing didn’t it?” Yuuri nods his head in agreement. “Okay...let’s see how to explain. So I am foreigner, not Japanese, but I have Japanese followers on my Twitter. When I post that I thought the world inside Sword Art Online must be very beautiful and that I want to see it, a fan in Japan said they will give theirs to me. Gamer sites online say it is possible to take pictures inside game, save on...NerveGear, then use in reality. I want my followers to see this world, too, so I will take lots of pictures to show everyone!”
Agni looks so animated and excited, arms spread wide, face open and smile bright like the sun shining through the window behind him.
Yuuri is struggling to grasp all of the facts of his explanation.
(Who can just says online that he wants something and then the world just gives it to him? Who just gives away a NerveGear?! Is this real? Does this actually happen in reality? Am I being “Punk’d” or something?)
“That is why I am so glad you are here, Ryuu,” Agni continues on, voice much quieter in that moment and so painfully sincere Yuuri can feel his heart slowly clench. “I thought that I might be alone here--that no one would even try to talk to me--so just the fact that you stopped, even if only for a second, made me very happy.”
…
That...how…
How can he just say something like that?
Objectively, Yuuri has always know that this is a virtual world; that the person he is in reality doesn’t have to exist here. That he can be anyone he wants in this alternate world and no one would look at him any different, expect him to be any different. He can be strong and confident and reliable here and he loves that feeling. But just as he knows that, he also understand that it is fundamentally impossible for Yuuri to completely distance and separate himself from his own identity and become solely Ryuu.
Because Ryuu came from Yuuri. And for all they are the different, their fears, feelings, likes, and dreams are one and the same. Yuuri can wear the mask of Ryuu and become more confident, brave, and strong. But his heart has always been weak--scared of rejection and realities that he can’t bring himself to face.
As such, he never physically speaks his thoughts and feelings aloud. To do so, would make the words real, would put them into the world and give him no way to run from them anymore--no way to deny them.
So, to meet someone who can so openingly express what he feels with no shame or fear, Yuuri feels just a little jealous, but also a great deal in awe. He is caught flat-footed by this...genuity of emotion. Yes, he knows--both from Kirito’s explanations and his own experience--that it is much harder to hide your emotions and feelings here, but still, this admission by Agni seems just a little too raw and open for Yuuri.
It would be wiser to not trust this person that speaks such kind and heartfelt words so easily, especially when he does not know their intentions, but he can’t help but feel that Agni is not a bad person--a little too forward and open for Yuuri’s taste, but not bad. Instead, he feels humbled and a little unworthy of the small, grateful smile aimed his way, knowing that he did not do much of anything to deserve it.
(And maybe he is just imagining it, but the smile on Agni's is just a little sad and he tries hard to not to think of how lonely the boy in front of him seems right now. He tries to convince himself that it is not solely because he sympathizes and knows the look intimately from his days before Minako and Yuuko and Takeshi that he is about to offer something he will probably regret.
...
It doesn’t work.)
“Did you know there is way to take pictures with you in them?”
“There is?” Agni looks a little taken back by the re-routing of conversation, but a small light of something like hope and excitement is growing in his eyes.
“Yes, you have to set a timer. It is usually for when a player wants to take an image of a monster at a...certain moment, but still has to fight. It can be used to take picture of yourself, though.”
(Another random discover that Kirito and Yuuri can made in their Beta-days, but not something either of them really thought much of using. Neither found much use in taking pictures; much more focused on adventuring and fighting onward.)
“I’ll show you how to do it at the next stop,” Yuuri declares as he turns around and begins to walk down the steps of the tower.
“You-...Next stop?” Yuuri stops a few steps down and turns back toward Agni who has taken only a few small steps towards the staircase. His eyes are wide and his head is tilted slightly in confusion and Yuuri is once again reminded of a small animal.
(This level of cuteness should be illegal! Or at least only reserved for puppies.)
“Didn’t you want me to show you more places?”
“Yes, but...That is okay? With you?”
It is buried deep and well hidden, but Yuuri can hear it: uncertainty, doubt, loneliness . All of those emotions something that Yuuri is more than a little familiar with and so vastly different from the happy and excited boy that Yuuri first meet. And maybe he is stepping over his boundaries a bit, prying more than he ever normally would, but he wants to make this sad person disappear and the joyful one return.
So he summons forth what he fondly calls “The Yuuko in all of Us”--the ability to care about others and try to be selfless for them --and presses forth.
“It is no problem. Just for a little bit, though. I have some things to do later, but for now let’s go and act like two crazy tourists.”
Agni lights up in unsuppressed joy and laughter, large grin back on his face--the matter over and complete--as he bounds over to where Yuuri waits with his own half-smile spread across his own lips.
It just for a little while, Yuuri reassures himself. I’ll send a quick message, show this guy around for a bit, then go and meet up with Kirito. I am sure everything will be fine.
~o~
(3:45 pm)
Having sent a quick message to Kirito explaining that he had found someone he was going to briefly show around--(“How did we both end up with protegees?” Kirito had jokingly lamented. “It's like we have a sign on our foreheads saying ‘FREE ADVICE’ or something. This better not become a thing.”) --Yuuri had wasted no time in showing Agni some of the more ornate and awe inspiring views of the [Town of Beginnings].
As much as Yuuri and Kirito had gotten along, one thing that Kirito didn’t share with Yuuri was the desire to explore any of the cities they traveled to; he was much more interested in the fields and adventures to have outside. Since he was equally excited to travel and visit these new places--once he was sure that he wouldn’t die the moment he stepped one foot outside, that is--Yuuri didn’t mind much. But having Agni by his side, dragging him into countless shops and showing excitement over the smallest of things, Yuuri found himself very glad that he had stopped to talk with this person.
Agni was like a child--excitable and filled with endless energy, displaying an innate wonder and curiosity over anything and everything that shined brightly and stood still long enough for him to snap a picture. He liked to get up and personal with any statue or suit of armor he could find, often pulling Yuuri up beside him as he struck a pose mimicking the stone figures. When he felt himself getting tired, Agni wasted no time in finding a fountain, kicking off his shoes, and running around inside of the cool water.
(If Yuuri joined him after he had received a rather large amount of water to his face, well, that’s no one's concern but his own.)
It was ridiculous and childish, but Yuuri was enjoying himself immensely. A bit of childhood nostalgia and carefree fun that he can only sparsely remember from early summer days with Mari and his parents, running along the pier and playing with fireworks on the sandy beach at night.
He only has a little more time with Agni--he promised that he would meet up with Kirito at 5:40, when his own “student” would have already returned to reality. But he felt like there was so much more he could show his current companion, something that he would appreciate so much more.
He knew the fields to the east of the city were the easiest, and while it did not have monsters worth very much experience or money, Yuuri thinks that the view there is one of the best to see the entire city and it’s surrounding fields.
Now it was just a matter of convincing Agni to come with him.
~o~
(5:15 pm)
It was actually fairly easy to persuade Agni to follow him to the fields once he mentioned the possible things he would see-- (“Magical waterfalls, ghost lights, and upside down mountains? What are we waiting for?! Let’s go!”). Yuuri might have exaggerated a bit about the sights--he didn’t quite know the words to describe the asymmetrical plateaus that defy gravity and take your breath away, the crescent moon lanterns that light up the horizon like earthbound stars, or the sight of the misty fresh water spray from waterfalls carrying across the peach colored sky and creating long arching rays of color--but Agni didn’t seem too disappointed.
It had been touch and go in the beginning while Yuuri taught Agni the basics of how to use the [Sword Skills] and defend himself, but Agni showed rather quick reflexes and learned the movements easily--(again, Yuuri feels that more than likely Agni has some training in reality that he is subconsciously applying here).
The two of them had progressed through the fields gradually, seeing a few players here and there as they struggled to get the sword skills to work. On more than one occasion, Yuuri had witnessed some players overestimate themselves and get sent back to the revival point in town. While the scenes of other players running around like headless chickens afterwards reminded him fondly of his various days in the fields with Kirito, Yuuri was very grateful that he had thought to buy [recovery potions] before the two of them had entered the field. Especially when Agni tried to take pictures of himself riding a [Frenzy Boar].
(“It will be easy: I sneak up behind, jump on, then you take a picture as I ride like a Western cowboy! Okay, ready set go~!”
“W-wait! I didn’t say yes!-no, quick get off of the Boar before!-Ahhh!! Dodge, dodge, dodge-!”)
It hadn’t ended well--even if Agni had managed to get the picture in the end--and Yuuri feels like he might have lost a few years off his life when Agni then suggested--rather seriously--jumping through the waterfalls that cascaded over the edges of the various plateaus.
(“This is the bottom floor of a floating castle. Where do you think the water goes?!” Yuuri had incredulously asked.)
He made a mental note that should Kirito and Agni ever meet they must not be given the chance to make any sort of plan together. The world--and his sanity--might not survive the encounter.
But overall, Yuuri had fun. Agni got his pictures for his blog-diary-thing--(“It’s a Tumblr page! How do you not know about these? Do you live under a rock?! How have you survived this long without one?!” )--and Yuuri got to slowly appreciate and re-familiarize himself with the world that he had not seen in months.
Truth be told, Yuuri was worried about many things. He was afraid that when he met up with Kirito again, he would freak out or wouldn't be able to summon the personality of Ryuu from deep in his soul. Scared that when faced with his friend, he would not be the same as he once was. But now, he is confident enough to face him, confident that he can become Ryuu again and one day will be able to take some of Ryuu with him back to reality, back to Yuuri. He is ready to begin his journey again.
“Ryuu,” came Agni’s quiet voice next to him as he raised his arm and pointed off into the distant sky. “What are those?”
They were both resting on one of the city-facing slopes at the very edge of the East Fields. As the sun was already starting to set on the distant Western horizon, the breeze that rustled their clothes and hair was brisk and chilly. The scenery around them was dyed orange and red with along with the sunset, but the sky above them was already darkening, the first constellations of the night sky beginning to peek through and emerge like scattered paint drops on a dark crimson and violet canvas.
Following Agni’s line of sight, Yuuri could see nothing but the sunset and the clouds that filled the sky. Assuming that the clouds were not what Agni was looking at, Yuuri focused harder and could just make out three dark shadows flying just below the clouds. At first, he presumed that they were nothing more than a few birds, but after remembering their distance and glimpsing what he can only guess was the glimmer of scales, Yuuri retracted that belief.
“Dragons...they’re dragons…” Yuuri announces in disbelief and awe as he now recognized the figures of his namesake. He didn’t know that this game would have the mythological titans--the beta-tester never having encountered any as they cleared the fields up to the 11th floor--but he feels like maybe he should have realized that there would be eventually.
Obviously, you were not meant to fight them now--they must be flying at least 10,000 meters in the air right now and they are still climbing--but...maybe someday. On a floor higher than he ever reached before--when he was more capable and strong--he would be able to face one. Face one and win. Right now, that were nothing more than a distant goal--just like the soaring avions before him--but someday, surely.
“Wow...It must be so nice to fly like that.” Agni was watching the flight of the three dragons with wistful and dreamy eyes, his and now raised and open towards the sight, no longer pointing, but reaching instead. “Nothing to hold you down, free to go anywhere you want, but always together with friends. Free and happy.”
Yuuri blinked.
He hadn’t thought about it that way. Yes, he still wanted to face one of the dragons eventually--(‘Faaaar in the future’ he adds mentally)--but looking back at them, there is something to be said about the way that they fly so uncaring of the world around them. Rising against gravity--denying its right on their being--and moving forward relentlessly--neither rushing nor pacing themselves. They are strong, and they know it. Just as they know they are stronger together. The world holds no chains on them and they face the unknown--the endless sky above them--without a care in the world.
Yuuri finds himself gently smiling as he finally watches them pass out of sight. ‘To be like them, to be free and happy, is a nice dream.’
He hears a exhalation of air next to him as Agni slowly rises to his feet.
“Well, it is growing late and you need to meet with your friend still. Should we go back now?”
Yuuri opens his menu and sees that a little more than 10 minutes has passed. He has just enough time to leave and meet up with Kirito.
“Yeah, it’s almost time for me to meet him,” Yuuri agrees. Despite his earlier reservations, he is seriously considering asking Agni to come with him to meet with Kirito. But he knows that by now Kirito will want to go and try some of the more difficult quests and Agni probably won’t be able to keep up despite the his natural swiftness and quick mastery of the basics. Yuuri also doesn’t know if Agni would even want to come with him in the first place. He might even have been waiting for Yuuri to leave so that he could logout without seeming rude.
“Then let’s go,” Agni says as he turns and begins walking towards the [Town of Beginnings]. “I will walk with you until the end of the city.”
“A-ah you don’t have to. We can go different ways now. If you want to,” Yuuri adds on quickly when Agni glances over his shoulder and gives Yuuri a look.
Agni turns around and crosses his arms as he pouts, pouts, at Yuuri even while slightly glowering.
“Well, I don’t want to go different ways so we will walk together. Okay?”
“...O-okay.”
“Great!” Agni gives a cheeky grin that tickles Yuuri’s memories and vaguely reminds him of the cheshire cat smirk Minako-sensei wore whenever she succeeded in tricking Yuuri in someway.
He is still in deep contemplation--trying to understand what he missed before it is too late--as they walk towards the perimeter of the town, Agni chattering idly, when suddenly the bells in the clock tower begin to ring, louder than Yuuri ever remembers them being.
“That’s...strange. It’s only 5:30. I thought bells only ring at hour times. Is this how it is in Japan?” Agni asks.
“No, clocks work the same in Japan and in the game,” Yuuri distractedly answers as he looks at the fields and sky around him.
Why are the clouds speeding up when there is no wind to move them?
“Oh. Is it a--what did you call it?--an ‘event,’ then?”
“Not one that I know.”
Nothing like this ever happened during the Beta. Nothing this big, at least.
(But what is this? Where is this feeling of dread coming from? Why do I feel like I should be running away, right now, as fast as I can?)
It was after the fifth bell tolled that Yuuri realized something he had missed.
The bell. Besides the bell, there is no sound. Not from the breeze, nor from the city. There was nothing.
He was going to say something--do something--even scream if he had to, just to break the unwelcomed silence, but his voice was lost when his vision was filled with blue lights and flames as he was forcibly ripped from his location and whisked away.
~o~
(5:30 pm)
As the blue flames died down, Yuuri was glad to hear the sound of the other players around him; nevermind the fact that he had no idea where he was at the moment and that the bell was still ringing in the background.
(He wasn’t relieved or reassured by far though. The chilling dread and mounting fear was still very present at the back of his neck and the tip or his spine and he wants it gone but he still doesn’t know where it is coming from-)
“Ryuu, are you listening to me?”
Agni’s worried face fills his vision and Yuuri belatedly realizes that he had been staring at the ground, immobile, for about a minute now.
“Sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked: what just happened? I thought you say there is no magic in the game? And why are we back in the middle of town?”
“I...I don't know, Agni.”
And isn’t that just wonderful . He is already feeling uncomfortable with the situation--the ever growing crowd of players no longer bringing him any comfort but rather making him feel trapped like a mouse in a cage--and he can feel the beginnings of panic blooming in his chest, filling his lungs, and he is having a much more difficult time suppressing it back down than he usually does when playing SAO.
(... The bells finally stopped…)
“-at’s that?”
“ ‘Warning’...?”
“-does that even mean?”
“-kind of event, maybe?”
The scatter murmurs of the players around him prompt Yuuri to look up into the sky where a single floating red screen displays a single word:
WARNING
Suddenly the single screen multiplies, the sky above them being covered with panels--the words SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT and WARNING repeating over and over again in an endless cycle.
An endless sky of red covers the area above the square now.
From the cracks between the the panels, a crimson liquid dripped downward, but instead of falling upon the players, the bloody streams were collected to one spot--as if summoned by a magnetic force--and stopped just two stories above the crowd.
Freezing only for a moment, the floating pool of blood slowly began to rise and take the shape of a red hooded game master. The figure stood both large and imposing over the gathered people.
The black void where the entity’s face should have been considered the masses before it, but for some odd reason, it felt as if it was not looking at them at all. They--the players--could be faceless as well and it would not matter at all to this creature.
They were nothing but ants beneath stomping feet; lowly peasants before a king.
As he--for it was a male--began to speak, the tone of arrogance and self-assurance--complete control and dominance--did nothing to rid Yuuri of this impression.
(...Nor would the words that would follow…)
“Attention, players. Welcome..to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko.”
Kayaba...Akihiko...as in the creator of SAO? The person that Kirito idolizes and has a major fan-crush on for being the ‘best programming and software genius to ever walk the face of the planet?’ That Kayaba?
“As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world.”
(Isn’t that how it is supposed to be? He is the developer of the game so that makes sense.
…
Then why do these words seem much heavier than they should be. Like a blade raised and posed to take of my head?
And wait, shouldn’t it be a team of people that manage the system. Why is he say he is the sole person with the power-)
“I am sure that some of you have already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu.”
(...What.)
Yuuri snaps his hand down so fast in order to open his menu that he is sure that in reality he would have cracked his wrist, if not strained it. Sure enough, the familiar icon he is used to seeing at the bottom of his menu is not there.
Maybe that is why there is an announcement going on now. The programmers are just trying to reassure the players that nothing is wrong and-
“But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat...This is not a defect in the game.”
(...No…)
“It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot logout of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted...the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life.”
(...Fear. Crushing and numbing fear in his veins. Flowing like icy fire. Stop. Stop it. Make it go away. Go away, go away, go awaygoawaygoAWAY--!)
“Unfortunately, several players’ friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear.”
Screens upon screens appear beside the gigantic structure of the hooded Kayaba--circling him like halos of light. And on the screens: faces. Faces of players. News of tragedy and terror and a DEATH GAME. More faces, this time of crying men and women and children. Families--broken and scared and grieving .
“As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world.”
(A memory.
Traveling through the fields with Kirito. He recklessly charges against a monster much too strong for him. He fails and shatters like glass before Yuuri’s eyes.)
“As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal.
“I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game.”
(Another memory.)
“But I want you to remember this clearly.”
(In the fields again, this time with a new friend--a bright smile, dark skin, and laughing eyes.
The new players are reckless and clueless. They overestimate themselves and shatter into a million pixels of light.
Yuuri had smiled in fond remembrance.)
“There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain.”
(...Those players never came back, did they?...)
Yuuri dimly registers it. The unnatural and eerie silence of the players around him as they now see and feel what Yuuri has since the bells first began to ring.
They didn’t want to believe any of this. So they denied and denied and denied and denied .
But they couldn’t change anything.
Because this was real.
So very, painfully real.
“There is only one means of escape. To complete the game.”
(Impossible. It will take years. Years of being trapped here. When--if I get out, it will be too late too-)
“You are presently on Floor 1 of Aincrad: the lowest floor. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level.”
A hologram of the once beautiful, but forever behemoth castle of Aincrad appears, a single bright line starts from the bottom floor and works its way to the very top where Yuuri dimly remembers once seeing a red and gold palace. Tracing the pathway of light with his eyes, it seems like the size of the floating death trap seems to extend and grow.
“Defeat the final boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game.”
“...Clear…?”
“--does that mean?”
“-don’t know either!”
Newbies. Beginners. They don’t even know what ‘clear’ means.
And he expects us to beat the game?
...
(How many will die before then?)
“Finally, I’ve added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourself.”
On autopilot--and in probably one of the most foolish moments of his life--Yuuri listens to the words of the madman above him and opens his storage to find a new item, [Mirror], resting just below the mid-level potions he had bought early, back when everything was still just a game and everything was bright and fun.
The memory now mocks Yuuri and he quickly locks it away.
He selects the item, he grabs the small, rectangular mirror that appears in front of him. The sky-blue eyes and snow-silver hair of Ryuu is all that greets him. He can just make out the beginning of horror and dread on the features of his avatar when there is a mass of screaming and flashes of blue fire at the corners of his vision. He briefly looks up to see what is going on before he is once again covered bright, cold flames. He tightly closes his eyes to block out the intense light.
“--hat the hell is this?!”
“No!”
“What is going on-!”
“-y do I look like this-?!”
The intense brightness fading, Yuuri looks around and sees that the players around him look slightly different than they did before. He can feel himself shaking, roughly and without reason as he looks back down at the mirror still held in this hands.
Even with the quivering image Yuuri can clearly make out everything: standard black hair, dull brown eyes, a plain, chubby face. It is not Ryuu anymore--just Yuuri--and there is no hiding the dread and terror on his face anymore. There is nothing to hide behind at all anymore.
There is only reality and all it’s terrible, awful truths.
(No...no, no, nonononono-I came here to run. To escape. To learn to be a different me, how can I do that if I have to be Yuuri? Oh God, why?)
“Right now, you’re probably wondering, ‘Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all this?’ ”
(Why did I try to change? Why did I come here? Just to die?)
“My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason...To create this world and intervene in it. And now, it is complete.”
Black and red smoke began to emit from Kayaba’s holographic form as he seemed to waver and deflate in a manner not unlike a circus tent does when the show is over.
(Fun time is over~ Time to wake up and face reality~!)
“This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players.”
The specter collapses and disappears, pieces rising and being reabsorbed by the very same panels that first let fall the ruby blood. The crimson dome covering the sky disappears almost instantly, the sunset sky once more painting the town in warm shades of orange and yellow.
(Yuuri only feels cold.)
Silence falls and last as the players gape and stare at the sky, waiting for the punchline to drop--clinging to their last bit of hope. Praying that Kayaba will return, that someone will appear and say this as all a joke.
Only a silent sky answers them.
Only Yuuri’s reflection stares at back at him from the depths of the mirror as he continues to hope--futilely-- that if he looks long enough, the result will be different.
It doesn’t change. The silence slowly is suffocating him.
He falls to his knees.
Someone screams.
And pandemonium erupts around him. Players yelling denials and pleas in anger and in desperation. Some are pressing forward toward the center of the square, as if reaching the point below where Kayaba disappeared will make it so he can hear them better. Others are pointing at the sky and shouting at the top of their lungs, a few going as far as to throw their cursed mirrors into the air in order to get his attention--to get any kind of response at all.
It is loud and crowded and the world is shaking and crumbling beneath Yuuri. He wants to be swallowed up by the ground, he wants to disappear. He wants the comfort of his home--of his kind mother, joyful father, and steadfast Mari-nee. He wants the shelter of his bed and covers and the presence of Vicchan next to him as he waits for this fit to pass, for his breath to return and for his eyes to focus again.
He wants the cold. Not the mind and soul-numbing chill that he is suffering right now, but the cold, fresh air of the ice rink. The sound of blades cutting through a frozen lake as he dances, the chorus of music that blocks out the world and lets him breathe.
But more than anything, he wants those eyes to stop staring at him. His own eyes.
Many have said before that ‘Eyes are the windows to the soul.’
All Yuuri sees in his own is desperation, resignation, fear, panic, tears, anxiety self-hate D R E A D-
(...help…)
-and he doesn’t want to see it--doesn’t want to acknowledge it. But his mask was ripped away--leaving him nowhere to hide--and Yuuri finds himself incapable of shifting his gaze from the trembling mirror held in a white-knuckled grip.
He wants to scream.
(...please...someone…)
Instead, Yuuri can feel himself slowly shutting down--vision darkening and sounds becoming increasingly muffled and muted. His sense of touch is leaving his limbs and he is disturbed by the lack of feeling he has from the quick rise and fall of his own chest that he can see in is peripheral.
(...help...me…)
He is sinking, falling far back into himself, but he is fighting it with all his might. If he regresses--if he let’s himself collapses here--who knows when he will regain the ability to function again. And he can’t afford that, not now maybe not ever again.
(...C’mon...move…do something, anything-)
He know this. He knows this.
But his own strength is not nearly enough--(he is never enough)--and he is crashing and falling down, down, down. The lights are going out and Yuuri finally gives up and lets the shadows win-
New message from:
[KIRITO]
Open?
Yes No
A light--small and inconspicuous--appears at the top corner of Yuuri’s dark world.
...Kiri...to?
(A confident smirk. An unjudging heart. Friend. Familiar.)
In the dimming world, Yuuri can see his hand moving and pressing the tiny icon.
<< KIRITO: I am going to the next town. The fields around the [Town of Beginnings] will be hunted clean soon. Come with me? >>
…
For all his former fight and determination, Yuuri finds himself hesitating.
(...don’t go…Stay here, in darkness...)
For all that there is no feeling, no sound, no anything in Yuuri’s current state, there is also no emotions--no fear, no panic...nothing. If he tries to resurface, then he will be forced to confront all of that and who knows what will happen then. (Would it be worse? Would the pain fear panic- hit him all at once like a sledgehammer? Or will it feel like a snake’s poison, gradually taking over and bringing him back down only twice as hard next time?)
It will hurt--he knows--to try and move right now. Instinctively, he feels like he should do what his body and mind clearly want right now--sleep and forget everything until later, when he can process it. He understands that he should not push himself in his present state. But…
(Escape, run, Kirito, familiar, run, safety, run, friend, run, home, run runrunrun nownowNOW-)
...Yuuri is scrambling and falling to pieces and he needs something that is familiar, some form of comfort to replace all the securities and masks and the sense of rightness in the world that he has so suddenly lost. He needs the stability that comes from the that comfort more than he needs sleep or time or anything right now. And that comfort is…
...moving away. Is leaving and going farther and farther away from Yuuri.
(Get up. Get up right now. Move. MOVE MOVE now. Right NOW-!)
With Herculean effort, he locks away everything he is afraid to face, pushes it downdowndown to a deep, dark corner of his soul (dangerously) close to his heart until he is able to deal with it later--(later, never what does it matter?)--and focuses on the small light of the message window in front of him. He follows the light, hones his attention and does not let it stray even for a moment and he watches as his world refocus as sound begins to return and the crowd around him reappears from the darkness and hazy.
His world is still shaking, still unstable, but he has a destination and he will run to it right now before everything comes crashing down again-
His left arm is shaking much more than the rest of his body and it concerns him so against his better judgment he turns his gaze from Kirito’s message and looks at this arm to see-
Hands. Small, caramel-skinned hands; shaking and trembling so much that Yuuri himself is shaking with the force.
Yuuri raises his eyes and meets the gaze of a black haired, dark brown eyed boy (child). There are tears, so many tears falling from his large, frightened eyes.
“--Yuu, Ryuu, answer me--please!”
Through the lifting hazy of his mind, a voice pierces through, strangely familiar but young, so much younger than it was before and filled not with happiness and wonder, but confusion, hurt, and despair.
(A bright grin like the sun.)
An announcement made in Japanese.
(Eyes that sparkled and looked at everything with happiness and wonder.)
A small, helpless child unable to understand the words of their captor, of the madman who has trapped them.
(Joy found in the smallest things.)
A raging crowd, angry and yelling refusals and denials at a specter that has long since disappeared, leaving them to their fate.
(The desire for adventure, happiness, companionship-)
Yuuri--unresponsive and unmoving--suffering alone and uncaring of the world around him.
(Agni.)
He doesn’t think--doesn’t plan or say a word. Instead he grabs Agni’s hand in his own--ignores the frantic chanting he can hear of his own name coming from the boy’s mouth--and slips out of the mass of players as quietly and quickly as he can.
Yuuri drags the two of them through the deserted and shadow ridden buildings. The once magnificent and lively town seems more like a ghost city now for all that the structure are not the least bit ruined or destroyed. The life is gone, the fun is over. The Game has begun and the timer has started counting. How long will this last? How long can he survive? How long before Yuuri dies--he tightens his grip on the small hand that rests in his own--uses it as an anchor--and tears his mind from where it was going, focusing again on the road before him.
They need to get out. Out of this town, out of this place. Away, away. Far away. (But there is nowhere to run to except the fading beacon that even now moves farther and farther away from Yuuri and-) The road is expanding, the green of the fields lies before him and all there is to do is runrunRUN-
“STOP!”
He is suddenly yanked backwards, away for the fields and out of the single-minded focus he was trying to hard to keep. His breath is coming out in harsh and irregular burst, but that is not important right now because the fields are right there and Agni is yelling at him--
“Ryuu , why everyone screaming? What did flying person...thing speak? Why we look like this? Why running? Where are you running? What is happening?!”
Agni’s words are scattered, frantic, and scared; his grasp of the language faltering and his words becoming mismatched and random in their tense. Yuuri’s already crumbling mind has difficulty forming coherent thoughts let alone translating convoluted English into Japanese. Somehow he manages to get his brain working enough to string together some half-assed explanations.
“We are trapped here...the game...is a trap--a death game...we stay here...locked...until we clear--beat 100 levels...if we die here...we die in outside world too...I have a friend--waiting...in the next town. He knows more than I do. He is stronger than me and we need help and--wait do you want to go with me?”
Yuuri hadn’t thought of anything beyond getting away--finding safety--and for whatever reason, the presence of Agni was taken for granted as well in that equation. The hand--(that he still held in a vice-grip)--was grounding and real and everything Yuuri needed in that moment.
(A child. You grabbed a child, intended to take them into a danger zone, and are using them as a tool to help yourself. Selfish. Failure. Worthless. S C U M-)
He hurriedly releases Agni’s hand.
(The walls begin closing in--he ignores them.)
“I am sorry I should have asked but I didn’t think and just took you with me-! ”
The apology is rushed and panicked, but Yuuri doesn’t know what else to do to make right what he has done-
A smack hit him resoundingly over the left side of his head and Yuuri’s thoughts jerk to a stop as he is met with a stern face and hard eyes.
“Better?”
“Yeah…”
“Good. I don’t know how much I understand of this, but if you want to leave, then I want to go with you. I don’t want to go back to the screaming place. I know no one else. There is...no one there for me.”
“But-!”
“I want to go with you,” Agni repeats with a pointed glare up at Yuuri.
And Yuuri--Yuuri just reaches out and wraps the boy in a tight embrace. He doesn’t like physical contract very much, in fact, Yuuri finds that he is almost always uncomfortable if anyone is less than a few feet away from him. But he hugs Agni, because for all that the boy’s voice and face is steady and fierce Yuuri can see the constant tremble in his frame and can feel the tightly clenched fist that reach up automatically to grab the back of Yuuri’s shirt.
Yuuri can allow this much because Agni is scared and terrified too, but he is trying so hard to stay strong because everything is wrong and Yuuri is falling to pieces and his world is spinning wildly out of control and--he is ashamed.
He is ashamed that he can’t offer Agni anything, that he has no one to rely on except a failure like Yuuri.
He is ashamed that he is asking this kid to come with him across a battlefield.
Yuuri is ashamed because he can’t bring himself to regret it.
“Thank you,” is all Yuuri can manages to say in return for Agni’s selfless response to his selfish plea.
(He is so, so ashamed.)
The message from Kirito is still open and waiting for an answer in front of him.
Would Kirito even want Yuuri to bring Agni along?
<< RYUU: There is a kid, with me. I can’t leave him here >>
(What will Kirito say? Will he reject me now? Will he give up, now that I am nothing more than worthless, broken Yuuri? Is this the end-)
<< KIRITO: Bring him >>
The answer comes almost immediately and was so simple and Yuuri could feel the breathe he was holding leave his lungs in relief.
Standing side-by-side now at the very edge of the [Town of Beginnings], Yuuri and Agni face the empty fields before them. They know that their next steps are ones that cannot be taken back, that once they begin this march the will not be able to stop until they reach the end of the line. Whether the end is where Kirito waits for them or somewhere in between they do not know, but…
...But they have their heading--know their hopeful destination. All they need to do now is be brave and take the final steps into the new war zone that will be their new life from now on.
Yuuri takes one last deep breath. Then…
( Once two, now three~ The souls have collided!~ The Legends they will be~ The Stories that will ring~ Are not for the faint of Heart!~ Take heed and be warned~ For this world of Death and Sorrow~ Will wreck you and break you~ And remake you anew!~)
...he runs.