1,961So question, should I gender flip Asuna? I don't actually want to, I kinda like the idea of her becoming Kirito's partner and best friend, still kind of solo players they just have each others backs.
Anyway I guess this isn't a oneshot anymore, huzzah! Now I really have no idea what Klein's profession is but the way he's constantly trying to look after people and his natural leadership skills despite being a goof screamed 'teacher' to me. So that's what he is, haven't decided what he teaches but meh...
Anyway, I'm rambling, do enjoy and please, REVIEW!
"Oh hell...Suguha is going to kill me..."
She really was, her little sister had made it very clear that if Keiko stayed logged in for too long she was going to tear the NerveGear from her head and force her to spend time with her. It was just a good natured threat, like so many others but now...well shit...
Glancing past the now thoroughly befuddled Klein Kirito eyed the various windows still floating around the monologueing Kayaba, who seemed to be going out of his way to twirl his nonexistent mustache at the moment.
Kirito's thoughts froze when she saw one of the news feeds, her mom and Suguha crying as her comatose body was being carted away into an ambulance. She didn't really know what exactly to feel at that moment in all honestly.
Rage? Yeah, bit of that for sure, it was her little gaming habit that made her family despair like that.
Frustration? Bit of that too, because frankly beating an MMO? Really? The fuck Kayaba? This was going to take years! Oh god...the shear amount of physical therapy that was going to be needed to get her free runner body back into shape...ugh...
Mostly though, she felt relief, because that little image, while distressing, proved no one was pulling the plug on her which meant she had a chance to get out of this mess alive. Glancing to the still bewildered Klein Kirito narrowed her eyes as she grabbed his hand and jerkily pulled him behind her as she made her way for the side streets leading to the west exit.
As determined as she felt at the moment she couldn't help smirking when she saw a gangly guy and a fat man crying about one not being a girl and the other not being fifteen. Her little cross dressing stint really wouldn't hurt her reputation much, but those two?
Heh, ok, she was a bit of a bitch, so what.
Coming to a stop away from the crowd Kirito crossed her arms across her chest and let out a tired huff before meeting Klein's expectant gaze.
"Yeah, I'm a girl, and before you ask why I rolled a male avatar it is for multiple reasons, first I'm just going to ask you a simple question that may clarify things. If I had been honest about my sex and age, would you have been nearly as forward and friendly?
Klein shifted nervously a moment before letting out a sigh, "Nah, probably wouldn't have even talked to you, I'm a teacher in the real world so I likely would have just seen you as one of my students and moved along."
Kirito raised a brow at that, "If you're a teacher why the hell did your avatar look like 'probable cause' on two legs?"
Klein looked mildly affronted at that, "What do you mean?"
Kirito rolled her eyes as she drawled out her reply, "I mean your old avatar looks like you were ready to play 'Uncle Touchies Naked Feel-A-Long' which is kinda distressing I admit. At least real world you looks handsome, really need to do something about the facial hair though."
Klein stared at her blankly a moment before breaking out into laughter, he stayed like that a few moments before getting a hold of himself still chuckling lightly.
"Oh, oh good god am I glad your personality didn't change," she pouted at that a bit which only caused him to grin wider. "Look my avatar was as close as I could get it to my character from Galaxy of Starcraft and you know how limited your choices were in that game."
She did, great game, her Ghost was seriously one of the more fun classes she'd played but the avatar choices sucked. Nodding once she began walking as she gave him a casual wave to follow.
"Fair enough, look we need to get leveled as fast as possible and blitz through as many quests as we can. This game is a closed economy which means there is only so much money and gear available especially since we're locked on the first floor for now. We need to head to Horunka village, it's the closest quest hub and we can get a sword that'll last us to the beginning of the third floor, and if we're lucky we'll be the first ones there."
Klein slowed down and began scratching the back of his head sheepishly which only caused Kirito to groan in frustration, they didn't have time for this!
"Look um, those friends I was telling you about? They're trapped in here too, I can't just leave them on their own but...you're welcome to come along if you want.
Really? Really? REALLY?!
"Klein," she began slowly, "I'm totally jazzed that you're so loyal to your friends but please remember something ok?"
Klein's brow furrowed a bit as he asked, "What?"
Stepping forward she reached up and grabbed the sides of his head shaking it thoroughly as she dragged his face mere inches from her own. She had the distinct impression she had a mad glint in her eyes because Klein looked near terrified at the moment.
"We. Are. All. Likely. Going. To. DIE! This isn't a game anymore Klein we need an edge to survive! We need to get money, get gear, and get it before anyone else does! Tell your friends you'll be back tomorrow or the next day and you'll have all the col you need to buy them starting gear and you'll have a badass sword to boot! I can do this with or without you but good god damn I am not letting anyone slow me down! I am going to get out of this game, I am going to go back to my boring life, and I'm going to get bitched out by my little sister for nearly getting killed by one of my 'stupid games' and I'm going to love every second of it! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"
Klein blinked a few times before gently pulling the now hyperventilating girl's hands from his head as he stood up cocking a brow, "You are quite possibly the most terrifying teenage girl I've ever encountered in my life. Kudos...look...how long do you think this would take?"
Seeing that he was listening now she rolled her eyes towards the sky as she tapped a finger on her chin thinking quickly, "Well, if we need to go back and get your friends and level them enough to not be little more then my personal meat shields we at the very least need to complete 'Secret Medicine of the Forest'. We can pick up a half dozen fetch and bounty quests that we can complete at the same time, sooo...hmm... If we leave now, a day."
Klein stared at her a few moments then nodded as he opened his menu, "Lets go then," he said as she began walking. He followed as he composed the messages to his friends, when done he sent them and sighed deeply, "Hope you know what you're doing Kirito."
She grinned wickedly at that, "Hey I wasn't the top ranked beta tester for nothing, we get ourselves geared out, then we help anyone else along the way because frankly we'll need them."
Klein snorted at that as he began matching her increased pace and soon they were flat out running into the fields outside of the city, "Didn't take you for the extremely charitable type."
Long hair billowing behind her Kirito laughed in return, "I'm not, but we're not going to be in this game forever, and wouldn't it be nice for all these people to remember you as the one who helped them survive a death game?"
Klein's eyes widened a moment before shaking his head in befuddlement, "Christ, you're networking?!"
Slicing her sword through a boar that had gotten in her way Kirito laughed again, "Would you rather me be a broody introvert?"
Klein smiled as he followed her actions taking out a passing boar with ease, "Nah, you're way more entertaining like this."
The pair remained silent after that as they sprinted across the field, only stopping to let their strength return, and as twilight fell they approached the outskirts of Horunka village. Entering the village proper Kirito guided Klein to the tavern and once inside gestured towards the barkeep.
"This guy will sell you low level healing items, sell your trash loot to him and grab what you can, oh and if you fiddle with your morality settings in the menu you can actually get drunk off the booze. Just...don't do that until after we're done questing."
Klein chuckled at that as he approached the NPC and began his trade, "You don't strike me as the delinquent type Kirito, how do you know about that?"
She giggled a bit at that as she plopped onto the bar stool next to his, "My friend Argo made a bet with me that I lost, so I had to down a dozen drinks with my settings off. It was...fun I guess, not exactly something I'd do often but I get why people enjoy it. Plus side is there's no hangovers in the game, hopefully I'll never actually have to experience one of those in the real world..."
Klein snickered at that as he walked away from the NPC to allow Kirito to sell her own trash loot, "You say that but once you get to university I guarantee you're going to have that one friend who insists you have a drink with them to 'relax'. One drink leads to two, two to three, and next thing you know you wake up in the morning with your mouth tasting like an ashtray and wondering why you're in a tree."
Kirito paused her sale to turn around slowly to stare at her companion incredulously, he laughed and patted her shoulder lightly, "Oh god the look on your face is adorable."
She pouted again and turned back to the vendor while letting out a vexxed sigh, "I am not adorable..."
"Nope, totes are, sorry honey, on the plus side you got big brother Klein to keep away all the nasty pervs that may harass you."
Kirito finished her transaction as she headed for the door, "I may actually take you up on that, one of the myriad of reasons I rolled a male avatar was to avoid getting harassed, get enough of that in the real world thanks." Exiting the bar the duo approached the house that would net them the medicine quest and were soon on their way into the dark forest.
"That...the sick kid? That all felt real," Klein said looking a bit worried, Kirito glanced over at the ginger and shrugged slightly as she gently swung her sword at her side.
"I know, best not to think about it, what gets really disconcerting is after you complete the quest and come back to have it reset for the next player. It gets a bit jarring at times."
Soon they ran into their first monster, a 'Little Nepenth', Klein stared at the creature a few moments before letting out a disgusted grunt. "That has got to be one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen," Kirito only nodded in agreement as she separated from Klein to flank the plant monster.
"Yeah, I get some serious 'tentacle monster' vibes from these things, and as a school girl? Not cool. Now I'm gonna draw its attention, when its focused on me hit it in the back, they don't have eyes so as long as you're fast it won't sense you until its too late."
"Right-o," Klein said and so they got to work, after killing fifteen of the damn things Klein got a bit frustrated. "How many of these freaking things do we have to kill in order to get that ovule?"
Kirito grimaced as she downed a bit of water, letting out a satisfied sigh she shot her friend a knowing look, "We have to keep on killing these things in order to get a flowering one to spawn, I know its a pain in the ass." Eyes widening she slapped her forehead in annoyance before quickly continuing, "Crap I forgot. If you see one spawn with a giant red fruit on its head don't attack it, its a trap and we'll likely die as it'll draw all the monsters in the area to us."
Klein blinked then scratched his head in frustration, "Kirito please next time remember things like that, I likely would have thought it was a weak point..."
Feeling chagrined and rather angry with herself she nodded quickly, "Right right."
Ten minutes later they were still slaughtering the local flora when they heard someone cough behind them, turning around the duo met a young mans smiling face as he waved to them sheepishly.
"Hey, doing the 'Secret Medicine of the Forest' quest right? I'm Coper, mind if we work together?"
The friends exchanged a look then shrugged, "Sure," Kirito said as she turned back to the next monster. More the merrier, right?
*Bum bum BUUUUUUM!*