PLEASE NOTE: This Sidequest is not canon. Any die-hard, 'they can't be with anyone else' Kirito-Asuna fans, please, avoid this chapter. Or, at least, scroll down to the bottom for the author's notes.

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All of those jerks gone? Right then, on with the story.

Sidequest: What If? Asuna Version

December 24th, 2023

"Hey, Rythin?"

I looked down at the girl leaning against my shoulder, her long chestnut hair spilling partly over my shoulder and partly down her back. "Yeah?"

Asuna fidgeted slightly. "I was wondering... that maybe..." She looked down, face red. "...those rumors don't have to be..." She looked away. I couldn't really blame her; those rumors she was talking about were mostly people speculating on the state of our romantic involvement.

I continued looking down at her, not showing any reaction. "What about the rumors?" I asked calmly. The Asuna I was looking at was nothing like the Asuna I knew; she was no longer calm, collected, or confident - she was no longer the skilled sub-commander I knew her to be. Right now, Asuna seemed almost as shy and skittish as a kitten in a new home.

She looked at me, still avoiding direct eye contact. "Maybe...they could be true?"

Silence.

The silence stretched on for a long time before I sighed, a long slow exhale. Looking down into her eyes, I realized they were shining with a mix of hope and fear - hope that I would say yes, fear that I would say no after she placed her heart on the line. "Asuna..." She clung to my arm. "I had no idea you felt this way." It certainly did explain some of her actions. Slipping my arm out of her grasp, I placed it around her and hugged her close. The physical contact wasn't uncomfortable by any means, but I still wanted to pull away; I didn't retreat, but I knew my body was stiff. "You're one of the smartest and strongest fighters I've ever met." I closed my eyes and sighed. "Why? Why me?" I opened my eyes and looked at her. "I'm not asking for an ego boost or anything like that, I just... don't understand why someone like you'd be interested in me." There were so many reasons why this was a bad idea, and my brain was screaming every single one of them at me, but I still had to know her reasons...

"Don't say that," Asuna said. "There's plenty of reasons for me like you. You're strong, smart, dependable..." She smiled; I couldn't see it, but the way her voice changed I guessed it was a soft smile. "You put up a tough front, but I can see through it to who you are underneath. You really are...someone special..."

I laughed slightly. Special? I suppose that's a way to describe me. "It's not all about physical appearance, you know."

"You know what I mean," Asuna told me before sighing and leaning into my body. "I think above all... You're safe. I won't lose you."

"Lose me?"

"To this game," Asuna whispered. "To Aincrad. You're strong and I know nothing will happen to you."

I licked my lips slightly and stared off into the distance. "I see..."

"Why not?" Asuna asked suddenly, and I looked at her to see her finally meet my gaze; like a snake paralyzing a mouse, I couldn't tear my eyes away from hers as she searched my eyes, stripping away at the barriers I kept up to keep the rest of the world out. "Why don't you think anyone could like you? We get along, don't we?" Something in her eyes shimmered, and I realized she really meant it - she really did care about me. "You have fun when we're together, right? When you play music for me, or we eat meals together, you're having fun... aren't you?"

Trapped by her gaze, I had no choice but to be honest. "...I am. I'm enjoying myself when I'm with you." My resolve was wavering, and that could be dangerous.

"Then why aren't you saying yes?" Asuna cried. "What's wrong?" I froze. Asuna must sense she said something that hit me behind all of my shields, because she didn't let me get my mental feet under me. "Rythin, please, tell me what's wrong. You can trust me."

"Can I?" My voice was quiet, hesitant, and Asuna's eyes widened as my shields came crashing down around me. I had tried so hard to keep them up, but her simple, four word statement had knocked them all away. "Can I really trust you, Asuna?" I was desperate, searching Asuna's eyes for the confirmation I needed.

"Of course you can, Rythin."

Whatever I was looking for - because I didn't know what it was myself - I had found it. Taking a deep breath, I said, "I'm scared, Asuna. That's what's wrong."

Asuna frowned slightly. Even so, it didn't diminish her beauty at all. "Scared? Of what?"

I sighed and closed my head, resting my chin on the top of her head. "Of being left alone again. Of the people I care about leaving me." Slowly, hesitantly, I started telling her about my past; how every friend I had made had left me eventually, and how I started closing myself off from the world in order to not be hurt. I knew it was strange, for me to open up like this - especially since we had been trapped in a world where a moment of weakness would spell death - but Asuna's simple reassurance had broken some kind of dam in me. Everything that I had been holding back spilled out of me, and when I stopped talking I realized a few tears were dripping down my cheek.

"I didn't know..." Asuna said when I moved back slightly to dry my tears. "You held so much pain inside and I didn't know..."

I let out a watery chuckle. "It's fine, Asuna. I did my best to keep it hidden from everyone."

"Because you wanted to be strong?" I had nothing I could say in response to her question. "Rythin, strength isn't being able to do things alone." She smiled at me. "It's being able to admit when you need someone's help."

I sighed; she didn't understand why I did what I did, why I needed that kind of strength. "Maybe, Asuna." We sat in silence for a while, sharing each other's company in the cold as the snow continued to drift down. It wasn't the companionable silence it had been before; there was almost a strange tension in the air, and I realized I still hadn't answered her question. "There's...one other reason I..." I didn't want to say 'can't get into a relationship', because it wasn't like that, but I had no idea what else to say. Being tongue-tied was rare for me. Asuna didn't say anything, somehow sensing that I needed to work my way up to it myself, and I sighed eventually. "I..." I shifted my weight nervously. I'd never told this to anyone else, so I had no idea how she was going to react. "I identify as asexual." I had to get it all out in a rush, before she left in disgust. "I don't feel sexual attraction to anyone or anything. Physically, everything works as it should," - Asuna flushed slightly at my frank admission - "but...mentally, there's just no drive."

"So that's why..." Asuna murmured.

My lips twisted into a grim mockery of a smile. "Yes. That's why. It's why you and I can't -"

Asuna interrupted me with a smile. "You say that like it matters."

My thoughts ground to a halt. "What." What was she saying? I was a freak, a distortion of nature. I was wrong in a way that was conceptually foreign to almost everybody else in the world. "Asuna, what..."

"It's okay, Rythin." Asuna leaned against me, and strangely enough I didn't mind. "I like you for who you are. If that means you're different like that, well, that's just part of who you are." I couldn't say anything, my mind still frozen, and all I could do was hug the girl sitting beside me. "I won't leave, Rythin," she murmured. "No matter what, I'll stay by your side."

Despite myself, I smiled. "And I yours, Asuna. I'll never leave you." I could never leave her - not after what she'd done for me.

We sat there in the night, enjoying each other's company; Asuna felt comfortable in the crook of my arm, snuggled up to my side. Her warmth kept the cold at bay, and even though snow was falling I was more fascinated by the woman by my side. As I was resting my cheek on her head, listening to her breathe, a notification flashed up in the corner of my vision. When I moved to look at it, Asuna made a small noise of confusion. "Message," I told her. When I opened it, I realized the sender was Kirito. "It's from Kirito," I said in almost awe, sitting up straight and staring at the message. I scanned the contents of the message and slumped back against the bench, half leaning against Asuna. "He's okay. He fought the boss and won. He apologized for causing me worry."

Asuna sighed and smiled, leaning back against my side. "He's okay. Thank goodness."

"Yeah." I leaned my head on hers again, reveling in the sense of having someone that I could trust, at long last.

December 26th, 2023

I stood in front of Heathcliff in his temporary headquarters. "I must say, I'm surprised, Rythin," he said calmly. "I can't say I expected you here this soon."

"Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you are," I said, glancing at the beautiful woman next to me before turning back to Heathcliff with a smile. "But here we are."

Asuna coughed. "As sub-commander of the Knights of the Blood, I vouch for Rythin's skills in combat, as well as his aptitude in planning." She nodded with finality. "He would make a good addition to the guild."

Heathcliff nodded at his sub-commander and turned to me. "Rythin, I welcome you to the Knights of the Blood." He swiped open his menu and tapped a few buttons; soon, a screen appeared in front of me. 'Do you accept the invitation to the guild Knights of the Blood?' I tapped yes after a second of hesitation. As the prompt disappeared, a small symbol appeared in the top left of my vision, a white square with a red cross in the center. A guild symbol - my guild symbol.

"Sir," I said, "There is a question I want to ask."

"Yes, Rythin?"

My eyes narrowed. "I understand that you are now technically my superior, but I ask that I take my orders only from Asuna." My lips twitched in a smirk. "I realize the two are functionally identical, but emotionally they are very different to me."

"Rythin, what..." Asuna began.

I gave her a fond smile. "I trust Asuna," I told Heathcliff, "not you. In time that may change, but at the moment I would prefer to take my orders solely from her."

Heathcliff nodded. "As my tactical advisor, I accept your request." His lips twitched in a small, almost unnoticeable smile. "This would normally be the part where you undergo a trial, a way to gauge your strength, but given your, ah, accomplishments I believe we can dispense with that formality."

I nodded. "Thank you."

Heathcliff smiled, but it felt wrong somehow. Like it didn't reach his eyes. "Welcome to Knights of the Blood, Rythin."

"I look forward to working with you." I grinned. "Oh, and, uh, is there a way we can waive the dress code for me? I'm a fan of my current color scheme, you see…"

March 6th, 2024

I frowned as I stared at the map hanging on the wall. "I don't know, Asuna," I said, absently gnawing at my left thumbnail. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I," she sighed, "but what choice do we have?"

I turned to look at my girlfriend where she stood by the window, drinking in the warm sunlight. "I just feel like something's missing. The Geocrawler is all but invincible with its heavy armor, yeah, but it just feels like there's a missing piece of the puzzle."

"But will it work?"

I shook my head. "I have no way of knowing until we implement our plan. Thing is, my gut feeling says no. Luring it to the village is going to be hard enough, and then keeping its attention on the villagers instead of the players attacking it will be all but impossible."

Asuna turned to look at me, resting on the stone ledge of the window. "I half expected you to object to putting the NPCs in harm's way."

"They aren't players," I said with a shrug. "If it's them or us, I'd rather it be them." Cold, but they weren't, well, human. NPCs could respawn. With a grunt, I turned back to the map and sighed. "We're missing something. I just know it."

"C'mon," Asuna said, standing up. "The meeting starts soon, and we need to at least look like we have an idea." I nodded and gestured for her to lead on, following her as we exited the planning room.

Things were going well with us; since we were in the same guild - and I took my orders from her - we got to see each other almost every day. Oh, sure, there was the occasional day where one of us (usually Asuna, as she took parties out occasionally) was gone for the day, but despite that we managed to find time to just be together. Syncing up time off was easy enough, so we'd usually get to have a small picnic once or twice a month. Asuna protested when I made her take the full day off every now and then - she said it was inefficient and the day could be better spent helping the guild members - but she always subsided when I reminded her of how we used to take days off like that before I had joined the Knights of the Blood. Especially the September day when we both got the diamonds; I had mine made into gloves to supplement my habit of punching everything, and I think Asuna had hers turned into materials for a rapier. All in all, we managed to make time to spend with each other. It helped that we shared a room - different beds, but the same room. Heathcliff claimed it was because we were running low on space for new recruits, but I'm pretty sure it was because he found some sort of amusement watching the two of us. Not sure why, but he made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

As things stood, though, we were busy trying to figure out how to kill the Geocrawler, the Field Boss keeping us from the Labyrinth. The damn thing was armored all over, and we couldn't risk any of our guild members trying to climb over the thing and search for a weak spot. There had to be a weak point somewhere, but how could we find it? The damn thing was too dangerous, and Asuna refused to put her people into danger.

We entered the cave where the meeting was taking place to find the rest of the assembled guilds and solo players already waiting for us. Asuna gave me an arch look, as if to say 'See? We're late' and I just grinned back at her without feeling chagrined in the least. "Thank you for coming, everyone," Asuna said as she moved over next to the stone table and rolled out a copy of the map we had been studying before. Unlike the map we had been studying, however, this was a crude copy on a crude piece of leather. "Rythin?"

I moved over next to her, brushing her hand with mine as I took her place. It was a relatively open secret that we were dating, especially thanks to a certain information broker, but even so we weren't ever all that public about it. I took a deep breath and began explaining the plan we had come up with; despite my reservations, I had a job to do and I was going to do it. The others couldn't sense a bit of my own private reservations or weakness.

When I finished explaining how we'd be luring the Geocrawler to the village and trying to use NPCs to distract the boss, I looked around and said, "Does anyone have any questions or objections?" Please, someone… This isn't right, the puzzle doesn't fit!

Not surprising me in the least, Kirito stepped out of the crowd. "Sorry, but I'm not cool with that plan."

"Kirito." I nodded at him, privately glad that someone had the guts to call me out. "Am I right to assume your objections pertain to the use of NPCs as bait?" He nodded, and I steepled my fingers under my chin, resting my head on my fingertips. "Is your participation contingent on the removal of that particular facet?" He nodded again. "Is there any way we could come to an agreement? A deal, perhaps."

"I've got one in mind," he said. "A duel." I looked at him, silently inviting him to continue, and he said, "You and me, one on one. If you win, I'll go along with your plan."

I felt my lips twitch into a feral grin. "And in the event that you win the duel?"

"A delay," Kirito told me. "Twenty four hours to figure out a better way to defeat the boss. A way where no NPCs have to die." They weren't real people, but to him they lived in this world, had just as much right to life as we did. And I respected that; that's why I had hoped he would speak up.

I told him as much as we started the fight. "Thank you," I whispered as we shook hands prior to fighting. No need to be rude, after all. "I knew something was wrong, but this was the only way to delay the raid."

Kirito grinned at me. "So you're going to throw the match?" he asked with a hint of chiding. Kirito was a warrior, and something like 'throwing a match' was definitely against his principles.

I just chuckled and closed my eyes before opening them again, the colors of the world fading. Everyone knew about Future Step; I had revealed it at the same time Heathcliff disclosed information about his own Unique Skill. If he hadn't been my guild master, I doubt I would have spoken up, though. As the calm washed over me, I felt my lips crack apart into a chill smile. "Hardy," I smirked. "I'm fighting to win."

And yet, despite my tough words and despite the advantage Future Step afforded me Kirito still managed to beat me with a remarkably accurate feint with his off-hand. It was like he actually had a second sword in his hand when he swung at me and the sudden surge in bloodlust made me dodge it automatically, straight into his other sword. He had attacked... No, he had known - and the bloodlust told me - there was a second sword in his offhand. How can that be? He wasn't ambidextrous as far as I knew and even if he was, a feint felt different than an attack. He literally attacked me with nothing. Eh, whatever, I got the outcome I wanted. Sometimes manipulating from the shadows required the puppeteer to appear on stage.

After Kirito figured out the correct way to beat the boss - thanks to one of the NPCs in town - Asuna and I were relaxing at the party, our fingers laced together. "You wanted him to say something," Asuna said. It wasn't a question. "You wanted him to give you an excuse to not let those NPCs get attacked."

"It was a puzzle and we were missing the pieces," I said. "I don't care that the NPCs would die, but Kayaba would never design a puzzle where part of the solution is 'acceptable casualties'."

Asuna smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. "It worked out in the end, didn't it?"

I leaned my weight against her slightly, feeling her shift automatically to take some of my weight. "It did. Kirito's reliable enough, so I knew he'd be able to figure it out." It bothered me a little bit that I hadn't, but I hadn't really made a point of getting to know the NPCs, so I guess it was only fair he got this win.

August 2nd, 2024

I entered the blacksmith's shop with a sigh. "Hey, Liz?" I called out. "You here?"

"In the back!" Lisbeth called out. After a second, the pink-haired girl made her way out of the back room of her shop. "Oh, Rythin, nice to see you. Here to get the Nightblade repaired?" Asuna had introduced me to the female smith a little while after we started dating; Lisbeth did most of Asuna's repairs, and so I had no problem taking my business to her as well. In time, Lisbeth turned into something like my confidant, a person that I could go to and discuss any relationship issues I was having. "Or is it Asuna you wanted to talk about?" she asked with a knowing grin.

I chuckled. "A little of column A, a little of column B." I drew the Nightblade and handed it to her, following her as she went into the back room to repair the durability damage. "How's Kirito doing?"

As always, whenever I brought up the subject of her boyfriend, Lisbeth smiled a small cat-like smile. "I'm sure you'd like to know, Rythin, but a lady never kisses and tells."

"Then you should have no problem telling me," I said with a chuckle. "As you are definitely not a lady." Apparently, he had asked for a sword stronger than his Elucidator, and to do that both he and Lisbeth needed to travel to a dungeon with a gigantic dragon; Asuna had been beside herself with worry when the girl didn't return that evening, and when she returned the next day both Asuna and I were shocked when she and Kirito announced they were dating. I immediately gave Kirito a high-five; now we could commiserate about the trials and tribulations of being the male half of the relationship.

I leaned against the railing and watched Lisbeth work her magic; after a few hammer strikes, she handed my dagger back to me. "Service with a smile," she said calmly - and with no hint of a smile. The two of us bickered almost constantly, but it was all in good fun. I took it back with a thank you, and she frowned. "Something's eating at you, Rythin. Troubles in paradise?"

I sighed and took a seat on the steps. "I guess."

"Talk," Lisbeth ordered, taking a seat. "Maybe I can help."

I closed my eyes and just sat there for a while. "Things aren't going well, and I don't know why," I told Lisbeth without opening my eyes. "It's not like I care for her any less, it's just like... I don't know, there's just something keeping me from..." I wasn't sure how to describe it. Like there was something separating me from Asuna, but I couldn't put it into words. "It's like there's a wall between the two of us, a thin wall of ice. We can see each other and hear each other and talk, but nothing we do touches the other." Liz made a humming sound. "I still care about her so much - I feel at peace when I'm with her. But... whatever is wrong is just, well..." I sighed. "It's like I'm a different person than she expects, than I expect. Like whatever emotions I'm supposed to be feeling I'm just faking it."

Liz made another sound. "I can't help you with emotions, Rythin," she said, "because I can't tell you what you're feeling. All I can tell you is it'll get better."

I sighed. "I hope so, Liz, I really do." Hoisting myself to my feet with a grunt, I straightened up slowly. "Thanks for the advice, Liz. I do appreciate it."

Liz grinned and gave me a thumbs up. "Hey, you're Kirito's best friend, and more importantly Asuna's boyfriend. So of course I'm gonna help you out, Rythin."

"Better than going to ask Argo," I said with a shrug. "At least you don't charge."

"That's actually a pretty good idea..."

"Don't you dare!"

August 18th, 2024

Asuna opened the door and peeked in. "Rythin?" I made a sound of acknowledgement and continued staring off into space. "What's wrong?" I felt more than heard her enter the room and close the door before sitting down next to me. "Did the raid go...?"

"It went fine," I said flatly. "Laughing Coffin is no more."

"Then what's -"

I turned to look at her, and whatever was in my eyes made her flinch. "I killed a man, Asuna." She started to say something, reach out to comfort me, and I pulled away from her. "I killed him and I don't feel anything. I don't feel guilty, I don't feel sad, I just feel numb."

Asuna frowned, her eyes sad. "Rythin..."

"If anything, it felt good!" I exploded. "It felt good to watch him die as my dagger cut through his throat. It felt like I was alive."

"What are you saying?" Asuna asked. "Are you saying you wanted to kill?"

I shook my head and when I turned to look at her, I knew my pale grey eyes were burning with a fey light. "I'm saying that killing feels good. Better than a lot of other things." Better than eating, better than sleeping. Better than fighting against Kirito or Asuna or other monsters. "You know, a lot of things have started making sense."

"Sense?" Asuna demanded. "How?"

"I always felt I was... wrong, somehow. That I wasn't supposed to be alive."

"Don't say that!" Asuna snapped. "You -"

"I'm a monster!" I shouted at her. "A worthless monster with no ethics or morals or anything that makes people human." She reeled back slightly - this was the first time I had really raised my voice, especially with her. "I'm no better than the members of Laughing Coffin that I've killed. Hell, I might be worse. At least they had a goal, a reason to do what they did. I'd be better off dead."

My world suddenly exploded into stars, and when my vision cleared I staggered back, falling off of the bed. My hand went up to cradle my left cheek, and I stared at Asuna as she sat there, tears streaming down her eyes and her right hand shaking. Her slap had actually hurt - not physically, but emotionally. Still not saying anything, she fled from the room sobbing.

Well. Now I felt like shit.

I went out and messaged Kirito; I just needed to talk to someone that might be sympathetic. Lisbeth was out of the question, since she was more Asuna's friend than mine, but Kirito could possibly be a source of explanation and understanding. So when he met me outside on the 55th Floor, I explained everything that I could as impersonally as possible. Kirito didn't ask many questions, staring off into the distance impassively. "So that's everything," I said with a sigh. "I'm… I feel like an ass, but what can I do about it?"

Kirito didn't say anything right away, so I just sighed and buried my face in my hands. Gods, what had happened to me? I had been strong before this, strong enough to deal with everything on my own. I had been a tactician, the Tactician, and when I looked at the cards I had been dealt I had no idea what my next play could be. Even Kirito didn't seem to have any idea what I should do. "I get it, I think." When he asked me to stand up and face him, I was definitely confused. When Kirito stood up in front of me and punched me in the jaw, I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but it snapped me out of my private little sulk-fest. "Rythin, stop being an idiot," he said. "You love her, and she loves you. Go talk to her and smooth this over."

I worked my jaw, marveling at the strength of his punch. It did suit him, though. "Yeah." I turned to walk away, but before that I glanced over my shoulder and grinned at Kirito. "Thanks."

"Any time," he said, shaking his hand. I'd rather not take a punch like that again, thanks, but if he could help me understand how to handle this I'd accept any amount of pain.

According to my map, Asuna was in a small peaceful dungeon that the two of us frequented - or, used to frequent, back before all of this emotional drama started rearing its ugly head. The scenery was beautiful, and we'd have a picnic at the top of a hill, under the shade of a large oak tree. Asuna always said she liked it there because it reminded her of the small grove the two of us used to visit on the lower floors, where I had made the habit of playing my instruments. How long had it been since I'd felt the urge to play music? The memory of the music floated up, the melody ringing in my ears, and I felt strangely alone - like I had lost something important a long time ago and only just now realized it was missing. At the same time, it was almost comforting to know I had finally put my finger on the pulse of why I felt different, even if I couldn't put all of it into words, and that I could throttle it just by pressing down and cutting the pulse.

As I approached the hill in the dungeon, the hairs on the back of my neck started to stand on end. I couldn't see anything out of place - and if Asuna really was there, there should be some sign of her passage. It was like someone had come through and eliminated her trail entirely. Frowning, I sped up, moving through the flowers in the field without caring that I was trampling on the blooms. The top of the hill came into view, and I felt my blood run cold; there were three players surrounding another one, and the one player happened to be wearing a very familiar Knights of the Blood uniform.

Without stopping, I crossed the distance between my position and the top of the hill in long, leaping bounds. One of the players chuckled nastily as the three continued looking at Asuna - they hadn't noticed my arrival. Sloppy. "Sorry 'bout this, beautiful, but orders is orders, and me an' the boys been paid damn well." He nodded his head at his two friends. "Kill her."

"Pardon me," I said calmly and with death in my voice. "But are you trying to hurt the woman I love?"

Asuna gasped. "Rythin?"

The three whirled around, the one on the left swearing. "Wh- he's not supposed to be here!" he shouted.

"Fuck it, kill him too!"

The tides were now even; Asuna had her rapier drawn, and now that I was there it was two on three, with the three surrounded. One fighter - the one on the right - moved to engage me, while the other two closed in on Asuna. Anger and fury blazed in my eyes as they bled to a deep crimson, Future Step's tell, and I growled under my breath, infuriated despite the calm from my skill.

The man closed in to try to kill me, sword drawn, and I lifted my hand to block his first strike; even though I blocked it, I took a sliver of damage, and I watched with satisfaction as my opponent's cursor gradually darkened to a sullen orange. He swung again and again, and each time I simply danced through the blade's path, slowly closing in on him. He reared back to unleash another Sword Skill, and I acted; with a lunge I immediately closed the remaining distance between us and struck. Planting my foot in the ground, I thrust up with my other knee - it slammed into his stomach, and the force of the blow wrapped him around my strike. Not letting up the offensive I grabbed his throat with my left hand and crushed, not stopping until my fingers and thumb met. I dropped him, and he scrabbled on the ground trying to draw breath before shuddering, his back arched, and collapsing. A second later he shattered into blue polygons to the tune of shattering glass. It felt good.

Asuna had been keeping the other two at bay, and I moved in to simplify things for her. I drew my dagger and sliced out; after a second, the player on the right collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, the back of his neck cut to the virtual bone. He would die soon enough - the green color of the wound told me that the Nightblade's deadly poison had taken effect. The other player died faster, my blade unerringly seeking his heart from behind.

As the blue polygons scattered from my vision, I rushed forward and embraced the woman I loved, heedless of anything else but the fact that she was safe. "Are you okay?" I murmured into her hair.

"Y-yeah," Asuna said, sniffing and trying to hold back tears. "I'm okay."

"I'm sorry, Asuna," I said, still holding her tightly. "About what I said earlier. I shouldn't have shouted, and I will never doubt you again. That's a promise." If my bloodlust couldn't be sated, I'd turn it towards a practical purpose - keeping my loved ones safe from all harm. There's something wrong with me, with how I think, but as long as I have Asuna I would never have to be alone with those dark thoughts again.

"Did you mean what you said?"

I froze. "What part of what I said?"

Asuna lifted her head and pinned me with her gaze. "When you arrived. When you stopped them. Did you mean it?"

Slowly, I smiled. "When I said that I loved you? Yes. Yes I did." I looked into her eyes. "I love you, Asuna. More than anything in the world."

She returned my smile, radiant despite the tears in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. "I love you, too, Rythin."

"Hey." She looked up at me curiously, and I grinned. "Wanna get married?"

On second thought, I mused as I rubbed at my slightly aching jaw, probably not the best way to propose to her - even if she did say yes.

Maybe, just maybe, if Rythin didn't hate himself so much that night, things would have been different. Because that's really why Rythin turned Asuna down; he genuinely thought he wasn't good enough for her, and that he couldn't make her happy. He knew he was asexual, but that was all he knew. Still, he refused to let himself think for a second that maybe he did deserve to be happy. And yes, I know, he had his head firmly planted up his ass with that line of thinking, but he wasn't very rational about relationships.

Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed. Every last one of you – you're all fantastic. I went back and looked at my daily stats back when I first started writing on this site, and I remember being so proud that over 50 people had read my story - and now I'm breaking 300 readers daily. Really, honestly, thank you everybody. Even if nobody read my stuff I'd still write, since I like it; but you all make it so much more enjoyable.

Stuff about Sidequests in general now that we've hit the end:

1. This was more or less an experiment; there are plenty of anthologies out there for actual series (the Dresden Files book Side Jobs comes to mind first, but it's by no means the only example I've read) and I wanted to how they worked for myself. It's not precisely the same - I didn't have other authors available to write chapters, naturally - but it was close. And the result of the experiment is: a resounding eh. I enjoyed writing them at times, but since they were so disconnected most of the time they were just short stories that happened to share characters.

2. Yes, some of the things I've written in here are a bit weird. Like I said, most of it was experimental, and there were some parts where it was a bit more experimental than others. I've never made a secret of how I'm not exactly stable at the best of times, and there were definitely certain sidequests where I was not at the best of times. Other sidequests were created by me playing around with different writing techniques, or just framing devices to see if I could pull them off. Some I liked how it worked, some I didn't.

3. My other stories are probably going to be back to the normal style, with one large plot rather than several smaller individual plots like this one. I think I enjoy writing those more.

4. Those omake that I posted every now and then were like small little vignettes that weren't fleshed out enough to justify a chapter on their own, but were small little slice of life-esque things that I wanted to show off. Those I might actually keep around.

And now for the thank you part:

Thanks to everyone that followed the story: Alicornation, AllenFierte, Andresfam, Cal18697, Caspermoose, Coren024, CryingDemonicAngles, Crystalline13, Dae-Ra, DarkAbyss013, EnderJelly, FallingKeys, Fireofargentis, FrostyLeSnowman, GStride, Hammiam, HawkBlade0, IC0, Jared Larson, JCDisme, JdkLeBleau728, Kage no Kenshi, Kage the Cat, KaijuKyurem, Kierron, LeDeepThought, Legend D, Lobsterdude611, MaHal1337, Magery, Morrigahn- Dark Herald, NT3S, Nervos Belli, OkamiBCFY, OrangeBeanGamer, Ridgewolfe, RomanceDagger, Sarpah, SharpRevan, Silent13691, Starfoam, ThatGuyThere95, The19thRenegade, TheIdioticGuy, TheSilenceIsVast, Undeadmonkey8, Vincent188, Zealifer, bennydragon95, bored kid 48, compass96, dch448, dragonlorerd6, eddielilman, , nightfog125, pokemon122000, rspbrryjelly, shadowX25, silverhawk88, skyrumen818, yuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiop.

Thanks to everyone that favorited the story: Alicornation, AllenFierte, Andresfam, Antex-The Legendary Zoroark, Apeman342, ArcAnge1 I4, Boobie Support, Cal18697, Chaotic Winter Aurora, CryingDemonicAngles, Crystalline13, Dae-Ra, DarkAbyss013, Duadain, FallingKeys, Fireofargentis, FrostyLeSnowman, Hammiam, IC0, JJ3030, JdkLeBleau728, Kage no Kenshi, Kage the Cat, LeDeepThought, Morrigahn- Dark Herald, OkamiBCFY, OmegaTree, OrangeBeanGamer, Risa Von Sanz, Sarpah, SharpRevan, Silent13691, ThatGuyThere95, TheIdioticGuy, TheOverlord2, TheSilenceIsVast, Undeadmonkey8, Vincent188, Wyxlan Lonestar, Zealifer, bored kid 48, compass96, dragonlorerd6, eddielilman, mkae, nightfog125, o realisticFantasy o, pokemon122000, rspbrryjelly, shadowX25, skyrumen818, thesky448, vampireharry the 2, zapros.

And thanks to everyone that left a review: Alicornation, Undeadmonkey8, Rythin x Argo, JdkLeBleau728, Guest, skyrumen818, Zenog, Fireofargentis, MaHal1337, , SubtleKitsune, Morrigahn- Dark Herald, Wolf Repulsor, Panther Hardraad, SharpRevan, Kage no Kenshi, Tesseract, suddenlyShy, OrionGold, davoid123.

If I missed your name, it's totally not because I just made a mistake, it's because I'm actively trying to ruin your life. Yep. That's it.

Omake 4: Nick's Mind

What Nick thinks:

Left: Three possible threats, all seated. Currently consuming food. Threat level 2.

Right: Four possible threats, all standing. Moving in a pack toward a certain location. Threat level 4.

Behind: Unknown number of possible threats. All possible threats currently occupied obtaining food. Threat level 5, subject to reevaluation on visual confirmation.

Ahead: Open. Move forward.

Things are crowded in here today, probably because it's Wednesday. Other people would be mad about Hump Day for other reasons, but I just hate the people. People are so annoying except for Love and Friend and Friend. I like them. Music is nice. Bwaahm, bwahhm. Tuba or trombone or baritone player was having fun that day when they recorded it.

Possible threat approaching on left, gauge threat level - currently talking with other person, threat level 1.

Table ahead currently occupied by member of acquaintance group. Balance tray in one hand and pull chair out with other. Sit down, acknowledge existence of acquaintance. Time to eat.

What actually happened:

Nick walked out of the lunch room with his meal in hand, still listening to music through his earbuds. After glancing left and right, he walked to where Keiko was sitting. He pulled out a chair and sat down, nodding hello to the girl before starting to eat his meal.

Strange, ain't it?