WARNING: This story contains mature elements such as manipulation, Non-Con, humiliation.

Chapter 9: Just Like Old Times

Underworld, Centoria—20th August, Year 380 in the Time of the Realm of Humanity

"Quinella!"

"Ngh..!"

The woman with silver hair retracted her hand, face displaying slight fear but managing to reel most of it in, watching in confusion as Kirito rushed over to the other girl's side, helping her up with a worried look.

"Kirito-kun..." The girl gasped out, flinching a little at his hand touching her cheek, where the... whoever it was, with the long silver hair and beautiful stature (an almost angelic visage, betrayed only by the aura she was emanating), had slapped her at. Still, seeing him right now made the pain (a lot more) manageable. "Y-You're actually here... A-Ahaha... Guess things happen, huh..?"

"Asuna..." He muttered before a flash of angers flooded his iris—he felt a little different, almost older, as that sounded. And she only thought of such even more when she saw how his head snapped back towards the other woman, his tone sounding more authoritative. "Quinella! What the hell was that for?"

"K-Kirito..." To actually see Kirito, the same boy who saved her and so many people with a smile on his face, actually sound so angry at someone (the only times when she'd ever heard such a tone used when he faced off against Heathcliff, members of 'Laughing Coffin', as well as Death Gun) that it rendered the woman into a timid lass, flinching back. "B-But she... W-Who is she even?! I don't recall you ever meeting someone like this!"

The girl wanted to answer, but another voice had entered the scene, a mix of concern and fear in her tone. "Kirito? Who is..."

The other girl looked almost Kirito's age, with beautiful golden locks and wearing armour of a knight.

A small part of her felt just the right amount of chagrin at knowing he managed to attract more girls to him again, but the rational part that was taking control of her was feeling mostly confused.

Footsteps behind her announced the presence of another person, and she sees that it's a boy with green eyes, flaxen hair and some sort of blue uniform. "Kirito? Is this a friend of yours?"

"She's... yeah, she's a friend," the boy sighs, rubbing his face with something akin to exhaustion in his tone. "I knew her for a long time, and... uurgh, okay. Asuna, did you come here alone?"

"Uh? O-Oh, no, I'm here with some others," she shook her head, blinking. "Why?"

"Let's just... Okay, we need a plan," he looked frustrated, or maybe he just didn't know what was going on anymore. And she felt like he at least had the reason to be—after all, it's not like he would have known she'd dive into the world he's been living in for almost three years. "Eugeo, take Alice and Qui... Lady Quinella to the council room in the Cathedral. Asuna, let's try and get everyone together. I'll come with you, just to make sure."

"Well... alright. You guys go ahead then. We'll just wait for you," nodded Eugeo, the ravenette returning the gesture with his own as he joined the girl named Asuna in the opposite direction of the cathedral. "Well, that was something."

Not every day you see your best friend and brother figure suddenly hugging some girl no one knows about, huh?

Later—Underworld, In Another Part of Centoria—20th August, Year 380 in the Time of the Realm of Humanity

"Honestly, I can't believe this is where we're supposed to find Kirito. This feels way too crazy!"

"You can say that again, Yuuki."

Seriously, in a city like this, which Vabel estimated to be exactly as wide as the first floor of Aincrad, Leafa could make a rough guess that this place must be really big. And, judging by how shocked the 'SAO' survivors were, that must mean that this place is really big.

Gigantic, even? Well, that would have meant that it would be difficult to find him.

And it's only worse when they accidentally lose Asuna in the crowd. Damn it!

"It's bad enough that we don't know where to go, the money that we managed to make from our side jobs is about to run out, and it might be night soon and we wouldn't have enough money to pay for a single room," with all the problems on their plate, no one could really blame the girl for feeling a little stressed. "And there's so many of us... and all of us look too out of place."

It's so true, considering the fact that they're a large group of girls in weird outfits that show up out of nowhere and start wandering the city with no clear idea of where they were going.

Well, at least the people were nice to them and didn't treat them like some outsiders, but some stared at them way more than necessary. That was a little unnerving.

"Which direction do we head for now? I already forgot which is north and south already," sighed Lisbeth, rubbing the back of her neck. "Or should we just try heading for the really large tower in the centre of this town and hope we can find Asuna or Kirito?"

The tower of ivory stood dauntingly over every single being present, staring them down and challenging any and everything to test its worth. And yet, none of them needed to even attempt attacking it to know that it was probably the strongest piece of structure in this city.

After all, based on what Vabel told them, that was the Central Cathedral, where the ruler of this Human Empire resided, and thus operated from, maintaining order of this realm.

The fact that Kirito is supposed to be the right hand man of the ruler of this realm sounds all too impossible.

Then again, he's been here for three years, so they supposed he could have made it possible...

"I guess we just head there for now then," hummed Silica before perking up, her head turning towards a direction. The path paved before them was accompanied by rows of shops, and there, in the distance... "Oh, look! It's them! It's Kirito and Asuna!"

"Huh?" All girls immediately turned to where their young friend was indicating, and true to form, there they were; Asuna, the regal rapier-wielder, accompanied by the swordsman in black—though with different clothes and two different swords clipped to his waist instead of his back, that was still him.

It was the person they came to save, Kirito.

"K-Kirito..." Muttered Vabel, too slow to actually respond before Yuuki had been the first to charge forwards, throwing herself at the boy, who barely responded quickly enough to actually stop and get tackled into a hug.

"Kiritoooooo..!" Her muffled screaming in his chest was clear as she finally pulled back, teary-eyed. "You're okaaay..!"

"A-Ah, yeah, I am," he breathed out, looking to everyone else. "Girls... Whoa."

He would have never thought that he'd be seeing anyone back home any time soon, given the fact that he was literally trapped here for a little too long for his tastes. Three years here may not have translated to three actual years in the real world, but three years here still felt that way, and he was starting to feel like he was losing himself.

Yet, here they were... perhaps not everyone, of course, but they were still here.

He knew they wouldn't forget him. It's only been a few days for them, maybe..? For him, three years have come and gone. And here they are, with him once more.

"I... Ahh," he let out a sigh, smiling softly. "I... missed all of you."

"O-Onii-chan!"

"Kirito-kun, y-you're okay now..!"

"Thank God you're alright! We didn't know what we'd... Urgh!"

"Kirito..."

Getting to meet all of his friends again... It feels like a dream.

He's really thankful that it's not.

Night time—Underworld, Central Cathedral, Floor 50, Great Hall—20th August, Year 380 in the Time of the Realm of Humanity

Night had rolled in by the time that the group (nine girls and one guy) had finally reached the Central Cathedral, as it was already getting close to night time anyways.

Entering the gigantic tower was almost... well, it was almost unimaginable. It was imposing, and thinking about actually stepping foot in there was just a scary feeling all on its own. So to see Kirito looking so confident and greeting the nuns and some of the Integrity Knights inside the tower as they passed the group by was surprising.

Seeing some of the knights treat him with such respect only solidified the fact that he is indeed of high position here, just as Emiya had told them.

Nonetheless, they used some form of elevator to travel all the way to the fiftieth floor of the tower, making some small talk here and there but otherwise pretty quiet throughout the entire ordeal.

How could anyone even think of saying anything, when this entire time, all of their heads were filled with nothing but questions.

What had Kirito been doing in this world, having existed in this world for three whole years to experience the laws and ways of this reality? Is he still alright, even if he had been separated from reality for three years? How had life been here, perhaps having to fight his way through to make it?

That last one was probably wrong, considering that this world wasn't heavily populated by monsters like every other VR game worlds. Here, civilisation is strong, and there were so many villages and towns and people... well, it made sense why there wasn't a strong concern for monsters in the first place.

After a while of walking, they reached upon two grand doors that looked almost like the entrance to a boss room in 'SAO'. Kirito easily pushed the two doors open, and they walked into a large council room with a large table and many chairs, with three people sitting inside.

The only boy inside perked up, momentarily shocked by the number of girls behind his best friend before shaking his head. This was not the time. "Kirito, there you are. What's going on here?"

"Long story, and I want to listen to it all the same," sighed the boy, taking a seat beside the other lad. "Everyone... please sit down."

"Uhh... Sure, I guess," everyone shared nervous looks with one another, but eventually took their seats, feeling alien in this room despite knowing that their friend was here.

The silence didn't last very long as they thought it would, as Kirito had spoken up quite quickly to start things off. "Everyone, this is Eugeo and Alice, my friends from Rulid Village. And this is Lady Quinella, the pontifex and ruler of the Human Empire."

Everyone perked up at the mention of the last name. So this extremely beautiful woman was the ruler of the Human Realm? And he has to work with her?

"Guys, these are... old friends of mine that I met a long time ago," he began, taking in a deep breath. "That's Asuna, that's Vabel. We have Lisbeth and Leafa too. Silica's there. Over there is Sinon, with Yuuki to her right. The twins are Premiere and Tia."

"A... pleasure to meet you."

"Not—Urgh... Likewise..."

That slip-up was a mistake on Quinella's part, still feeling a little bit of that animosity towards the girl from earlier, but decides that she may as well try to be civil, if only just to not make her love look terrible.

No doubt, this was not exactly the best start to things, and everyone still had their reasons for feeling this way, but Kirito was just glad that no one were actually feeling hostility towards anyone. He could deal with not having to stop girls from fighting.

Introductions out of the way, he turned his attention towards Asuna, who looked back. "Asuna, might I ask... how'd you girls know that I was here?"

"Oh, that. Well... we visited a village in Eastabarieth, I think? Anyways, we met this girl, and she told us that you worked here. So, we've been travelling since then to come here," answered the girl, looking around the room. "I... wasn't expecting this at all. So, you're the Second Ruler of the Human Empire?"

"You could say that," he sounded a little embarrassed, averting his gaze to the table. "I really don't even know how anything happened. And someone like me becoming the Second Ruler of an entire populace of people... Well, you can imagine how it must feel like."

'No kidding...' Went through everyone's heads, able to agree that it must have been way too crazy for him.

"That all aside," everyone could see how a smile split across Kirito's face. "It's... it's good to see you girls. Three years, I think? Maybe even more. I honestly can't believe that we're here now, and I get to meet you again."

"You can say that again!" Chirped Yuuki, impervious to the awkward mood in the air—her bright and bubbliness was a breath of fresh air, and they truly appreciated this. "This place is really cool! I bet you get to do a lot of cool stuff too, huh?"

"Not necessarily, but they're important, for sure," nodded the boy. "After all, with the wellbeing of the people at stake here, of course we've got to take things seriously. It's bad enough that we're constantly being threatened by the Dark Forces, so we send soldiers regularly to handle them at the borders. Although. things are looking pretty great for us, so we've not much to worry of."

"That's... good to hear," hummed Vabel.

Now, of course, even if Kirito was dense (Klein always reminds him whenever he's being a thick-skulled idiot, after all), he knew when to read the mood of the air. He learnt of such after always being present for boss fight meetings, and after having been present for just about every meeting, he had developed that skill of his without even asking to.

And, well... he's not sure if he's meant to be proud about that.

Because right now, anyone would be a fool not to know that things were tense. It was almost intimidating to him, but since he's also usually the one that handles the councils with the pontifex and the Integrity Knights, he's kind of gotten used to every feel.

Although this felt a little too odd.

And, well... every meeting thus far hadn't been this tense. And awkward!

He looked around the room and he could tell that everyone wanted this silence to end. The awkwardness that they were feeling could probably kill a chatterbox, and as improbable and ironic as that sounded, no one wanted to discount that event from happening.

If he could read minds, he would have been blessed with such interesting stories of their own.

'He... He's lived three years with his friends,' were Asuna's thoughts, which were admittedly the only 'positive' one thus far. She couldn't help the soft smile as she looked at both... Eugeo and Alice, was it? To know that Kirito had gotten to live three years here with them made her feel glad that he has at least good company.

She had worried how things had been for him when he entered this world ever since they were told about this by Kikuoka. For as awful as it sounded, at least this world hadn't been cruel to him, and that was all she could ask him.

'He... has a lot of female friends,' Eugeo didn't know what to feel about this particular trivia. Kirito, for as odd as he can be sometimes, was a really good person. He had, after all, been patient enough to teach him swordsmanship for months, which was what gave him the strength to take the path to find Alice and rescue her.

So really, given his nature, of course Kirito was going to have a lot of friends. The fact that most of them are female is... well, a little strange, but he wasn't going to comment, if only because he respected his best friend and knew the guy wasn't a playboy.

'...So, Kirito met other people before..?' Thought Alice, frowning. She knew that she had been kidnapped so long ago, when they were very young, and had then lived years away from her childhood friends. But when had he met them?

He said three years ago, but from what she knows... hmm, maybe Kirito had disappeared sometime after she had been taken, and came to meet them. That would explain the inconsistencies in some parts of the story; that he had forgotten all about Eugeo and Alice, that Eugeo actually has no memory of Kirito from when they were children, and that these girls seem to know him.

'Why..?' Despair was something Quinella had only felt once, and that was with Kirito's hands around her throat as he sought to fuck her the first night, though she was pardoned from such a fate only because of his generosity.

But right now, right now, the feeling was only triple of what she felt back then at the sight of all these girls that claim to know Kirito since so long ago—and that Asuna in particular, treating him like he was hers..! It was awful! Who did they think they were?!

Kirito was, at the end of the day, blissfully unaware of the raging storm in everyone's minds right now, because his sanity might not have survived if he had heard even a glimpse of what was going on.

So even if he didn't know it, he had the unconscious feeling of gratitude welling up in him for no apparent reason.

"So," he managed to cut this silence with just his voice, and everyone focused on him. "How do we do this... Alright then, listen up. Starting tomorrow, I'm about to start working in Norlangarth's Sword Mastery Academy, in North Centoria. Although, I'll have to discuss with the headmaster of the school to decide my shifts so that it doesn't impede my work time here. Then, I need to see all of you to ask some questions. Can you girls stay in Rulid Village?"

"Rulid Village?" Asked Leafa. "Is that where you've lived these three years?"

The memory of breezes and sunlight, even if it had just been a few days since he's just been there, has him smiling. Even the time when he and Eugeo had swung at the Gigas Cedar endlessly with a bone axe is warm. "Yeah. It's a wonderful, beautiful place. I know that you won't regret living there."

"And... what about you?" Asked Vabel, frowning. "You're not... living in the academy, are you?"

"What? Oh, Goddess no. I live in Rulid Village too, so of course I'm coming with you," his shrug that came too easily got everyone to sweat-drop, the serious air from earlier becoming silly—his ability at work there. "Not sure if there's any place for you, but there's a lot of space, I think. Well, even if there isn't, I guess I can delay my transfer to the academy and—"

"Build a house? You know how that went last time!"

"Stuff it! I know we failed the last time we took the job, but we can do it this time, I just know it!"

Suddenly seeing Kirito and Eugeo banter like children took everyone by surprise, but it did make for an amusing sight, and it didn't stop the girls from smiling, happy to see that nothing has changed with the boy who had captured all their hearts.

Alice was no stranger to the sight, but seeing all his friends looking at him like that just... it felt wrong, and she forced down the feeling, opting to just smile.

Quinella didn't bother to quash the feelings. She understood that she was weak, and she embraced it.

She hated this.

The Next Day—Underworld, Rulid Village—21st August, Year 380 in the Time of the Realm of Humanity

When everyone arrived at Rulid Village the night prior, everyone had been far too tired to even think about sightseeing that they jumped straight to sleep, not even minding if they had foregone bathing—something that the girls, in particular, would have been extremely unnerved by but decided to make an exception for just this one case.

Kirito in particular didn't care. He really wanted to sleep.

When the Solus had risen and greeted the inhabitants of this world, everyone had been up and about, tending to the farms, livestock, and getting firewood.

Kirito had been up early this time, putting on his clothes that he 'borrowed' (totally stole) from the Central Cathedral when they escaped the prison in the basement. Thankfully, no one had to worry about building a new house since Gasupht had decided to renovate the house and increased living space below ground (wow, what a surprise).

So everyone got to sleep underground... Wow, that sounded pretty cool.

Nonetheless, things were starting off pretty good, actually!

"I didn't know you could add these two spices together... I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thank you, Asuna...san."

"Ah, it's not a problem, Alice-san. I'm happy to help."

His long-time dream (at least one of them anyways) has finally become reality—he would get to watch both Alice and Asuna cook together, and then eat their work! It was going to be awesome!

While the two weren't clearly there yet until they're probably comfortable with one another, this was a good step, which made him happy.

And everyone else were here at the table as well.

'I've seen Sinon without her pointy ears before. Err, her cat ears,' thought Kirito as he looked at the other girls. 'But Yuuki and Leafa... Wow, they look cute.'

An innocent thought on his part, as he hadn't tried to mean anything from that, but he was still glad nonetheless that he hadn't said that out loud.

One because he doubted the girls would take that well, and two because it would probably confuse Eugeo and Alice as to why he would call them out for not having pointy ears.

Another matter that he thought about was their clothes. As they knew that the outfits they came in were somehow 'blessed' to be much more durable than normal armour, and since it looked too out-of-place, the girls had to change into normal clothes to fit into society. And, at least for most of them, they were pretty good with the change.

Except Vabel. Wow, she looked different... but still very pretty, of course.

"So Kirito," the boy was brought out of his thoughts when Eugeo called him, black eyes staring into green orbs. "Since you're going to be working in Centoria from now on, are you even going to have time to return here?"

"Hmm, good point... I'll probably see if there's a place I can rent there or something," he shrugged his shoulders, a little worried. 'I could ask Quinella... but I don't want to take advantage of her.'

He may not really feel guilty about what he did to her, but he knows that what he did was technically 'wrong', so he kind of needed to get himself under control and treat her right.

And it is his fault for making her fall in love with him. She's a tad bit too obsessed with him, he realises, and he can only wonder what he's going to do with her.

'In the future, if things get too out of hand... well, I'll burn that bridge to Hell when I reach it,' he thought, grinning once more as a joke easily jumped from his tongue. "After all, with everything that's going on, my wallet's a little heavy, don't you think?"

While everyone rolled their eyes at that comment, Eugeo chuckled back, nodding. "Well, of course it's heavy. You worked hard for it, so you deserve it."

Kirito, who had been prepared for a retort, was a little taken aback by that. "Ohh... Why are you so nice? Now I feel a little bad, h-haha..."

A good start this morning, even as the tables get turned on him and everyone laugh at him.

"Aww, but you have to go already... And we only just found you again, Onii... Kirito-kun," quickly corrected herself Leafa, trying to ignore the looks she was getting from Selka and Alice from that small slip-up. "You really have to go now, huh?"

"Yeah, we were hoping to catch up with you on things," sighed Lisbeth. "But knowing the sort of position, you're really busy."

"Yeah, can't be helped, can it? The faster I go, the faster I can get my shift, and then the faster I can properly plan everything out, and then I might be lucky enough to be able to spend more time here again," he says simply.

He sips on his tea afterwards, the girls honestly taken aback by how responsible he sounded. Certainly not something that they hear very often from him—the years here have been very kind to him indeed, making him wiser and more responsible.

Honestly. It's almost like he's a different person, but they know that he's still Kazuto Kirigaya deep inside. For as impressive of a title that he holds, he's still the person that they knew of long ago.

"And you girls, do take care of yourselves, yeah? I'll try to get things done as quickly as I can but I can't promise I'll be home in time for lunch," and again, he's never away without his quips. "Take that into consideration."

"Heh... Hehe, yeah! We heard you, Kirito!" Snickered Yuuki, everyone in the house smiling along.

Kazuto, too, felt himself lighter than ever. As long as things can stay this way, he had no qualms.

Hours Later—Underworld, Norlangarth North Empire, Swords Mastery Academy —21st August, Year 380 in the Time of the Realm of Humanity

There was much to be done in the village, in the city, and just about everywhere else.

But Kirito was glad to know that he had a lot of good friends. Friends who were willing to help out with things despite not having to.

For now, since they don't really have a proper job or anything, all of them are currently residing in Rulid Village, ready to help out with anything that needed attention. Alice, since she's technically still an Integrity Knight and she is required here to begin with, is there as well.

Which would make it odd for Eugeo to be following Kirito to his new workplace. After all, they had all agreed that Eugeo would be working in Rulid Village, given the fact that he's the most accustomed to the village, and that he was most comfortable working there.

He's also very glad that he doesn't have to waste his life chopping away at a tree uselessly too. Bonus!

But if anyone ever thought about things properly, it would make sense why he was here. After all, this supposedly 'new workplace' of Kirito's was basically their old academy.

"This feels odd," says the boy, gripping the sheathe of his blue blade with a nervous hum. "I mean, try to think about it. We were studying, doing things like normal. Then, suddenly, two people try to rape our pages. We managed to save them... murdered one, unfortunately, and cut off someone's arms off. Then, we get arrested by Alice, get sent to the Cathedral after our pages cry watching us leave, we fight the Integrity Knights, you somehow win the pontifex's favour and become her right hand man, work there for so long, and now we're coming back here. We didn't even graduate."

"...Please don't mention any of that," sighed Kirito as he rubbed his temples. He could totally understand the cause of his best friend's restlessness. In fact, even he felt stressed thinking about it. "We're technically criminals. We—Well, I killed, and now we're... pardoned? Like, by the Goddesses, I don't even know what to say. Yes, it's very weird."

"Yeah, that sums it all up quite nicely," sighed the boy.

Seriously, they had little to worry about returning to the academy. The dilemma? The possibility of meeting their previous valets and their pages.

Of course, they knew that none of the students cared anymore, as the students are more than happy to learn from Kirito now, having requested that he come to teach them. It's nice, for sure, but there's still that nagging feeling at the back of their minds.

Eugeo offered a pat on his friend's back, a smile that helped him a lot more than others might think. "Don't worry about it, I know you'll do great. In fact, don't hesitate to call me for help, yeah? And, even if you get into trouble, you have two powerful swords to protect you."

"Heh, I guess you're right about that," scoffed the ravenette, his gaze moving from his Night Sky Sword (named by Eugeo, which was a really beautiful name)... to the beautiful gift from Quinella, as a sign of their 'friendship'.

Or love, depending on whom you asked.

The design felt a little girly for him to use, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he promised himself that he would use it someday in a fight. He didn't doubt its power, just that he had that stupid thing humans have called 'dignity' to even picture himself fighting with a dainty-looking weapon.

Nonetheless, he decided that he may as well take both of them because, well, it wasn't like he was going to keep the gift in a chest. That would, again, be rude, and he doubted it could fit to begin with.

And yeah, it looked very pretty.

Very nice.

"And thanks for the offer. I'll hold you on that," continued the boy. "To be honest, I can't wait to see Ronye and Tiese again. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss them."

"We both do," chuckled the other boy in agreement. "Maybe, sometime, when we're free, we can bring them to Rulid Village with us. Then all of us can eat together, yeah? Asuna's really good at cooking. Almost as good as Alice."

"No kidding. Her cooking improved throughout the years," remembering how breakfast tasted was just... oh crap, he better stop thinking about it before he starts flooding the floor with just his drool. "It was really delicious. Man, and I probably wouldn't be able to go back home to—"

"Kirito-senpai!"

"Eugeo-senpai!"

Both boys froze in their places, looking around when they heard their names called. Then, they turned to the entrance of the academy... and there they were.

In the typical uniform of the trainee swordsmen students, the girls looked just the same as they had before... but they looked happy. So, so happy, that they were beginning to cry, almost unable to stand in their place long enough.

Both boys looked at each other for just a moment before they just grinned and turned back to their pages, both raising their arm in the air.

"Hey, girls. We may not have graduated, but you don't mind if we came visiting, right?"

"Not exactly the best reunion, but is it okay enough?"

How else were they meant to greet the girls that had been the ones to have learnt under them? That, even if they may have just been people in their lives, they were also people they cared for all the same.

Kirito didn't mind when the girls skipped to their sides, Tiese hugging her valet while Ronye gripped his hand and bounced on the spot, joy radiating off of them.

"O-Of course we don't mind! We're glad the both of you are back..!"

"The both of you are okay..! I-I'm so glad..!"

Anyone looking outside at the entrance of the academy would have seen two boys wearing uniforms of unknown origin standing in place while trying to console two crying girls, wide smiles on their faces the entire time.

To the four of them, it felt just like old times.

Author's Notes:

As I write this, it's exactly 12 o' clock in the morning, and it's the exam month. Alas, I could not keep true to my self-promise and not write a bloody story.

And here I am. Well, damn.

And yes, as I publish this, it is 11.00 a.m. Like hell I was going to stay up at midnight to publish just one chapter.

Anyways, nothing too long for now. Short and sweet, because I actually am losing brain cells from not writing stories for so long. Trust me, I'll get back into the rhythm soon enough, and I'll be able to write properly soon. Not author's block (thus far, I haven't experienced one yet, and I hope I can keep that up), just haven't written in such a long time.

So yeah. Back again.