The Reaper (COTE SAO)(On Hold)

Chapter 13

Kiyotaka POV

"Kiyotaka-kun, watch out!" Asuna screamed as the opposing Scythe blade decended upon me as I pulled the intended victim away from the giant reaper in front of me.

I barely had the time to block the attack due to the fact that I had to protect a few people from harm. While I managed to block it, the force of the attack sent me crashing into the wall behind with a red gash on my chest.

The day was supposed to be stress-free, so how did it turn into a life or death situation? How troublesome...

Flashback

3rd POV

Asuna has always set her morning alarm to seven-fifteen. If you were to ask why it's at such a vague time, it's because Kiyotaka usually wakes up at seven-thirty. Waking up fifteen minutes beforehand and looking at him, asleep beside her while she's still in bed, is a hobby of hers.

Today however, was special.

Still peacefully sleeping away was Kiyotaka. Even though he heard Asuna knock on his door, he was too tired to even crack open an eye. He had only slept for barely two hours, since he was up for majority of the night analyzing the information of the next floor boss, along with his paperwork as guild master.

Seeing the normally early riser still asleep even after twenty minutes of his usual time, Asuna smiled gazing at Kiyotaka's sleeping face while resting her head on her hands. "Looks like he's been up all night. He has so little things in his room..." She looked around the room, which was practically empty except for the stacks of paper work on his study table before focusing her gaze back at the sleeping boy.

'Even though he is possibly the best and most dangerous player in the whole game, he looks so innocent when he's sleeping...' She smiled and continued to stare at his sleeping face, before realizing something. 'He can't possibly be younger than me, right?'

"Kiyotaka-kun..." She gave the sleeping boy a gentle hug. "I love you. Let's stay together forever." She started moving her face closer to his. Twenty cm... ten cm... five cm... their lips almost connected, but...

"Asuna?" She looked down and realized that Kiyotaka had opened his eyes. Their faces very close to each other. Surprised and embarrassed, she fell back, giving a cute squeak in the process.

"Uwa! M-Morning, Kiyotaka-kun." She greeted sheepishly with a light blush on her face.

"Morning." Kiyotaka stared blankly at her, still tired since he just woke up.

"D-Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Kiyotaka tilted his head. "I could only hear something like 'Stay together forever'."

"O-oh, it's nothing!" Asuna waved her hand frantically, and quickly changed the subject. "So where should we spend the day today?"

"Weren't we basically spending our entire week last week having fun?" Kiyotaka asked.

"So, you don't want to have fun, Kiyotaka-kun?" Asuna pouted at him.

Kiyotaka stretched his arms. "Fun, huh?" He had a faraway gaze in his eyes as he tried thinking of things that will be 'fun' and 'normal'. After all, living at a place like the White Room, there is basically nothing but life or death situation everyday. "I will try to think of one. In the meantime, I will go for a light morning jog." He couldn't think of anything 'fun'.

"Yuna, Koharu, I will be going out for a short jog. Take care of the place while I'm not around." Kiyotaka called out as he walked out the front door and started doing some warm ups.

"Okay!" Yuna called out while Koharu let out a yawn.

"Wait a minute, Kiyotaka-kun! I will go with you!" Asuna said as she followed him.