Chapter 13

*HMMMM*

Asuna moaned lightly as she woke up from her slumber, noticing the sounds of talking she woke up to has stopped, she quickly began to look around  to make sense of the situation.

 Seeing kirito resting against a tree, she realised they were in the forest and looking at her state, she concluded that he carried her here after she passed out, understanding that he would have had to carry her close to leave from that situation, she quickly became embarrassed and angry at kirito.

 Miku at the side could understand what she was thinking and as amusing as it would be for her to see them bickering she decided to clarify the misunderstanding and announcing her presence.

" Did you bring me here ?" Asuna asked kirito calmly and he was about to say something stupid when miku announced herself.

"No, I did" Miku said calmly, trace of amusement in her voice knowing that asuna would freak out if she heard that kirito carried her.

Looking at miku with confusion as this was her first time seeing her but decided to thank her first before anything else.

 "Thanks for saving me". She said curtly.

"That wasn't me, You should thank boy wonder behind you..... He kept fighting to keep you safe even when you were passed out" Miku told asuna slowly and clearly.

Looking back to the swordsman dressed in all black behind her, she recognised him as the one who saved her the first time as well.

 Feeling a sudden tightness in her chest because she couldn't keep her promise to herself and needed someone to save her life again, she also felt something else she couldn't describe but it was covered by that sulking feeling.

"Seems we always meet in such dire circumstances or a you a stalker?" Asuna says to kirito trying to push her negative thoughts away.

Startled by the sudden accusation and the subtle insinuation that that he as some kind of perv.

"I don't know what to tell you miss, maybe you just have a tendency of getting in dangerous situations and I'm an expert at getting out of them...And NO, I AM NOT A STALKER!!" Kirito sharply replies with his voice getting louder at the end and turning into a shout.

He as not okay with being labelled a perv when he obviously had no such intentions.

"Well that's good to know, Thanks for saving my life though" Asuna replied dryly making it difficult to discern if she was being sincere or not.

Looking at the interaction between them, Miku couldn't help but giggle low enough that they couldn't hear her, but she still doesn't understand what michael sees in asuna that interests him so much.

At this point, Michael arrives at the scene silently with no one noticing except for miku due to being used to his quirk already.

"I see you are awake, How are you feeling Asuna?" Michael asked asuna as he took a quick survey of the surroundings and giving kirito a curt nod.

Hearing the voice of her temp sensei, Asuna immediately turned to michael's direction, straightening out her rugged dress and responded awkwardly " michael san, it's been a while... how have you been?"

"I'm feeling quite alright, thanks for your assistance" She added.

Seeing that she has been caught up to the current state of things, mikey began to push the conversation to a more productive direction cause he does not like to waste time on unnecessary things such as pleasantries.

"So your name is kirito huh, those are some impressive skills you showed in there. You must be a pretty famous player" Michael said to kirito suggestively.

"I try my best but I guess I'm not as impressive as you are. what even was that... I've never seen anything like that before in the game" Kirito replies back asking a question of his own.

"I would equate it to knowhow and skill level. As far as I'm concerned anything is possible in this world. You have to leave your logic of the old world behind and embrace the new paradigm. The possibilities are endless... you just have to be creative" MIchael gives an in depth reply that contained a hint of passion.

This surprised miku as she recognised this tone as michael's genuine thought and not just some made up mask he usually puts on.

Smiling, Miku says" He's right you know, If you keep limiting yourself with common logic you can never excel in this game. Trust me I've tried his way and it worked wonders".

Asuna also nods her head to this statement signifying her agreement. Seeing all this kirito chose to accept it as 'right until proven wrong.

Noticing his still skeptical look due to his keen observation, MIchael ignores his doubts and asks" So how far have you gotten into the labyrinth so far, Any signs of the boss in sight from your map data?"

"no, But why would you even ask me that in the first place.... I'm no info broker" Kirito answers then adds a little defensively maybe feeling nervous that his status as a beta player might be exposed.

Michael noticing the guarded tone from his reply confirmed his guess that kirito was a beta player but chose to keep that secret as it was just to satisfy his curiosity that he played that little trick.

"Sorry about that.....hehehehe"Michael chuckles 'nervously' making miku give him a strange look wondering why he's acting this way cause he usually doesn't.

"just kind of frustrated that we haven't gotten anywhere so far despite going so far into the labyrinth, Haah"Michael sighs at the end of his speech to further sell his act.

Feeling relieved that he was being cautious for no reason and feeling safe that his secret hasn't been exposed, kirito says " so far I've managed to go into the peripheral parts of the dungeon but i believe the boss room should be close to the centre position by my estimate".

Sharing his map data with everyone present to further prove his point for free as he was also looking for some insights regarding the boss's location.

MIchael and miku also shared their expansive map data of the labyrinth with them earning surprised looks from the others but they expertly ignored them, carrying on with the discussion they began to cross reference ideas around for quite a while.

Michael was impressed by kirito's way of thinking but he also figured that him being a beta player also factored into it but remembering karma, he wasn't so sure about that line of thought any more.

 BY the time they were about to leave after adding each other to there friends list, kirito and miku acting weird at this point for entirely different reasons but michael couldn't figure out why, realising that it was an emotional issue he sisdestepped that particular landmine as that wasn't his expertise.

Preparing to leave, Michael was about to say something when

*GONG  GONG GONG*

'It seems things are about to get interesting' MIchael thought as he just knew that something exciting is about to happen and a sense of anticipation has already begun to build up in him.

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That's a short one.

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