Chapter 62 - Myriad Feelings

Drifter wasn't sure of how much time passed while he held Yuna in his embrace. He just hugged the sobbing girl to his chest until she was no longer crying. After what felt like an hour, but could just as well have been just a few minutes, the songstress pushed away, eyes puffed up and red, but no longer with tears streaming down her face.

"I-I am sorry, Drifter. I came here to see what was wrong with you and console you, but..."

"But nothing, Yuna. You did exactly that. I was being an idiot, feeling down for something which I can't control, and even being jealous of my family. You snapped me out of it. Admittedly, your method was a little unusual..."

"Humph! You ass!"

Yuna snorted when Drifter smirked, but her blush betrayed her. Pouting, she turned away from him. Her curling lips, however, allowed him to know she wasn't truly angered, only somewhat embarrassed he had seen her in such a state.

Drifter simply sat there, looking at Yuna's side profile. At this moment, he understood it. He couldn't deny it anymore. He was starting to fall for her. It wasn't love yet, and there were so many things wrong and that could go wrong about it, but he knew it to be true.

For starters, there was the age difference. Three or four years might not be much in later points of their lives, but right now it was an insurmountable gap. In a normal situation, Drifter would never even entertain the thought of it. But SAO had derailed both of their lives, and countless more. Having fought shoulder to shoulder with her, shared burdens with her, almost died and watched her almost lose her life more than once, and overall lived every second of the last two months with her by his side, Drifter's heart couldn't help but yearn for it. For her.

There was also Nautilus. In their current situation, the shield-bearer was probably the reason for Drifter's biggest hesitation. From all the time he had known the ash-haired player, Drifter had come to realize Nautilus cared deeply for Yuna - that much had always been obvious. However, he didn't think the blade-user loved the songstress, at least not romantically. Like a brother loved his sister, sure, but not like a man loved a woman. But he couldn't be sure. And, until he could, Drifter wouldn't make a move. It wouldn't be fair to Nautilus or anyone involved if he did, not to mention that it would probably shatter their friendship and guild if Drifter guessed wrong.

"Hey, Earth to Drifter."

With a start, the spearman realized he had been lost in thought again, and that Yuna had been calling him. He grimaced.

"Sorry, Yun', I spaced out for a sec."

"Hm. Bad thoughts?"

Her tone was dangerously low, like she was getting ready to give him another serving. Drifter quickly shook his head.

"No! I don't think so, at least. Err... Maybe? Humm... Nevermind that. Please."

Hearing his plea, the songstress glared at him for a moment before nodding.

"Okay."

They sat in silence - the awkward kind, just silence - for the next couple minutes. Seeing that Yuna didn't look like she intended on leaving, Drifter had to ask. It was getting late, after all.

"Err... Was there anything else you wanted to say, Yuna?"

"Of course! You told me what the problem was, now we have to find out how to solve it!"

"Huh?"

"You felt powerless when you couldn't use your spear properly, right? Then, let's brainstorm how we can fix that."

Staring at the fire burning deep in Yuna's caramel eyes, Drifter felt his own spirits lifting. With a small, but true smile, he started a discussion that would go well into the night.

----------------------------

Watching Yuna enter Drifter's room and close the door behind her, Nautilus quietly re-entered his own room. Once inside, he laid belly down on his bed.

He was feeling contradictory. On one hand, he felt somewhat sour when he saw his oldest friend so clearly falling for Drifter. On the other, he was the one who pushed her to admit her own feelings, and he was happy the songstress had found in the spearman not only someone she could trust, but also possibly love.

There was a time when Nautilus loved Yuna. It was hard not to, back then, when the girl was not only his best friend, but his only friend. On top of that, she was also sweet, kind, honest, and pretty. Perfect, if you asked him.

But, as they grew up, Nautilus realized his feelings weren't reciprocated. And then he realized that his feelings for her weren't what he initially thought they were. What he felt for Yuna back then was merely infatuation for the only female figure of his age in his life. Now he could say for certain that he loved Yuna, but those feelings were only that of a brother to his younger sister.

Even so, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous earlier today, when he saw how worried Yuna was about Drifter. And then he immediately felt disgusted with himself. He had already recognized his feelings long before Yuna and he met Drifter. Years before. He had no right to feel jealousy now, when he had long decided to step away.

Nautilus would support his friends, whatever their choice may be, he decided. Just like Drifter, though neither knew the other knew it, the shield-bearer had realized some time ago that he had changed. He had started looking at the people around him - not just Yuna - and thinking of how to protect them. For Yuna and Drifter, he was willing to die. He would be their unbreakable shield, and protect them from harm.

Whatever little seedling of envy and jealousy was born in his heart, Nautilus snuffed it out. He drifted off to sleep, while not entirely okay, determined, and with a smile on his face.

--------------------------

The next morning was decidedly strange. Everyone could tell something had changed in the dynamic between Drifter, Yuna, and Nautilus, but they weren't sure what it was, and they weren't about to ask. Not even Yuuki and Kirito were that dense.

Drifter, still half asleep, considering he went to bed well after three in the morning, smiled at Yuna before his gaze found Nautilus. Looking at his oldest male friend in SAO, he felt a twinge of shame, but it vanished when the ash-haired boy walked up to him and patted his back, and grinned. The look in Nautilus' eyes told the spearman that his friend knew of what happened last night, and was all right with it. Knowing that gave Drifter immense relief.

Asuna was another one to whom Drifter sent a thankful nod. He hadn't forgotten how Yuna mentioned that the fencer had noticed his turbulent feelings yesterday, but decided to allow the songstress to take care of him. Asuna smiled brightly and winked at him in response.

Drifter smiled even wider, and turned to Kirito, who was staring at his guildmates in curiosity. He didn't ask anything, however, and Drifter took the chance to steer the attention away from him.

"Since this floor is apparently similar to the beta, what's the plan today, Kirito?"

"I was thinking we should split up. Myself, Asuna, Liz, Sinon, and Yuuki can be one party, and Drifter, Yuna, Nautilus, Ran, and Merida another. The main maps of this floor are catacombs and caves, so we would only get in each other's way if we tried to fight all together. Yuuki and Ran, I split you up on purpose. When you fight together, you tend to unconsciously always team up. That's not a bad thing at all, quite the opposite, but I believe you should train to coordinate with others."

"Preparing for all unexpected circumstances, right? That makes sense. Don't worry, guild leader."

It was a sign of his growing confidence that Kirito only blushed slightly when Ran teased him with the way she addressed him. Drifter thought for a while, and spoke up against the idea.

"Actually, Kirito, if you don't mind, I have another suggestion."

"No worries, Drifter. Shoot it."

"You know how we talked about setting up practice duels, but never actually went ahead with it?"

"A lot happened very quickly back then."

"Yeah. So, I was thinking now might be a good chance to do just that."

Not all of Reaver's Requiem knew the true reason why the original party wanted to train with duels between players, but they didn't question it. Yuuki, for one, was completely taken by the idea.

"Right. But we can't forget about leveling."

"It won't be a problem, Kirito. Who's interested in the duels, and who would rather explore? There are no wrong answers, people."

Asuna, comfortable in her whole of vice-leader of the guild, smoothly took over, for which Kirito was glad. She looked at the raised hands, and quickly made a decision.

"We still split up, then. Kirito, Drifter, Yuuki, and I stay here for the 1 on 1 training. Nautilus, Yuna, Liz, Ran, and Merida, you can go explore the floor. Sinon, you lead. Remember to always be careful."

"Got it."

"Sounds good."

There were nods all around, and the guild soon split up into the two designated parties. After the others were gone to explore the catacombs, Drifter turned to Kirito.

"How are we doing this?"

"We are just doing this to polish our techniques, so First Strike Mode. How about... Me and you first, Drifter, I think, then Asuna and Yuuki, and we swap from there."

They all nodded their agreement, and Drifter and Kirito found a nice open spot to fight their duel. Asuna and Yuuki spectated with visible excitement. Drifter wasn't surprised. They were combat junkies, after all. Most frontliners were.

[ Player Kirito sent you a duel invite: First Strike Mode. Accept? ]

Drifter easily clicked 'yes', and a timer appeared in the space between them. Positioning his left leg in front, knees slightly bent in a very obvious and very telegraphed stance for a charging thrust, Drifter held his spear parallel to the ground, aimed at Kirito, his eyes staring at the countdown as 30 seconds trickled by.

He randomly remembered what brought about this idea at first. It was the day Kirito told him an unknown player - his name couldn't be seen in the duel request as he wasn't in the swordsman's friend list - had tried to kill him outside of a forest elf war camp. Drifter had then realized that SAO was a lawless world, and, if it brought out the best in many, who chose to fight for their and everyone's freedom, it certainly also dragged to the surface the worst in some, who saw it as a place where they could let their twisted desires run free. Mobs wouldn't be their only enemy, and Drifter had a feeling one day it would all come to a head.

Clearing his head and focusing back on his sparing partner, Drifter saw Kirito raise his << Anneal Blade >> over his shoulder, body leaning forward and left arm slightly bent in front of him. Not a standard stance by any means, but in SAO numbers reigned supreme. Frontliners had stats that long surpassed what would be considered humanly possible in the outside world.

The moment the timer hit zero, both players surged forward. Neither used skills, by unspoken agreement. This wasn't really a duel so much as it was a test.

As it should be, considering the obvious differences in their weapons of choice, Drifter's spear thrust was going to reach Kirito first. The swordsman already knew that, however, and his overhead blow wasn't aimed at Drifter, but rather at his weapon, from the start.

Seeing the blade about to smash into his speartip and knock it off course - leaving him open for Kirito to attack - Drifter made a decision in that fraction of a second, and pulled hard with his left hand, yanking his spear out of the way. Kirito tries to correct his sword's path, but Drifter let his momentum carry him forward, and attempted to smack the black-haired boy in the shoulder with the butt of his spear, by spinning to the left.

Not to be outdone, Kirito quickly lifted his sword so that Drifter ended up hitting the flat side of his blade. After parrying the blow, the swordsman immediately delivered a backhanded slash, which Drifter only barely blocked.

Kirito pressed on, sending cut after cut at Drifter, who struggled to dodge or block them. The swordsman refused to open the distance between them, and Drifter couldn't properly wield his spear.

Knowing that his guildmate had the speed advantage, and that if he allowed this to continue he would only find himself in a worse position, Drifter decides to use his tried and tested method to get out of tight spots. As Kirito pulled back his arm to gather momentum for another strike, Drifter kicked out, hitting the black-haired boy squarely in the stomach.

The blow dealt some damage, and thus should have ended the duel, but apparently the system didn't think so - another loophole they would have to pay attention to. Not that Drifter had planned to stop. He was now fully in combat mode. His spear came up swiftly like a viper, targeting Kirito's head. It was a vicious attack, but SAO was a brutal world. Always trying to deal the highest possible damage was a behavior ingrained in players' bones by now.

[ WINNER: KIRITO! ]

Before his spear reached the swordsman, however, a system message popped up declaring Kirito the winner. His momentum carried through, however, and Drifter's spear hit the other player, only to bounce off with a [ Immortal Object ] notification.

Drifter scowled for a moment, looking down to where Kirito's sword was embedded into his waist, before quickly wiping the expression away. The swordsman had managed to slip in that last attack by trading his sword from his right to his left hand at the very last second.

"That was impressive, Kirito. And sneaky too."

"Hah, thanks. You would've won if this was a real duel, however. It's almost certain yours would've been a crit."

"Meh, nonsense. You won fair and square. Won't happen next time, though."

Both players grinned, and clapped hands. A victory was a victory, and the means by which it was achieved didn't matter. What was important was that Drifter had seen the path forward.