[Sword Art Online Arc]: The Eternal Saga

"Shut the fuck up before the sword goes through your head instead." Akimoto scoffed at Kisho, then knelt down next to the girl. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I thought you were a bad guy." He said this in the calmest voice possible.

"I'm sorry, I just noticed Kane arrived on this floor and I wanted to say hi. I hadn't seen him for a few months." She lowered hands and held them together in front of her chest, she looked no older than 10.

Kane lowered his hand to his waist. "Kiyoko, what are you doing out at night?"

Kisho blinked and looked at the three. "So apparently I've been gone long." He seemed lost.

Akimoto felt his face get red, he was embarrassed as hell. He slid his sword back into his holster and leaned against the side of the bridge.

Kiyoko walked forward until she was a few feet in front of Kane. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Jene wanted to see you too." She finished talking and the red feather dragon on top of her head perked it's head up.

Kane nodded in acknowledgement as Jene hopped off of Kiyoko's head and laid on his shoulder. He continued to speak, "Well, that still doesn't answer me, where is the rest of your party?". Noticing Akimoto, Kane looked at him in a curious way and noticed his face red. "Hm? Akimoto, what's wrong?"

"Well. I almost killed a little kid." Akimoto said quietly, shrugging his shoulders.

Kiyoko gave a small smile. "It's alright, Mr. Akimoto, It was my fault for approaching without warning." She then lowered her head. "Anyway, Kane, The others are dead. They were killed by an orange guild, cloaked men with skulls on the cloaks."

Kisho's eyes widened a little and he was about to open his mouth to say something comforting to Kiyoko, instead he looked at her and Kane.

Kane gave a concerned stern look at her. "All of them?" He grit his teeth and a moment of silence passed as Kiyoko nodded. He looked over at Akimoto. "Do you have a pretty good idea who she's talking about too?"

"I have a pretty good idea." Akimoto muttered, he grit his teeth as he spoke. "Did they say anything to you before they left?" He asked Kiyoko.

Kiyoko shook her head. "They were too quick, and after all of my party was killed off, they left a sword where the leader of the party was laying before he shattered into pieces. It was a dark sword with a skull on the end of the hilt. It had a note hanging around it, and on it said that they were 'Calling out the Midnight Swordsman'." She gave a small shiver. "Do you think the Midnight Swordsman knows what they're doing?"

The sound of a thud was from Akimoto. He had slammed his fist down on the side of bridge. A small crack had formed, nothing large. He stood up straight. "We need to hurry this up." He said, clearly angry.

Jene was now on top of Kiyoko's shoulder again. "I'm just scared, I don't want to wander the floors anymore. I've been doing it for a few days now and I don't know if any of the cloaked people will get me like they did the others."

"Don't worry. You're with us now. I have a friend who will just love to meet you." Akimoto said calmly. He opened his menu, and sent her a friend request.

Kane kneeled down and rested his hand on the opposite Kiyoko's shoulder, the one Jene wasn't on. "Don't worry, the Midnight Swordsman knows exactly what is going on, and he's going to stop it." He gave an assuring smile and continued. "Don't worry, you don't have to wander the floors alone," He stood up. "You can come with us, we'll help you, the Midnight Swordsman will help you."

Timeskip

Everyone was all back at Maeko's restaurant, Kane sat at the counter and was looking through the guild menu again on his menu. Two new members were listed, it was now him, Akimoto, Yang, Yin, Maeko, Kisho, and Kiyoko. Jene would count as a member too, if she was an actual player however.

Maeko finishes writing down information for Kisho's and Kiyoko's uniforms. She slides the pad under the counter and asks. "So. Now what?" She asked the others.

Kane closed his menu and stood up from the stool. He still had his coat on and his dual swords still on his back. "We'll have a celebration party right now, to celebrate the birth of the Eternal Keepers." He had a smile on his face. "Then tomorrow, first thing we do, we'll start to help clear out floors, all while we hunt the Death Bringers."

"A toast to the Eternal Keepers!" Yang raised her cup.

"Wonderful." Akimoto grinned as he stood up. "Let's get started."


----Small Timeskip: Thirty Minutes.------


The party is now started. Everything is set up, Etc. Maeko closed the store, so that there'd be no one else. There were candle's lit all over the place, lanterns included. Food galore, all kinds of meats, sides, desserts, Etc. Drinks all of the party type stuff. Akimoto had ordered a band of CPU's, and now they played in the corner of the restaurant. The pluck of guitar strings, the trump of trumpets, all filled the room of the restaurant.

"This is a little too much don't you think?" Kiyoko asked to no one in particular, she sat at the counter with a cup in her hands. Kane, Kisho, and Akimoto were off in the middle of the restaurant talking and using a lot of gestures, most likely talking about how they were going to defeat the Death Bringers.

Maeko walked over with a plate of food, mostly desserts. She sat down next to Kiyoko, and sits the plate in front of her. "You haven't eaten anything yet, don't worry. It's on the house. All meals from now on will be." She smiled, it was a warm smile. "It may be a bit much. But, in a time like this. Anything can be a celebration."

Kiyoko took a bite of the food and a smile came across her face, she kept eating and continued to ask a few questions. "Thanks for the food, Mis. Maeko." She started, taking another bite. "I can't believe Kane is the Midnight Swordsman, how do you think he was able to unlock dual wielding? When did you all meet?" She seemed as though she was having fun asking questions.

"Well. I think he unlocked it, just because he has enough skill to do so. I met Akimoto outside of the game, but don't tell anyone." She said in a whisper. "It'll be our little secret. I met Kane through Akimoto, who brought him for a meal here. Yin and Yang as well, Kisho however. I just met him when I met you."