Chapter Text
Chapter 26 - Summer of ‘69
Summer in the Midlands region of Osea was a strange beast, Alice had soon come to realise. One day, the weather would be of the kind that made you wish that the base was nearer to a beach, with beautiful blue skies and nary a gust of wind; excellent flying weather, in other words.
Other days, such as today, were not that. The fog had rolled in, and settled over Canaveral, forcing a suspension of flight operations until the fog lifted - something that wasn’t expected until later that afternoon… which meant they had the entire morning and probably most of the afternoon free.
Alice was a doer - she was the type to do things because she believed they needed doing, and she would willingly admit that her sense of patience was… fragile sometimes. Contrary to Eydis, Eugeo, Jet, Kirito, Asuna, Argo, Sinon, Tiese, Ronye, Klein and Fanatio’s claims however, she was not impatient.
If she deemed it worth waiting, then she would wait. If not, then it may have come across to others as impatience, but it was rather sensible in her mind - time was valuable, and since returning from Adamas, that belief had been reinforced. That wasn’t to say she had not mellowed a little though; it was hard to see the things they had seen and experienced and not return from it with a rather different direction to one’s moral compass, she thought, and she had explained to Strea as they underwent psychological evaluations to determine their suitability for returning to flight operations.
They had all passed those evaluations, but it was clear that the squadrons were being given extra supervision for the moment.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a very British exclamation from the other side of the room. “Bloody hell!”
“What’s the matter?”
“Yeah, last time I heard you shout like that Lover-boy, we were-”
“Nothing like that! You know what Red Flag is, right?”
“Yeah, it’s what you wave in front of a bull to make it angry.” Eydis answered confidently… and incorrectly. Bulls weren’t angered by the colour red per se, but rather having something thrown around flamboyantly in their face. A similar effect could be achieved by waving a blue flag in front of a bull, after all…“Or what Pito is a walking one of.” Admittedly, she was completely correct there, but not in the way that was being referred to.
Her comment received only an extended middle finger from the older woman in response, and Eydis gave a smug grin at having essentially gotten away with the insult.
“It’s a military exercise.” Sinon answered, looking up from her book. “Held in the Nevada Desert from Nellis Air Force Base four times a year.”
“Yup, they pick the best squadrons to go and train. It’s kind of awesome, really…”
“Well, Strangereal has its own Red Flag,” Jet explained, “And we’ve been chosen to go and show what we’re made of.”
“The 302nd?” Yuna asked. “Or all of us?”
“All of us, it says. It’s voluntary though, so I guess it’s like a side quest?”
“So… either we all do it, or none of us do?”
“Can all flight leaders come and see me in-” Bercouli announced as he walked into the room, before spotting the group gathered around the flyer. “Oh never mind, briefing time, all of ya.”
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After a few minutes, the larger than usual group; formed of every member of the 301st, 302nd and 303rd had gathered in the briefing room, and one thing came to mind…
They were going to need a bigger briefing room if the squadrons grew any more!
They were already wedged shoulder to shoulder, and some of the smaller members were struggling to actually be seen over the taller ones, a consequence of them all crowding in without rhyme or reason…
“Okay, so I think we’re all here?” Bercouli started. “And yeah, we need a bigger room, don’t we?” A sea of nodding came from the crowd.
“As you have probably all read by now, the 1st Eagle Wing has been personally invited to attend the Red Rider exercise in the Northern Heights. As this is coming from the High Commander himself, I struggle to see this as anything but a punishment.”
That comment raised some eyebrows amongst the gathered crews; why would an invite to a training exercise be seen by the Commander as a punishment - if anything, surely it should’ve been seen as a mark of respect, one that said they were viewed on the same level as the regular squadrons?
“Err, sir, maybe I'm being a bit dumb, but why would getting invited to a prestigious exercise be seen as punishment?” Klein asked the question on everyone’s minds.
“Because they want us to fail. So they can parade us around as failures if we screw up, kid.”
“Yes, so not only do we need to be on best behaviour, but failure simply isn't an option.” Fanatio added, and Kirito felt his shoulders sag.
“Yay… more pressure.” Kureha sighed in frustration.
“It's typical of High Command, yes. I'd say they were trying to toughen you up, but that’d just be a lie - it's a game of politics, and to win, ya have to screw everyone over.”
“Lions led by donkeys, sir.”
“They're certainly asses, ya ain't wrong kid.” Bercouli nodded. “Unfortunately, they’re also the asses that pay our bills, so we're stuck listening to them.”
Kirito had long since realised the Commander had very little respect for the higher ups they had to report to, but that was the first time he'd heard him be quite so frank about his disdain for them - normally, he'd kept it to diplomatic language, or double meanings…
“Still, these are your instructions - the entire wing is to report to Netherton Range at 10am on Saturday, and y’all want your niceties with ya. There's an introductory ball from 7pm that evening, where you'll be minglin’ with the other squadrons.” There was a pronounced groan from many of the members of the wing, and Bercouli nodded in sympathy. “Nothin’ too intense, but you should know, it's mandatory, and it ain't a full dress uniform affair either - suit and tie for the gents, ball gowns for the ladies.”
“Is that all, Commander?” Fanatio asked.
“Nope, I won't be there to supervise ya, so you're getting a promotion Captain.” The Commander gave a smug smile. “Or should I say, Commander…”
The look on the usually stoic Fanatio's face was one to behold - in a brief few seconds, it had morphed from surprise and confusion, to just confusion… and finally levelled out at frustration. Something told him that he hadn’t actually told Fanatio about this promotion until now, mostly so she couldn’t refuse to take it…
“Well, that's all for now. You've got the next few days off to get ready for everything, so enjoy yourselves! And I'll enjoy my holiday too!”
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Since their briefing, the base had become even quieter than it already had been - the girls had mostly disappeared to… actually, he had no idea where, thinking about it, and the boys had gathered as a group in the bar…
He wasn’t sure what that said about them that they were sitting in a bar, at 12:30, but that was a question for another day, Kirito supposed. As for the topic of conversation, that was the elephant in the room…
“What’s the Commander thinkin’?” Klein seemed equally unhappy to discover that too. “Five days to go get suited and booted and find a date?! Why not ask us to find the Titanic whilst he’s at it!”
“Uhh, Klein, we know where the Titanic is.” Jet pointed out. “But yeah, it’s really not- hang on , what do you mean, find a date? You have a girlfriend, you nimrod!”
Ignoring that he had no idea what a nimrod was – other than a maritime patrol aircraft, he supposed, but that was likely named after whatever a nimrod was – Jet made a valid point; since about three months ago, Klein and Sortiliena had spent an awful lot of time together…
“It’s, uhh, it’s kinda complicated.” Klein answered evasively. “I dunno if she’d go out with me like that.”
“Wait, you two aren’t dating?” Nautilus asked in surprise. Understandably so, the assumption amongst everyone was that those two were together, even if it wasn’t public knowledge yet.
“Heh, it’s not like that…” Klein looked away awkwardly, before Agil interjected to answer for him…
“It’s more of a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” type deal.” He explained. “Literally, I think.”
“C’mon man! You don’t have to throw me under the bus like that!” Klein exclaimed at the betrayal that was the “bro code”, as he called it.
“Pay your bar tab next time.” Agil shrugged.
Ignoring the bickering between the two adults going on behind him, he asked the question that was on his mind. “Why would anyone want their back scratched like that?” He asked without thinking about why that question was a bad one to ask out loud.
“Can we move onto a different topic that isn’t my love life… please!”
“Fine. Have any of us actually got a suit? I mean, it wasn’t exactly something I thought we’d ever need, not really…” Jet asked.
“I know Eugeo and I have dress uniforms, but I don’t think it’s that kind of ball.” He explained, remembering the “celebrations” after Operatic Society. He remembered how bittersweet it had felt at the time, and now, in retrospect, it felt even worse.
“Even if I did have one, I think it went down with the Harrier.” Nautilus answered, whilst Jet knocked his head on the table.
“Completely forgot about that…” Jet rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.
“Well, that’s the easy bit then, isn’t it?” Klein took the lead for once. “A guys’ day on the town gettin’ suited and booted!”
“What the hell, can’t be any worse than the ladies night Eydis dragged me to.” Jet shrugged. “Hopefully there’s no fire involved this time.”
“I swear your life is a sitcom.” Nautilus shook his head. “But sure. I have to get one anyway.”
“Shouldn’t we ask Eugeo too? What’s he doin’ at the moment anyway?”
“Alice.” He answered and watched as Jet nearly fell off his seat after spitting his drink out in surprise. “Wait, I didn’t mean it like that!” He backpedalled, realising what he’d said. It might have been true, but he hadn’t meant it that way!
Hopefully, that day couldn’t be any more embarrassing… it wasn’t like they’d have Argo there to tease them all whilst they got dressed up to see what fit best, after all…
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On the first spare day they had, it was decided that they would visit a tailor in the nearby town of Mount Florida, a tailor that Jet and Nautilus apparently knew reasonably well, as they often ordered the materials needed for Rain, Seven and Yuna’s impromptu concerts from her, though this was very much their first time visiting the place physically.
“So, how’d I look?” Klein emerged from behind the curtain in a suit that was certainly… different. It was an almost metallic grey colour, with a waistcoat embroidered in red and cream, and a champagne red tie…
“Excellent… if you’re going to the King Edward box at Ascot.” Jet answered.
“I understood none of those words.” Klein replied blankly.
“Posh box at the horse races.” Jet explained. “Don’t get me wrong, you look pretty good in it, but for something like this? Might be a bit much.”
“Wait, you know anything about fashion?” Eugeo asked, genuinely surprised. He didn’t blame him; he’d never have expected him to know any more than he did about fashion!
“Not really, but I had to go to plenty of stuffy do’s as a kid, and it sort of stuck.” He told them, and from the look of mild disgust on his face, Kirito could take a guess that he’d never enjoyed it much.
“So then, what would you suggest?” Klein asked, and Jet buried himself into one of the clothing racks beside them, before pulling out a black two-piece suit and a dark red, almost crimson, tie.
“Try this with a… let’s go with a… dark shirt.” He mused, and Kirito found himself wishing to be anywhere but here – clothes shopping was never much fun as it was, but at least he could entertain himself on his phone whilst everyone else tried stuff on in real life.
No such mercy here.
“Is it bad I wish we had a mission right now?” He asked with a sigh.
“Nope, I’m wishing we did too.” Eugeo agreed. “Still, I’m guessing you’ll be asking a certain someone to attend as your date…” He asked with a knowing look. It was an open secret that he and Asuna were technically dating, and had been since the return from Adamas about two months ago.
The reason for trying to keep it a sort of secret was simple - they knew Argo had placed a bet on them getting together, and the longer they could keep her from receiving her winnings… the more it would annoy her.
As amazing as she was, Asuna terrified him when she was angry. She wasn’t the violent sort, no… she was the creative type.
As Argo was currently finding out through the deprivation of her winnings on a 2500 to 1 bet. He could only imagine the level of stir crazy she was currently going at the mystery status of her bet…
“We’ve only been on one date, and it’s still kind of…” Of course, he wasn’t going to tell Eugeo that was what they were doing - he may have been his best friend, but keeping a secret?
That was something you entrusted Eugeo with only if you were planning to spread it anyway.
“Terrifying?” Eugeo answered, a sympathetic note to his voice. He supposed he had been through all this with Alice, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t understand the anxiety of dating someone way outside his league.
“I wouldn’t say it’s terrifying…” His ego might though. “Just a bit… you know, nerve-wracking.”
“It’s rare to see you nervous.” Eugeo laughed quietly. “You don’t usually show it.”
“Give me an air battle any day.” He admitted. “I’m not even nervous about the dance, just asking Asuna out again…”
Eugeo rolled his eyes briefly whilst laughing to himself. “Why am I not surprised that the part that bothers you is the thought of socialising…”
“Hey! Now you sound like my sister…” Kirito defended himself - he was antisocial, not a shut-in, thank you very much! And yes, there was a difference; he went out regularly and took somewhat decent care of himself, not generally traits of a shut-in…
His defence was interrupted by Klein, who seemed to perk up at the mention of the word “sister”... “You have a sister, dude? Is she-”
“She’s 15.” Kirito answered, already knowing where this was going, and deciding to shut it down before it went anywhere near there…
“Never mind, ignore that last question.” Klein backed off awkwardly, grimacing at his previous question.
“Probably best.” Nautilus nodded as he came out of the changing room. “How does this look?”
As Jet gave another long winded explanation, he spaced out again and considered how he was going to do this, before metaphorically slapping some sense into himself. Asuna was a very upfront person, and playing around trying to ask her out again wouldn’t exactly get him in her good books, so it was best to just ask her to the dance.
Nice and simple; a plan with no moving parts to go wrong…
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Eventually, after quite a lot of talking to himself in a mirror, and telling himself this was no different to last time, just in a much more formal setting; he had found something that resembled the courage to go and ask Asuna to the ball...
It was simple, he told himself, and all he had to do was just to be himself...
Himself being Kirito, the introverted leader of the Black Blades, not Kazuto, the antisocial person he really was.
"Asuna, umm..." Great start there, he thought bitterly. "You know that Officers ball?"
"Oh yes." She smiled. "I have to admit, I'm looking forward to it a little bit."
"You know it's customary to have a date, well, I was just wondering... Do you have a date yet?"
"Oh, no. Honestly, I didn't even realise it was customary."
He could just imagine Argo stood behind groaning that both truly were suited for each other, that both of them were idiots...
"Would you like to go with me then?" He asked, going for the band-aid approach - that ripping it off in one swift motion was less painful than being gentle with it.
There was a brief look of surprise on Asuna's face, but it soon faded to a smile. Not a diplomatic smile, or a sad smile, but a genuine one... "I would love to!"
He quickly silenced the part of his mind telling him to punch his fist into the air, before regaining his composure. She wasn't just saying it to be nice, he knew, she was actually genuinely excited to go too!
"Awesome! So, uhh, do we make plans now, or wait till a bit closer to the time, or..."
"Honestly, I have no idea either." She laughed anxiously, and both of them looked away awkwardly at the fumbling of this seemingly simple task... "How about we say we'll decide later in the week?"
"Sure." He told her. "So, what are you up to?"
"Oh, Liz is building something insane again."
“How insane are we talking?”
“Invisible fighter.” Asuna answered without a second thought. “Or she’s joking about it at my expense.”
“Has she asked you to get the bubble in a spirit level yet?” He asked, jokingly.
“No, but she did ask for tartan paint, and when I asked Jet about it, he just sighed and grumbled something about Liz being a rubbish boss.”
“You know tartan paint isn’t a thing, that’s why?”
“Oh.” Asuna looked blankly.
“Yeah, tartan’s a pattern, not a colour.” He told her, suppressing a small laugh at the fast one that Liz had pulled. “I’d bet the invisible fighter’s the same thing - just a set of chocks and a ladder. Think I saw that at an airshow once…”
“Nope, I definitely saw something weird in the hangar. Like a black frisbee, I think?” Asuna said, though she didn’t seem annoyed at him for telling her that Liz was treating her like a fool… that would probably come back to bite Liz later though.
And just what was she building anyway?
A black frisbee in the corner of a hangar; some kind of UFO perhaps?
Despite his curiosity, he decided that it was probably for the best he didn’t know - that way, Liz couldn’t throw them under the bus when something went wrong. The less you knew, the better off you were here…
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After four more days, the day of the big move had arrived, and if Kirito was completely honest with himself, it felt less like a mission, and more like a class field trip…
Not that he was complaining about the more relaxed atmosphere for once, as after everything that had happened on Adamas, and the sudden return to operations immediately after, a trip up to the Great Lakes was probably what any good doctor would’ve ordered for them all.
With all of their luggage loaded onto a C-135, it had become a waiting game - the range at Fairhaven Sands was roughly 250 miles north, and in order to not overwhelm the local air traffic control, they had decided to stagger their departures and fly in four ships the whole way. Deciding who went first had been a stressful affair, until Fanatio, in her usual blunt way of problem solving, had simply given them a bucket with 10 pieces of paper, each with a number written on it.
Whichever number they drew, that was the element they would fly in. Unfortunately for him, he’d drawn number 9, meaning that Black Blade Flight would go near enough last - only Twilight had drawn a higher number, so they were dead last, much to the ever competitive (and impatient) Yuuki’s frustration.
Still, that had been a few hours back, and now, they were all here at Fairhaven. The base itself was a lot smaller than Canaveral was, and given its proximity to the mouth of the Bennion Sea, the runway was nowhere near as large and more hazards were present than at the vast expanse of nothing-ness that was Canaveral - the base was surrounded by sandy flatlands to the north (something that eventually became a golf course, seemingly - he could only imagine that would be fun on a tidal beach’s shores…), whilst a main road ran almost immediately past the eastern end of the runway, with traffic passing by at 60 kilometres an hour.
Further south, the city of Bromborough made for one hell of an obstruction, with Port Bromborough handling massive amounts of container ship traffic, as well as ferries heading out into the Bennion Sea, meaning they were restricted as to what they could do to the south without frightening the hell out of the local populace.
All in all, it made for an interesting change of pace for them, as well as a rather literal breath of fresh air - the sea breeze really was noticeable out here…
“Well, that does appear to be everyone present and accounted for.” Fanatio seemed slightly unhappy to have the job of commanding them, even he could tell that much. “Well, that means the easy part is over. Remember, we are on best behaviour out here, and this is not a holiday camp…”
“Ma’am, we’re not -okay, not all- children. We do understand the consequences of screwing this up.” Eydis reassured her. “Umm, is anyone else getting that chilly feeling?”
“Sea breeze?”
“Nah, like someone’s dancing on my grave.” Eydis shrugged it off though.
“And naturally, Bercouli’s still shirking off. Some things don’t change, do they?” A familiar voice said with a laugh. “Lady Fanatio, it’s nice to see you again.” Commander Shasta, the man that Jet had told them was Bercouli’s senior officer all those years ago… and now, he was theirs - briefly.
“Yes Commander, would you believe he promoted me?”
“How heinous…” Shasta chuckled and there was a sense of confusion at what was going on. “Apologies, I really should introduce myself. Commander Vixur al Shasta, commandant of Fairhaven, and C.O of the 300th Advanced Training Squadron. I’ve heard a lot about you all, and I think I’ve met some of you.”
Beside the older man was a younger woman, probably around Klein’s age, if he had to take a guess. In some ways, he could tell that she was their equivalent to Captain-err, Commander Fanatio, though she had a noticeably different aura to her…
As in, she actually felt approachable, and not absolutely terrifying to anyone who wasn’t in their squadrons… and he decided to keep that particular thought hidden away from said Commander, just in case.
“Captain Lipia Zancale, 2nd in command of the 300th, and-oh dear god, not you!” The woman’s introduction seemed to fall by the wayside as she spotted Eydis, and perhaps he was going mad, but she seemed to visibly back away from the Commanders at that realisation…
“Hey Lippy.” Eydis said with an oddly flat tone for her… an honestly kind of terrifying one too for the usually cheerful girl.
“Urgh, I thought I’d escaped you out here…”
“Yeah, I’m not thrilled by this either, y’know…”
A bit closer to the front, he could hear Alice asking Jet if he’d got any clue what was going on, though his answer was a sign that he was just as confused as they were. “Well, this is going to be fun, if even Eydis doesn’t like her…”
“We don’t dislike each other, we just… disagree on a lot of things.”
“That would be putting it mildly.” Liena added with a sigh. “Expect fireworks if those two are around each other…”
“Err, noted?”
“Yes, well… with that introduction complete, there is one more person to introduce you to, my liaison to your squadrons. However, she is still out on training, so you’ll meet her later. Please treat her just as you would any member of your squadrons, and all should be fine. She is an extremely capable pilot, and one of my best recruits - if a bit challenged in the rule-following department sometimes…”
Fanatio snorted in amusement. “She will fit right in then…”
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After the introductions, one of the other squadron leaders was requisitioned to show them to the accommodation - a former holiday camp that the OAF had taken over some years back as the base expanded.
In reality, Kirito knew that the explanation was as simple as “so they could reuse the same assets as the chalets in Bana without anyone picking up on it”, but he wasn't complaining - they weren't too uncomfortable anyway, and unlike the ones in Bana, they were only a few minutes from both the coast and the ops room…
“Now that's what I'd call a room with a view.” He said to himself as he put his stuff away, and looked out over the sandbanks at the coast beside the chalets.
“It is, yeah.” Eugeo agreed, dropping his bag down on the other bed. “Still a bit on the cooler side though.”
“It’ll probably be better if we close the door, I reckon.” Kirito pointed to the sliding door that was still very much open…
He could tell that Eugeo was mentally beating himself up for not noticing that… “You may be right there, actually.”
Before anything else could be said, there was a tap on the window; the tapping coming from Asuna. “Can I come in?”
“I’ll leave you two be.” Eugeo gave him a knowing look, and opened the door far enough that either of them could come or go. “Eydis is probably annoying Alice by now anyway, so I’ll go keep the peace…” He joked as he left, and Asuna came into the chalet.
The awkwardness lingered amongst the breeze of the open door, whilst either of them mustered up the courage to talk first. Kirito couldn’t help but think how weird it felt having Asuna over at his place, and-No, this wasn’t anything like that…
He mentally slapped the part of his mind that was raising its eyebrows knowingly, and told it to get back in that dark, dank hole he’d made for it.
Eventually though, he mustered the courage to go first. “So… Argo’s still going on about her bet then?”
“Nope, but I can tell she’s trying to get us together again.”
“You know she won’t stop ‘till she gets paid.” He told her, though Asuna gave a knowing smile, clearly enjoying watching Argo squirm. It was rare that someone got one over on her, so savouring that feeling was probably for the best… they wouldn’t get another chance, he knew that much.
“I know, but… considering how many times she’s teased us, you can’t say this isn’t deserved…” Asuna admitted.
“Oh yeah, absolutely deserved.” He thought back to all the times she’d teased them just to get a reaction, and a slight smirk came to his face. “Umm, you’re welcome to hang around here if you want. I’ve just got to get ready for the dance, but-”
He watched the colour drop out of Asuna’s face briefly. “That’s tonight?” She asked, and he nodded in response. “I, uhh, Ineedtogogetrerady!” She spoke with the pattern of a machine gun with its trigger held down… and almost ran out of the room as she did.
“Huh.” was all he could muster, as he stood there alone in the room, with only the breeze for company, before he closed the door and went off to get ready for socialising…
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As she ran, Asuna found herself berating herself for forgetting that stupid dance was today - her mind had been focused on everything else; preparing for it, getting everything sorted for the move to Fairhaven, settling in to the new living accommodations, and if she was honest, planning out how she wanted her date to go… that she’d forgotten what day the dance was.
How could she be so forgetful, she had been raised better than that, hadn’t she?
Whilst she was running, she forgot something else that one could argue was considerably more important - watching where she was going.
A dull thud, and falling onto her butt later, she realised who she’d collided with; that being Argo, who had fallen rather further than she had, by virtue of being smaller… “Jeez, Aa-chan, anyone would think ya’d left the gas on!” Argo joked as she picked herself up.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry Argo! My head is everywhere at the moment.”
“Eh, no harm, no foul.” Argo gave a so-so gesture. “Jus’ be glad it was me, an’ not a lamppost ya ran into, else ya’d have dinged up that pretty face o’ yers…” She looked away awkwardly, trying to hide a blush at the complement.
“I’m still sorry though! I just forgot the dance was tonight, and-”
“Sheesh, Asuna, ya’ve still got five hours, y’know?” Argo laughed.
“Yeah, I know, but if even Kirito-kun is-” Asuna immediately regretted opening her mouth there, because all of a sudden, Argo’s usual grin had become feral; as if she’d caught the proverbial mouse…
“Kirito -kun , huh?” Argo gurned. “Interestin’ that ya know he’s gettin’ ready…”
Damn it, Argo knew. That being said, her plan wasn’t completely ruined - Argo still had to prove it to earn her winnings, after all. She snapped back to a rehearsed routine, one she had regularly used around pushy business types… “I went over there to discuss the flight inbound, all completely professional , of course.”
“Nyeheh, whatever ya say, Aa-chan.” Argo laughed to herself. “ ‘sides, if ya wanna know why he’s gettin’ ready this early, he’s prob’ly gettin’ himself ready to socialise. Might be a bit too early to get a peek o’ him in the shower, ya know?”
Asuna blushed at the thought, and then reminded herself (in rather stern terms) that she shouldn’t let Argo get in her head like this… “O-of course not! That w-would be-oh damn this!”
“Err, Aa-chan?” Argo looked on nervously. “Oops, I might’a broke her...” She whistled to herself as she headed off in a different direction in haste.
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After a quick shower, Kirito had set about getting himself dressed up for the big dance, and found himself wondering about something as he looked himself over in the mirror - why was this even in the game anyway?
He supposed the Watsonian answer was “to make the players feel like they were being rewarded for their work”, whilst the lore answer was getting the squadrons accustomed to being around each other.
Working together on a professional level was one thing, but he had to admit, most squadrons rarely hung around with people outside their squads, and the 301/302/303 were quite unusual in that regard, having relatively close bonds with each other outside of their work…
“Heh, ya scrub up nicely Kii-bou. Didn’t think we’d ever see ya out of a hoodie, ya know?”
“Argo!” He jumped up in surprise, and wondered if he’d left that blasted door open again. “The door was shut, how did you-”
“Ya left it open, Kii-bou.” Argo told him with a roll of her eyes. “Anyone could’a snuck in… but then, maybe ya wanted a certain someone to sneak in… a certain second in command?” Argo grinned as if she’d hit the jackpot.
“Argo, what do you want?” He asked blankly, not rising to her teasing.
“Eh, nothin’ much. Just ran into Aa-chan, and she’s a bit stressed over this whole thing.” If the scuffs on Argo’s face were anything to go by, they’d run into each other quite literally.
“She did seem a bit on edge when she ran out of here earlier.” He said offhandedly, before remembering who he was talking to. “Crap.” He uttered under his breath.
“Ah ha! So Aa-chan was here!” Argo beamed with pride. “Oh wait, I knew that already.”
Kirito rolled his eyes at Argo’s antics and carried on getting ready instead.
“Look, Kii-bou, I know I can be a bit much, but I do mean it when I say you two are good together, y’know?” Argo told him, a rare look of honesty on her face when he’d turned to face her. No teasing, no ulterior motives, just… being completely honest with him. “An’ if somethin’s goin’ on between ya, then-”
Before anything else could be said, Eugeo walked back in and interrupted her. “Oh, Argo.” He said, and Kirito felt beyond grateful for the interruption - mainly as he had no idea what to say next. Argo was many things in his experience, but open with her feelings?
That was new to him.
“Ah hah, just havin’ a chat with Kii-bou here. He still owes me some credits for the drinks last week, don't ya?” Argo said, an unusually obvious show of nerves on her part.
He raised an eyebrow at that, but realised what she was going for, and played along. “I’ll buy the drinks tonight, that should pay off my debt, right?”
Her nervousness disappeared completely, replaced by a cheshire cat grin. “Nyeheh, I’ll hold ya to that, Kii-bou!” Argo told him, as she slunk out of the door.
“Let me guess, she figured that you and Asuna are dating.”
“...Yes.”
“I can’t believe you and Asuna both thought that would work for any amount of time.” Eugeo sighed, though it was coloured by an amused look on his face. “Of all the people you tried to keep it hidden from, you tried to keep it hidden from Argo.” He shook his head.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re both fools for thinking that would work.” Kirito agreed preemptively.
“Next question - do you actually know how to tie a tie, because…” Eugeo fumbled with his tie, trying to work out what he’d actually done with it - to be quite honest, Kirito didn’t even know what he’d done with it either; his school had clip-on ties anyway, so learning to tie a tie wasn’t all that high on his priorities list...
After the fabric equivalent of untying the Gordian Knot was complete, Eugeo helped him re-tie his tie, and he looked in the mirror again. “Much better.” Eugeo said from beside him. “Your tie looks like a tie, and not a knot now.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” Kirito asked as he sat back down on the sofa.
“I only need to put my suit on, and that’s a five minute job. I had a shower at Alice’s, and-”
Kirito winced. He did not need to know of his best friend’s love life, thanks! “Yeah, I get it, don’t need the details!”
“Not like that!” Eugeo went bright red at the implication, and backpedalled on his previous statement. “I meant we had separate showers! Just that it was whilst I was there!”
With that “misunderstanding” resolved, the conversation turned back to a more comfortable topic - that of what they’d be doing here. “So, you know any more about what we’re doing here than I do?” Kirito asked, and Eugeo shook his head.
“We managed to glean that the exercises are squadron based, and that we’ll likely be working with other units, but that was the sum total of it.” Eugeo explained. “Eydis isn’t happy about that, I could tell that much.”
“I’d say we could do with planning things out a bit, but we’ve got so little information to go on that it’d probably be pointless.” Kirito sighed, rubbing his temple.
“Agreed, we would have to plan for every eventuality, and I don’t think we have time for that.” Eugeo agreed. “Maybe we can gather more information tonight. After all, there is a chance that everyone will be drinking, and that may be to our benefit here.”
“Argo really is a bad influence on you, isn’t she?” Kirito laughed.
“Nope, that came from working for Liz.” Eugeo gave a wry smile. “It’s amazing what you learn when people’s guards are down…”
“Note, don’t piss Liz off.” He laughed as Eugeo disappeared into a different room to get changed. “Also, don’t get drunk around Liz.” He said to himself quietly.
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Eugeo had been a bit off in his estimate in how long it would take for him to get ready - it had actually been ten minutes, not five, and as they made their way to the place that they were supposed to meet the girls, he made sure to have a laugh at something as inconsequential as that; he supposed that was what friends did - they laughed at the small stuff like that, and were deathly serious when more significant stuff came up.
Despite his defence that he wasn’t a shut-in, that also wasn’t to say he was a social butterfly either; he had had friends, but they were what might be called “fair weather friends”. Fine in school, when the going wasn’t all that tough, but they weren’t the type of people to rely on in a crisis…
Hell, until now, he wasn’t sure anyone who knew fit that description anymore - he’d long since burned his bridges with Sugu, and the rest of his family weren’t around all that often most of the time.
It was honestly kind of remarkable that, despite everything, he felt more comfortable around the people he’d known for less than a year, than he did his own family. Remarkable, and also a slightly painful realisation that he genuinely didn’t know how they’d react to him being in this situation - he simply didn’t know enough to say anymore.
“You’re cringing.” Eugeo pointed out, snapping him back to reality, and away from that particular death-spiral. “Is there something wrong?”
“Oh, nah, just thinking of home.”
“Ah.” That single syllable told him that Eugeo had probably had the same thoughts about home at some point too - did anyone actually miss them; or were they just left to get on with it? “Yeah, I try not to think about that too much. Hurts a bit too much. I think it does for everyone really.”
“It’s just- we’re supposed to be these war-winning fighters, and…”
“It gives us something to fight for.” Eugeo reminded him.
“Yeah, it does.” Kirito gave a half-hearted smile, before realising something… “And before we go any further… Do you know where we are?”
“I thought you were navigating?” Eugeo asked in genuine confusion at the question.
“Ah.” It was remarkable how versatile that single syllable was, a traitorous part of Kirito’s mind thought in amusement - not only did it signify the discomfort at an awkward topic, but also the frustration at realising that the brain cell that you all had been sharing was currently in use somewhere else at that time…
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After a few minutes of intently staring at a crossroads in the camp, the pair had a rather awkward encounter with another group of pilots who seemed immensely amused by their navigation faux pas, but did at least point them in the right direction, as well as walk with them to the right place.
The group were part of the 304th Fighter Squadron, one of their newly-established sister squadrons in the Eagle Wing, and a squadron formed mostly of the European players of ACES; hence the nickname they had been given of “Little Europe”. There wasn’t much to say about them, Kirito thought - they seemed almost normal in comparison to them.
And if not normal, certainly more professional…
“Sorry we’re late!” Kirito exclaimed as they approached the girls. If they had made an effort to look smart, then the girls had made ten times more of an effort . It was rare to see them in anything but their more casual attire (or flight suits), but he couldn’t help but think how absurdly pretty they both looked dressed up.
“Actually, I think you’re ten minutes early?”
“Why would you think you are late, anyway?” Alice asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No reason.” Eugeo answered quickly. Too quickly, and so quickly that it instantly raised the girls’ suspicions. “Fine, we got lost.” He admitted, folding as quickly as he’d put on a defensive front.
“Understandable, this place is rather difficult to navigate.” Alice nodded, a look on her face that told him she was pretending that Eugeo hadn’t just gone from 0 to 100, and back to 0 in no time at all. “In fairness, I also got lost.”
Eugeo looked at her blankly. “Alice, you got lost in a building that was a rectangle once.”
“It was not a rectangle! It was some kind of brobdingnagian monstrosity masquerading as a rectangle.” Alice defended to all of their blank faces.
“It was a whut?” Kirito asked in confusion.
Eugeo just shrugged, as if his girlfriend hadn’t just plucked one of the highest scoring words in Scrabble from thin air, and carried on. “In Alice’s defence, that building was complicated - only where we’re from would you put rooms 486 and 401 next to each other…”
“As much as I’d like to continue this enlightening discussion on Alice’s navigation abilities; we are going to be late if we continue.” Asuna reminded them why she was the second in command of the 303rd, and if he was being completely honest, closer to the actual commander.
He was merely a figurehead for them, but Asuna knew how to run things properly, almost as if she’d spent her life preparing for a similar task…
Alice gave a pout at being called out by her rival, but didn’t speak up, and the four of them began the journey to the hall from their meeting point instead. As they walked, there formed a slight gap between the four as they split into their couples; not by a large amount, but a noticeable amount if anyone perceptive was watching… a gap that felt less like the metre or so it really was, and more like the Grand Canyon instead.
Air battles were one thing, as was being under pressure, but socialising with a girl who wasn’t so much out of his league as she was in a different plane of reality; especially when he was on a date with said girl, and even more especially when that girl was Asuna… who was now looking at him like he’d grown an extra head probably…
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Asuna was no stranger to social events - she’d grown up attending them, and she knew the etiquette of the events well. She’d also been on dates before - not of her own choosing, of course, but they had occurred - and she couldn’t tell why she was so nervous right now!
This was nothing out of the ordinary, was it?
If she gave it a little more thought, she supposed it was a noticeably different set of circumstances than those events had been - she had never wanted to go to those, but had been pressured to go, and whether that was implicit expectations or explicit instructions hadn’t really mattered. What had mattered was that she hadn’t wanted to be there, which was a sentiment that didn’t apply here at all.
She had found herself on cloud nine after Kirito had asked her to the dance, and hiding that from her nosy roommate had been difficult; Argo was almost inhumanly perceptive at times, she’d come to realise, often knowing what she was feeling before she did. Not only that, but pretending that the lengths she had gone to in order to make this go smoothly were merely the ordinary for these kinds of events - they absolutely were not.
Though she supposed that was merely an element of her own life that she had found herself in control of for the first time - being able to choose how she appeared in public. It felt… unnatural to her now, knowing that before this, her clothes would’ve been maintained by the staff they employed, her choice of attire not her own, and her life mapped out in meticulous detail for her.
Not her own person, but merely an extension of her mother’s will, it felt like sometimes, and in here… that was no longer the case.
Perhaps that was why she was now looking forward to an event she would have previously been neutral at best on. Or perhaps it was her company - the others had all been people who Asuna was expected to be nice to, usually older than her, and looking to cement relationships, be they corporate or personal, whereas at least to her, Kirito was…
Well, he definitely wasn’t the type her mother would approve of, of that she was certain. All around, he was, as her mother would’ve so ineloquently put it, below her - and with almost a year of experience in this game, didn’t that sentiment feel weird to think about! - but unlike the others that she had been set up with, he was genuine.
What you saw was what you got - not some douche with more hair gel than brain cells, or some narcissist who thought the world owed them, but all around, just a good person. Of course, he was human, they all were, but between him and Argo, they had taken her under their wing when she was at her lowest, and in his words, “taught her to soar.”
Maybe that was why she was now blushing like a lovesick schoolgirl. Wait, was she?
The awkward quiet between them was finally broken by Kirito. “Umm, you look really nice. It, umm, it really suits you.” He smiled awkwardly, and she knew that the machinery inside his head was currently working overtime.
If she hadn’t been blushing before, she definitely was now though. “Thank you, you clean up quite nicely too.” She had no idea how much that phrase sounded like damning with faint praise until she used it in that context! “It makes a nice change to see you making an effort, I mean!” No, that was worse, not better!
Seriously, was this so difficult that she couldn’t think of an actual compliment?!
Thankfully, Kirito didn’t seem offended by the unintentionally backhanded compliments, and just laughed it off. How he was able to do that, just roll with the punches and keep going, she really didn’t understand… “Thanks, it feels a bit weird to be out like this, you know? I’ve never actually had a suit before, so… ”
“Seriously? Never?” That caught her off guard a little bit, and seemed to relieve a little bit of tension in her mind.
“Nope, never had a reason to get one.” He admitted.
“It must be nice for some…” She said quietly, before realising what she had said and quietly hoping he hadn’t heard her there.
Unfortunately for her, he had heard her, and picked up on what she’d said. “You went to lots of things like this at home, I’m guessing?”
“Yes, my whole family did. I can’t say I enjoyed it, but that is life. We all have to do things we don’t enjoy sometimes.” She smiled, though even she could tell it was hollow.
“Yeah, I called it school.” He joked. “I mean, I didn’t mind some of it. Engineering classes and IT were always fun for me, but sports? Pass.”
“Why am I not surprised that you don’t like formal schooling?” Asuna smirked. “You would’ve hated my school then. We had neither of those subjects.” It was also a girls only school, which would have probably made Kirito stand out like a sore thumb in it.
“I think we can agree that we’d both hate our schools, right?”
“Oh yes, that we can agree on.” She laughed along as they approached . “I think we’re here.” She pointed out as they approached the main building of the base. Unlike Canaveral, where the main building was very obviously a military building, and one that had always intended to be used as such, this felt more like the central building of a holiday camp of sorts.
Which she supposed made sense, with half of Fairhaven having originally been a holiday camp anyway, and the airfield being built later on as war loomed on the horizon in the late 1930s. Far from some stylish interior, as they had seen in the officers’ mess back at Rechlin, or anything more rustic like the pub and garden they had built at Canaveral, the interior of the main building at Fairhaven felt more… lived in.
At the front was a section that had clearly once been used for some kind of arcade - and she couldn’t help but think of Misumi, and that her reaction would be one of open weeping at the thought of a lost arcade - but was now repurposed as a command centre of sorts.
Something that led to the slightly awkward arrangement of having to walk through the command centre to reach the venue; operators clad in full uniform, starkly contrasted by their suits and dresses, and a look of mild frustration on the operators’ parts as they walked past. They had to work after all…
After a few moments though, they reached the dimly lit venue, and her first thought was one of slight disappointment - it was rather underwhelming, if she was honest. There was a large dance floor towards the front, with tables set up closer to the back of the room, and a bar area set up at the back of the room, she could see that much, but the way the room was lit was… to put it bluntly, awkward.
Awkward enough that she completely missed the step in front of her, and only thanks to a quick save by Kirito was she prevented from going straight to the floor… “Th-thanks…” She thanked him, with a blush on her face at being quite literally caught by him.
“No problem.” And he blushed at the praise being levelled at him too.
“Let’s get seated, shall we?” She rubbed her hands down her dress, wiping herself down, and pretended like she hadn’t just nearly made a fool of herself…
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Despite the early stumble, the evening seemed to go well, and unlike the events she’d attended previously, this one seemed to fly by, and if she was honest, she found herself almost sad that it would have to end, and that they would have to return to normality the next day. Not a statement she would ever have said about any event previously…
It had been quite fun to watch everyone just getting a chance to let their hair down, and act the ages they were.
It had been especially fun to watch the girls of Idol give someone a complete dressing down in the form of a musical number after they had stood Rain up on a date apparently; something that, knowing the rest of Solitaire and Idol, would likely require hospitalisation for the idiot involved… or therapy to handle his wounded ego.
It was hard to look like the “big man”, as Argo had described it, when you had an entire ballroom humming along with a song that completely dismantled your ego so thoroughly that it could’ve been mistaken for atomisation, after all…
As the night wound down though, that had led to the obligatory final slow dance, and much to her surprise, Kirito actually knew how to dance. Not well, but enough that she could tell he’d made an effort to learn, and in the short time that had been available to them, it was not a bad effort either, she thought.
Though the image of him slow dancing alone in his room was quite amusing, she thought. “I must be doing well, you’re smiling!” He joked, and she wondered something…
“Is it that rare that I smile?”
“Nope, but if I wasn’t doing well, you wouldn’t be smiling.” He gave a cheeky smile. “You’d be going “oww” after I stepped on your feet so many times.”
“Ass.” She responded, though the insult had no heat behind it. “You’re lucky I find you attractive…” And a split second too late, she’d realised she hadn’t thought that, but rather said it out loud… and a brief panic set in.
What if he didn’t reciprocate, what if-
“Same here, but it's not just that though, you are pretty amazing.” He blushed at the admission, and so did she. He hadn't just complimented her looks, as anyone else would've done in that moment, but everything about her…
“Kirito-kun, you're what I wish I could be sometimes. You just sort of know what to do most of the time…” She admitted - she would weigh up the pros and cons in her head, she wasn't spontaneous like he was…
“Is that what I look like? Huh.” Kirito admitted, genuine surprise mixed in with the blank look on his face at that. “Yeah, it definitely doesn't feel like that. Honestly, it feels like you're more that than I am most of the time. I mean, you're basically our leader for the most part, you do more of that stuff than I do.”
With that explanation, a lot more of Kirito’s approach had suddenly become a lot easier to understand - that being that, just like everyone else here, he wasn’t some genius in air combat…
Just another person who found themselves adapting to the situation, and who'd helped by taking her under his wing, helping her to become the person she needed to be in here.
“Sorry if I've dis-” Before he could finish, she found herself pulling him into a kiss. It wasn't even something she'd considered doing before - holding hands flustered her, for crying out loud! - but it just felt… right.
That was the only word for it as they kissed - it was right .
What felt like a lifetime with their lips together was in fact about five seconds, and when they parted, Asuna could see the wide-eyed look of surprise on his face, one that soon faded away in favour of an earnest smile… “I guess we aren't keeping it a secret now, huh?”
“Everyone knew already, Kirito-kun.” Asuna admitted with a smile on her face. “Besides, we were only hiding it to get back at Argo and her stupid betting ring…” She said as they walked back to the table to get their bags.
What neither expected was the small crowd of their friends who'd gathered to start clapping .
“Jeez, cut it out, will you!?” Kirito said, his voice wavering slightly.
“Aa-chan, you are absolutely diabolical, ya know that?” Argo told her, tapping her finger against her arm in disapproval. “But, ya know, yer too cute to stay mad at… yer buyin’ me this round tho’.” Argo grinned.
“Aren't celebrations supposed to be on everyone else but the people celebrating?” Sinon asked with a look somewhere between confused and amused.
“Who said we were celebratin’ Aa-chan and Kii-bou? I'm rich , baby!” Argo was practically bouncing around the place like a child overdosed on sugar… and she almost wished they had kept it secret now.
Almost .
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As Argo jumped around in a way that Kirito reckoned meant she was very drunk, he found himself looking at Asuna in the moments when he wasn't talking to someone (as infrequent as those seemed to be at the moment, anyway).
He couldn't help it, she was just completely beautiful to him - she was like a goddess in human form, an angel…
And he was so, so glad that Argo was too busy celebrating her win to actually be paying attention to anyone else at the moment, else he imagined the teasing would be relentless … especially if she ever heard half of the stuff his brain had just come up with.
“Atta boy, Kiri-dude!” Klein exclaimed, handing him a drink. “You finally worked up the courage to ask Asuna out, and it worked out for ya!”
Maybe he was going mad, but Klein’s collar looked a bit out of line, and-No, he was not going any further with that line of thinking…
Down that path lay madness.
“Klein, you know we've been dating for like, two months now?”
“You have!? Ya kept that one quiet…” The sound of face palming was genuinely audible in that moment, like a scene from an old parody movie…
“Hey, Eydis, you know you called me dense?” Jet said with a knowing tone…
“Yeah, I was wrong… you're not the densest person here.” Eydis smirked, pointing at Klein. “He is.”
“How am I dense?”
“Boss, literally everyone else here knew they were dating.”
“So, uhh, why has Argo only claimed her money now then?”
“We were keeping it quiet so she couldn't prove it…” He admitted in a hushed tone, so as Argo wouldn't hear him. Dancing around like a toddler on e-numbers, she currently was, but her hearing was comparable to a bat's.
Fortunately for them, she was currently ordering half of the bar, and Kirito realised this night wasn't over just yet…
“Kirito-kun, I'm going to have an early night I think.” Asuna told him as she stood up. “If we all need to be ready tomorrow, it's probably best if at least one of us is awake before midday…”
“Good idea Asuna. I'll see you in the morning?”
Almost as if she knew what his sleep schedule was like, Asuna rolled her eyes with a smile as she departed. “See you tomorrow, mister. Goodnight everyone.”
“Goodnight, Asuna.”
As she left, he could sense Eugeo and Alice giving him unusual looks, though he couldn't work out why… “Err, why are both of you glaring at me?”
“You aren't going after her?”
“Why would I? She's going to bed?”
“Oh, you sweet summer child…” Alice sighed. “The routine thing to do is to invite her to yours for a night cap.”
“What's a night cap?” He asked.
“She means a hot drink. Like a cup of tea, or a hot chocolate.” Eugeo explained. “I'm stopping with Alice tonight anyway, so you've got the place to yourself if you want to invite her back.”
He reminded them of an important fact. “Guys, we've only kissed once. I really don't think-”
“You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take, Kirito. As much as it pains me to admit it, my rival Asuna is special. Do not miss any chance to spend time with her, you fool.”
He spared a glance at Eugeo, who gave him a confused shrug - especially at the rival bit, where no one really understood what Alice was thinking in regards to that, even Eugeo - but tapped him on the shoulder in partial agreement with Alice…
“Fine, I'm only asking her back for a cocoa or something though!” He relented, and took off after her.
He had no idea what was going through his friends’ heads sometimes, and this was one of those times - he imagined they'd been a couple for so long, even if they didn't realise it, that things they considered normal, really were big steps to everyone else…
Luckily, Asuna had only just about made it outside by the time he caught up to her, so it didn't look like he'd chased her across the base - that wasn't romance after all, that would be plain and simple stalking… “Hey, Asuna, I was thinking, do you want to come back to mine?” Now it was her turn to go wide-eyed at the question, as he had done when she kissed him earlier. “For a drink! Not like that! Just for a hot drink or something!”
Far from trying to slap him into the next (or current, depending on your definition) century, she gave him a smile as she answered. “Sure. We can do some planning for tomorrow too before we go to sleep as well!”
He wasn't sure what it said about Asuna that she seemed genuinely happy to be planning out their day, but he couldn't help but find her adorable like this, even if everyone else would've told her to turn off every now and again…
Still, if she didn’t act like that, then she wouldn't be the Asuna he'd fallen for, would she?