Her Mission To Save Them All || Sword Art Online Fanfic

Chapter 55

POV: Kayoko

Stones of all different sizes crunch under my feet, once pieces of the wall that rounded and protected this city now crumbling apart. Through the yawning holes, the thought occurs to me that while they might have been designed to keep people out, they also could have functioned as the opposite.

Maybe then, with the city fallen, we have not only erased the threat of Laughing Coffin on a large scale, but also freed those who were being held captive. The feeling of finally being able to see the peaks on the canyon for the first time must have been a relief for them.

I pick my way through the destruction, stones branded with ash from the fire that lept from wooden structure to structure, some split, cracked open under the force of several footsteps. Jamming my foot on one edge, I use my knee to push myself upwards, shifting my weight to my hands as my legs scramble up after them.

A stone dislodges itself, craking with the echo of impacts as it rolls down the pile. My hands grip closer to the main structure, though there is little comfort in knowing it would make no difference; if the structure were to fall, it would be me that goes with it.

Midway up the pile, I find a rock flat enough to support me and take a seat, taking in the surroundings of the city. The dawn light expells the last remnants of the darkness. In it, you can see a new perspective; we have brought this city to ruin just as they did to the lives they took. It's bittersweet revenge that lies in my chest, a doubt that often worms its way into my thoughts.

I thought, after all this, I would be sure that this step would be the right decision to save the most lives that I could. As my eyes regard the row of figures attached by the ugly shadow of a chain, I become more and more certain that this isn't something to celebrate, to feel proud of. Even as I turn my head away from the advancement of the figures, the sound of clinking metal against metal still reaches my ears, each note doing little to distract from the overall idea: we let this city and these people burn.

And told ourselves they deserved it.

"Are you done with your sulking?" I turn my gaze from the destruction towards Kirito, who has one foot placed on the bottom-most stone of the pile, halfway between climbing up to meet me or conserving his energy. His lips offer me a small smile despite the invisible weight of exhaustion threatening to cave his shoulders in and I find myself giving a small one in return.

"I'm not sulking," I say softly, tugging at the ends of my hair sharply, unravelling the knots that lie between my fingers. "I just needed to think for a bit before the clearer meeting."

"Thinking, sulking, what's the difference?"

"There are quite a few differences, the first one being that while one is a waste of time, the other is quite useful." I slip off the ledge, making sure to keep my grip as I pick my way down. Pausing halfway down, add, "Not that you would know anything about thinking."

"I would be surprised if my brain is even working after the amount of sleep I got. I'm quite surprised that your own is working, Kira, but then again, it never worked right." He says as I weave and bob to find any balance for my hands. Though I have no chance to look up, I can practically hear a smile in the tone of his words.

I skid to a stop, raising to my tiptoes as my feet adjust to the feeling of standing on a flat surface once more. Kirito walks a few paces over to join me where I landed and we both start walking back towards the inner wall, keeping our eyes on how the damage changes as we move further into the city's depths.

The cracks seem to sew themselves back together, burn markings on the walls scrubbing themselves clean, fallen bricks piecing back into place one by one. I keep one hand close to the sword at my side and despite the number of hiding places within the rubble disappearing as we walk further, I find my grip growing tighter.