Chapter 10: A New Bond
As morning light streamed through the window panes and cast diamond-shaped patterns on the wooden floor, Asuna was biting into a croissant while checking her system panel.
A friend notification chimed with a ding-dong, and she almost smeared strawberry jam on her white lace nightgown in her flustered state.
"8:27 AM. Hikigaya-kun's internal clock is terrifying…" she mumbled, tapping on the flashing cat icon. As usual, the message from him was short and to the point: "The guidebook is done. Want to go north with me?"
Still holding a spoon in her mouth, Asuna typed one-handed: "Leaving tomorrow? Need help now?" But before she could send it, Hikigaya was already knocking on the door.
"Oh, Good Morning. Heading out today?"
"Yeah. I'll check out the church first, then wander around town."
"Be careful. Don't get mistaken for some shady guy."
"You're the one to talk!"
Asuna waved cheerfully, watching the back of his black coat vanish around the corner. On the morning breeze, her faint muttering floated back: "Says the one wearing a suspicious black coat…"
Watching his retreating figure, Asuna thought he seemed to be in a good mood.
'Did something good happen?'
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The next day, they headed north as planned. After distributing guidebooks to several villages, they arrived at the valley town of Torbana.
"This place is pretty big. Let's split up."
"Sure, I'll go that way."
"I'll head over here. Let's meet up at that fountain afterward."
"Okay! See you later!"
Asuna successfully distributed the guidebooks.
Just as she finished at the last item shop, a player suddenly spoke to her.
"Um, what's this?"
"Oh, it's a guidebook with all sorts of information. If you don't mind, please take one."
Peeking out from under her hood, the player was surprised by Asuna's smiling face.
"A girl…"
The player then lifted her own hood slightly and introduced herself with a cheerful smile: "Nice to meet you, I'm Lisbeth. You can call me Liz!"
"Nice to meet you, I'm Asuna. Pleased to meet you, Liz!"
"Yay~ I've been dying of loneliness not seeing any girls around!"
"Yeah, same here!"
The two hit it off immediately, diving into a long-overdue girl talk—though the topic was entirely game-related, so whether it was real girl talk was debatable.
Before they knew it, quite some time had passed.
Spotting Hikigaya in the distance, Asuna asked Liz to wait and ran over.
"Sorry, Hikigaya-kun. Did you wait long?"
"Oh, I was wondering if something happened, so I came to check."
Asuna explained that she had met Liz and brought him over.
"Ah~ I'm Hikigaya. Nice to meet you, Lisbeth."
"Just call me Liz. Nice to meet you, Hikigaya!"
"Got it, Liz-chan."
Liz, finding Hikigaya a bit suspicious, suddenly asked:
"Are you two dating?"
"Geez~ don't tease me like that, Liz."
Seeing Asuna flustered, Hikigaya answered in his usual tone:
"How should I put this… we're just regular friends. It'd be an insult to Asuna if someone mistook someone like me as her boyfriend."
"Hikigaya-kun!"
Sensing her irritation, Hikigaya thought to himself, Of course she'd be mad being mistaken for the girlfriend of someone like me, and quickly apologized:
"Uh… sorry, Asuna. I didn't mean to upset you."
"You still don't get it, Hikigaya-kun. What I'm upset about is your attitude toward yourself."
Asuna continued:
"It's true we're not in a romantic relationship, but using self-deprecation to clarify that… I don't like it.
To me, Hikigaya-kun is an important friend. So please don't put yourself down like that anymore, okay?"
"...You're right, Asuna. I was wrong. Let me rephrase: Liz, we're friends."
Seeing this, Liz realized she had misunderstood and smiled sheepishly:
"Alright~ so you're friends! Sorry, Asuna~ So, what's your plan now?"
Asuna mentioned they were going hunting and leveling up, and invited Liz to join.
Thus, the three began acting as a team.
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"Liz, keep the aggro steady and be ready to switch anytime! Watch the potion cooldowns!" Asuna slashed with her rapier, drawing a cross-shaped starburst as her chestnut hair brushed Hikigaya's nose.
"And Hikigaya-kun, stop drooling over the crafting materials!"
The black-haired boy rubbed his reddened nose and muttered, "That's refined mithril ore with +7 crit potential…"
The pink-haired hammer-wielding girl scrambled to block a giant worm's acid spray, her hammer now covered in suspicious goo: "Why is there a mutant worm in a beginner tutorial zone?!"
"Because the devs are brain-dead." Hikigaya suddenly rushed forward with his weapon: "Asuna, 7 o'clock! Liz, stun it with a hammer smash!"
With the sound of clashing metal, the giant worm collapsed. As materials rained down, Asuna poked Liz's side:
"I heard hammering anvils sounds a lot like whack-a-mole?"
"Huh?" Liz, crouched and picking up ore, nearly dropped her hammer on her foot.
"What she means is—" Hikigaya whipped out a crafting guide— "Rather than a front-line cannon fodder, someone with bad reflexes might be better as a logistics officer."
"Who're you calling cannon fodder, jerk?! I just perfectly blocked three acid splashes!"
"But your top score in the training camp's whack-a-mole mini-game was…"
"Shut it, dead fish eyes!"
Asuna stifled a laugh watching the pink-haired bundle of energy chase Hikigaya in circles. Suddenly, she tossed her scabbard to trip them both:
"Ceasefire treaty enacted! So Liz, want to try smithing?"
"B-But…" Liz stared at her goo-covered gauntlets. "Everyone says the front-line raiders are the real deal…"
"Those meatheads don't know anything," Hikigaya said, shaking a mountain of metal ingots from his backpack. "Do you know how much +3 acid-resistant armor is selling for now?"
"You could buy three top-tier store rapiers with that," Asuna added with a smile.
Liz's pupils began to sparkle like gold coins.
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After sunset, the three returned to Torbana and got a room—Hikigaya alone, Asuna and Liz sharing one.
"Ah~ I haven't had this much fun in ages! I want to pat my past self for saying hi!"
"Seeing you so happy makes me happy too, Liz!"
Maybe because she hadn't had female companionship in so long, they chatted about everything.
While keeping personal details private, Asuna told the story of how she met Hikigaya, how he mistook her for a guy and brought her home, and how they became friends.
Liz laughed so hard she nearly cried, saying it sounded like a movie.
When the topic turned to bathing, Liz lit up: "I want a bath too!"
"Anytime, Liz, you're always welcome."
Asuna recalled Hikigaya's earlier prediction and recounted the incident. When the conversation quieted, Liz suddenly looked serious:
"Asuna, I'm sorry. When I first saw Hikigaya from afar, I thought you were being tricked by some creepy guy.
But after talking, working together, and hearing all this from you, I realized I was the one being judgmental. I'm really sorry."
Asuna was momentarily stunned, then smiled:
"Hikigaya is a kind and good person."
"Yeah, even if he's super awkward! He's an important friend!"
And then, in classic girl-talk fashion, things went off track again:
"Asuna, your skin is illegally flawless! You're totally using cosmetic items!"
Blushing, Asuna smeared foam on Liz's face in protest: "It's just the basic cleansing feature! And don't jump on me out of nowhere!"
"I don't care! From today, you're my personal bath attendant!" Liz grinned mischievously: "By the way… has Hikigaya-kun ever secretly peeked…?"
"Absolutely. Not. Ever."