Chapter 137 - Proposal

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Sorry for not updating Monday, people. This... Has not been a good week. I had a relative k*ll themselves, no easy way to put it. I wasn't very close to the person, but they left two daughtes below 10 which I care for very much.

Some of you unfortunately probably went through what I'm experiencing right now, and can attest its not good. I'm going to take a few days off, as I am in no state to write right now, and will probably be traveling for the funeral soon, as well as to help take care of the children. They still have a mother, but she isn't doing too well.

Sorry for the depressing news in what was supposed to be a happy chapter. See you soon.

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START OF THE CHAPTER

It took two days for Drifter to work up his nerve. He did it eventually, however, and shared his plan with only one other person.

Nautilus had listened quietly, first with curiosity, then surprise and shock, and finally joy. Before Drifter had even finished speaking, nervously, as if afraid Nautilus would say something negative or outright reject it, the ash-haired player grabbed him in a bear-hug, lifting Drifter up.

When Nautilus set him down and let the spearmaster go, Drifter saw that he had a huge grin on his face, ear to ear, the biggest smile he had ever seen his friend show.

"You are one lucky bastard, Drifter. And Yuna is one lucky girl. Go for it. You deserve to be happy. I would say 'good luck' if I wasn't sure she's going to accept before you can get the first sentence out."

"Really?"

"Without a doubt. She loves you so much you couldn't screw this up even if you wanted."

Drifter felt some of his nervousness slip away with Nautilus glowing show of confidence. It was always good to have the support of those you cared about, and Nautilus was Yuna's best friend.

"Thank you, Nautilus. I mean it."

This time it was Drifter who initiated the hug, grabbing Nautilus. The blade-user's grin hadn't faded.

"You know I will always be your and Yuna's biggest support. I expect a place of honor when we are out and you do the ceremony, got it?"

Drifter smiled widely.

"Best man, Naut. Best man, and don't you dare reject it."

"I would never."

The two friends smiled at each other again. At that moment, a voice from downstairs reached them.

"Naut, Drif, 5 minutes! We are just waiting for you!"

Seemingly unwilling to wait, the owner of the voice stomped up the stairs to the inn's second floor. When she saw Drifter and Nautilus standing in the corridor, she huffed and put her hands on her waist.

"Honestly, what are the two of you doing? Normally you are the first down. You didn't even woke me up, dummy, I thought you had gone out already. Turns out you went to Naut's room. Should I be jealous?"

By the end of her tirade, Yuna couldn't hold her grin anymore. Nautilus laughed, and Drifter walked to his girlfriend and pulled her into a rather passionate kiss.

While Yuna was never shy about her affections, even she blushed when Drifter kissed her so deeply in front of someone else.

"What was that about?

It was a good minute later that Drifter pulled back, both of them gasping for air. Yuna saw Nautilus smirk over Drifter's shoulder, and blushed even more, hiding her head on her boyfriend's chest.

"I love you, songbird."

"Love you too, dummy. But don't do that in front of Naut, it's embarrassing."

The songstress mumbled into his chest, and Drifter hugged her. Gods, he loved her.

"Oh, don't mind me, Yun'. I was already going down. I'll tell everyone you two need another 5 minutes. Hm, better make it 10."

The ash-haired chuckled, and walked past them. Just before disappearing down the stairs, he shot a wink at Drifter. The spearmaster shook his head with a smile. Then he put a finger under Yuna's chin and lifted her head.

"You heard him, songbird. We have ten minutes. Should we occupy th- Hmph!"

Drifter's teasing was cut off by Yuna covering his lips with hers. It was only 15 minutes later that the couple appeared on the inn's ground floor.

...

The hours passed, and morning turned into afternoon. Reaver's Requiem went about their day normally, exploring the 21st floor and grinding. With their levels at the very top of SAO, it could now take up to 3 or 4 days for them to gain a single level.

It was about an hour before sunset that the guild returned to the safe zone. Usually they would have stayed out until closer to nightfall, but Nautilus, bless his heart, had pulled Kirito aside to talk. Nobody could hear what they were saying, but Drifter had a pretty good inkling, even without Kirito turning to look at him with wide eyes. He subtly nodded, and a huge smile plastered itself on the swordsman's face.

Nobody else caught on to it, and they didn't question Kirito's decision either. Fighting the same mobs all day got very tedious very quickly, so any change of pace was nice.

Once they were back into the Town, the Reavers split up, each going to do their own thing. Some went to the inn to catch up on their sleep, others decided to stroll around the town or, in Agil and his friends' case, to hawk their wares.

"It's still early. How about a walk, Yun'?"

Drifter held Yuna's hand, interlacing their fingers, and asked her. The songstress looked at him and hummed her agreement, a happy smile on her face and a flash of something in her eyes. Later, Drifter would wonder if this was when she caught on to what he planned.

As it was, the couple strolled aimlessly for half an hour before Drifter directed them to the teleporter. Yuna raised an eyebrow, but followed him.

"Tolbana!"

Seconds later, they appeared in the 1st floor city. Gladly, Drifter noticed they were the only players around. While he would go through with his proposal regardless of witnesses or not, he would rather not have a crowd watching.

"Our special place?"

"Always good to remember where it started."

The couple grinned at each other, and Drifter pulled Yuna to sit down, not on the benches, but on the grass. She took it a step further by pushing him onto his back and laying down next to him, her head resting on his arm.

"Alright, spill it."

"What?"

Yuna turned sideways to stare at him. She was so close Drifter couldn't help but lean in to kiss her, just a soft brush of lips. She chased the kiss, but wasn't distracted.

"C'mon, tell me. I know you too well for your innocent act to work."

Drifter smiled and rolled over, pressing Yuna under him.

"I love you, songbird."

The spearmaster lowered his head and kissed Yuna. The songstress put her arms around his neck and pulled his head closer.

Cardinal was considering cutting off their transmission. This seemed almost as intimate as the inside of their room.

After what could have been 5 minutes or 5 hours, they separated. Drifter stared straight into Yuna's eyes, which were just a few centimeters away from his. He chuckled.

"I had a whole speech planned, but it just went out of the window when I kissed you. I can't remember a single word. Except the most important ones."

Yuna's eyes widened. She had suspected it, yes. Drifter was acting weirdly passionate, even for him. But now there was no room for doubt.

"Yuna, my songbird, will you marry me?"

The songstress felt tears welling up in her eyes, and Drifter's face, close as it was, became misty.

"Yes! Yes, dummy, yes!"

Her words were broken up by happy sobs, and she pulled Drifter down once again.

Their kisses were broken up by affectionate interjections every now and again, before their lips joined together once more.

Finally, with the sunset dyeing them, the plaza, the town, and the entire floor orange and red, the couple split apart. But only their mouths.

Drifter rested his forehead against Yuna's, and gazed at her lovingly. Both of them shone with happiness, and they had dopey smiles plastered on their faces.

"I love you."

...

Compared to the outside world, getting married in SAO was anticlimactic. Just a request sent, and then two golden bands appeared on Drifter and Yuna's fingers. Their inventories were now shared, and nothing changed.

Everything changed.

While they walked back to the teleporter, Yuna would stop to admire her ring, and put her hand over Drifter's, then smile happily and hum a melody.

The spearmaster himself felt absolutely overjoyed. At peace. He kept an arm around his wife's - and wasn't that the most amazing thing ever - waist, holding her close. Whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

"When we get out, we'll have a proper ceremony. With our parents, and our family."

"Hm. I want Asuna and Sinon as my bridesmaids. And Argo. And... Actually, can it be all of them? And Silica as the ring bearer!"

Drifter chuckled, and kissed the top of her head.

"We'll figure it out. I already promised Naut best man, but I also want the rest of our family there."

"I love you."

How many times had they said those three words to each other today? Probably no less than the amount of times they got distracted and stopped to kiss each other while on their way to the inn. But it was okay. Today and forever.

It was several hours after they split from the rest of the Reavers that the married couple found themselves in front of their inn again. And even from outside, they could hear the commotion inside. Yuna lifted an eyebrow to her husband, and Drifter shrugged.

"I told Nautilus. He probably told Kirito so we could get away earlier. This led into that and I bet we have everyone waiting for us inside. And I do mean everyone."

Drifter didn't see a world where the Reavers would have kept quiet about his plan to proposal, at least to their closest friends. Good thing Yuna had accepted, or it would have been a very awkward wedding party.

"We are really lucky to have them."

"No doubt about that."

Drifter grinned and pushed the door open with one hand. The other, his left, was holding Yuna's right hand.

Inside was a cacophony of noise and motion. Drifter had been right, everyone was waiting for them. Not just the Reavers, but Fuurinkazan, the Legend Braves, Argo, Sasha and the kids, Akari, Liten, Shivata, even some other DKB and ALS players, and other frontliners and clearers they were in close terms with.

There was a brief moment of silence when Drifter and Yuna entered, where everyone stopped talking, looked at them, lowered their gaze to their hands and the rings, and then back up to their faces. Then they all shouted together, pandemonium restoring.

"Congratulations!!!"

It was like a wall of sound hit them, followed immediately by a wall of bodies as everyone rushed forward to welcome them and, of course, look at the rings. They were plain and simple, but that didn't take anything away from what they represented.

Drifter didn't know how much time passed, and how many people he thanked. He never let go of Yuna's hand.

With the exception of the spearmaster himself and one or two others, the adults were all drunk - sure, the effect only lasted half an hour, but they had to stop drinking for it to vanish. Even a few of the underage participants had taken a few sips. SAO was really the only place you could drink without consequences.

As the party winded down, Drifter found himself hugging his wife from behind, his arms around her navel, his chin on her shoulder. Yuna was comfortably resting her back on his chest as she chatted with Griselda, Liten, Kizmel, Akari, and Sachi. As groups went, this was one of the weirdest ones, but everyone was happy.

Drifter was particularly grateful and relieved that Griselda was enjoying herself. There had been a slight concern that the wound left by her divorce was still too raw, but one look at her radiant smile was enough to see that the woman was genuinely happy for the couple.

"There was no bouquet throwing in your wedding, Yuna, but I fear some to-be brides caught it anyway."

Yuna and the others giggled, and Drifter smiled. Their union had certainly put some ideas in the heads of a few couples. And was Liten's blush because of the drinks or something else? Shivata better watch out. He might get a pleasant surprise.

"Enjoying yourself, songbird?"

For an answer, Yuna turned her head and kissed him. The ladies in the circle gave them knowing smiles. The party was fun, but, as was tradition, soon it would be time for the groom and the bride to recuse themselves to their chambers.

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Another place where a party was coming to an end was the Ogawa household. Earlier today, when their son mentioned his planned proposal to Nautilus, Kana had started making calls.

Now, close to 3 in the morning, the house was still packed. It was a little bit of a mess, really, with the aftermath of 20 people talking, eating, and drinking. And unlike their loved ones in SAO, their families outside would feel the effects of all the alcohol imbibed tomorrow.

All was good. Kana had cried a lot, but of joy. She had always been an emotional woman. Even Genji and Tetsuhiro had shed a few tears. The former tried to hide it, the latter didn't even bother.

Saying this was a once in a lifetime occasion wouldn't be correct, because there would be another wedding, a proper one - not that there was anything wrong with how Drifter and Yuna did it, it only lacked a bit of ceremony. But you better believe there would be a 'second take' in the outside world. Kana had already started planning it.

All was good.

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Eventually, Drifter and Yuna found themselves in the privacy of their room. The closed door from the inn's premium suite prevented any noise from disturbing them, and their broadcasts had cut off. They were truly alone now.

"We owe a lot of people for putting that party together."

"Forget them, dummy. Focus on me now."

Drifter did. He lifted Yuna, and she held onto his neck, wrapping her legs around his waist, never breaking their kiss until Drifter lowered her down on the bed, not letting go of him.

"I love you, songbird."

"Hmm! Yuuna..."

"Hm?"

Drifter trailed soft kisses down her neck, and Yuna moaned. He made a questioning noise with his throat, but didn't halt his ministrations.

"Yuuna. My name is Shigemura Yuuna."

Then Drifter stopped. He lifted his head to look at her flushed face. Two pairs of eyes, lost in each other for who knew how long. Then they both broke out in laughter at the same time.

"Haa... I can't believe it. We got married without even knowing each other's real names."

She giggled like a woman in love, which she was. Drifter smiled affectionately.

"You are my songbird. That's all I ever need to know."

"Dummy..."

Tears welled up in her eyes at the declaration, and Drifter kissed them away. But he told her, just before capturing her lips again.

"My name is Ogawa Itsuki. I love you, Shigemura Yuuna."