Ren suddenly froze. A steady "tap… tap… tap" sound rang out right next to his ear, echoing in the helmet like an incessant, teasing rhythm.
He slowly turned his head and discovered Argo standing right beside him, having sneaked up unnoticed. Her brownish-yellow eyes sparkled, curious to the point of wanting to drill through the armor. Her tiny hand continued to tap on the onyx visor, her light fist full of judgmental intent.
"Shiny new armor," Argo tilted her head, the corner of her mouth curling into a smile that was half-amused, half-probing. "Where did you get it?"
Ren looked at her for a moment, his eyes darkening behind the visor. Not annoyed, just that it was too noisy. He gently shook his head, shifting slightly to escape the hand that was tapping as if assessing a rare commodity.
"Argo," Ren said, his voice dropping an octave in warning, "do you always like touching other people's things?"
"Why not?" She shrugged, lightly touched the armor again, and immediately retracted her finger when Ren glanced over with a warning look. "The more mysterious something is, the more I have to see it. That's the Information Broker's rule."
Ren let out a very small sigh, the sound of helplessness mixed with familiarity.
"It was a gift… I bought it with my own money."
"On what floor?" Argo blinked fast, the question sharp as a knife.
"Irrelevant."
"Is it a Legendary type?"
"Argo."
She stood still for exactly one second, then burst into a giggle, putting her hands on her hips proudly.
"Alright, alright. I get it." Her eyes twinkled as if she had just pulled a crucial thread from a major secret. "But I'm telling you… I'll find out eventually."
Ren only replied with a silent look.
Argo smiled even brighter as she sensed Ren's gaze piercing through the helmet. "People like you, the quieter you are, the more I want to dig deep. Brace yourself, Black-Armored Ren."
He exhaled, turning away, but couldn't hide a very small beat of fatigue in his shoulders, as if he knew that since Argo was curious… the coming trouble was certain and unavoidable.
Ren had just settled down when Argo charged in like a small, annoying gust of wind. She wrapped both hands around, gripping the onyx helmet tightly and… actually pulled.
She tugged hard, leaning her entire body forward, trying to pry the helmet off as if she thought a little more force would pop it open like a can lid.
"Hey, take the helmet off! Why keep wearing it, aren't you hot?" Argo grumbled, straining her neck, her whole body clinging to Ren's shoulder like a determined possum trying to open a shipping crate.
Ren narrowed his eyes. One second. Two seconds. That was enough for his patience.
He decisively deactivated the equipment status, and the helmet instantly dissolved into fragments of light.
And Argo's hands… lost their footing instantly.
"Oops…"
Thud!
She fell straight onto the wooden floor, knees hitting first, then her whole body collapsing backward. A landing so precise it didn't need any support skills.
Argo jumped up, hair messy, face flushed with both anger and embarrassment.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you!?"
Ren looked at her, the corner of his mouth curving into a very slight, half-amused, half-teasing smile. He pouted indifferently, running his hand through his long, loose black hair. The long strands almost completely obscured his sharp, lean face, making him look like a porcelain doll just taken out of a dark box.
He just quietly brushed his hair aside, not bothering to respond to the accusation.
The whole table erupted. Kirito buried his face, trying to suppress his laughter, but his shoulders were shaking. Asuna covered her mouth, Shivata and Nautilus nearly slapped the table laughing, and even Yuna couldn't help but lean forward.
Only Liten wasn't laughing.
She stared at Ren, her topaz eyes slightly narrowed, carefully scrutinizing every contour of the face half-hidden by the dark hair. Her eyes were filled with curiosity and a hint of excited surprise; she looked down at Ren's chest then back up at his face, as if trying to ascertain the true gender of the person who had just removed the mask.
Ignoring Argo who was still grumbling angrily behind him, Ren turned, his gaze sweeping over the two familiar faces he hadn't seen in a long time.
Yuna. Nautilus.
They had changed, more than Ren had imagined.
The first thing that caught his eye was their equipment, which told their story more clearly than any words.
Yuna still maintained her familiar light style: a thin cloak, soft layers of fabric hugging her figure, moving with every step as if she were guided by the wind. A glance was enough to know she still prioritized maximum flexibility and speed. The color was pale, but the light sliding across the surface evoked a sense of untouchable purity.
In contrast, Nautilus looked startlingly different. His light steel armor hugged his body, each polished metal plate enough to reflect the flickering light from the wall torches. Shoulders, chest, and arms were strongly reinforced. The design was not for showmanship, but for absolute survival in tough battles.
And on his hip…
Ren saw it immediately.
The sword he had given him.
Nautilus still kept it. Despite the time that had passed. Even though he was much stronger now, capable of switching to superior weapons. But that sword was still there, hanging at his hip like a silent, unostentatious reminder.
Ren felt his chest tighten slightly. He wasn't sure what the feeling was. Just a small, complicated, unnamable movement running through his heart.
Sensing Ren's gaze, Yuna turned, offering a gentle smile, round and full like a full moon. That smile made the entire room light up with a softer, warmer hue.
Nautilus smiled genuinely, a bit awkwardly. He raised a hand to scratch his moss-green hair, a habit from their earliest days, still intact.
Ren remained silent for a long time.
They were still themselves.
But not entirely like before. In their eyes now was not just friendliness, but also a clear determination, an iron will, as if they had found a true purpose to pursue in this deadly world.
"Long time no see…"
Ren forced himself to speak, but his voice sounded muffled, compressed deep in his chest. A pause. A choked breath. He didn't know how to follow up with anything.
Yuna nodded softly, her reply equally brief: "Yeah… long time no see."
And that was it.
The two sat there, facing each other but separated by a thick, invisible layer of air. The silence fell, heavy and prolonged, making Ren clearly hear his heart beating thump-thump under his armor.
Yuna pursed her lips. Ren quickly glanced at another random point. Neither knew where to build a bridge to return to the old intimacy.
Finally, Nautilus couldn't stand it.
"How have you been lately?"
His voice was gentle, but forcefully cut through the stiff silence between them.
Ren took a breath, answering concisely: "Fine. How about you two?"
Nautilus laughed softly, the kind of laugh that both concealed fatigue and tried to create necessary ease. "We're… fine. Relatively fine."
Yuna nodded in agreement, her eyes briefly skimming over Ren as if trying to find something familiar in her old friend… then unsure if it was still there.
Ren felt the strands of hair hanging down, nearly covering his eyes, along with the familiar heaviness at the back of his neck. He lightly tossed the unruly locks aside, a small, decisive movement, yet it was like concealing something that had just twinged in his chest. He knew that the questions that needed asking, and the things that needed saying, had been sealed away by time.
Yuna looked at Ren for a little longer, her eyes filled with thought.
"Kirito said… you've been very busy lately."
"Not exactly," Ren replied. His voice was flat, waveless. He didn't try to explain further. The things he did… were in another world, hard to clarify to them.
"Hmm… is that so." Yuna smoothed a strand of hair that a light breeze through the tavern window had brushed against her cheek. A small action, but Ren realized, she didn't use to do that.
Nautilus rested his elbow on the table, tilting his head, his gaze direct: "But you look… much stronger than before. You look… completely different."
"Different how?" Ren asked back, slightly narrowing his eyes behind the dark hair.
"Well…" Nautilus looked from Ren's hair to his still-equipped armor, trying to find the words. "Like… more certain? More decisive. Ah, no… I mean back then you looked like you were about to disappear at any moment."
Ren was silent.
Yuna smiled faintly, very small, but full of understanding: "Now you don't. Now you look… far too self-assured."
Ren didn't know how to answer. Not because he was shy, but because he wasn't sure if that "self-assurance" was something to be proud of… or just a callousness that had become emotionless.
He turned, glancing at Kirito, who was engrossed in conversation with Asuna, Argo, Liten, and Shivata at the head of the table. At least, Kirito was still Kirito.
As for him…
"Ren," Yuna called softly.
He turned back.
"No matter what… we're still glad to see you again."
A maximally simple sentence. But it touched Ren in a way that made his body slightly stiffen, like a defensive instinct rising before consciousness could react.
Ren lightly inhaled, holding back his emotion.
"Yeah. Me too."
And this time, the awkwardness between the three lessened a bit. Not much, but enough for them to breathe easier in this heavy reunion.
"Um… lately… I've been learning a bit about cooking, if I have the chance…"
Ren's voice faded, almost a whisper, as if he himself felt embarrassed to reveal this. But immediately, Yuna and Nautilus's eyes lit up, not in a dazzling way, but with a genuine, radiant light that Ren hadn't seen in a long time.
"Really?" Nautilus leaned sharply forward, nearly hitting his head on the table edge. "You… cooking?"
Ren lightly shrugged, maintaining a modest attitude: "Just trying. Not sure if I'm good."
Yuna laughed, a gentle, warm laugh that made Ren pause slightly.
"You don't have to be good. But… if you really want to cook for us…" She raised her hand to cover her mouth, her voice muffled as she tried to contain her overwhelming, surprised joy. "I would cherish it."
Nautilus nodded emphatically in agreement, his face extremely serious. "Exactly! Any day you feel like it, just call us over. We can bring ingredients, as long as you don't feed us anything that… explodes the pot."
Ren let out a small breath, a hint of relaxation appearing on his face. "It won't be that bad."
"Well… you never know," Nautilus shrugged playfully, but his eyes looked at Ren very seriously. "But hearing you say that… it's genuinely good."
Yuna swirled the water in her glass, looking up at Ren again, this time calmer and softer. "It feels like… you're trying to find a part of yourself again."
Ren wanted to immediately retort that he wasn't looking for anything. That he was just busy so he wouldn't have to think. That cooking or anything else was just a way to fill a void.
But before their sincere and hopeful eyes, he couldn't speak.
Finally, he only softly said: "If the occasion arises… I'll let you know."
Yuna smiled. Nautilus smiled too. And with that simple promise, a fragile bridge had been rebuilt between them.