Life's a riddle

Chapter 2

“Kirigaya-kun,” the voice of the girl he recognized whispered his name and Kirito couldn’t help but stare, shocked by the girl’s sudden appearance. She had tears in her eyes and was shaking hard, a bow was on the ground beside her.

“W…what are you doing here!?” he exclaimed. The girl’s brown eyes wavered and she turned away from him. “Asada-san, what are you doing here?” he asked again when the girl didn’t answer as he did so he reached out to her. Something hard hit him in the hand and he cried out in pain.

The girl was now standing, her hands curled into a fist. She had punched him…Asada Shino had punched him away. Her white scarf fluttered in the night wind, the fountain lamp illuminated her pale features and her eyes had lost the weakness it had moments ago. For a moment she looked like a hunter who had found her prey.

“Asada-san?” Kirito called out to her again. The sight of her, taking his breath away. There was a tense silence and for a moment Kirito thought the girl would bolt. He was about to call her again when she sunk to her knees. Her teeth were chattering and Kirito hurried beside her, concerned.

“You ok? Hey Asada-san?”

“Stop calling me that!” the girl snapped, finally speaking. Her voice was harsh but it was wavering. Kirito frowned and glimpsed at the shaking girl before him. What was she doing here? He couldn’t help but wonder. Was she a beta tester too? He never pictured her as somebody who would play games. The Asada Shino he knew from school was a quiet unsociable individual who seemed to have no interest in anything other than staying…

“Alive,” Kirito whispered. He bent down and placed a hand on her shoulder. She was cold, too cold. He grimaced and opened up his inventory to retrieve a cloak that he had gotten from a quest a few levels earlier. It was a brown tattered cloak given by a low levelled NPC who had wanted Kirito to kill some cows. The quest gave sufficient Col but the reward was abyssal. Though now, the cloak should serve its purpose.

Kirito carefully draped the cloak over the girl’s body, hoping that despite its tattered appearance it would serve its task in keeping the girl warm. The cloak fell neatly over the girl’s head and shoulders, covering her face.

“I don’t need it,” the girl snapped suddenly and she threw the cloak back at him. “What is with you, stop doing unnecessary things? Stop bothering me!”

The cloak drifted to the ground and Kirito picked it up. This girl…surely she must know that there is a limit to his patience. Why did he even bother to help in the first place? Just like the first time, she had so blatantly pushed him away.

“Unnecessary, huh,” he muttered, a little exasperated by the girl’s behaviour. Why was he so bothered by the girl’s rejection? As he was about to walk away, the memory of Asada Shino, injured and sitting quietly in the classroom lingered. He paused, clenching his fist. He just couldn’t…walk away could he? He gave a deep sigh and approached the shivering girl again, this time throwing the cloak over her.

The girl moved about to toss the cloak back at him when he placed a gentle but forceful hand over it.

“Take it,” he ordered. There was a pause and Kirito was surprised to find that the girl had stopped struggling and seemed to have calmed down a bit. Did she accept it? Kirito thought. He could not see her expression for it was hidden so he slowly pulled his hand away from her head.

“Why?” the girl suddenly asked, her voice soft, devoid of the harshness from before. Kirito felt a blush formed on his cheeks. Why exactly…? Even he did not have the answer. Why exactly was he being so nice to a girl he barely knew. Sure, he helped her before…but that was because Endou and her gang had gone too far. This…though, this was different. Why was he here? Now…helping Asada Shino whom seemed to hate him and everybody else for the matter.

“You…you seem cold,” he spluttered, before mentally kicking himself. That sounded so lame! He grimaced at his own words and was about to walk away when something tugged at his blue cotton shirt. He turned and was surprised to see the girl holding onto it. Her grip wasn’t strong but it wasn’t weak either.

She’s going to throw that cloak back at me…isn’t she? Kirito thought and he closed his eyes, waiting for the familiar feel of cloth slapping on skin but it never came. He frowned. Strange…

Opening his eyes again, he found the girl’s right hand still gripping onto him. Her face was still hidden by the cloak and Kirito couldn’t device what she was thinking about. Well…in any case, he couldn’t move with her gripping him like this. Maybe she wanted to talk? He thought; before shaking his head. No, talk…Asada Shino…talk…in his dreams.

But then why…why was she gripping on to him like this?

He hesitated for a moment before approaching the girl quietly. “Asada-san?” he questioned and then yelped when the girl pulled him towards her. He stumbled and landed on the platform beside her, wincing as his buttocks made hard contact with the concrete slab. Before he knew it, he was seated beside her and was dangerously close to touching her…chest.

“Ah!” he yelped, jumping back a bit. For a few panicked moments, Kirito tried to compose his stuttering self. When the girl did not react, he became silent, the situation already weird had taken a stranger turn. “Asada-san?” he asked, her actions were something he had not predicted.

“Sinon,” the girl replied, “Not Asada but Sinon, Kirigaya-kun.”

Kirito frowned, “Ok…Sinon…then I would like you to call me Kirito instead.”

The girl nodded once before letting go of his blue shirt. Confused by the sudden turn of events, Kirito couldn’t help but feel a little curious. Should he go on? Did she want him to talk to her?

“Erm…” he started, the questions that he had wanted to ask had disappeared when deep brown eyes stared into his. He gulped, those eyes were hypnotizing, coupled with her pale skin, petite face and short brown hair that was bath in the orange glow of the street lamps…he realized…Sinon was beautiful. He blushed looking away before gazing at her through the corner of his eye. She had worn the cloak that he had given her albeit that it was a little too small for her. Though Kirito was relieved that the girl had stopped shaking, the weakness that she had shown before was now replaced with a hard gaze that Kirito was used to seeing in the real world.

“Sinon…what are you doing here,” Kirito asked.

“Same with you Kirito,” the girl replied and Kirito frowned.

“You know that is not an answer.”

“I answered, either take it or leave it,” she retorted and Kirito sighed. This was going to be a little harder than he thought it would be.

“Ok then, I’m a gamer, well you can call me an addict…” Kirito said, smirking a little, “Don’t tell me Sinon…you’re the same as me.”

There was a pause and then he heard the girl snort. “Of course not, I’ve got better things to do with my life.” She replied and Kirito felt a dagger stab through his heart. Well that was blunt.

“Then what are you doing here,” he muttered, sulking at the girl’s insult to his hobby and lifestyle. The girl seemed to tense, her action didn’t go unnoticed by Kirito who caught it. “Well…it’s ok if you don’t want to tell me…we’ve all got our reasons anyway,” he said. “But I never thought I will meet Asa-“he paused when she glared at him and he corrected himself.

Those eyes were scary…

“Sinon…I never thought I would meet you here.”

“Neither did I, Kirito,” she muttered.

The conversation seemed to end there and Kirito was starting to feel uncomfortable. “Erm…” he said, wanting to lighten the mood a bit, “So I guess we’re stuck here for a while aren’t we.”

“Yep,” Sinon replied.

Dammit, Kirito thought, can’t this girl continue a conversation. Feeling like a failure, Kirito decided that it was best to remain silent and ride the night out. As the silence continued, he found himself gazing at Sinon’s bow. It was a unique looking thing. It was simple, yes, but it had an eagle carved out at the top. The string was silver in colour and there was a simple red handle in the middle. A bow user…huh, Kirito thought, in a game where swords rule. “Where did you get that?” he unconsciously asked, his fascination getting the better of him.

The girl eyed him for a moment before sighing, “Near the forest of Citadel…had to shoot down some eagles for it.”

“With what?” Kirito asked, amazed.

“Throwing knives,” Sinon replied. Kirito whistled. For Sinon to be able to shoot down those eagles who can only be found at the top of the forest canopy, she must have a really good aim…but wait a minute…didn’t she wear specs? Again, the girl continues to baffle him. “Must be nice to have a bow,” he said, smiling. The girl turned away from him and he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

This conversation was turning out to be more awkward with each passing second. For a moment he wished his good friend Takashi Genta was here. The boy had a bad perverted habit of hitting on girls but at least he knew how to lighten a situation like this up. Kirito on the other hand was bad at talking to people much less girls. Heck they were a whole different species altogether. Though there were exceptions. Girls like Argo the Rat were a different story. That girl wasn’t a girl, no she was a demon his wallet was considerably lighter because of her. Just as he was drifting off into his usual day dreams, his thoughts were interrupted when Sinon started to shake again. Alarmed he faced her, grabbing her shoulders gently. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked. ‘Are you still cold?”

“No,” the girl replied, her shaking stopping after a few moments.

“Well I’m glad,” Kirito smiled, “At least the cloak is doing its job. You can keep it.”

There was a strange silence and for a moment Kirito thought he saw Sinon blushing.

“I don’t need it,” she retorted. Kirito frowned. “It stinks.”

“Stinks!?”

“Yes, it stinks, therefore I don’t want it!”

“What!?” Kirito exclaimed, confused with the girl’s sudden change in conduct. She was about to take it off when Kirito stopped her. “Wait, wait, why are you so against the cloak…does it really stink!?”

But it couldn’t be…he had kept it clean.

“You can keep it ok, I’m not asking for anything back.”

“That’s not the point!” Sinon snapped, she stamped her feet on the ground, turning to face him. It was the first time he had seen the girl so flustered. Her cheeks were red and she looked like she was pouting. For a moment, Kirito thought that the girl looked cute.

“Then what is?”

“Its…it’s…” the girl stuttered before turning away from him.

“Its?” Kirito asked.

“It stinks ok!”

The absurdity of the situation had made Kirito speechless, catching a glimpse of Sinon’s red face made him chuckle. “Why are you laughing!?” Sinon snapped. “Are you looking down on me, did you give me this cloak because you pity me!”

Kirito’s laughter died in his throat. The impact of Sinon’s words made him realize the girl’s feelings. So…it was that simple…Sinon…

Kirito smiled, before answering her, “You know Sinon…I’m not looking down on you or anything alright, I just wanted to help. You seemed cold and I had an extra cloak which I didn’t need. Besides we’re stuck in this game for now…so its best if we helped each other out isn’t it?”

The girl was silent for a moment, her eyes gazing deep into his, before she nodded once.

“So would you accept my cloak Sinon?”

Sinon nodded again and Kirito couldn’t help but grin in victory. Though it was short lived when Sinon uttered the following words, “It still stinks.”

Stupid, this was stupid. Sinon had no idea why she held on to the boy as he was leaving, she had no idea why her body responded the way it did. If she was in the right state of mind she would have let the boy walk off and he would have never bothered her again and yet here he was sitting beside her…all because she had unconsciously made the decision to grab onto him as he was leaving.

Kirigaya Kazuto…or Kirito had always been an enigma to Sinon. Ever since he saved her from Endou and her lackeys, Sinon had made it a goal to stay away from him. It wasn’t because she hated him…no, it had been the opposite. The boy was dangerously close to melting Sinon’s resolve. When he had defended her, Sinon had been touched, something in her had moved. Involuntarily she would find herself looking over at the boy in class. His voice had been strong when he had shouted at Endou, his arms protecting her from the harsh beatings that was too come. Kirito-kun had appeared from nowhere and had jump into her life. An annoyance, a thorn to her side…a person she would not interact with if she had any choice and yet here he was…again. He had found her and he had saved her. Again…she felt helpless, vulnerable. Was he using her…did he pity her weak self. Kirito had only smiled when she had screamed at him.

And it was something that Sinon was not prepared for. Kindness was something that she had almost never received and apart from Shinkawa-kun, Sinon had thought that she would never find somebody else to call a friend. Then came Kirito and his seemingly kind and patient personality. As he sat beside her, talking in awkward sentences, Sinon couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed by her actions. The boy had offered her a cloak and had helped calm her down, but all she had done was scream and made sarcastic jabs back at him. The cloak hadn’t really stunk…instead it was quite the opposite. It smelt of lilies with a hint of fresh pine. It had soothe her considerably and his awkward attempts of starting a conversation helped take her mind off the voices screaming in her head.

She leaned back into the fountain and watched amused as Kirito tried to find the source of the cloak’s “stinkiness”.

“Ok, please tell me your joking…because I don’t want to think my character has body odour,” he said, he seemed so repulsed by the idea that Sinon couldn’t help but crack a little smile. A small mistake on her part because the boy had caught it and he scowled.

“You were lying weren’t you Sinon,” he snapped.

Sinon shrugged, “You looked too happy…” she replied and the boy inched towards her.

“Hmm…that’s a first…I never thought Sinon could be such a sadist?”

Sinon gawked at him. No…she wasn’t…it was just that....she just wanted to…tease him a little.

“I’m not!”

She caught the amused expression on his lips and she cursed herself.

“I’m glad,” he finally said. Sinon glanced at him as he laid back into the concrete seat that surrounded the water fountain. A small smile lingered on his lips. “Asada-san you’re not as cold as people say you are…not a robot but a normal human being.”

A hot blush developed on Sinon’s cheeks. She was annoyed…so very annoyed but at the same time she was…Sinon paused. No…enough. She couldn’t. These feelings, she had to get rid of it. Hadn’t she learnt her lesson, if she got to close to him, she was going to hurt him…just like how she had hurt the people she had interacted with. No, she was Sinon now…and Sinon needed to be alone. As she glanced down at the boy who was slowly falling asleep a carefree smile on his lips. Infuriated by his expression, she jabbed her elbow into his stomach.

He yelped in pain and turned to her.

‘Sinon?!” he exclaimed.

“Idiot,” she muttered. His onyx eyes peered into hers and she turned away. She mustn’t get too close…this was the last time. Yes, the last time she would allow anyone to help her. Getting too close to Kirito had been a mistake. She was about to stand up and leave the boy alone when he grabbed her arm.

“Sinon, I’m sorry did I make you uncomfortable…I’m sorry ok.”

Sinon clenched her fist, closing her eyes and took in a deep breath. She shook her head.

“It’s nothing Kirito…I got to get ready for the boss meeting tomorrow…got to meet my partner.”

There was a pause and the boy’s grip on her loosened.

“Oh,” he whispered, she could hear the disappointment in his voice and she paused for a moment before turning to face him and was surprised to see him smiling. “Well I’ll see you tomorrow then Sinon,” he replied.

That smile…those warm eyes…for some reason, her heart had been beating faster. Angry with herself, she walked away from the fountain. No more feelings…Sinon told herself. Remembering Kirito’s smiling face she stamped her feet against the ground.

“No more,” she snapped and with that she sauntered off into the night.

“And here I thought there would be a cavalry,” Asuna heard Argo complaining under her breath. The green haired girl was eyeing the small crowd gathered in an old ruined roman styled amphitheatre. Apart from the bigger groups seated in front, there were only a few stragglers seated behind. A man stood on the stage area of the amphitheatre, he had the most awful colour hair Asuna had ever seen.

Blue…and light blue for that matter, she cringe as the man lifted his shield, he had a pleasant face but that over confident and loud voice, coupled with his fake smile made him seem like an unreliable politician. “Man…we’re going to have a hard time fighting the boss if these are the only people available.”

“Really?” Asuna asked. Sure…there seemed to be only a handful of people but they were well armoured and seem to know their way around with the sword. She also spotted a couple of solo players about, each dawning strong looking breastplates, some wearing helmets that looked pretty rare.

Argo gave Asuna a dubious look, “You never been to a boss fight before haven’t you?”

Asuna blushed. “It’s my first time…actually.”

“Hmm…” Argo said, the girl glanced at Asuna, those mischievous eyes peering into Asuna’s. Asuna gulped as the girl inched closer, a sly smirk on her face. “Would you be interested then in working under me?”

“Huh?” Asuna asked, shocked by the girl’s offer.

“Well from what Kirito told me yesterday, you’re a pretty strong player despite being a beginner, and I Argo the Rat need somebody like you who can help me gather information.”

“But…erm…”

Up until yesterday, Asuna hadn’t really thought about fighting any boss. She had no purpose and all she had fought blindly and recklessly not caring if she lived or die. But right now, with the possibility of clearing the first boss and the words of Kirito who have saved her lingering in her mind, Asuna suddenly felt like there was something more to this game…something that she could do.

Maybe…she could survive.

She looked at Argo who was eyeing her with excitement. “I’m sorry Argo...but I don’t think I would be any good in something like that.” She said.

Argo looked disappointed and was about to persuade Asuna when Kirito appeared a frown on his face.

“Really Argo…recruiting?” he said.

Argo tensed and laughed nervously. Kirito who had just appeared looked tired, his hair was in a mess and he was yawning. “Everybody knows what happens to your “assistants” Argo,” he said and the girl pouted.

“Well it’s not my fault that they run away!” she snapped.

“If you stop charging them for every information they bring to you, you might find good assistance,” Kirito argued back and the girl flopped back into the seat, folding her arms and glaring at him. Asuna felt a wry smile appear on her lips.

“So it’s best not to work for Argo, Asuna,” Kirito concluded and Asuna giggled a little before stopping herself, embarrassed by the outburst.

“Oh yes laugh, laugh at the expense of poor Argo,” the girl snorted before she slapped Kirito hard on the back. “Kii-bou for the embarrassment that you have brought me I retract that 10 percent discount I have given you yesterday. I believe you owe me 200 Col now.” She grinned slyly.

“What!? What that’s not a deal!” the boy exclaimed. Argo raised out her hand and he eyed it before shoving it away. “It’s no deal Argo.”

“I collect interest from late payments mind you.”

“Oh fine I give, here you go!”

With that Kirito shoved a small pouch into Argo’s hands and she laughed happily.

Asuna looked upon the exchange in amusement. “Does this always happen?” she asked and the boy snorted. “More often than not.”

“Well its good money,” Argo replied, “You can’t deny it.”

“Not honest money!” Kirito retorted, Argo merely shrugged and Kirito was about to say something again when he paused. Asuna noticed the change in his behaviour, curious, she followed his gaze. He had been looking at a newcomer…two actually. They had come a little later, one was a tall bald black man who was carrying a rather heavy looking axe and the other was a girl whom seemed to be about Asuna’s age. The girl was wearing a tattered brown cloak that seemed to be too short for her and had short brown hair and a pair of brown chestnut eyes. Wait a minute…why did she look so familiar?

Then she gasped. It was that girl, that girl whom she had met in the beginning. The girl who had pushed her away and ran off on her own. The girl whom had pounded her fist on the ground till it was bleeding.

“Anything the matter Asuna? Kii-bou?” Argo’s question cut through Asuna’s thoughts.

Asuna pulled her gaze away from the girl but not before noticing that Kirito had a small smile on his lips. Does Kirito know her?

“Aye nothing Argo,” Kirito said.

As the man and the girl sat down, the theatre fell into silence as the man on the stage finally spoke.

“Hello everybody,” his voice was clear and surprisingly loud. He smiled and nodded at the people who were seated in front of him. “My name is Diabel and I am a knight.”

A few chuckles broke through the crowd. “A knight…? Is he role playing or something?” Argo muttered. Diabel noticing the commotion raised his hand. “Yes, I know, I know, you guys think I’m an idiot…or something, but hey in a game with no classes like Sword Art Online we need terms to define ourselves don’t we.”

“Hmm…” Argo muttered beside Asuna. “Good choice of words.”

“You can’t argue against that logic,” Kirito said agreeing with Argo. Asuna whom had no idea what classes where merely kept quiet. She knew that Diabel had said something significant but the meaning was lost to her. She watched as the crowd became silent again and Diabel gave a satisfied nod.

“We all know why we’re here. Since the start of this game more than 2000 people have died…”

Asuna clenched her fist. Two thousand…surely he was kidding, the game had only been around for two weeks and that many people had died. Suddenly the concept of defeating this game seemed so far away, feeling frightened she pulled her hood over her head, hiding her face. No good…she was starting to feel helpless again.

“And up until recently, the room of the first boss have eluded us…that is until today.”

From his pockets Diabel pulled out a leather bound book. His gave a determined nod to his audience before opening it up. “In this book we have a map of the path leading to the boss room. The reason I have gathered you all here today is because I would like for us to work together. We are people whom are stuck in the same situation and we do need to work together to clear this game. I think that’s the best alternative.”

“Hmpf!” a snort rang through the crowd, cutting through Diabel’s speech and a man emerged from the group seated in front. He was wearing medium leather armour and had really spiky red hair. “A cactus,” Asuna muttered. He looked like he was in his late 20’s and his unfriendly eyes peered into the crowd.

“Work together?” he said and he snorted again. “Ever since the start of the game, the Beta players have left us behind, they have farmed all the monsters in the area and stole all the good stuff…sorry Diabel, but if anything the Beta Players have done nothing but left us new players in the dust.”

“In the dust?” Asuna whispered. Somehow the man’s words left a bad taste in Asuna’s thoughts. She felt Argo’s and Kirito’s apprehensive shift in body language and realized that the boy and girl were scowling. The man’s words though unreasonable was starting to gather some support. They were a few shouts of agreements and suddenly a few players were standing on their seats cheering the man on.

The cactus head man smiled before looking at Diabel. “If anything Diabel, these Beta Players need to show themselves, they have not only abandoned us, they have left us all to die. These Beta Players are murderers.”

“Oh…ho…how stupid,” Argo muttered. Asuna gave the girl a questioning glance and the green haired girl merely smirked. “People like this are going to get more people killed.” She whispered.

“Well there are always people like him,” Kirito replied. Asuna noticed that the boy’s fist was wrapped tightly around the handle of his sword and he had an angry look in his eyes. It was the first time she had seen the boy this livid and for some reason it made Asuna more than a little nervous.

“Murderers; that’s what all of you Beta Players are…and I ain’t going to be working with them tomorrow,” the man snapped. There was a deep silence and then a crack. It all happened so fast that before Asuna could react, the cactus headed man was on the ground, moaning in pain. He was clutching his head and something heavy was lying on the ground next to him.

The girl whom Kirito had been staring at before had stood up. Her tattered cloak fluttering in the wind. Asuna gasped and realized she wasn’t the only one to do so, beside her Kirito had done the same, his hand on his sword. “That idiot,” Kirito exclaimed softly.

“Kii-bou, what are you doing?” Argo asked, a smirk on her face, “Going to save the girl?”

“His going to attack,” he muttered.

The girl had thrown a book at the cactus head and the man wasn’t too happy.

“What! Who threw this!” he screamed.

“I did,” the girl said, her voice was exactly as Asuna remembered it to be, cold and harsh.

“Why you dirty son of a bitch!” the man screamed and was about to lunge at her when the girl’s partner, the black man stood up. The man glanced at the cactus head, his muscular hands raised, and his tall physique made him intimidating. There was a smile on his face, though it seemed dangerous. “What’s your name sir?” the man asked the cactus head and the spiky haired man spluttered, looking at the black man wearily.

“Ki…Kibaou,” his answered.

“Well my name is Agil and I do not agree with what you have said,” the black man replied, his voice was deep and somehow it seemed to calm the rising tension in the theatre.

“What…what makes you say that,” Kibaou snarled and Agil chuckled, he pointed at the thick leather book that the girl had thrown at him. “If you take a look at that you would know why,” he said.

“Why should I, I demand an apology!”

“Well if I apologize would you apologize to the beta players whom you have called murderers?”

“Why should I?!”

“Because Beta Players have been helping us out all this time, the book that my partner had thrown at you is a guide book written by Beta Players for New Players,” Agil elaborated, keeping a smile on his face. A guide book, Asuna thought, she grimaced…this was the first time she have heard of such a thing. Maybe it was time for her to read one.

He walked towards the stage and Kibaou edged away from him. Bending forward the tall man picked the book that had been thrown before turning to the crowd before him.

“If you guys have read this book, there are tons of information here to help you start, there is even information of where to find rare loot and where to farm…monsters that beta players have encountered have also been written in the guide book, not to mention the various instructions of what to do and what not to do. The beta players have been helping us all this way by giving us a multiple array of information. So…” the man turned to Kibaou, “Have you read the guide book sir?”

Kibaou spluttered and glared at Agil whom was still smiling.

“Well in any case I do apologize for my partner’s actions, but I hope you would stop making such hurtful accusations.”

Agil then returned to his seat, placing a hand over the brown haired girl’s head.

There was a deep silence and Kibaou slowly returned to his seat. Besides Asuna, Argo gave a small chuckle and Kirito a long sigh of relief.

Asuna was suitably impressed, the man had not only managed to calm a riot from taking place but also managed to keep the trouble maker in place. Somehow that made Asuna feel a little better and she found herself staring at Diabel who had been silent throughout the entire exchange.

“I understand how you feel Kibaou, it’s true that some beta players have gotten ahead of others and it is true that they have become stronger, but we cannot ignore this guide book that they have made for us,” Diabel spoke and some members in the audience chuckled nervously, Agil’s words making them feel more than a little guilty. “I know that some of you are bitter about the Beta Players but in order to beat this game we have to put our hatred aside…we must learn to work together.”

“Therefore I would like everybody who is seated here to accompany me and my team to defeat the boss tomorrow.”

Raising the map in his hand Diabel’s grin vanished and a grim look replaced his cheerful demure. “We need to win, losing is not an option, everyone who wants to escape this game would you join me in this quest to fight.”

His words were heavy and somehow the reality of the situation sunk in. A few members of the audience got out of their seats and began making their way out of the amphitheatre. Asuna watched them leave, they were scared like her and didn’t have the courage to face their fate. Swallowing, Asuna turned back to Diabel who now had his shield raised in his right hand. “In this troubling times, we must find the courage to fight and with this courage we would definitely become strong. Come my comrades, let us fight our fate. Let us take back our lives with this battle. Let us show Kayaba Akihito that he is not our god. That he cannot control our destiny. Let us show that bastard that we can win. Let us defeat the boss.” He shouted.

When he finished, cheers erupted from the audience. Diabel’s powerful speech had resonated in them and Asuna could feel her heart pounding in anticipation. She heard Argo whistle and saw Kirito smiling. Gripping onto her rapier which Argo had gotten her this morning, she faced the man once again. His ugly blue hair and overconfident attitude changing to that of a reliable and strong leader. Not once did Diabel insult Kibaou for his speech, neither did Diabel blame anybody, rather he had managed to gather all the players with different goals together and gave them hope.

“Let us fight or die trying!”

Asuna gave out a huge sigh. She was anxious, yes…the boss fight was tomorrow, it was a rat like looking monster who according to Argo looks nowhere as cute or pretty as her. As Diabel and his team rallied the players together and gave out battle instructions to the different squads Asuna found herself lost in thoughts of fear and anticipation.

Was she strong enough to face this monster? Kirito had saved her in the sewage of Citadel and she had been nowhere as strong as him. Sure she did fencing back in school, but she had not been good enough to win the championships. The disappointed face and scolding of her mother resounded in her mind again and Asuna peered down at the rapier in her hands. Was she really strong enough to do this? Suddenly Asuna felt weak and she slowly got up. Her action did not go unnoticed as Argo took her hand. “One step at a time Asuna,” she reminded Asuna. Asuna took in a sharp intake of air and found the boy smiling at her. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ll protect the both of you.”

His words made Asuna blush and she looked away, glad that her face was hidden underneath her hood. “Oh ho big words from you Kii-bou,” Argo teased and the boy waved her away before walking towards Asuna.

“You ok?”

“Ah, yes,” Asuna answered. The boy’s kind eyes peered into hers, satisfied he opened up his menu and Asuna heard a beeping noise. Opening up a menu she found a party request from Kirito and Argo. “Let’s do our best tomorrow Asuna,” he said. A boss fight…Asuna hesitated for a moment before finding her resolve. If she was to die tomorrow then so be it. But if she managed to win…she looked at Argo and Kirito who were bickering as usual and a small smile appeared on her lips. The possibilities were endless…and she accepted the party request.

“Well welcome to our temporary alliance then,” Argo said before slapping a leather bound book into Asuna’s chest. Asuna winced at the contact and found the girl grinning mischievously at her. “You might want to read that Noob,” Argo joked.

Noob…Asuna frowned at that label and made a silent curse to the creator of such a word. She looked at the book Argo had given her and found that it was the same guide book that the brown haired girl had thrown at Kibaou earlier. “Ah,” Asuna exclaimed when she saw the author of the book.

“Argo…” Asuna muttered and turned to face both the girl and the boy staring at her sheepishly.

“You don’t mind do you…hanging out with beta players?”

Asuna paused for a moment, the reaction the two had towards Kibaou starting to make sense. She glanced at the guide book before snorting. “Why should I? You guys helped me more than enough, Kibaou can eat his own -“

Before she could finish Argo had placed a hand over Asuna’s mouth, her eyes wide in horror. “Asuna!” she exclaimed, “How can you use such foul language!”

“But…I…” Asuna trailed off and she blushed horribly. “I wasn’t going to say that word.” She muttered.

“Then what were you going to say,” Argo asked laughing. That girl…she was teasing her.

“Not many people have a sick mind like you do Argo,” Kirito said amused and Argo gave a hearty laugh and Asuna felt the girl grabbing onto her shoulders pulling her along. The feel of the girl’s arm around her shoulder and the company of the boy made Asuna remember the little kitten that she had befriended.

What was it that she wanted?

As Asuna followed and listened to the bickering and teasing of Argo and Kirito a feeling of warmth envelopes her chest. Maybe…she could find it here…the thing she had been yearning for…and she sighed, gripping onto her rapier and the guide book Argo had given her. That’s if…she survived tomorrow’s boss fight.

********************

I am ice…cold as ice.

An arrow whipped past the white picket fence and into the small black target 50 feet away. The head of the arrow buried itself into the wooden target and it swayed violently from the impact. Before the target settled another arrow whizz past and struck the target again splitting the arrow before it in half. Bull’s eye. Sinon smirked and lowered her bow. She turned and found a very stunned Agil glancing at her. They were behind Agil’s shop testing out the new arrows which he had made for her.

“How…what…are you Robin Hood or something!” he exclaimed and Sinon shrugged. The man though kind and reliable was sometimes a bother to deal with. Her relationship with Agil was a complicated one. Sinon had met him three days after Kayaba’s faithful announcement. She had been grinding in starter forest and had found him chopping up some trees with an axe. She was a little apprehensive at first and because he looked foreign. Sinon thought that he couldn’t speak Japanese though he surprised her with his perfect Japanese and he started talking to Sinon. He ended up following Sinon through the woods and together they had defeated the mini boss monster which had been an annoying poisonous flower. He had been a pleasant person to work with, he did his share, didn’t pry too much and wasn’t immature like the rest of the male population she’d encountered whom seemed more interested in her butt then her skills.

Though she couldn’t blame them, her outfit wasn’t that conservative as she wanted it to be. The short shorts she wore were for dexterity and agility, if it weren’t for those stats she would have thrown it away.

When Sinon got her bow Agil had offered to make arrows for her. At first Sinon had declined the offer but as she started grinding more, the arrows she had never seem to be enough and buying more seem to eat away at her precious money. Their relationship of customer and weapon smith was set when Agil’s arrows were of better quality then the one she bought at the NPC’s store…like the arrows she was using now. In his hands were the goose feathered arrows that Sinon had given him the night before. As promised he had turned them into arrows for her and she was pleased with the results.

“Hmm maybe using a bow might be kinda good, let me try,” Agil said and Sinon handed the bow to him. She watched amused as the man tried pulling back the bow string. It snapped against his skin and he yelped in pain. “Oh my god, what the hell!” he exclaimed and a soft chuckle escaped Sinon’s lips. Agil turned and he smiled. “Well at least you’re laughing now…Sinon, what you did back there…” he trailed off and Sinon’s eyes hardened, the smile vanishing from her lips. That stupid cactus head and his stupid mouth. Her blood boiled when she thought of him.

“He had no right,” she spat out, “He had no right to call the beta testers murderers.”

Agil eyed her carefully before giving the bow back to her. “I understand your anger Sinon…but it surprises me, it’s the first time I’ve seen you so mad.”

Sinon snorted. “He started it,” she mumbled and Agil smiled. He placed his hand on Sinon’s hair and she frowned when he messed it up. She was annoyed but his hand was comforting and it calmed her down. At times like this Sinon considered Agil to be like a big brother she never had and though she would never admit it, she enjoyed his presence.

“But Sinon, try to hold back next won’t you, you’re a girl here and well, it’s dangerous.”

Agil’s words made Sinon flinched. It was filled with irony and Sinon looked at the bow in her hands, guilty. “If anybody is dangerous…it’s me,” she muttered. Agil gave her a confused look and Sinon raised the bow again before taking aim at the black target. The arrow glowed a bright green and she released it. Once again the arrow hit dead centre and Agil whistled.

“Wow Sinon with skills like that you could become an Olympic archer you know,” he said, “man you made the arrow seem like a bullet.” Before Sinon could stop him the man had raised his hand in the shape of a gun. Fear gripped Sinon and she almost dropped the bow she was holding. She watched as Agil smiled and made the sound with his lips.

“Bang!”

It was an innocent gesture nonetheless but to Sinon it had been detrimental. The moment of peace ended and she began to back away from Agil. No…not again…not like this.

A scream echoed in her ears and blood appeared in her vision. She must have seemed lost because before she knew it, Agil was shaking her. “Sinon? Hey Sinon what’s wrong? You’re sweating…Sinon?”

Sinon realizing her mistake quickly grabbed the arrows that Agil had made for her. “Sorry,” she mumbled, “I’ll meet you tomorrow Agil. Thanks for today.” He was about to call her back when Sinon bounded out of the man’s shop. Before she knew it she was breaking into a sprint. Her breaths coming in quick burst, the pain threatening to explode. She bumped into a few players who shouted curse words at her but Sinon ignored them.

Running blindly she stumbled into an empty alleyway before tripping over some boxes.

Pain gripped her and then the screams. Her screams, echoed throughout the alleyway and she couldn’t stop. The world was spinning, the eyes of those she murdered haunting her, surrounding her. The ground was stained in blood and her mother’s eyes were glaring at her accusingly. Blue polygons…blood…dagger…gun…bang! And then there was darkness.

Some people have their lives handed to them in a golden spoon…and then there are others who get the short end of the stick.

Time and time again, Shino had wondered what it would be like to live a life without worries. The happy faces of her friends in the classroom coupled with their joyous laughter was something that Shino could not comprehend and because of that Shino did not pay them any attention. Since young she had lived with her mother who had a weak but kind personality and as far as Shino could remember, her mother had always relied on her grandparents to live.

Because of her mother’s weak personality, Shino felt the need to be stronger so that she could protect the frail woman. Shino loved her mother very much despite her mother’s inability to interact normally with the outside world. Why wouldn’t she? Her mother had showered her with love, had read her stories and had taken her out for long walks. Though sometimes she would forget about Shino and Shino would have to go back to her grandparents’ house by herself. Back then, life had been much simpler and happier.

She didn’t need friends, all she needed was her mother, her grandparents and the books that lined the corridors of her grandparents’ house. Young Shino had always been an avid reader and she was always getting scolded by her grandmother for leaving the books lying about around the house. To Shino, books were a way for her to tolerate and escape her mother’s fragility and to ease the growing emptiness of her heart.

Her mother had always been different from the other mothers. She always seemed to cry easily and would run away from the simplest things. She would only leave the house during evenings and would avoid greeting the neighbours. These quirks did not make life easy for Shino however she learnt to adapt to her mother’s unusual behaviours at a very early age. She was often praised by her elder neighbours for being an independent and helpful child. She had been more matured for her age, her mother’s weakness had forced her to grow up faster.

When she was seven Shino realized that she once had a dad. His picture had been hidden away in an old black box. To Shino he was a stranger, his brown eyes and cheerful smile on his youthful handsome face and bespectacled eyes looked familiar to her and when looked into the mirror she knew whom she had taken after.

“Your dad died in a car accident Shino…you were two years old,” her grandmother had explained when she was ten. Shino who had to write an essay about “Father” had been pondering about the subject for days. Though her grandmother didn’t go into the details she did provide the young Shino with the date of the accident. Ten year old Shino managed to access the library news archives and the horrible accident was revealed to her.

Apparently the car had slipped down a ravine, rolled a couple of times before stopping in a deep ditch. It was snowing that day and the temperatures were dropping below zero degrees. Her dad whom had still been alive was slowly bleeding to death and by the time help came it had been too late for him. Her mother whom had seen the whole thing slowly lost her sanity and became the woman she was today. All this happened while two year old Shino was seated at the back of the overturn car. Shino had no recollection of such an incident ever taking place and the face of the man that was her father held no meaning to her.

It had been disheartening almost sad.

Upon finding such information, Shino had become even more protective of her mother and vowed to never make her mom sad again. That was until the incident happened.

“I just wanted to protect you, mother,” Shino whispered, drifting in a cold dark place. Her mother’s appalled and disgusted eyes staring at hers. The blood on her hands and the smell of metal and sulphur lingering in the air.

“Really is that why you killed me?” a man’s voice echoed in the darkness.

He appeared, the grey cap leaking blood from a deep red hole. His blood shot eyes appearing in front of her. “For what reason did I have to die?” he whispered. “For what reason!?” he screamed.

The man disappeared in the darkness and Shino was screaming again.

When Sinon came too she found herself lying on the ground, exhausted. The sky above her was dark and stars were peeking through the tiny gap in the alley. Sitting up slowly, Sinon placed a hand over her forehead wiping away the sweat that had formed. A strangled sob escaped her lips and she wrapped the cloak around her, hugging herself tightly. The pain threatening to overwhelm her again. “It’s simple Asada Shino,” a voice whispered in her ears, “All you’ve got to do is kill yourself.”

“Nobody would blame you.”

“Yes Shino…you murderer.”

“Would they care? If you died?”

“No one…no one would care Shino you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re a murderer. Nobody likes murderers Shino,”

“Thou shall not kill, Shino and yet you did, not once but twice.”

“How much blood are you going to spill Asada Shino before you stop?”

“Murderer…you fucking murderer.”

“All they wanted was to live but you couldn’t give them that could you Shino!”

“Murderer.”

“Kill yourself Shino, Asada Shino kill yourself.”

“Not when I cut the lives of the people I’ve killed short…I owe them my life.”

She owed them her life. Her life was not hers. It never did belong to her. She couldn’t just end it. End this pain. Sinon curled up into a ball, sobs escaping her lips.

“Somebody…” she whispered, “Save me.”

***********************

Starter Forest: First Floor

“Switch?’ Asuna asked and her party mate Argo sighed. “Didn’t you read the guide book I gave you?”

Asuna smiled sheepishly. She had been too anxious the night before preparing herself for the upcoming boss battle. The prospect of battling a huge monster that could probably kill her by itself was not a very welcomed thought. Glancing at the thin rapier by her side, Asuna couldn’t help but feel a little poorly equipped for the fight. Sure her reckless levelling placed her on equal ranks with some of the higher levelled players but Asuna still felt like a beginner in a new world.

“Well since you wrote the book I figured you could…”

“No can do Asuna, Argo charges everybody for everything, you’ve got to read the book,” Kirito jumped in. The boy with his usual untidy bed head was yawning.

‘Hey, I’m not that bad,” Argo complained before turning to Asuna. “If you actually read the guide book you would know what switch means,” she chided, “Well since you have neglected to do so, I shall explain the concept to you…but that means you owe me 50 col.”

“I’m fine with that,” Asuna said, pulling out her pouch and handing over a silver coin to the rat. Argo smirked, flinging the coin into the air before catching it. “Ok then, switching is one of a few methods that a party engages in. It allows for faster combat and levelling, basically when one member engages in a monster, the other party members remain in stand-by, when that active member runs out of stamina, the member on stand-by takes over. This is called switch.”

That sounds simple enough, Asuna thought. “So basically the enemy has no time to rest or engage in between a player’s stamina regeneration. This active gameplay is very effective in boss battles.”

“So when I yell switch,” Kirito took over, “You jump right in and attack them. Don’t worry, I’ll be the first one to attack and I’ll leave the finishers to you Asuna.”

“So all I have to do is focus on attacking?” Asuna asked. Argo nodded. “And I’ll keep a lookout for the both of you,” she said. Argo whom had been wearing a rather long coat opened it and grinned. In the coat were multiple pockets and each were filled with red potions Asuna recognized as health potions. There were a few white bandages lying in some of the pockets too.

“Though try not to get hurt, during beta when one gets hurt all that is left of the wound are red slash marks that glowed. Now if you get hurt, you actually bleed…kinda amazing actually but it’s a pain in the ass to heal. A health potion heals you instantly, but those can only be used when your health drops to the red bar. Cuts on the other hand have to be healed with bandages…and they take quite a while to heal.” Argo said. “Which is why try not to get injured, I’m not really good with blood.”

Asuna grimaced at the girl’s words suddenly worried and anxious about the upcoming boss fight. Would she get the timings right? Would she screw up? The questions inside her piling up and she took in a deep breath, her heart rate was not slowing down.

She looked at Argo and Kirito whom were now checking on their own gear, grim looks on their faces. Breakfast had been a solemn affair and even the cheeky Argo wasn’t saying much. Asuna gripped on tighter to her rapier. It was level eight and had puncture and critical stats added to it. Argo had helped her picked it, though it had been lighter than all the other rapier’s she had been using, Asuna could tell that it was a lot more powerful. The jabs had been a lot more precise and when Asuna tried it out on a potato sack, the sack had exploded and disappeared into tiny blue polygons in three single hit.

She had been happy with its performance but she highly doubt that the boss Illfang was going to be as weak as a sack of potatoes. With the prospect of oncoming battle and death Asuna couldn’t help but feel a little fearful. Shivering slightly under her cloak she gave a long sigh.

What had possessed her to leave the comfortable inn she had been living in the past two weeks? What had possessed her to fight the monsters that surrounded her?

“Come on Asuna we’ve got to meet the others,” Kirito’s voice snapped her out of her reverie and Asuna slowly stood up, her rapier tightly wrapped in her right hand. “Will we die?” she whispered. A hang gripped onto her shoulder and Asuna felt Argo tugging her along.

“Don’t worry about it Asuna, we’re here,” Argo smiled, though the girl looked afraid. Asuna gave Argo a weak smile before taking a step towards Kirito.

“We might die,” she muttered.

“Yep we might,” Kirito said, “But…”

He trailed off and a small confident smile appeared on his lips. “To live we need to try.”

The anxiety Asuna felt in her chest vanished slightly from his smile and she gave a deep sigh, before smiling at him. “You’re right.”

Again the boy had given her something to hold on too. His words resounding in her memories. “One step at a time, right,” Argo said and she slapped both Asuna’s and Kirito’s backs. ‘Come on partners let’s defeat an ugly rat.”

*****************