/hollow/ adjective.
Having a cavity, gap, or space within; deeply indented or concave; without substance or character; etc…

/point/ noun.
A sharp or tapering end; any definite position, as in a scale, course, etc.; a particular instant of time; a particular aim, end, or purpose; etc…

/hollow-point/ noun.
An expanding bullet that has a pit or hollowed out shape in its tip that causes the bullet to expand upon entering a target. The expansion limits its depth of penetration into the target but causes more extensive tissue damage along the wound path.

…

Thee sound of gunfire reverberated through the training room, the vibrations hitting Sinon's body like a physical blow. Her arms were numb with a throbbing discomfort that the game used to simulate exhaustion. She did not pay this any mind as she continued to hold her pistol with a death grip, shakily aiming at the floating targets that flew around her. Every time she pulled the trigger, the recoil felt like it would pop her shoulders out of their sockets.

"Whoa, that's a new record—!"

Sinon whipped around and immediately began shooting the voice that had snuck up behind her while she was practicing her aim. She ended up emptying her magazine into a player wearing all black.

Sinon's eyes refocused upon realizing that pulling the trigger merely made clicking sounds. She also realized who she had just shot repeatedly in the head and chest. With mild panic, she quickly holstered her pistol and dashed to Kirito's collapsed form.

"Hey. You still all there?" she asked urgently, waving a hand in front of his face.

Kirito stared at her with cloudy eyes for a moment before blinking his daze away. "I guess I should have expected that," he grumbled, putting a hand on his head, obviously still rattled. "Thank god, I was in a safe zone"

Sinon bit her lip. "The safe zone converting damage into blunt force is the reason you went flying like a ragdoll," she said as she helped him sit up. "You realize that, right?"

Kirito gave her a pained smile. "Yeah, of course I do. But if you killed me, we wouldn't be able to talk right now. It's all good."

Sinon rolled her eyes. He didn't even leave her a chance to apologize before saying it was alright. Typical.

"Why are you even here? Don't you guys have some sorta ALO raid tonight?"

Kirito quirked an eyebrow. "Sinon, the raid was twelve hours ago."

Sinon frowned, feeling a certain unpleasant feeling well up inside of her. "Twelve hours, huh…?"

A hitched breath escaped her mouth when she swiped open her menu and noticed the time.

"I'm surprised you even know about the raid, to be honest. You haven't been replying to any of our messages. Imagine my surprise when I log into GGO at eight in the morning and you're here."

Sinon barely registered Kirito's words as she was still staring at the time on her menu with an overwhelming feeling of vertigo. She felt her face twitch, threatening to contort into an expression she didn't want anyone to see, let alone Kirito.

"Is something wrong?" Kirito asked, genuine concern in her voice.

Sinon opened her mouth to say she was fine but only a whimper came out. That wasn't good. Kirito looked like he was about to give in to his hero complex and spring into action. She never gave him the chance. With her menu still open, she tapped the logout button before he could utter another word.

"Sinon—"

He disappeared from her view, along with the walls of the training hall surrounding her. Immediately replacing that view was the translucent visor of the amusphere covering her eyes.

Shino Asada blinked and sat up, frowning. There was a numb pain in her stomach from several missed meals. It was a sensation she had long gotten used to but it still remained unpleasant.

Setting the amusphere on her nightstand, she surveyed her apartment bedroom. Nothing was different from when she first went online the previous night except for the sunlight diffusing in through the curtains of her window. It left the room just bright enough to see but just dim enough to match her mood.

She curled up into a ball, letting herself fall back onto her bed. A resentful sob escaped her lips.

…

Shino roused to the smell of seasoned meat and vegetables. She groaned as the numb pang of hunger stabbed through her stomach.

"Sinon? Are you awake?"

Her eyes shot open when a familiar voice reached her ears. She turned and stared deliriously at one Keiko Ayano crouched at her bedside, phone in hand.

Keiko worriedly moved to touch Shino's forehead. "Goodness, when Kirito said—"

Shino grit her teeth and slapped Keiko's hand away. "What are you doing here? My door was locked!"

Keiko scowled uncharacteristically and pushed Shino back down onto the bed. "You don't get to be angry about this! It's been nearly a month and we've barely heard anything from you! Do you have any idea how worried we've been!?"

Shino struggled against Keiko's hold but the smaller girl barely budged. "Get off me!"

"No! Not until you calm down!"

Shino started kicking her legs. "Get! Off!"

The sound of hurried footsteps came muffled through the walls before the door burst open. "Silica, just let her go!" It was the voice of one Kazuto Kirigaya.

"But—!"

"Let me go—!"

"I said I'd let you go when you calm dow—!"

"Shut up and get off me!"

Kazuto grabbed Keiko and wrestled her off of Shino. When Shino started to sit up and stand, he put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her seated.

His voice was low and steady. "I need you both to settle down. Sugu is in the kitchen cooking lunch. You would not like her if she's forced to stop and break up your cat fight."

The two girls glared at Kazuto who quickly backed up and raised his hands in surrender. "Admittedly, I could have worded that better. But seriously. Play nice. We're all friends here." He then eyed Shino sternly. "Especially you. How long have you been diving recently? You look like you haven't eaten a decent meal in weeks."

Shino's face softened as she averted her eyes. "How did you get in here?" she grumbled weakly.

Kazuto chuckled with a small smile. "It's a long story that's not important right now," he said. There was a certain sense of irony in his words that Shino couldn't understand. "I'm going back to the kitchen to help Sugu, alright? We'll have lunch and share our pieces later. Until then, please make up?"

Shino pursed her lips, keeping her eyes solely away. She knew his whatever face her wore would be too much for her. She wouldn't be able to resist it, no matter her efforts. Even without seeing it, knowing that she'd fall for it made it clear that she was weak. Far, far too weak…

Shino sighed as she plopped herself back down onto her bed, turned towards the wall. The folds of her mattress softly cushioned her. "Get out of here, Kirito. Give me my peace and quiet…"

For a moment, Kazuto seemed like he was about to retort but decided to stay silent. He exited the room, closing the door behind him. His footsteps slowly faded into the distance.

Shino was thus left with Keiko.

"So," Shino muttered, rolling to her other side, facing Keiko. She curled up slightly, her limbs feeling unusually weak from sudden exertion.

Keiko returned to her place at Shino's bed side, pulling out her phone once again. She leaned back, resting her head and shoulders on the mattress as she brought her knees up to her chest.

"So," Keiko repeated. She looked to be messaging someone but but kept deleting the text before she could even finish a sentence.

There was a pause. The sound of sizzling food and Kirikaya siblings' conversation was muffled by the walls but it served as the only thing breaking the silence of the room.

"Three of you are here," Shino continued. "You, Kirito, and his sister…"

"Mhm," Keiko mumbled in affirmation. "Liz, Asuna, and Klein would have come too but we didn't want to crowd you."

Shino managed a small smile at that. As expected, the entire party had dropped everything just to see if she were okay. She almost wanted to laugh at how predictable they were. And how caring…

"You say you didn't want to crowd me and yet there are three of you here. Why not just send one of you alone…?"

Keiko locked her phone and set it down at her side. She then hugged her legs, nestling her face between the crooks of her elbows. "Because that would've been more uncomfortable for you…"

There was an argument for otherwise brewing in Shino's mind but she couldn't bring herself to make it. "Yeah," she eventually said, curling up tighter. "I guess that's true…"

Snippets from an argument between Kazuto and Suguha were barely audible through the walls. Something about doing the dishes? Shino couldn't even find it in her to chuckled pettily at Kazuto's hurried excuses.

"Listen," Keiko then began. "Sinon—no, Shino… We care about you… Seeing you like this is heartbreaking." She turned ever so slightly, barely enough for Shino to see the profile of her face. "Whatever it is you're dealing with, let us help…"

Shino stared quietly at the back of Keiko's head, the gentle lull and sway it had. Like a kitten, Shino once again thought to herself. She reached forward a put her hand on top of it, petting Keiko lightly. "Thank you…"

Keiko said nothing and simply put a hand atop Shino's.

…

Shino had to admit, however begrudgingly, that the food Kazuto and Suguha had made was good. It was fairly elaborate considering there was barely anything in her fridge. No doubt they had bought groceries for her…

The miso soup was warm and flavorful. The meat was juicy and tender. The rice was heavy and filling. Every whiff was mouth watering. Every bite was a work of art to be savored. What's more, it was completely free. Everything about the meal would have made her quite happy on a normal day.

And yet…

"Hey, you okay?"

Shino looked up from her meal to Kazuto who sat across from her at the kitchen table. He was staring worriedly. On either side of the table from them were Suguha and Keiko, faces baring similar expressions.

"I'm fine," Shino replied automatically, bringing another clump of rice to her mouth.

There was a pause before the rest of them resumed eating. None of them seemed convinced. They didn't comment, however. They just made pained faces that they made no attempt to hide. In some ways, that felt like a more damning response than being called out for her obvious lie.

"Drink some water, too," Suguha said helpfully, offering a filled glass.

Shino nodded and took a sip before returning to her meal in silence.

It was a while before Shino spoke again. She put her chopsticks down and bowed slightly. "I've had enough. Thank you very much for the food."

The three seemed to exchange glances before Suguha stood, her chair skidding on the ground from how suddenly she moved. "Lemme go do the dishes real quick."

She took their plates and hurried off to the sink. Shino didn't look back but she heard the faucet start running against the metallic basin of her sink. Suguha would wash her dishes, Shino realized.

Still at the table, Kazuto scratched her cheek and Keiko twiddled her thumbs. The two did not make eye contact with Shino.

"Hey, why don't I vacuum a bit?" Kazuto mumbled, standing up.

Keiko also stood. "And I'll prepare a bath for you, Sinon—"

"Why are you doing this?"

Shino's voice cut through the room, sharper and more biting than she intended. The three stood, motionless, merely staring at her with the same wariness they had when dealing with a dangerous mob or boss in VR. Their silence was tense and deafening. The sound of running water did little to mitigate the tension. Shino wasn't sure what reaction she wanted but this wasn't it.

Kazuto was the first to recover, awkwardly shifting his weight and clearing his throat. "Well… uh… We're worried about you, Sinon," he said plainly.

"Worried," Shino parroted, her voice shaky. She looked down at her hands, folded neatly on the table. "Did you really need to break into my house while I was asleep, though? And do my groceries for me? Clean my dishes? Prepare my bath? I can take care of myself. I don't need you picking up after me like this—"

"Yes, you do!" Keiko snapped. "You've logged over sixty hours into Gun Gale in just this past week alone. You've been at it for a month!"

"How is that different from Kirito, then?"

"You," Silica replied with a poke to Shino's shoulder, "haven't sleeping, eating, or exercising at all! It's clear from even just looking at you that all you've done in the last month is dive. You say you're fine but We. Have. Eyes." She punctuated each word with a increasingly frustrated poke.

"We can't just ignore you! We can't just let you wither away without doing anything! We can't just let you take on whatever's troubling you alone. We can't just… just… just…"

The tense edge in Keiko's voice made it clear she was about to cry. And when that tension finally broke, Keiko aggressively pulled Shino into a hug and started bawling, incoherent mutterings about friendship and love escaping from her lips in between the sobs.

Shino automatically put her hand atop Keiko's head, petting gently. "Shhh, Silica. Let it all out," she found herself saying. She looked up at Kazuto and shot him a worried look, glancing down at Keiko who was still crying in her arms.

Kazuto gave a polite yet pained smile, gesturing towards her with a shrug. It was a wordless reply. Don't look at me, his expression said. This is all on you.

It took moment's worth of petting and words of reassurance before Keiko pulled away from the hug, red-eyed sniffling from her straight minute or two of crying. Shino guiltily gave Keiko a slight smile though she couldn't find it in herself to keep it up for long.

"I'm going to prepare a bath for you," Keiko said quietly. "You're not stopping me."

She walked towards the bathroom, leaving Kazuto and Shino standing awkwardly at the table. Kazuto shifted his weight, scratching his cheeks. "Silica's always been emotional like that."

"I'll say," Shino joked weakly. "That was the second time today that she reacted like that…"

Kazuto sat back down and gestured for Shino to do that same. When she was seated, he leaned over the table, folding his hands in front of his face. "Let's just get to the point. You have a problem and we want to help."

Shino once again looked down at her hands, fingers flat atop the table. "I have no obligation to give you what you want," she muttered, if only to have a response. It was a hollow response, however. There was no resistance to her words. None at all…

"You're right," Kazuto eventually replied. "You don't have to let us help. Which means it's a good thing we're not asking for permission."

Shino's gaze remained transfixed onto the table as she pursed her lips. "I guess I should have expected that," she said. Her hands had clenched into fists and were shaking. She wanted to scream at them and be angry at them. She wanted to tell them to leave. But she couldn't.

"We already broke into your apartment," Kazuto reminded.

Shino nodded. "You have…"

"And you're not exactly in a position where you can resist."

A wry smile found itself on her lips. "No. I'm not."

"Face it, Sinon," Suguha said as she grabbed the back of Sinon's chair. "We're not letting you wallow in misery."

"Not alone at least," Kazuto added with a chuckle.

Shino grit her teeth. A quiver ran through her body. When she next spoke, she could feel the tension in her voice ready to break. "What did I do to deserve you doing this for me?"

Kazuto's reply and the casual laugh that followed made her dizzy with emotions. "Does it matter what you did?" he asked. "Does matter if you deserve it at all?"

Shino's world reeled as she felt her eyes water. She fought back her tears with all her might.

End

I only titled it "hollow-point" because I thought it sounded cool…

I was debating inside whether to make this about Kirito or Sinon and if I was going to delve deeper into things. I decided to keep things vague. Whether that's a good thing isn't up to me anymore…

No, I haven't watched Alicization yet. Someday I will…

I hope you enjoyed. Until the next one…