After the shock wore off, Kazeshi looked around and saw someone in black and blue running out of the plaza followed by a guy in red and white. He's got the right idea, thought Kazeshi. We need to move or else we'll lose ourselves in the panic that'll happen next. He turned to Suku, whom he still recognized, as the only difference there was between her avatar and her actual person was that her eyes were blue and her hair was longer, to her shoulder blades. She was a bit shorter than him, maybe 5' 6". She too stood unmoving and silent. "Hey, Suku, wake up. We need get out of here."
Suku snapped back into reality and turned toward him. At first she looked confused, as Kazeshi's avatar was much more different than him. His avatar had had green eyes and gray hair. His actual face was of brown eyes and black hair that stuck up from his head instead of the hanging down version his avatar had. He had peach-colored skin a few shades darker than Suku, and his skin was clear, unlike his avatar which had scars down its face.
"Get out of here? We could die if we keep going! Didn't you hear him? We should stay here! Monsters can't get into a safe zone, right?"
Kazeshi tried to stay calm. He too was on the verge of breaking, but he knew had to keep his cool if he wanted to get the message across to Suku. "Yeah, and if we don't go, we don't get out of this game. You can stay if you want, but I'm leav- Hey!" Someone's elbow hit Kazeshi in the back. The crowd was starting to go insane. He turned back to Suku, but she was already meters away as the sea of people pushed them apart. "Suku!" Kazeshi tried to reach out to her with his hand, but it was futile.
As she was being swept farther and farther away, Suku realized something. "Kaz, you never..." But it got drowned out in yelling from the crowd.
Realizing that he couldn't get to her, Kazeshi yelled back, "I'll meet you after we get out of this chaos! Go!" And with that he turned and charged out of the plaza.
Not until he was outside did he realize what Suku tried to tell him. "Damn it. I never sent her the friend request. If only you could message people by just their name, but you need to be able to select them from something, and I disbanded the party before I tried to log out. If my tracking skill were high enough... no, I'd still need to select them. How the hell am I going to meet her?"
When he couldn't think of any way, he punched a wall in frustration. A figure appeared behind him. "Hey, you okay?" It was a girl, with long orange-brownish chestnut hair and hazel eyes. She looked to be about 15, and Kazeshi couldn't help but admire how she looked like she was able to keep it all together after what just happened.
"Yeah, I guess."
"That news was pretty shaking, wasn't it?"
"That's not what I'm upset about right now."
"Oh? That's interesting. Most people are grieving what might happen to them, and yet you aren't?"
"No. The reason I'm upset is that I told someone I'd meet them. We got separated in the plaza, and I can't think of any way to find them, except for just run around. There are nearly 10,000 people in there, how could I find her without losing myself?"
The girl stared for a moment, then said, "I'll help you look, and we'll meet up someplace in 5 minutes. Tell me what they look like."
Kazeshi thought for a second, but his gut told him she was someone he could trust. "Alright. She's a girl about this high," he said as he put his hand about as high as his eyes, "with black hair hanging past her shoulders, and blue eyes. Her name's Suku. Tell her that Kaz asked you to help find her. We'll meet around here." Kazeshi opened up a map window and put a waypoint at a location around the central market. "There's an arch there that we'll meet at. Try and look around the area on the east of the plaza, and I'll take the west. I'll give you a party invite so that we can message each other. And I'll pay you if we find her."
As he was saying the last sentence, the girl was shaking her head. "I don't want any payment. We all need something to hang onto in these kinds of times." And with that she turned around to leave.
But Kazeshi stopped her. "Wait." The girl turned around. "What's your name?"
"My name? Does it really matter?"
"I like to know those who help me so I know who I owe. My name is Kazeshi."
The girl didn't reply for a few seconds, but then stated, "I'm Asuna, it's nice to meet you, Kaz." And with that she walked away.