Red Stains

"Here's to us, the Moonlit Black Cats! And to the guys that saved our lives!" A player with yellow hair said as he raised his cup aloft. "Kirito and Mataras!" His teammates echoed the cheer, causing both players to shift uncomfortably. They weren't used to being in the spotlight, and they preferred it that way.

But could they really be surprised? Kirito thought to himself. The five players had been seconds away from being slaughtered when Mataras had spotted them alongside his partner while doing some afternoon grinding. Being the way that they were, they ended up rescuing the group, which turned out to be a small guild called the Moonlit Black Cats.

As thanks for saving them, the guild's leader, a young man named Keita, insisted on treating them to dinner. Which led them to where they were now- seated at the end of the table and receiving praise from a bunch of strangers.

"Uh, cheers, guys," Kirito mumbled awkwardly.

"Yeah, thanks!" Keita grinned.

"Thank you so much," the only girl said timidly. "I thought that we were gonna die out there… And… it made me so happy when you came, I just…" The girl stopped and turned to wipe away a tear as Keita leaned in closer to ask Kirito a question.

"Kirito, sir?" he said in a lower tone. "I hope I'm not out of line in asking this, but… What level are you guys?"

"Level… twenty," Kirito answered, shifting uncomfortably again. Mataras almost spilled his drink in surprise. He and Kirito were level forty, not twenty! What was his partner up to?

Keita didn't seem to notice Mataras' reaction as he gasped. "Wow! You're the same level as us, but you're just a party of two?! You're an inspiration, sir!"

"Keita," Kirito sighed. "I'm not your superior, and being in a small party like this means that we're always hunting out in the boonies- it's not very efficient."

"Oh," Keita grinned sheepishly. "Well, then in that case… I hate to spring this on you guys like this, but… If you want, we'd love to have you in our guild!" Kirito and Mataras' eyes snapped up to meet Keita's, surprised to see that he was serious.

"See, right now, our mace-wielder, Tetsuo, is the only one we can put out front right now. And then there's Sachi." Keita grinned as he patted the blue-haired girl affectionately on the head. "I was thinking of having her switch to sword and shield so we could put her on the front lines."

"Well, that'd be a mistake," Mataras interjected, surprising the guild and his partner. When Sachi gave him an injured look, he elaborated, "Not having her on the front lines. I meant the shield part. If you want to become really distinguished on the front, you need to lose the shield. The speed reduction is what caused you guys to take all those hits you did."

"Oh…" Sachi said sadly. "Then I think I'll stick to what I have. I'm… I'm not really that useless." She looked very disappointed as she spoke.

"Nope," Mataras said as he shook his head before draining his cup. "You can't just settle for 'not being useless' in this game. So that's why you're going to have to start tomorrow morning with this guy." He pulled out his inventory and handed Sachi a basic sword across the table that he had got off of a monster drop earlier that week.

"Oh!" she said in surprise. She took the sword gingerly and added it to her inventory.

She then started to get some col to pay Mataras back, but he made a gesture for her to stop. "As long as I get to pair up with Sachi, I'm in," he said.

"What?!" Kirito was nothing less than surprised. Kirito knew Mataras well enough by this point to know that players on the level of the Moonlit Black Cats were not people that he would associate himself under normal circumstances. What was going on with him?

"Can we speak in private for a moment, Mataras?" he asked.

"Sure," he said as he rose to go walk with Kirito to the bar. "We'll be right back," he said as he waved back at the small guild.

When they were out of earshot, Kirito turned and asked his partner sharply, "What the hell are doing?!"

"I could ask you the same, minus the profanity," Mataras replied dryly. "Yes, I know, they're lower levels than us, and I don't normally hang out with people like that. But that's because most of them are lazy- not these guys. And if you must know, Sachi resembles someone very dear to me- someone I lost. Are you satisfied?"

Kirito was at a loss for words at this point. His reason for lying seemed pretty shallow now. "Oh," he muttered. "Well, I… I, uh… I just thought… if they knew our real levels, they'd probably peg us as beaters, and then they wouldn't want to hang around us anymore."

"So you're feeling lonely," Mataras smirked.

"Well… yeah, I guess."

"What, I'm not entertaining enough?"

Kirito sighed heavily. "Very funny," he muttered. "Now are we gonna go over there and sign up, or what?" Mataras clapped his hand over Kirito's shoulder and grinned slightly as they walked back to the expectant faces of the players.

Mataras smiled at Sachi and said, "We're in- both of us."

"Yeah!" Keita crowed as the others moved in to welcome their newest members.


The next day, Sachi surprised Mataras by knocking on his and Kirito's door early in the morning, already equipped with the sword that he had given her the night before. The young man was pleased to see that she was ready to take on her weapon change so readily.

He told her to wait outside while he changed and got himself equipped. He blearily pulled up his menu and equipped his red cloak, fringed with black, along with his black shirt and pants. His sword was much like Kirito's black one that had the moon emblem on it, save for that his own cross guard was dark red with the emblem of the sun on it.

Pulling up his cowl so that his face was mostly hidden, he exited the room quietly, trying not to wake Kirito- although he knew by this point that very little could wake the kid when he was all the way asleep.

He met Sachi outside the tavern that they had stayed at. He greeted her with the standard 'good morning' while taking a moment to assess her equipment. As far as her level went, the things she was wearing would do for now.

"All right," he said. "You got me up early. So what do you want to do today?"

"Well, I already left Keita a note saying that I'd be doing whatever kind of training you said to do today," Sachi said shyly. "So it's up to you. You're the teacher, right?"

"That's true…" Mataras mused. "Well, as far your stats go, you should be fine, even on this floor, as long as I'm with you. But your sword's durability will wear out really fast if we start using it up here, so I think we'll go to a lower floor for today, and work our way up while I teach you to use a sword. Sound okay?"

"Yeah," she answered, even though it was clear that she was nervous.

"Don't worry," he said as he waved at her to follow him to the town gate. "I'll take care of you, no problem." I won't fail this time, he added silently.


As the weeks went by, Sachi became more and more competent with her sword under Mataras' tutelage. Mataras and Kirito kept up their own training regime in secret, even managing to get in on a boss raid without tipping the others off to their beater status.

Every now and again, they would run into Asuna, who only treated them with frosty politeness.

Tetsuo and the others decided to keep the skill set that they already had, despite Kirito and Mataras' offers to train them otherwise. Even so, the guild definitely began to see its best days with the two swordsmen to swell the ranks.

Mataras and Kirito got along well with their teammates, despite the fact that they all knew one another in real life, and they did not. The Moonlit Black Cats were friendly, warm people, and Kirito felt right at home with all of them.

Mataras preferred to spend his time with Sachi and Kirito for the most part, but he did hang out with the others around dinner and hunting times. It wasn't that he didn't like them, he was simply uncomfortable in groups of people that he didn't know very well.

One night after Kirito and Mataras had gone off to do some late night hunting, they received a message from Keita. It read, "Kirito/Mataras, Sachi has run off and we have no idea where she's gone off to. We need your help in finding her. Please, let us know if you find anything. Keita.'

Mataras looked at Kirito with a gaze that said he would handle this one alone. As the younger swordsman ran off, Mataras enabled his 'tracker sight' skill. It enabled him to find Sachi's path on the map displayed in the menu.

He found her hiding under a bridge, her head buried in her legs, which were curled into her chest. "Sachi," he said gently. She looked up with a surprised gasp to see her friend sitting down on the hard rocks a few feet away.

When she said nothing in response, he asked, "Why did you run off? Everyone's worried about you." His tone was gentle, which was unusual for him. Normally his voice was filled with unbridled confidence or downright arrogance. This softer side of his was something that not even Kirito had seen before.

"I'm… scared," she replied hoarsely. "I'm terrified that I'm going to die in here, in this stupid game."

"Why? Your training is really coming a long way. You're almost on par with Tetsuo."

"So what?" Sachi said, her grip on her own body tightening. "There's always going to be something stronger than me, something that could kill me."

"Well…" Mataras hesitated. He knew that he needed to get this one right. "Yeah, there's always going to be something stronger than you. But that's why you have me and the Black Cats. Together, you're all stronger than you could be on your own."

Sachi said nothing in response for a long moment, but Mataras wasn't going anywhere. Finally, the girl raised her head to look at Mataras. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, and tear tracks marked her face. "Do you really think that we can make it out of this place alive?" she asked quietly.

Mataras nodded his head gravely. "I do," he said. "The Moonlit Black Cats are strong people. As long as we all stick together, we'll be on par with the guys on the front lines soon enough." He neglected to mention that while the Cats had been rapidly advancing their levels, they were still a good ten to fifteen levels below him and Kirito. Still, they were regarded as higher levelled, even amongst the assault team, so what he said was true. Five more levels or so, and the guild would be ready for the front lines, he thought to himself.

"You really think I won't die in here?" Sachi repeated.

Mataras nodded again with a small smile. "I really do," he said. "And I'm going to make sure of it, no matter what."

"No matter what?" Sachi was sitting straighter now, and the light of hope was back in her eyes. Mataras scooted over closer to the girl to put his arm reassuringly around her.

She leaned into the hug as he promised her that no matter what, he'd be there to keep her safe. Maybe I can finally find peace in all of this, he thought as he helped Sachi to her feet. Victoria… I miss you more than you'll ever know… But maybe with this second chance, I can let some of the pain go.

Later that night, Mataras lay awake in bed, his thoughts whirling around inside his mind at the speed of a tornado. His memories plagued him, and he found himself unable to even relax as his own mind tormented him. His own meditation techniques couldn't even help him.

Then he heard a soft knock on his door. Getting up quickly, he moved as quietly as he could an opened the door to reveal Sachi in her sleepwear, clutching an extra pillow and blanket. She appeared nervous, but then, Sachi always looked nervous.

"Can I help you?" he whispered, careful to keep his voice down.

"I can't sleep," she said in an equally quiet voice. "Can I… Can I sleep with you tonight, Mataras?"

Mataras was taken aback by the request, but he quickly recovered. "Uh…" he said, sweating lightly. "I guess… But what would the others say?"

"I don't care," she insisted. "And besides, Kirito's right there. It's not like they'll be able to accuse us of doing anything together." She had a point, he realized. But still, the last time he had shared a bed with someone it had been…

He shook his head to clear it and sighed as Sachi waited for his answer. "Okay," he said. "Come on in." The girl smiled happily and came inside to immediately get on the bed.

Mataras lay next to her, facing away, mindful of her personal space. He was surprised when she scooted closer to him and wrapped her arm around his abdomen, immediately making the space warmer.

He was about to ask her what she was doing when she whispered, "Good night… Big Brother. Thanks for today." Then she fell asleep so fast that she didn't have time to hear Mataras' stifle a small sob and his tears hitting the pillow.


"Well, everyone, I have an announcement to make," Keita grinned as he addressed his assembled guild mates. "As a result of last week's hunting, we now have more than two hundred thousand col in the guild savings."

There were mutters of surprise and satisfaction. "Hey, we could by a house with that kind of col!" Ducker grinned.

"Or we could upgrade Sachi's equipment," Sasamaru chimed in.

Keita hesitated- both were sound ideas, but… "What do you think, Sachi?" he asked.

The girl smiled and shook her head. "That's all right," she said. "I'm okay with what I have."

"Well, if you really feel that way," Keita grinned. Then he turned to Kirito and Mataras. "So what do you guys think? Should we get a house?"

"I'm all for it," Kirito grinned. "Having a permanent residence instead of having to pay rent every week sounds pretty good to me."

Mataras shrugged nonchalantly. "As long as we don't have to deal with those Liberation Army idiots on the first floor, I find this situation agreeable." When he received a blank look, he sighed and said, "As long as we don't have to stay on the first floor, I'd be happy to live in a house, Keita."

"All right," Keita smiled. "Then first thing tomorrow, I'll go start looking at some houses." This was well-met by the guild, and even Mataras cracked a smile in front of the others.


"All right, I'm off!" Keita said as he waved at his guild from the town gate. "Teleport, Yoza!" And he warped off to the second floor.

As soon as he was gone, Sasamaru grinned and said, "I can't believe we're getting out own house! This is so cool!"

"Aw come on," Ducker said as he ribbed his friend. "You sound like an old man."

"Wait, I've got an idea!" Tetsuo interrupted before the two would start ribbing each other. "While Keita's out shopping, why don't we go get some col for some furniture?"

"Yeah!" Ducker agreed enthusiastically. "Let's head up to floor twenty-seven, eh?"

This made Kirito nervous. The assault team had just cleared the twenty-seventh floor not too long ago, and most players weren't qualified to be hunting up on that floor yet. "Hey, hold on, guys," he cautioned. "Those floors sound pretty dangerous from the papers we've read. We should probably stick to our original hunting spots."

"Nah, we'll be fine," Sasamaru grinned as he stepped up to the gate. "We've been working pretty hard to get stronger, so we should be fine up there. And we can earn more col on the higher floors, and faster!"

"Yeah, but…" Kirito went to protest some more, but then he realized it would have no effect on the eager players. "All right, fine, but follow Mataras' and my lead. Got that?"

"Sure, mom," Ducker chuckled as they all stepped onto the teleportation gate. Mataras and Kirito exchanged worried glances. Even for them, the twenty-seventh floor was nothing to sneeze at. But as long as they stayed out of any traps, they should be fine- right?


To the surprise of both Kirito and Mataras, the group did just fine against the monsters of the twenty-seventh floor. They wandered deeper into the dungeon, with Mataras always keeping to the rear and Kirito in the front.

It was later in the afternoon when Kirito finally called for a stop. "I think we've done enough hunting for today," he said. "Let's get back to the tavern."

The others were about to agree, but purely by chance, Ducker's treasure-hunting skill picked up on something that the others couldn't see. He jogged over to a wall, much to Kirito's surprise, and pressed his hands against it. The 'wall' fell back to reveal a hidden room with a single treasure chest in it.

Mataras and Kirito both eyed the room with distrust. "Oh, yes, a single abandoned chest in an empty hidden room," Mataras said, his voice thick with sarcasm. "This looks about as authentic as-"

He realized that Ducker and the others were either ignoring him or didn't hear him, because he went and immediately opened the chest with glee, the others right behind him. "You IDIOT!" Mataras roared as he charged into the room, Kirito right behind him, sword drawn.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than did the door shut behind them, locking tight. The chest disappeared as an alarm began to blare and the walls throbbed red. More hidden rooms were revealed, spawning several dwarf-like monsters and tall golem creatures.

"Teleport crystals!" Kirito snapped at the dumbstruck guild.

Ducker reached into his cape and held a blue crystal aloft. "Teleport, Taft!" he cried. Nothing happened, and Mataras and Kirito felt the cold stone of fear settle in their bellies. "Teleport, Taft!" Ducker tried again, his voice sounding desperate.

"Why aren't the crystals working?" Sachi asked, her voice strained with terror.

"We just walked into an anti-crystal zone," Kirito replied grimly. He eyes the mobs around him uneasily, for they were still spawning. He swung his blade and decimated one of the dwarves that got too close for comfort.

"Why didn't you listen to me?!" Mataras snarled at Ducker as they prepared to fight their way out. "You do realize that you just sent us towards our deaths at record speed?!"

"Nah, these guys don't look that tough," Tetsuo said with confidence as he swung his mace at one of the golems. His confidence and grin vanished as soon as he realized that the golem wasn't dead- and very much capable of hitting back.

The blow he received knocked him on his back, giving way for the dwarves to stab him with their pickaxes, over and over. His dying screams would forever haunt Mataras and Kirito. His avatar shattered into pieces even as Ducker moved to avenge his friend.

"No, don't separate!" Mataras cried out.

But it was too late. Ducker wasn't as strong as Tetsuo, so he never stood a chance. The mobs made short work of him. Sasamaru was the last one of the boys to die, struck from behind by one of the golems.

This was enough to send both Mataras and Kirito into a killing rage. They hacked, slashed and beat their way through anything that came within the reach of their swords. Unfortunately, this separated them from Sachi.

She was left to engage a number of the golems alone with her sword. Her level was decent by now, but her resolve was shaking with the death of her friends, and she failed to notice the long arm about to come down to end her life.

But Kirito saw it, just in the nick of time. "Sachi!" he screamed desperately. But there was no way for him to reach the girl in time. There were too many monsters blocking his way, and he was about to fail the last member in his party. Time seemed to stop, then.

But he wasn't the only other one there that day. Mataras saw what was happening and did the only thing that he could think of. Rearing his arm back, he hurled his sword mightily, turning it into a giant pinwheel of death. It flashed through the air to slice off the golem's arm and sticking in the wall behind it. This gave Sachi the opening she needed to dodge and retaliate.

The golem shattered into pieces, and this seemed to give Sachi the confidence she needed to hold off the rest of her attackers. Mataras managed to make his way over to the girl by dodging and weaving in between the mobs and retrieve his sword from the wall.

Together, they managed to clear a path through to Kirito, their swords causing terrible havoc on the monsters that would take their lives. Once they regrouped, they were able to hold off the stone monsters while Sachi retaliated against the shorter dwarf creatures.

After a long, drawn-out battle, Kirito, Sachi, and Mataras all staggered out of the dungeon, exhausted and nearly out of health points. They sat down outside the entrance and numbly drank their health potions. None of them wanted to even move after what they had just been through.

But they had no such luck. Soon after, they got each got a message from Keita, saying that he had made the purchase for their new house, and he wanted to meet them on the second floor. He also wondered why Ducker, Tetsuo, and Sasamaru weren't on his friend list anymore, and he wanted an explanation.

"I'll tell him," Mataras mumbled.

"Thanks," was the only thing that Kirito could say.

"Thanks for saving me," Sachi said quietly. "I know you guys did all that you could."

"No, we didn't," Kirito said bitterly. "If we had told you guys the truth from the beginning, they would have listened more carefully to Mataras, and-"

"I know how strong you guys really are," she interrupted. The quiet words stopped both swordsmen cold.

"You… knew?" Mataras echoed. "How…?"

"I kind of peeked at your stats the other day when you were swapping swords," Sachi replied, slightly embarrassed. "But I can't figure out why you didn't want us to know about it."

Both Kirito and Mataras exchanged shamed gazes before the former beta tester hung his head and said, "Sachi… Are you familiar with the term 'beater'? The one that applies to the former beta testers?"

"Yes…" Sachi said carefully.

"I'm the first known beater," Kirito admitted. "I'm the one that took that title on. Mataras here was just unlucky enough to be associated with me, so he took the name, too. And that means that we knew about traps like the one that just killed our friends."

"So why just not tell us?" Sachi asked.

"We were afraid that if you knew our real identities, you guys wouldn't want us around anymore," Mataras answered. "We both saw how much fun you all had together, and we just wanted to be a part of it. But I guess it doesn't matter now, does it?"

"You're wrong," Sachi said in response, startling both her friends.

"What do you mean?" Kirito asked. "Don't you blame us for what happened to everyone just now?"

"No," Sachi said with a shake of her head. "The others should have listened to you, whether you were a beater or not. Anybody could have seen that room was an obvious trap, but we ignored the signs. Their deaths aren't your fault."

Kirito and Mataras both hung their heads, feeling both ashamed and amazed that Sachi would be so forgiving towards them. Mataras' eyes watered as he was once again reminded of another girl, but he didn't let the others see his tears.

Instead, he stood and wiped his eyes. "Come on," he said as he held his hand out to Sachi. "We'd better talk to Keita about a funeral. And… about us."


"You… you two are beaters…?" Keita gasped, his face twisted in horror. But the expression was quickly replaced by fury. "You had no right to be around us!" He threw the keys to the house he had bought, landing a solid hit on Mataras' face. The swordsman didn't even flinch from the impact, and the keys simply fell to the ground.

Keita staggered against the railing that overlooked the sky that Aincrad floated in, the full impact of his friend's deaths crashing down on him. "You… you killed them…" he whispered. "The day you joined us… you sealed their deaths."

"They saved our lives, Keita," Sachi tried to console him, but he pushed her away and immediately got on top of the railing. Seeing what was about to happen, Sachi rushed forward, but she was too late to keep Keita from leaping to his death. "NO!"

She leaned over the railing, trying to grasp at his foot, but Mataras grabbed her wrist, an unfathomable sadness etched into his face. He held onto her wrist until Keita passed from view before he let go. Kirito just stood off to the side, so filled with pain that it numbed his heart to any other emotion.

"Why…?" Sachi asked Mataras as she sank down onto the grass.

"We've lost enough friends for a lifetime," Mataras replied. "I won't risk losing another." Slowly, he picked up the keys that Keita had dropped and helped Sachi to her feet. Kirito followed them, silent as a wraith, as they walked towards the new house that Keita had bought.


A/N: Just to be clear, this is not an OCxSachi ship. Also, the Christmas event will not be covered, because as far as I'm concerned, Kirito only went to get that item to save Sachi, and no one else. Since she survived, they don't need the item. So for now we can assume that the Furin Kazan Guild got a hold of the revival item, but it's not really important.

Please R&R with your thoughts!