Shoot to Thrill, Swing to Kill

Chapter Two: Of Rooftops and Boxed Lunches

Author's Note

It ended a little earlier than I expected, but here's chapter two! I just found a good spot to cut it off, and it ended up being around eighteen-hundred words without the author's notes. Sorry, but I think I might keep the chapters to this fic a bit shorter than the average in Gun Gale Online: The Swordswoman.

Anyway, I totally forgot to respond to sgtranglin, the first person to guess what the title was based off of. So yeah, you got it! If there's a pairing you'd like me to do a one-shot for, tell me and I'll get right on that!

Okay, that's enough for this note. I'll see you at the bottom! Have a good read!

Suddenly, the room grew completely silent, making the ebony-haired girl turn to the front of the classroom, where the eyes of all the other students seemed to be glued. What she saw shocked her to her very core.

It… it's that same girl from yesterday!

True to Shino's thoughts, the same girl from yesterday stood before the class, wearing the female school uniform of their school. It fit her well, though she didn't seem to think so, looking very nervous about her appearance. Upon looking back at the class for a moment, the bespectacled girl noticed several boys smiling widely, and even more looking completely spellbound.

What is it that she's doing? Does she have a harem aura or something? Shino thought as she looked around at the male population of the classroom with narrowed eyes.

At last, the girl up front began speaking in a nervous tone, having noticed the entire class staring at her. "Hello, everyone! My name is—" while she spoke, her eyes somehow found her way to Shino. After a moment's pause, she smiled brightly, beginning to speak once again in a much more confident tone.

"My name is Kirigaya Kimiko! Please treat me well from now on!"

By the time lunch rolled around, Shino wanted nothing more than to read her novel. She wasn't even hungry; her appetite left her the moment Kimiko had been assigned to the empty seat beside her, leaving the poor bespectacled girl dry-throated and incredibly nervous.

To make matters worse, it seemed that every couple of minutes, she could feel eyes on her. Every time she looked over to the source, she found Kimiko diligently paying attention to the teacher, acting like she wasn't the obvious source of the staring.

Shino didn't know why she felt so nervous around the raven-haired girl next to her, but she did. It seemed like that feeling was far from mutual, judging by the curious glances she could feel coming from Kimiko's direction.

When the teacher left the room to go eat his own lunch, almost the entire class immediately got up from their seats to swarm the rather shy raven-haired girl. Shino just stood up, walking to the other side of the room so as not to get caught up in the chaos.

A few minutes of reading later, and the commotion still hadn't died down one bit. When Shino looked up, she found Kimiko looking directly at her from the middle of the crowd with a, 'Save me!' expression on her face.

The bespectacled girl weighed her options. On the one hand, if she saved this girl she had just met yesterday and took her somewhere else, the Tokyo girl might never have a chance at getting accepted due to hanging out with an outcast like her. She wouldn't be able to make any friends other than Shino, and thus, would make the country girl feel bad.

On the other hand, if she were to turn the other way, Kimiko would probably grow to dislike her, just like pretty much everyone else in her class. She would get popular as a tradeoff, and probably make several friends.

Those would be the consequences of either choice she made, but… what do I want? The bespectacled girl thought, not expecting to be able an answer herself. However, mere seconds after she asked herself that question, the answer came to her.

I want… a friend.

After she realized this, she saw only one logical choice of action. She got up, setting her novel down on her desk and grabbing her lunch from her backpack. As she walked over, she noticed the slightest hint of gratitude in Kimiko's eyes, as if the girl was trying her best to hide it in front of everyone else.

When Shino reached the group, one of the students surrounding the raven-haired city girl noticed her and said, "What do you want, Asada-san?"

Completely ignoring him and the other students who had stopped talking and turned to look at her, the shorthaired girl said, "Come on, Kirigaya-san. We're going."

Without even a moment's hesitation, Kimiko got up from her seat, giving everyone an apologetic smile. "Sorry, guys, but I've got to go. See you when lunch is over."

With that, she got up and followed Shino out of the classroom.

The silence that filled the rooftop of the school was deafening to Kimiko.

After Shino had saved her and brought her out of the classroom, they went straight to the rooftop, where the bespectacled girl silently began to eat from her bento. This, of course, only served to remind the raven-haired city girl of how she forgot to buy her own lunch. Even worse, it also reminded her of how hungry she was.

Add a semi-awkward silence to that, and it made for a very uncomfortable lunch period.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Shino spoke. "You've been looking at my lunch for the past ten minutes. Do you want some?"

As usual, Kimiko was caught off guard by the kind gesture. After a moment's pause, however, she found herself nodding her head vigorously as her stomach grumbled in agreement. After a sheepish laugh, the raven-haired girl graciously accepted the spare pair of chopsticks offered to her.

"Go ahead," Shino said, an amused smile tugging at her lips. "Eat whatever you like."

After a single bite of food, Kimiko was in heaven. She had almost never tasted anything so amazing in her life! None of her family members could cook very well, so she always found herself getting meals from the convenience store.

"This is amazing!" Kimiko voiced her thoughts, reaching into the bento box to grab another bite. "Where did you get this?"

"Actually, I made it all myself," the bespectacled girl said, smiling widely at the compliment. "I live alone, so I have to cook for myself."

"Really?" the raven-haired Tokyo girl queried rather loudly, her stormy-gray eyes sparkling. "That's amazing! You're easily the second best cook I've ever known! You'll make a great wife one day."

Somehow, though she knew she should be happy about the last remark, it only brought a tinge of sadness to Shino. Still, she needed to be polite and thank her. "Thank you— wait, you said 'second best.' Who's the first?"

"My grandma," Kimiko replied, taking on a nostalgic expression as she cast her gaze to the cloudless blue sky above them. "She's gone now, but she was one of the nicest people I know. She's also the best cook I've ever known, probably because she owned a sweets shop."

Shino felt the urge to apologize for asking, but she restrained herself. Somehow, even though Kimiko was speaking of a deceased family member, she seemed happy. The glasses-clad girl probably wouldn't have said anything if placed in such a situation, but the girl before her talked about it with no restraints.

"You're amazing, Kirigaya-san," she said without thinking. "You can talk about a dead family member so easily, almost like she's still alive."

"Not really. I just feel like I need to be strong, so I try to cover the hurt up," was the reply that Shino received from the normally chipper girl. "And besides, I fulfilled her dying wish recently, so I've finally started let go and move on."

Shocked that Kimiko was revealing so much to someone she just met, the bespectacled girl felt the need to comfort her. Without thinking, she put an arm around the raven-haired girl's shoulder, eliciting a startled squeak.

"You don't have to be strong around me, okay?" Shino said gently, squeezing the city girl's shoulder. "I won't tell anyone if you break down, and I won't think any less of you for crying when you need to."

"You know we just met yesterday, right? You could at least take me to dinner first," Kimiko joked smugly, earning a fierce blush from the girl currently holding her. "Just kidding!"

The rest of lunch period was filled with pleasant conversation, playful banter, and, of course, eating.

When school ended for the day, Shino ended up having to rescue a helpless Kimiko once more. They had made it to the front gates of the school without any further incident, before turning to each other.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Kimiko said, a sad look on her face. "So, out of curiosity, around where do you live?"

Her first friend in the town smiled, pointing to their left. "I live in one of the houses over in that direction, by the forest you met me at."

"Really?" the raven-haired girl shouted, almost jumping up and down in excitement. "Me too!"

"Then let's walk until we have to part," Shino said, pushing her glasses up with her index finger again.

A couple of minutes later, they arrived at a particular street, where both of them stopped and turned to one another.

"This is my street," they both said simultaneously. Both of their eyes widened in shock as they gaped at each other, speechless.

Without another word, they began walking again, smiles on both of their faces. Soon enough, Shino stopped in front of her house.

It was a typical western-styled white-painted home from the outside, with a black door in the middle of the front, and two bay windows on either side. On a guess, Kimiko decided that it must have been around eight-hundred and fifty square feet.

"Well, this is my house," Shino said, fishing out a key from her pocket. "I'd ask if you wanted to come in for a little while, but I guess you probably have to eat dinner with your family."

"Yeah, sorry," the raven-haired city girl said, her stormy-gray eyes unreadable. "But maybe you could come over to my house for dinner sometime. What about tomorrow night?"

"You could at least take me to diner first."

These words rang loud and clear through Shino's mind, making her cheeks flush red for a moment. She soon regained her composure, knowing she had to respond. "S-sure."

"Cool!" Kimiko exclaimed, giving the bespectacled girl a blindingly bright smile. "So, I'll see you tomorrow morning!"

"Um, you know that we don't have school tomorrow, right?" Shino replied, looking slightly confused. "Today is Friday, so the weekend starts tomorrow."

With a nervous laugh, Kimiko stuttered out a reply, twirling a lock of her raven hair in her fingers. "Oh, I see… I totally forgot!"

The glasses-clad girl giggled lightly, then turned towards her house. "Anyway, come get me for dinner tomorrow. I'll probably be at home around that time, so just come here."

"Will do!"

With that, they parted ways for the night.

Author's Note

Yeah, this is where I figured would be a good cutoff. Which reminds me somehow, what do you think of my skills in writing in the third person? Do you think I should keep doing that, or should I switch perspectives between Shino and Kimiko in first person? I'd love to hear some feedback about that.

Also, I guess it isn't all going to be fluff, rainbows and butterflies. I should have made it a bit more clear in the notes of the first chapter, but there will be ups and downs in this story. Nothing too dramatic, but I think every story has to have some plot twists, both bad and good, to be a well-written story.

Well, I guess that's all I need to say. I'll just let you off with a disclaimer.

I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series, any of its adaptations, or anything I use from them!

See ya!