~Posiden666: Thank you to all of you who reviewed, your support for this fanfiction has been quite encouraging. I have sent most of you replies via P.M.s, and will not post review responses at the beginnings of chapters for this fic.

Edit(1/30/15): I added punctuation to Shino's thoughts but not her heart.

Some things that may be useful in this, and later, chapters:

(Particularly the difference in Shino's thoughtss.)

"Speaking,"

Thinking.

~my heart~

Narration.

Heart of Lead

Chapter 2: Ballistic

...By midnight, another 700 players had died, either from panicking and dying to mobs, or committing suicide. Very few were prepared to believe it was real. In response to the mass hysteria, Mental Health Counseling program [Yui] was launched by the Cardinal system. With its help, only 207 more players lost their lives during the remainder of the month...

"Who's Asuna?"

Kazuko gave me a forced little half smile and moved her hand to the back of her neck. She stared into space for a few seconds before finally answering, "Well… She's a lot of things."

"Who is she to you?" I ask, my voice more insistent, slightly desperate, and my chest aching more.

The girl sighed, "I knew what we were once…" she responded.

It felt like a two-hundred kilogram weight was just lifted off my chest. The feeling confused me, and if I could just...figure out the reason...why...why did I feel a sense of joy when she said that? Why does her smile make my heart skip? Why did it feel like someone was holding a gun to my chest when Kazuko spoke so fondly of a girl I've never even met? A gun... No...

My head began to spin:

Darkness

A man's face. A terrible face. A bloodied face.

Blood

A pair of hands. A child's hands. Bloodied hands.

So much blood

He reaches out, his eyes filled with hate and greed. His torso full of holes. His clothes stained with blood.

Blood everywhere

The hands clutch an object. It is dark and metallic. The man is reaching towards me.

Stop

They lift the object, leveling it to the man's head. It is heavy; they struggle to lift it up.

No

My head spins, the hands and the object disappear. I now see a little girl. My arm is outstretched. I am pleading. In her hands is an object; it's finish dull and black. The room is black. I am in agony. All I see is a little girl; all I feel is despair. And then nothing at all.

Darkness

My throat was raw, and my nose filled with the stench of bile. I was in my bathroom. Kazuko had, apparently, carried me there.

"Hey," came her voice.

I looked around, only now realising she was kneeling next to me and rubbing my back.

"Hey…" I tried to reply, my voice coming out scratchy and pained.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah… I should be."

"Here," she said, handing me a glass of water.

I took the glass, the liquid rinsing the stinging sensation from my throat. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said, standing up and extending a hand.

I took it, and she pulled me up to her. Our faces were now dangerously close. My breath! I turned away, quickly covering my mouth. "What time is?" I asked her, still looking away.

"Umm… Twelve-ish."

Its late... I don't want to dream tonight.

"Hey Kazuko?"

"Yeah?" She replied, while I downed another glass of water. That should be slightly better.

"Are you tired?" I asked, turning back to meet her gaze.

She pondered the question briefly, studying my expression. "I wouldn't say I'm about to pass out," she replied carefully.

Thank goodness.

"You wanna do something fun?"

"Sure, what do you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise," I replied, grabbing her hand and pulling her back to the couch, "Wait here and close your eyes."

"Err, okay," she mumbled, closing her eyes.

"You can open your eyes now."

"That took a while, is it exciting." She opened her eyes.

It only took a few seconds to find, but I brushed my teeth too.

"I don't get it," she questioned, "It's your AmuSphere... But only one person can use it at a time."

I shook my head, a bittersweet smile spreading across my face, "It's His AmuSphere."

"Oh. So… LAN party?"

"Yeah!" I exclaimed, "Unless you don't want too…" My voice trailed off.

"No, I'd love to," she interrupted, her smile making my heart race.

Why is this happening?

~it's because you like her~

NO! I don't… I can't! She's a girl!

~so?~

It's just… Wrong!

~why?~

Because…

Because…

Because…

"Shino?"

Huh?

"Shino?!"

"I'm back," I said, shaking my head.

"Are you alright?" She asked, considerably closer than I remembered her being.

"Yeah," I sighed, "I'm fine."

"You obviously aren't. What's on your mind?" she asked, pulling both of us down to the couch, "You can tell me anything."

I have nothing to tell her.

~you're scared~

I am not!

~not of her ~ you're scared of yourself ~ you're scared of him ~ you're scared of darkness~

"I-I'm scared."

"What is it that you're afraid of," she asks, her hand gently rubbing my back.

"Of Him... Of my past... Of my future... Of death..." I said, and it was true, today was the end of my sanity.

Why do so many terrible things happen to me?

"Hey," she said, pulling me into a hug. I buried my head in her shoulder, and began to cry.

It feels good to cry.

"Shhh…" She whispered, "I'm here. I'll protect you from harm, and help you through your pain. You're not alone."

~you're not alone~

We stayed like that for a while. Me, soaking her shirt with several years worth of tears. Her, sitting at my side, whispering me promises and stroking my back. Every once and a while she'd bend down and kiss the top of my head.

My sobs stopped, having run out of tears. I lifted my gaze to meet hers. Her eyes were soft. Her smile; warm. She radiated with some special kind of Something that made me feel all fuzzy and I felt like I was about to melt.

Her fingers ran through my hair again, and she asked, "Better?"

"Define better," I said, fairly sure that I was, at least for the moment, feeling less like I was alone and lost in an endless void.

"Well you stopped crying, so either it helped, or you can't cry anymore."

"I think both," I whispered.

Her smile broadened, and she pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back, and with my voice muffled against her chest, I whispered, "Thank you Kazuko."

A/N: Hey. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I love writing this. Please tell me your thoughts on it in your reviews, it's so much easier to write when I know you humans(?) like it.

I have some other (definite) humans to thank for helping me write this chapter: ~Furrballnerd, for all his help with proofing and suggestions on what sucked and what REALLY sucked (check him out, he writes for SAO too); also, my friend ~Mauriot, for all her help with the (right now very awkward/feelzy) lesbian romance. Thanks, you humans(!) are awesome.

That's all, remember to R&R and all that, I'll see you next chapter!

Next Time: Heart Shot