Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online

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I Found myself staring at the white ceiling for the umpteenth time; There was nothing Is could distract myself with, I just stood there, rolling in my bed, uncomfortably, as my bloodshot eyes stung and the tear streaks marked my face pitifully; How wrong was I, Indeed.

As it turned out, one of my new classmates was the cousin of one of my bullies, it took barely a week before it all started again, the rumors, the whispers, the shoves, the glares; I hated all of it so much.

I could only hug my knees as I let out another low whimper, It was pitiful, really. and I could only blame myself for all of it; I glanced at my alarm clock, as I forced myself up, it was already 7:04, I would be running late.

I dusted my uniform, I had barely slept, I couldn't even get myself to change, I was just so tired of it, all of it; I found myself thinking back on the past again, as a cold shiver went up my spine, I just slapped my own face to get out of it, I threw my backpack on and left my house in a hurried pace so as not to be late; But my efforts were in vain, as I heard the alarm ringing in the distance, I decided to throw myself in a jog, I reached the front doors a few moments before they were closed; I walked up the stairs to my classroom, and hesitantly knocked in the door, the teacher allowed me to walk in, scolding me for my lateness, and as I walked to my table I could hear their whispers.

"look at her, she's late again, what a slob"

"Look at how she's disheveled"

"I bet she was stabbing someone"

"Yeah, look at her eyes, she's definitely a murderer"

I Tried to ignore them, and just make my way to my seat, but it was so hard, I just wanted to yell and scream and run away from all of this, but I had to stay calm.

Once again, I tried to space out to my own little world, but I still could feel the looks, the snickers, the little murmurs... I just wanted to begone.

After a few hours I finally could go back home, I was just so downtrodden, I picked up my bag lazily and walked out of the front door. walking without a care, I was once again in autopilot, making my way back home as I gazed down at my feet, before I bumped in someone, I made an uncharacteristic 'oof' sound from the sudden impact, and before I could look up and apologize, I was shoved down to the ground, as my back hit the floor painfully.

I opened my eyes to see four teenagers smirking madly at me.

"Look at what we have here, our very own little murderer!" said the first one, chuckling lowly

"Yeah, I bet she was off to shoot someone else too" said another one

A third one gripped the cloth covering my shoulders and yanked me up suddenly, grinning lecherously at me, I felt my heart clutching painfully, dread and fear setting on my features.

"Say what, Asada-chan, you let us have some fun with you and we won't hurt you" he laughed in my face, brushing at my cheeks with his hand, my heart skipping a beat, I tried to free myself, shaking myself away from my aggressors, I lift up my left hand and smacked him right in the face, He flinched, but did not let me go, I kept trying to pull away, but the fourth one, in the back of the group, whispered something to the others, as the chuckled away, before he moved in front of me.

"Watch this"

And then he left his index finger at me, making a mock expression of a gun, it wasn't really anything too extreme, Except for me.

My body stopped moving, My mind stopped thinking, My lungs stopped breathing, panic slowly filling my soul as color slowly left my skin.

"Bang"

And that was all it took for the dam to break, I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, I could only scream as terror overflowed from me, but I knew that I had to get out of there, as fast as possible, I yanked myself off, leaving my backpack on the floor, as I got out in a sprint, I heard them howl darkly at me as they chased me madly, There was a loud yelp, and I felt their attention shift to something else, someone else was yelling, but I kept running.

It had been a while now, I guessed I was already far enough; the panic inside me subsided, giving away to exhaustion, I gasped for breath as I finally looked around, not recognizing my surroundings, after all, I was new to the city; I reached for my backpack, but soon remembered I dropped it way back, and the sudden realization that I was lost, without my documents or cellphone hit me, and once again I felt like panicking; But I tried to cover it 'Hang on in there, Shino' I thought to myself 'You can do it'; I turned to the direction I came from, I should find my way home soon, I would be safe there, It was my little sanctuary.

However, as I walked off, it proved to be futile, as each minute that passed, I was more and more lost, I came to be distracted by a pair of songbirds that make incredible acrobatic feats in midair, I was mesmerized by them, I kept slowly following them, out of my mind, They were just so beautiful, They were free, without a care in the world, they could only spring their wings out and fly away into the skies.

How I wished I had wings, How I wished I could fly away from everything, all the sadness, all the glares, all the darkness, I wished I could fly high, above the clouds, soaring in the skies, I wished I could be free.

I felt wetness in my cheeks - what was that? Was I crying? How shameful, I couldn't even hold my emotions in, I was just so weak, I Kept following the pair of songbirds, and they slowly led me to a bridge, connecting two sections of land with each other, a huge drop below it, leading to a ravenous river, strong currents carrying anything away, The songbirds then whirled off into the distance, they stopped to look at me, almost as if they were calling for me.

Yes, they were calling to me, They were inviting me to the skies, I mindlessly climbed over the railing that separated the bridge from a catwalk, I stood uneasily over the catwalk, as it unsteadily shook beneath me, I looked down to the river, and then ahead to the distance, as I saw the birds flying away joyously, I hesitated for a moment, before a small voice called out to me.

'You can do it' It told me 'I know you can do it, all you need to do is open your wings and... fly'

And so I did, extending my arms to my sides, I closed my teary eyes, before I took another tiny step ahead, and another one, and another small one, and with each one, I could feel the menacing looks, the whispers, the pain, the sorrow, being slowly washed away, on the fourth step, I could feel the edge of the catwalk below my feet, only one more step, and I could fly away; I put all of my willpower, all of my strength, all of it in this small step, but before I could do so, I heard one of the voices from before, it was the one I heard as I ran away.

"Wait! No! Don't jump!"

Startled, I spun around, but as I did, it was already too late, I could feel the force of gravity affecting me full force as it dragged me down.

And so I slipped into the abyss.

-/-

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