Shadows stretch across the large cavern. Except for the occasional drip and the huffing of an enraged player, all has become silent. Moments ago, the sounds of battle echoed throughout the dungeon, but warfare gave way to victory.

Leafa picks up a rock off the cavern floor. It carries a reddish hue, like the monsters she just slaughtered. She tosses it up and catches it in her hand like a baseball pitcher. Then, she lets out a furious scream and hurls the rock at the wall. It cracks open, momentarily filling the cave with a piercing clap.

The girl rubs her eyes. The boss was rumored to drop some item. She didn't really care what that item was, but it supposedly boosted the Searching skill and specifically the Tracking mod. Instead, it was just another pair of gloves. That player she met the other day was wrong.

"I'm such a newb!" With a huff, she marches back to the cave entrance, following her map. If she'd only known about the Tracking mod earlier. Instead, she filled her first two skills with other things, the nearly mandatory Single-Handed Sword and the defensive Parry. It was only after that when she bothered to read every skill. Realizing her error, she spent the last two weeks grinding up to level six for the extra skill slot and then grinding Tracking, a mod for the Searching skill.

"Just a few more days." As the light from the outside world shone up ahead like a lighthouse in troubled waters, she calms her breathing. In a few more days, she'll be able to track even the oldest footprints from any user. She's been staying at the far corners of level one ever since the game began. That's what her brother would choose to do. She's certain. He's a loner in real life. He'd be a loner here too. Of the people she asked, no one knew about any "Kirito", so he must be out there all alone.

She exits the cave and sees a sight she grew to hate over the past month, pristine hills. What once seemed like the image of pastoral perfection now looks like cancerous lumps. It's like being trapped in a gilded prison. No one has escaped to the second floor. No one has found the floor boss.

Leafa closes her eyes, forcing back her tears. If each floor takes a month to complete, it'd be almost a decade until they escape. She'd… she'd be out of college by then, maybe married. Will the people in the real world even bother to keep ten thousand… now eight thousand… Players alive for so long?

Her eyes open when she hears an unfamiliar sound. She looks around for who or what could've made it, but she's alone. Her eyes then widen in realization. After a moment of fumbling through her menu, she opens her messages and sees a vaguely familiar name. Klein.

She reads the message. "Get to the town Tolbana. How's Kirito? K."

She tries to type back a response but finds there's a character limit to these. "Why go? Also, still looking."

"All top players wanted. In two hours." A moment later, he sends another. "You know you can send PMs to him?"

Leafa freezes in place. Her eyes glue themselves to those eight words. She lets out a whimper as her legs buckle. Tears fall down her cheek. She's overwhelmed by joy and despair. She'll find her brother, but she could have found him immediately. That's… that's too cruel.

"You didn't know, did you?" She can almost feel his pity. "Since you know his name, manually enter it. Then send." She tries to open the menu, but her hand trembles too much. I am so stupid! "But, he'll be at Tolbana. All high players wanted."

She swallows. It's been a month since she saw a familiar face, laughed with a friend, or had the simple pleasure of eating a meal with her family. Why… How? How didn't she know this?

She manages to open her menu. Typing her brother's username into the messages, it gives her a few characters to reply. What can she say? Hi! I'm your sister, Suguha Kirigaya. He… Brother, it's Sugu. I got this game too. He won't believe it. She's his little sister Sugu. She doesn't like video games and hardly talks to him. All her time is spent with kendo and school. She wouldn't… couldn't be in here with him, yet she is.

He won't believe it. Then, he might become wary about some weird stalker and not go to that meeting or whatever in Tolbana. This will be her best chance. She waited a month. A few more hours… She wipes away some of her tears… A few more hours will be worth it. He'll be there.

She closes out the message to Kirito and replies to Klein. "Didn't know. C U at Tolbana. Thank you."

Taking a deep breath, she recomposes herself. It's just a run. After double checking her map, she breaks into a jog on a path pointing east. At least she didn't screw this part up. Two weeks ago, she saw another player with a double-handed sword. While it would be closer to her real-life style, the person couldn't run. It weighed him down due to game mechanics or something like that. She couldn't allow herself to lose speed. The faster she ran, the more ground she'd cover. The more ground she covered, the better chance she'd run into her brother or see his footprints.

She blinks. She hardly notices its green hue anymore, but whenever she runs, she has Tracking on. It seems to help increase the skill's level, and she'd spot any recent footsteps from her brother. Kirito is always the name her Tracking, um… tracks? She shakes her head. Gamers need to have better lingo.

Suguha lets her thoughts drift off towards her brother. Will he be happy to see her? Terrified? Both? She'll know soon. She'll know!

Leafa almost trips. Glowing green footprints. She's been looking for a sign of her brother for so long, and now they're in front of her. She looks where they came from, Town of Beginnings of all places; however, she sees where they're going as well, Tolbana. Suguha squeals in joy. Those are her big brother's footprints!

Reinvigorated, she sprints. The trail takes her to Tolbana. Weaving through surprised players, she becomes more jittery with every step. It's as if energy forms inside her body, and it can't get out. Elation. This is elation. He's here!

She freezes. Someone bumps into her. "Watch it!" He stumbles and almost falls, but Suguha ignores him. Her eyes remain transfixed on the player in front of her. Tracking turns off. She found her target.

Her brother leans against a stone wall under a shadow. He wears his favorite two colors. A dark blue shirt and black pants. A sword rests on his back. His arms are crossed, and his head is tilted down. He probably thinks he looks cool. But no one would give him a second look. Leafa doesn't either. She hasn't ended her first one.

Her mouth becomes dry while her eyes become wet with tears. A frog gets lodged in her throat while butterflies flutter in her stomach. She wants to say so many things but can't find the words to say any.

Since her mouth failed her, she does the next best thing. The girl runs up to her big brother and wraps him in a hug. With that human contact, the warmth of his skin, the sound of his voice in a sudden gasp… She can't hold it in anymore. The crushing, month-long loneliness has come to an end.

The floodgates open. She wails.

Kazuto says something as his body remains rigid. She can't tell what he says. She focuses on one thing. He's here standing in front of her, wrapped in her arms. She looks up at him and smiles, an odd contrast to her streams of tears. His mouth hangs open. His arms raise up and press down on her back. It starts off soft, as if he's hugging a delicate flower. Then, it becomes firm. He cries into her shoulder; she cries into his.

It's the first time they hugged in four years.

"Sugu." His voice trembles. She hears fear. "It's really you." He stops crying, but he doesn't let go of her. "H… How?"

She swallows and inhales. "I wanted to play with you."

His hands move from her back to her shoulders. He puts enough distance between them to look her in the eyes. "You bought SAO? To play with me? But… but the game is closed. No one new can enter."

She shakes her head. "I've been here looking for you since the first day."

Kazuto flinches. "Why didn't you message me?"

She whipes away some of her tears. "I didn't know I could until today. I've been out there looking for you for a month. It was so lonely out there. Klein. He told me you'd be here today."

He smiles. "You have no idea how this game works, do you?" She shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I spent most of my time farming and grinding in places where you'd never be able to reach." He opens his menu and presses a few buttons. "This is a friend request. It'll make it easier for us to find each other." She accepts. He presses a few more buttons. "This is a party request. I promise I won't go anywhere dangerous." She accepts that one too. "You must've gotten bored hanging in these cities… Leafa. Nice na-" He stops speaking mid-sentence. His eyes open in astonishment.

"Brother? What's wrong?"

He takes a step back and points to nothing, possibly something in his display. "You're level six already?"

"Yeah? Am I higher than you?"

"No, but this makes you among the higher players in the game. You were in the dangerous parts looking for me, weren't you?" She nods. "Is it okay if I see your stats and skills? They're easy to mess up." She opens her skills and stats, hoping he can see them to. "Tracking's that high already? Damn. Parry's fine. Same with the sword. Your armor could use some improvements." He smiles. "Leafa, for someone who doesn't know what she's doing, you're doing a fine job of it."

She crosses her arms. "If I knew what I was doing, I would've messaged you on day one."

He scratches the back of his head. "Didn't you get the handbook? Argo has been releasing a bunch."

"I've hardly been in the towns and cities." Her shoulders droop. "I'm and idiot, aren't I?"

He holds her hands. "Leafa, you're amazing." His head lowers to the ground. "But, it's my damn fault for getting you in here."

She untangles one of her hands from his and lifts his head back up. "This was my choice, one I'll regret for the rest of my life, but it's mine." Her voice becomes firm. "We're getting out. I'll only allow you to be all regretful if we die. Got it?" He nods. She giggles. "Good. Now, you mentioned something about upgrading my stuff. We have about an hour until they have that meeting. Show me what your nerdy brain knows, brother."

"Kirito." She tilts her head in confusion. "No one talks about IRL in public. Sorta an unspoken rule, Leafa." She nods. "Now, the first thing we need to do is get you better boots…"

The duo is among the last to enter the small amphitheater. Leafa looks at her new numbers. Kirito knew what he was doing. They used all her cor and come of his, but the boosts were worth it. Plus, they caught up on what each other did during this month.

"I ran around and killed stuff," he said. "What about you?"

"I ran around and killed stuff," she said while holding back a giggle.

He did mention a few things about the next level. Fortunately, they'll get more options then. They… He promised to never leave her again. She won't be alone anymore.

As they sit down on the long seats, she thinks about the irony of the situation. She bought this game to become closer with her brother. It looks like she will be. All it took was sacrificing her real life… But, her brother already did that years ago. He holed himself in his room sacrificing his real life for games. Did he feel this lonely too?

She leans into her brother. It's amazing how many times she was touched in real life. Handshakes. Pats on the back. A hug from her mother. Even getting hit in kendo. None of that happened here, just monsters trying to kill her. Now, she has contact again, loving contact. It may look clingy, but the feeling is far too wonderful.

"Leafa." She looks up at her brother. "You notice something?"

Glancing at all the people here, it becomes obvious. One man stands at the bottom, clearly the one who'll be doing the talking in this stone structure. He has blue hair and a blue jacket, and he seems to give the vibes of someone with leadership experience. He probably led something in real life. Sitting in the amphitheater with them are a couple dozen men with weapons ranging from swords to spears to axes. Men.

"I'm the odd one out, aren't I?" She scoots closer to Kirito, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

"It's a good thing grandfather wanted us in kendo instead of… I don't know… baseball." She raises an eyebrow. "Your sorta an expert swordswoman irl and stuck in a sword game." She nods.

"Ok!" The blue-haired man's voice sounds crisp and clear. "Let's get started, people! Thank you for coming today. My name is Diabel, and I have the knight role."

"There is no job system in this game! It's skill based!" yells one in the audience. A few other's voice their opinions. Several chuckles sound off as well. Leafa grunts. Men's humor, ug. He raises his arms to quiet everyone down. His grin shifts to a serious glare. "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower."

Leafa whispers to her brother, "How hard are bosses?"

He doesn't break his gaze from Diabel. "Very."

"We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor, and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings…" He raises his voice. "That it is possible to defeat this game! Everyone here shares this duty! Do you all agree?" The audience nods. Then, one member claps, soon followed by almost everyone else. Kirito simply smiles. "Alright, let's begin planning. First, divide into parties of six."

Before either sibling could react, the other players already formed their parties. Sugu would be willing to bet the parties leveled up together which is great. Except now, she and her brother are alone.

Out of the corner of her vision, she sees red. Turning left, she spots another player in a red cloak sitting by himself. After a moment, she determines that player is female too. The boots are one she recognizes as female and sorta cute too. She also sees some of her hair behind the hood. It's long and a hue of red. Leafa taps Kirito's shoulder and points to the girl. He nods.

They scoot over to her. Kirito asks, "You got left out too?"

Without moving, she answers, "I wasn't left out. I stayed out of it since everybody seemed to know each other already."

She's a solo player too! Leafa extends her hand. "Wanna form a party with us? I'm Leafa and he's Kirito." The stranger looks at the extended hand but does nothing about it. "Kirito said this boss should be hard, so strength in numbers, right? Then, you can go solo again."

She nods. Kirito sends her a party request, and she accepts.

As if on cue… maybe he was waiting for the trio to make a party, Diabel clears his throat. "Okay, have you formed your parties?" Some nod. Other give him a thumbs up. Diabel grins. "Alright then-"

"Just a second!" Leafa looks up at the interrupter. He looks to be in his early thirties. His spiked hair doesn't fit the game at all, more like something she'd see in a punk concert. He takes a few bounds down from the top of the amphitheater to the bottom next to Diabel. "My name is Kibaou, and I wanna say something before we take on the boss."

He thrust his finger out at the audience and shouts, "Some of you need to apologize to the two thousand who have died so far!" What is he talking about? Did some of these players murder others?

"Kibaou." Diabel remains calm. "Are you referring to the beta-testers?" Leafa glances at Kirito. Her brother looks worried.

"Of course I am! On the day this stupid game started, the beta guys ditched us beginners, and they all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quest for themselves, so only they could get stronger. And then." He nonchalantly waives his hand around. "They just ignored the rest of us." He clenches his hand into a fist. "I'm sure someone here was in the beta! They should get on their knees and apologize! Then, they should give up all the items and money they hoarded!" Is this why Kirito stayed far away from other players, because they hate betas? "Otherwise, we can't trust them to protest us as party members." How does that even make sense?

"May I speak?" A man from the audience, one who is certainly not Japanese by descent, raises his hand. She can hear the American accent in his calm voice. If it is weird for her to be among the few top female players, how hard would it be for him, the only man of African descent in a game full of Japanese players?

When he stands up, Leafa realizes he towers over everyone else by at least a head. He walks in front of Kibaou and dwarfs the spiky-haired jerk. "My name's Agil. Kibaou, tell me if I have this right. You're saying because the betas didn't take care of them, many beginners died. And, the betas should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation. Correct?" He kept his voice calm, but it has an off-putting edge, like a parent scolding a child.

"Y-Yeah."

"You got this guidebook, didn't you?" He pulls out a small, bound book, one that Leafa never saw before. "It was provided for free at most stores."

"Sure I did, why?"

"It was compiled from the information given by beta testers. Quest, monsters, skills, using the menu, everything. It's all in here. It was printed and offered for free thanks to Argo the Rat, one of the few betas to reveal she was one of them." He turns to the audience. "See this? Everyone had equal access to this information, and even still, many players died. I thought the topic of our meeting was to prevent more deaths and inspire hope, not to point fingers." He turns around and looks down at Kibaou. The two men hold glares, then the jerk walks to a bench and sits.

"Alright, we done?" asks Diabel as Agil takes a seat as well. He pulls out his own guidebook. "This is the newest edition and contains information on the boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord…"

Leafa sighs. Her brother is safe… for now.

Leafa pages through the guidebook. This would've been so helpful to have earlier. Such a small thing contains so much information, far too much for her to remember. Instead, she focuses on two aspects, parties and the first-floor boss. Switching seems straightforward enough. The boss… He has four stages of health with the last one turning him into some sword-wielding berserker. She avoided the hardest bosses during the last month, but now she'll be charging towards one. She could die.

No, Kirito will protect me. The name still sounds foreign to her, but it's who he is now. He's Kirito, a loner and one of the best in the game. Heck, she isn't Suguha anymore. She's Leafa. Plus, they won't be fighting the boss himself. Apparently, he has some weaker monsters protecting him. Since they're the smallest party, they were put on… How did Kirito put it? Mob duty.

Leafa hears the door unlock, so she sets down the book. They rented a room with two beds for the night. Until now, she slept outside to save money. According to the book, that was an incredibly stupid idea. At least she can sleep in a bed again.

Kirito enters the room and yawns. The floorboards creak under his footsteps and the door clicks shut behind him. He flops down face down on his bed. "I talked to Asuna again."

"Who?" She sits on her bed, body facing her brother.

"Our other party member? You do know… Oh." He turns his head towards her. Rings rest under his eyes from a lack of sleep. "You wouldn't know. Well, if you look under the health bar of a party member, you'd see their name."

"I don't see any for you." She crosses her arms, wondering if this is some prank.

"It'll show up when we're outside of room. These are considered safe zones in the game. Anyway, I gave her the rest of the butter. Not much of a talker, but I think she'll be a help during the boss fight."

The girl lies down on the bed and spreads her arms out. "Brother, why are you letting me fight? I… I thought you'd try to convince me to stay behind."

He chuckles. "Sis, when have I ever changed your mind?" Sugu laughs. THAT'S her brother. "Plus, I'll give you a teleport crystal. Plus, we'll be mopping up the mobs. Plus, you already are great with the blade."

She stares at the ceiling, more wooden planks. For some reason, the wood has a greyish tint in the dark. The bed and coloring almost remind her of her room… How did Mother and Father react when they walked into their rooms and found their children stuck? In a single day, they lost both of their children. Mother… She must be blaming herself, especially since she gave Sugu her blessing to play this game. Leafa wipes away a single tear.

"Brother?"

"Yeah?" He yawns again. She glances at him, and he fights to stay away.

"I miss our parents. How worried are they?"

"Very but… I… I think they believe we'll make it out. They know we'll look out for each other, and I will. Sugu, I swear on my life that you and me will stick together until we're outa here." But, what if we die? Or… what if one of us dies, and the other lives?

Leafa shivers. She doesn't say anything back. Within a few minutes, she hears his breathing fall into a slow rhythm. He seems peaceful when sleeping, like a little kid. Who am I kidding? He's fourteen. The girl tosses and turns in bed, but it doesn't feel right. It's too soft, like lying on a cloud. Cringing, she realizes the last month made her acclimated to sleeping outside on the hard earth. Sleep won't bless her with its presence tonight, not like this.

It reminds her of a vacation she and her family took to see some relatives. They were staying in a hotel room with three beds. Her parents had one. She and her brother had the other two. They must've been eight and nine at the time. She couldn't sleep then either, though that time was from the bed being too hard.

Suguha tossed and turned for hours until she was fed up with it all. Meanwhile, Kazuto slept like a log. The little girl stood up but looked at the ground. "B-Brother?" Her face flushed a bright red.

He forced open his eyes and yawned. "You okay?"

"Can I sleep with you?" Her hands grab onto the sides of her pajamas. "Please." She bowed, though it was rushed and sloppy.

He nodded and moved to the side of the bed. She climbed in with him. Suddenly, the bed didn't feel so hard anymore. The girl fell asleep within moments.

Leafa blinks and smiles at that memory. She turns in her soft bed again. She won't able to sleep like this. The teen stands up but looks at the ground. "B-Brother?" Her face flushes a light red. He keeps on sleeping. Her shoulders droop and she climbs back into bed. It takes another hour for her to fall asleep. The moment she does, Kirito opens his eyes.

"Sleep well, Sugu," he whispers. He knew what she wanted, but… He couldn't say yes. He just couldn't. He exhales slowly. With his sister asleep, he'll allow himself to as well, not just pretending.

I'm so sorry, sis. Me and my stupid games got you stuck in here. Under the covers, he clenches his fists until his knuckles turn white. I'll fix this, somehow.

Leafa lets out a soft moan and turns in bed. Her head faces his. She looks so peaceful. She still looks up to her big brother. His heart twists in his chest. I don't deserve that title. He rolls to the other side of the bed, so his head faces the wall. Fitting, because I don't have that title, not really.

Yui's comments:

Hello! One benefit from winter is having a partial day off from work because of all the fluffy snow and slippery ice. Instead of making snowmen, the author made another chapter! Hurray!

Even though original chapters are the one's the author would rather use, Diabel, Kibaou, Agil and Asuna all made their appearances during the amphitheater speech. It was also the scene where anti-beta sentiment was first expressed. Some canon scenes simply can't be avoided.

Why has Leafa cried so much this chapter? Think of it like this. How would a thirteen-year-old girl cope with the trauma of losing her family and being thrust into an unfamiliar world where she could die? Furthermore, she spent the prior month largely by herself which was an emotional toll. But, now she has Kirito with her!

About Kirito, he has his own troubles. Even though Leafa hasn't noticed yet, he still has psychological distance from his sister and guilt from being the cause of her imprisonment.

Now, onto the comments!

Flo463, interesting choice for the main pairing. The author and I expected that request eventually, but not as the first comment! While eventual pairings can't be confirmed, the dynamics between Sugu and Kazuto will remain at the heart of the story.

Aphaxy, the author didn't expect to publish so soon and was aiming for March 1st, but opportunity presented itself with several free hours. Plus, creative juices have been flowing wonderfully over the past few days. Still, we will strive to always keep a quality output. Sibling fluff is fun, probably the author's favorite thing to write about in general. There'll be a lot. We also will try to keep the focus on pairing lower than the average fanfic. It's always fun to do something different!

Wraith Five, you received the next chapter early, so the wait wasn't too long! Horrible weather irl has some benefits after all!

Worker72, you brought up some very well-thought-out points. We tried to address most of them in this chapter, but here is an explanation anyway. Both Klein and Leafa could've messaged Kirito at any time during the first month. Even strangers can if they know the name of the receiver; however, Klein thought Leafa would've known that common knowledge. Additionally, he didn't think much about her until he heard about the meeting in Tolbana. He figured she would be a top player since she was already level two when they met.

Leafa didn't know how to message Kirito because she never received the handbook, spending almost all her time at the uncivilized and unpopulated sections of the first floor. Was it a bad choice? Yes. Was it a newb mistake? Yes. On the bright side, it forced her to level up quickly and to be the best tracker at this point in the game.

If you or anyone else have any other questions or found any errors, please mention it. We want this story to make sense and follow the rules of SAO. Have a nice day! Since this chapter came out so unexpectedly quick, I won't make a prediction on the next chapter's release date. That'd be silly.

Thank you for the wonderful feedback so far! It's really nice to see!