The Beater and the Shadow

Chapter Four: A Reason for Running

A/N:

What's up, guys? As of this authors' note, I don't have any reviews for chapter three, but if I get any, I'll put responses to guest reviews below.

For now, that's about it!

Have a fun read, and see ya at the bottom!

"Don't worry about me…" I said, my voice shaking. "I just relived a bad memory inside my head."

"Bull."

Hearing that one word come out of Klein's mouth was the last thing it took. The last thing it took to make me fall back into my old way of dealing with big problems.

"I'm leaving."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"See ya."

With that, I ran away as fast as I could, jumping over my fence and into the afternoon sun.

(Kimiko)

I awoke slowly, opening my eyes slightly to scan the room for people.

"Hey there, sleepyhead!" someone said as they walked up to me, startling me.

"UWAH!" I squeaked.

Dang it… I totally sounded like a girl right there! I mean, I am a girl… but… they don't know that.

Upon closer inspection, the person who startled me happened to be Klein, and he had a weird look on his face.

"H-hi, Klein!" I said nervously, forgetting to lower my voice enough to fake masculinity.

It was then that I realized why he was looking at me with a weird expression: the wrappings I used to conceal my large chest had come loose in my sleep.

"U-uh, it's not what it looks like!" I shouted nervously, covering myself with a couch pillow.

"Relax, it's okay," Klein said gently. "I know the truth."

"Y-you do…?" I stuttered. "I'm sorry…"

"What for?"

Huh…?

"Why are you so sorry for being who you are?"

Wait a second…

"Did Yamiko tell you?" I asked Klein, my voice laced with burning anger.

"Actually, no. I figured it out the day we got into this game," Klein replied, looking away. "After all, when we reverted to our real appearances, you didn't have anything to conceal your…"

When I realized what he was getting at, I blushed beat-red. "Y-you mean you knew about me the whole time?"

"Yeah, but you seemed sensitive about it, so I never told anyone…" he said sheepishly, trailing off. "Though I would like to apologize on Yamiko's behalf."

"What do you mean?" I queried, looking at him intently.

"Well… I was a big brother figure to her in the real world. She left just before the announcement for SAO's beta came out, saying that she met someone who wanted to 'take her in'. After that, I didn't see her again… well, until a couple of days ago, when she suddenly came into the restaurant I was at… looking for you.

"Anyway, the point I'm trying to get at is this," Klein told me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "She might not admit it, or even know it yet, but… even if she does something to hurt you, she doesn't mean it, because…"

"Because…?" I urged him to continue.

"Well, like I said, she might never admit it, but to me, it's pretty obvious that she cares more about you than anyone else."

"Do you mean that she…?" I choked, briefly losing my composure. "Loves me?"

Klein laughed nervously. "Well, I'm not sure about that, but she definitely cares for you a lot."

I tried as hard as I could to keep my expression neutral. "I see."

All was silent for a few seconds, and then… I realized that Klein had neglected to mention something. "Wait, why did you want to apologize on her behalf? What did she do?"

Klein looked away, rubbing his neck. "Well, she kind of told Asuna and Lisbeth that you're a girl. Don't be mad at her, though. She was under a lot of pressure from those two, and she had to give in after you passed out."

"You mean… they know now?" I asked rhetorically, hanging my head in shame.

"Don't worry about it," Klein said lightly. "They don't hate you. Yamiko made sure of that. Lisbeth is still kind of mad at you for not telling, though."

"Understandable."

"Hey, Kimiko!" someone shouted as she walked into the room. "You're awake now?"

It's been so long since someone other than Yamiko called me by my real name…

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, looking up to find Lisbeth standing next to Klein. "Liz, I'm sorry…"

"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed, giving me a smile. "Are gonna dwell on that forever? Look, I'm a little sad that you didn't trust us enough to tell us, but I still understand why you didn't. I'm not mad at you, and I don't hate you."

My eyes began to water, and I smiled broadly. "Thank you… for understanding."

It was then that I realized the absence of two very important friends. "Wait, where are Asuna and Yamiko?"

"Asuna had to go to a guild meeting. And Yamiko… well…" Klein explained, trailing off.

"What?" I queried, beginning to fear the worst.

"I said something that upset her, and she ran away."

She did… she ran away again. She said she wouldn't, but she did!

"I'm going after her!" I shouted, opening my menu.

I went into my friends list, tapping on Yamiko's name and hitting «Trace».

(Yamiko)

The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the «Forest of Hordes».

Another horde of mobs successfully destroyed, I thought, wiping the virtual sweat from my forehead.

Even in a virtual world, pain still existed. Even now, after I defeated a mob of «Black Comet Wasps», I still felt the immense pain of being afflicted with a terrible poison with DOT duration of one minute. By the end of that minute, fifty percent of my maximum HP would be gone, and I would be utterly exhausted.

But I didn't care.

It doesn't matter. After all, my «Battle Healing» skill will kick in as soon as the poison wears off, and within thirty seconds, I'll be back to full.

I put my double-bladed staff, a boss drop known as the «Devil's Edge», onto my back for later use, then started walking deeper into the forest.

A few hours later, I had managed to make it to the center of the forest, where a quest boss, called the «Horde God» by the quest NPCs, would supposedly appear at night. I looked to the west, watching the system-simulated sun as it lowered past the horizon.

In just a few minutes, it'll be nighttime in SAO, and then it'll appear.

When the sun disappeared from the horizon, I turned my head to the heart of the forest: a giant tree with a five meter hole in the bottom of the trunk.

Out of the hole walked a beast of massive proportions, its golden eyes narrowed into slits as it slowly walked towards me.

The monster had the body of a giant cat, with orange fur that resembled that of both a lion and a tiger. It had a mane, just like a lion. Its paws had massive fangs and even bigger claws, all of which looked razor-sharp. Next to its head, two blue health bars appeared, along with a name.

«Ligris the Horde God»

Several smaller versions of the beast walked out from behind it, looking at me with hungry eyes.

It's go time!

I took my double-bladed staff off of my back, proceeding to split it apart at the center of the handle. Now, I held a one-handed longsword in each of my hands.

Remarkably similar to dual-wielding. I wonder if that's a skill. Maybe it's a «Unique Skill», like the one owned by the leader of the Knights of the Blood, but the person who has it hasn't said anything… well, whatever.

I was ripped from my thoughts by one of the quest boss's minions charging at me. I narrowly avoided a claw strike from the mob, then proceeded to slash it repeatedly in the back until it exploded in a shower of white polygons.

The stat modifications that this form gives me really are amazing.

Another one came charging at me, and I jumped in the air to avoid its attack. I then activated a one-handed sword skill with my right sword known as «Falling Thrust», which sent me plummeting down onto beast. When my sword made contact with its head, it shattered into thousands of polygons, joining its brethren in the «Cardinal System» to await its respawn.

I quickly set to work demolishing the rest of the minions until there were only two beings left in the area: «Ligris» and I.

Why didn't it attack with its minions? I thought to myself.

Suddenly, the quest boss leapt into action, coming towards me at top speed. I just barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid getting torn to shreds by its right claw.

"No you don't!" I shouted, getting on my feet and slashing at its head with my right sword.

It blocked it with its right claw, then struck with its left. I easily parried with my left sword, then put it into the positions to use a deadly spinning skill known as «Force Revolver».

My left sword started to glow brightly, and when the entire blade started to glow in a white light, I let the skill roar into action. It dragged my left sword around in a circle, hitting the quest boss's claws aside and going straight through its nose.

As soon as the skill ended, I jumped back to avoid another swipe from its claw. I then charged in, my right sword glowing with a black light, while my left glowed white.

This is it for you! I shouted in my head. Just before I reached the quest boss, I clashed my swords together, and they both started to shine with a blinding silver light, signaling the activation of a powerful skill that only the «Devil's Edge» could use.

«Rampant Shadow»

The skill started out with a thrust from each sword simultaneously, which transitioned into a double downward slash. The next hit, a double upward slash, sent me into a backflip just in time to avoid a claw strike.

I closed in once more, coming in with a leftward slash from my right sword, which quickly reversed into a diagonal spin attack utilizing both of my blades. Once I stopped spinning, both of my swords came for its head at once, meeting in a cleave attack.

The blades dragged me down into a flip-slash, cutting straight through the middle of the quest boss's head, then all the way down until I came full circle, my blades stopping in the same spot they began.

Then, the final hit of the seven-hit skill arrived. My swords cleaved outwards, the force of the attack sending the quest boss to fly backwards into a tree.

But it wasn't over.

"HAAAAAH!" I cried a battle cry, determined to finish the fight as quickly as possible so that I could go home and—

"And do what?" a voice in my head snarled. "You ran from them. You ran from her. You promised you wouldn't run away, but you did. How can you face them?"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" I shouted out loud, almost dropping my swords.

Of course, the quest boss then deemed that time to be the perfect time to strike… and so it did.

I narrowly avoided being shredded for the second time that night, jumping out of the way just in time for nothing to get cut but a single strand of my long, white hair.

"I… need to get home…"

"And do what?"

"I have to apologize!"

"And do you think she would accept it? You've run away from her twice! It's not like she'd just say, 'Welcome home, Yamiko! I baked some cookies!' No, you idiot! She hates you!"

"Still! She has to know… she has to know that I regret it!"

Just like that, the voice in my head vanished, leaving me to fight the quest boss before me.

"HAAAAAAH!" I screamed, charging at «Ligris».

It ran at me in turn, when it was about three meters away, it jumped into the air to pounce on me. I fell to the ground, sliding past it. I got up, turning around and jumping onto its back. I jumped into the air, activating a powerful skill unique to the «Devil's Edge».

«Atomic Cage»

The skill started off with my right sword sending me into a diagonal flip-spin, followed by an inverted version of the same move from my left. Both hits left circular rings of white light around me, forming a cage of sorts around me. Then, my right sword came into play again, sending me into a downward vertical spin attack that left another ring of light around me. When I came back around to my starting point, my left sword dragged my body into a leftward horizontal spin attack, leaving yet another ring of light. Once that hit sent me full-circle, the last hit came into play.

I curled up into a ball, and the rings closed in on me. Then, just before they touched my virtual skin, I swiftly uncurled myself, making the rings of light expand and fly outward. They all hit the quest boss, slicing it into exactly eight pieces. Those pieces then exploded into polygons, signifying the end of the fight.

I dropped to my knees, panting heavily. Now that the adrenaline from the fight had worn off, I was left utterly exhausted. After the panting died down slightly, I got up, shakily walking in the direction of my house.

"I have… to go… back…" I panted, continuing to walk slowly towards my destination: home.

"Yamiko!"

I instantly recognized the voice as Kimiko's, causing my blood to freeze in my veins.

No… not now! I still need time!

Before I could find a place to hide, I heard the sound of her running up to me. I then felt a pair of arms wrap around me, causing me to freeze in fear.

"Yamiko… why?" Kimiko asked, her voice muffled by my coat as she hugged me. I could feel the wetness of tears on my back, and I knew that she had started to cry.

I decided to play dumb. "Why what?"

"Why do you always run?" she repeated, starting to cry harder. "You even… you even promised you wouldn't…"

Stab.

I could feel her words pierce my heart. I felt horrible, but I knew that an apology wouldn't help. I needed to be honest.

"I'm sorry, Kimiko…" I said, turning around in her grasp to face her. "I shouldn't have made that promise. When I get close to people, I always get hurt. I don't trust people enough to stay around them for long.

"But even still, I'm sorry for running when I told you that I wouldn't. It was wrong of me. I'm sorry for deceiving you. I promise, I won't do it again."

"But there are still people who you can trust!" Kimiko shouted desperately. "I won't hurt you, I swear!"

"But you already did," I told her, smiling in spite of myself. "It was a long time ago, when we were still kids. Do you remember? You told me you loved me… you were just messing with my heart."

"I wasn't messing with you!"

My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. I knew she was still messing with me, but I couldn't help but feel surprised.

"See? You're doing it again…" I said, regaining my composure and smiling bitterly. "Playing with my heart like that. Back then, you must have noticed that I was confused with my feelings for you. You just wanted to mess with me, so you told me you—"

"Stop it!" Kimiko shouted at the top of her lungs. When I looked at her, I saw tears in her desperate steel-gray eyes. "Why? Why won't you believe me? I really did love you! I still love you!"

I stared at her with wide eyes, not able to comprehend what she had just said. She can't be serious… a girl loving another girl… it's not something that common. She has to be lying.

"Kimiko…" I said, tears coming to my eyes once more. "You're horrible. I knew you were a kind friend… but not this kind. Now you're just pitying me, right? There's no way you could love me after what I've done to you."

"Just listen to me!" she shouted desperately, grabbing my shoulders and shaking them. "I never stopped loving you! I tried, but I couldn't! That's why… when I saw you again, I was so happy, and still so sad that you were here like this! But I thought you weren't like me, so I didn't say anything. Please, believe me! I love you!"

"Kimiko…"

I stared at Kimiko, looking at her desperate expression with a dumbstruck one of my own. She's… serious?!

It was then that I saw her face don a look of horror. She shut her eyes tight, as if to block out everything around her. She started weeping loudly, snapping me out of my stupor.

"Kimiko, what's wrong?!" I shouted, immediately pulling her into a protective embrace. "Please, stop crying. I'm sorry for not believing you, I just—"

"It's not that!" she sobbed, gripping my black coat weakly. "I… I told you everything… but you never said you loved me back! I'm sorry! Please… don't hate m—"

I couldn't take it anymore. I was tired of all the running. I was tired of running from my problems, fears, everything. But most of all… I was tired of running from my feelings.

I pulled her chin up so that I could see her distraught face, eyes still closed tight. I felt terrible knowing that I was the one who caused it all, and I knew that there was only one way to fix things. I knew it was now or never. I bit back every instinct telling me that this was wrong, that she was probably just messing with me, that I shouldn't do it…

And pressed my lips to hers.

A/N:

Huh. That happened. Sorry about cutting the chapter off there, but I was under some serious pressure from a friend towards the end. Hopefully it didn't interfere with the quality!

Well, tell me what you think! If you'd be so inclined as to leave a review, I would be eternally grateful! Just don't flame, please.

All right, I guess it's time for the disclaimer!

I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series or any of its adaptations!

Until we meet again!