Conclusion Coming Soon!

"Gah! Rika, where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere far away from here. I can't lose you again."

"Excuse me?"

She finally came to a stop, still holding my arm, panting. We looked back and saw with great relief that we lost our pursuers.

"We should probably teleport out of here. My guild is really good at tracking, and-"

She collapsed onto me and kissed my lips, over and over. "I can't lose you. Please, please don't..." I held her by the shoulders and asked her what was wrong.

"Kirito made me a promise, he told me that he would beat this game and set us all free. I'm so worried about him, even though he and I were never meant to be. Worried that something is going to happen to him and Asuna, and I'll never see them again, and..." She hugged me again, stifling sobs. "I don't want to be worried about you, either!"

I hugged her back, trying my best not to cry myself. As much as it disgusted me, hearing that she had so much faith and trust in me, making me worry about what would happen if I actually did die somewhere, the thought of her never seeing me again, I felt like I needed to protect her. All of these thoughts and worries wracking my mind, making me want to just end it for the both of us.

At that moment I almost considered speaking to her about suicide, but images flashed in my head instead. My first encounter with her, her freckles in the rain, our first kiss, the way she sharpened my sword in her shop. All of these things melted a ball of ice in my stomach and made me want to take action.

I held her hands in mine. "Don't worry. I'll find some way out of this. I promise."

"You do?"

"I do."

That was when I opened my inventory and found the unread message.

...

I do remember saying that I never saw Joshua again. To be clear, I did "see" him one last time, but not in person. The message itself was time-delayed (yes, I heard rumors of another incident involving a time-delayed message of a long-gone friend being read) and just so happened to be opened in my inventory during the little moment i had with Liz. We both listened to it.

"My dear guild members... Argol, Jacobs, Spindle, Jameson..." the names of each and every one of our members was named. "Ronald, Davids, and Arkham... I apologize for releasing this message to you all at such a late time. I wanted to be long gone before anyone could hear this little... suicide note, as you may put it. My whereabouts? Hopefully..." His voice began getting shaky at this point. "hopefully in another world. I have been contemplating suicide for a while now, but not for being stuck in this virtual world, but for the things that I have done in the past. I was the culprit of several counts of rape before my time here. I almost got caught a few times, but thanks to my unforgiving luck, I was able to slip away.

Therefore, suicide was on my mind the minute I found out I was stuck here. I had joined Dancing Shadows- and became it's leader- to sort of avenge myself before I entered the next world. I have now realized that I cannot escape fate, so I have chosen the suicide option. The Dancing Shadows guild is hereby given to the the previous 2nd in command, Arkham. I hope that now God can finally forgive me for the crimes I have committed in the past. I bid all of you adieu,

Shiro Kurosaki."

...

I played the message a second time, with Liz holding my arm. I felt like crying, but was able to keep it in.

"Let's go," I said confidently.

"Where to?" Liz asked.

I held her cheek with one hand and smiled. "Home."

About a minute or so after we began our walk back to Liz' place, we saw two familiar forms in our path. I realized at that moment how close those two were from finding our hiding spot. As I walked towards them, they stepped out of our path and bowed.

"Arkham, our apologies, we-"

I raised a hand. "Save it." I raised my pointer finger and scrolled through the menu, dead-set on what I was about to do. I disbanded the guild.

"Sir Arkham! What is the meaning of this?" One of them asked.

"The 'meaning' is that we don't need this guild anymore. It has turned into a giant excuse to help people. We can do that ourselves." I took my love's hand. "Besides; I have more important things to focus on, anyway."

We walked home hand-in-hand.

...

As we entered her shop, Liz turned to me. "I know the Dancing Shadows are disbanded and all, but may I receive assistance from their former leader?"

I crossed my arms. "I don't need to be in a guild to help you. I'll help you because it's the right thing to do."

She took my hand. "Great! I need some assistance downstairs, if you don't mind..."

After we descended the stairs in the furnace room (and after she locked the door, much to my confusion), she pushed me against the wall and trapped me. She kissed me deeply.

"I th-thought you needed assistance?" I asked, shaky.

"I do. I need your permission." She flashed me that smile of hers, and I soon realized how much trouble I was in.

"F-for what?"

"To forge... your... sword." She emphasized each word by taking a half-step towards me.

I blinked twice, not knowing if she was being serious or not. That was when she grabbed my hand. "What are you-"

"Shh... just let me open your inventory." She held my pointer finger and scrolled through my menu, then to my equipment.

"Can you please tell me what you're doing?"

She was just about to press one last button before she looked up at me. "I'm going to undress you."

"What? I mean, couldn't we just-"

"This way is more fun. More playful."

I tried to lift my hand and push her away (I wanted this sort of thing to happen from the beginning, mind you, but not this early) when she took the pointer finger of her free hand and poked my ticklish spot again. She had me.

She pressed that last button and instantly I lost my clothes, everything unequipped save a pair of boxers. Liz blushed at me and held out her hand. "Your turn."

...

I was shuddering so much that I could barely hold her hand. I know how pathetic that sounds, but I doubt that everyone is able to keep their cool in those situations. I browsed her menu and had to go back several times, my shaking causing me to make the wrong selections.

"Do I really have to do this?" I asked.

"I'd like you to. It's okay to be nervous."

At last, sighing deeply, I hit the button with her finger. My heart pounded in my ears and my breath grew short as her clothes disappeared, leaving her in a white bra and panties. There was no nosebleed, thank goodness.

She covered her chest rather awkwardly. "Try not to stare, okay?"

"It's kind of hard not to; you're beautiful."

"You look pretty good yourself."

"Heh, thanks..."

"I love you, you know." She put her hands behind her back. She might have been trying to exaggerate her chest a bit.

"Yeah. You too."

My heart began to beat faster as she flashed me that damn smile again and turned off the lights.