Disclaimers: I do not own and neither am I affiliated with in any way Sword Art Online or its author or publishers, nor do I own any non original characters within this story.

Honoka and all other OCs are owned by me! You cannot take them without proper permission! So think of your own OCs!

Sorry for the late post guys, I was busy today hanging with friends, family, etc., etc., cause you know, I am just that popular. Yeah I'm kidding, I'm not that popular honestly, but anyway, let's not turn this into my personal therapy session on why no one likes me and move onto the actual story here.

Please enjoy Chapter 10 guys!

Sword Art Online: Floor 3(Part 2)

"Kirito, whatever happened, I'm sure no one hates you for it. And besides, since when did you start caring about what people thought about you?" Argo the Rat asked him, taking a seat on the bench next to him.

"I'm sure she does. I told her I'd save him, and I didn't. If I were her I'd feel like killing me too," he responded, lowering his head.

"And besides, I know she hates me. She told me," he added, sighing deeply.

"Alright, fine, keep thinking that way. But anyway, I do have some spare time. I don't have to meet my client for another half hour, so if you wanna tell me what happened, feel free," Argo said, swinging her feet, whistling quietly to herself.

"Or not, I don't really care," she added, mischievously.

"You heard about the five deaths that happened when fighting the 2nd Floor Boss, right?" Kirito said, not lifting his gaze from the ground.

"Who do you take me for?" she saidpoutingly.

"Guess I should have known. Anyway, moving on, did you ever see a Help Request Post by a player named Honoka? It would have been about nine days ago," he asked Argo, who was now staring up at the starry night sky.

"Of course I did. I keep track of everything and anything that happens in this world, you know that. She was asking for help to save a friend trapped on the 2nd Floor Dungeon, right?" she asked, looking over at Kirito for confirmation, who had shifted his gaze towards the water fountain located in the center of the town.

"Yeah, that's the one. Well, when I was hunting some monsters on the 2nd Floor Dungeon, I happened to run into her," he said, his gaze falling to the ground once more.

"I saved her from a group of Hobgoblins, and then we went searching for her friend. It turns out the 2nd Floor Dungeon had a new twist to it. I'm sure an information broker of your caliber has heard about it," he said, giving her a faint smile.

"Of course," she responded.

"We weren't able to save her friend that time around. So we went with the clearing group and we managed to save her friend-"

"But didn't you just say that you didn't save her friend?" Argo interrupted.

"Continuing, after we saved him, the group had shrunk from 49 to 48, so her friend filled in for the guy who had died. I was arrogant though, I told her that if nothing else, I would make sure her and her friend survived the Boss Fight," he said, lifting his head to the sky.

"He died, during the fight. And I killed him," he continued, tears falling from his eyes.

"What!? But your crystal above your head should be orange then! When a player kills another player, their crystal above their head should be orange for a month!" Argo exclaimed, jumping up from her seat on the bench.

"Okay, maybe 'killed him' was a bit strong, but I am responsible for him dying. When we were fighting, he saved me from an attack that would have definitely killed me if it landed. He pushed me out of the way. But the attack hit him instead, and he died. And after the battle, Honoka was crying, told me she hated me, and ran away" Kirito finished.

Argo returned to her spot on the bench, and the two sat there quietly. The sounds of the town were many, and they heard pretty much everything that was happening. They could hear the sounds of people chattering. The ding the cash registers made when they opened and closed. The roar of the water fountain was loud and clear from where they were sitting.

After a few minutes passed, Argo finally stood up. She moved in front of Kirito, and she slapped him.

Stunned, he stuttered, "Wh-What as that for!?"

"Well I needed to get your attention," she said, huffing and folding her arms over her chest.

"Now listen here mister, you can't go blaming yourself for what happened to him. It was that guy's decision, not yours, to jump in front of that attack. If you go blaming yourself for things like that you'll end up dead before you even realize what happened to you!" she added on, pointing her finger in his face.

"But, if I hadn't-" he tried to say.

"No buts, ors, or ifs about it. You are not responsible for what happened. Now stop beating yourself up about it, I's not like you. You need to be all cold and distant from people, not some overly emotional, ready to cry at any moment kind of guy," she told him, smirking.

"Thanks Argo. That helps, if only a little," he replied, a smile forming on his lips.

"There we are, that's the Kirito I know!" Argo cried, moving her hands behind her back.

"But what do I do about Honoka? She hates me," Kirito asked, looking at Argo for a possible answer.

"I should charge you for this, but I won't," Argo said, as Kirito breathed a small sigh of relief.

"For a person to hate you, they had to have cared about you at one point, right(1)? So just figure out a way to get back to that point," Argo advised him.

"Well how am I supposed to do that?" he asked her.

"Oh young, naïve Kirito. That's something you have to figure out on your own. But anyway, I'm out of time to chat. See ya!" she said as she ran towards wherever she needed to go to.

"Argh! Now I'm more confused than before she started talking to me! Darn it!" Kirito yelled helplessly, scratching his head furiously.

He then got up from the bench, walking towards an inn he had potted on his way to the bench. And he thought maybe it was time to try moving on, and find Honoka, so he could apologize.

1- A friend told me that one day after a rather depressing day and we talked about it. I still don't really understand it, but I'm just stupid. Maybe one of you guys can help me out.

Well, again, sorry for the late post, but at least it's up! I'll try to do my best tomorrow! I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 10! And I know that's kind of a cheap way to have had Floor 2 end, but hey, it's my story, and I have to leave some of it to your imaginations.

Oh, and just to torture you all a little more, just so you all know, this is it for Floor 3, and I will be skipping a few Floors, as in straight to Floor 10, where Kirito's Beat testing experience will not be able to help him anymore. So look forward to it all!

But a heads-up guys, starting next Wednesday, chapters are gonna be every other day, as I just realized my schedule is going to get REALLY hectic between SATs, finals, etc, so sorry about that! But every other day is still a lot, so I hope it won't inconvenience you guys too much!

Anyway, I hope you all continue to ReadxReview my terrible story! See you all tomorrow!