I do not own Sword Art Online, Highschool of the DEAD or their characters.

Chapter 11

Floor thirty-five: Ten months, 2 days

Later in the evening, Rika went down to the eleventh floor to look for Rei and Hisashi. She and Shizuka had gone home and rested for a while, spending some 'quality' time together since the house was vacant, before Rika set out.

The policewoman entered the inn she knew the pair was staying at, and found them sitting at a table in the corner.

"Hey, you two, mind if I join you?" she asked as she walked up.

"Not at all, please sit down," Hisashi said as Rei smiled. "What's up? We don't see you down this way much."

"I just wanted to let you know Takashi's back," she said. Looks of sadness crossed both their faces before Rei spoke up.

"Is…is he alright?"

Rika nodded, "He's frazzled, but in good health. He needs rest and support; this has been hard on him after all." She leaned forward and clasped her hands on the table, "He also found some of the people involved in Morita's murder. A pair of twins, big bruisers the size of sumo. It seems they have some very interesting friends, people from Fujimi High."

"Who?" Hisashi asked, shocked at the revelation.

"Orange-haired girl named Miku, blonde boy named Tsunoda, and a few other guys called Yamada, Kurokami and Miura. They're thought to have a bunch of girls in the gang also and their leader…someone they call 'Father'."

"I know who they are. Any idea who this 'Father' is?" Hisashi asked as Rei covered her face.

"Shido Koichi."

"That…that bastard!" Rei said as she removed her hands to show a look of hatred on her face. "Why couldn't he have died instead of Morita?"

"So I guess you know him after all?" Rika asked the girl.

"Oh I know him alright," Rei snarled. "He is the cause of a lot of heartache for my family. Because of him I saw my father get on his knees and ask my forgiveness over something he didn't even do!"

"This is about why you were held back a year, isn't it?" Hisashi said.

Rei nodded, "My father was investigating Shido's father and when he got too close, the senator had Shido attack Dad through me."

A light came on in Rika's head. "Wait a minute, you're Miyamoto Tadashi's daughter!? Chief Inspector from the East precinct? Hell girl, I know your father and mother!"

"You do? How?" the surprised teen asked.

"I've worked with Tadashi before and met your Mom at several police functions. I heard all the tales about her girl gang days! She used to be a tough one."

Rei nodded, "I never thought about you knowing them!"

Rika leaned back and crossed her arms as she sighed, "If I had known whose daughter you were, I might have tried harder to get you to stay with us."

Rei shook her head, "It would not have worked, Rika-san, we had to get away and find our own path. If we had stayed it would have just gotten worse in the end."

"What about now?"

Hisashi shrugged, "It's not like we haven't missed everyone, but we are getting along well and I hate to shake that up."

Rika thought for a minute before nodding, "Okay, I won't push you to come back, but I want you to understand that you can. In fact Takashi's worried about both of you now that we know who's behind this. So think about it will you, and keep your eyes open. If you see any of these characters let me know at once, we'll come running."

They both nodded as she got up. Making her goodbyes she waved and walked out. None of them noticed a dark-haired teen sitting across the room watching them. Keeping his head down, Kurokami smiled as he sent a message to Father.

000

Floor thirty-five: Ten months, 2 days. Supper time.

Saeko and Takashi walked slowly as they came back in the north gate of the town. They had spent several hours up on floor forty-six, fighting on what was called the 'Ant Hill'.

Saeko felt peaceful and pleased for the first time since the boy at her side had left them. To her it felt natural to walk next to him.

"Umm, Takashi-kun? What did you do all the time you were away?" she asked.

"Nothing much really," he replied. "I was focused on finding who killed Morita. Not much else."

"And now that we know who was involved, what do you intend to do about it?"

"I'm going to hunt them, and sooner or later I will find them and they will pay for what they have done," he told her.

"And what then?" she asked again pressing the point.

"I…I'm not sure…" he admitted.

"A samurai must be prepared for the results of his actions," she said. "In the end he must stand firmly with pride and honor in his convictions."

Takashi nodded, understanding what the girl was trying to tell him. "But, I am not samurai," he said as he watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"That is not a concern," she replied. "I will show you the way."

He smirked slightly and lowered his head, "Then, please take care of me…Mistress."

Saeko blushed, but her eyes looked alive as she absorbed his words. She covered her mouth to hide her smile before running ahead to where Saya and Kohta sat at their shop carpet.

000

Floor twenty-two: one year, one month, 24 days

Christmas had come and gone without much fanfare. Last year seemed to pass by in a blink; everyone was still too much in shock of being trapped in the game to notice it. This year there had been a few Christmas themed events, but since the holiday in Japan was known more for dating, not many people participated.

It was looking like New Year's would pass the same way since there were not really any shrines to visit and there was just not a feeling of the year passing.

"Do you think they will come?" Shizuka asked Rika as they sat on the front porch of the house.

The policewoman shrugged, "I don't know. I hope so. I think for everyone to be safe this needs to happen."

The blonde nodded as she watched Alice and Zeke play in the snow. "I want everyone to be safe too. I know I'm not that strong, but I feel the need to protect them since I'm their teacher."

Rika hugged her with one arm, "You're doing just fine, Shizuka-chan. Just keep doing what you've been doing." She turned her head as she focused on the street leading back into the town of Coral. A smile split her face as she saw two figures coming towards them, "In fact, I think it's just about showtime! Now, to break the news to the others."

Shizuka got up and ran toward the couple as Alice and Zeke followed.

Rika stepped into the house and took in the foursome inside. Saeko and Saya were in the kitchen, finishing up the meal they were preparing for New Year's Eve. Takashi and Kohta were sitting at the coffee table playing cards, simply relaxing for the evening.

"I've got something to say," the purpled-haired woman said as they all looked at her. "I invited some people over for the evening. I want to say that if this is a problem, I'm sorry; take it out on me later."

"What are you talking about? Who did you…" Saya was asking as Alice burst in the door.

"Kohta! Kohta! Rei-chan and Hisashi-kun have come to see us!"

The foursome stared at the door in surprise as the couple stepped in with Shizuka behind them.

They both bowed, and said, "Please pardon the intrusion!"

Hisashi's face looked guarded as he looked over Saeko, Saya and Kohta before focusing his gaze on Takashi. He nodded to his old friend, an apprehensive look on his face.

Rei looked embarrassed and slightly scared. Her eyes showed worry as she looked at looked Takashi and then Kohta, Saeko and finally Saya. The two girls just looked at each other for a minute before Rei bowed and said, "Ha…happy New Year…Takagi-san."

This seemed to shake Saya out of her shock. She walked forward, a neutral look on her face, and stopped before the couple. Bowing she said, "Welcome to our home. Please come in."

Behind everyone, Rika blew out a breath she had been holding and winked at Shizuka, who was beaming.

000

Supper was finished and the kitchen cleaned. Alice and Zeke headed to bed after getting hugs from everyone including Rei and Hisashi. Everyone now sat in the living room and sipped tea.

Rei carefully watched the others through the night. She was surprised how calm Saya had been and how much she deferred to and fussed over Kohta. Rika told her they had become a strong, close couple, but Rei was shocked at how much Saya had seemed to change.

She also watched the way Saeko followed Takashi out of the corner of her eyes. Rika hadn't said anything about them becoming a couple, but Rei could see it might be headed that way, even if Takashi didn't realize it.

The talk died down and Rei cleared her throat. Once everyone's attention was on her, she spoke up, "I would like to say a few things if all of you would please hear me out." The others nodded as Hisashi took her hand in his and squeezed it.

"I want to apologize to everyone for what happened. The whole thing goes all the way back to when I was held back in school this year. I made the mistake of keeping it to myself and letting it build until it hurt the people I cared about and damaged…damaged everything…" She hung her head as her voice shook and tears dripped down her cheeks.

Saeko got up and came around to kneel down next to her. Putting her arm around the distraught girl she said, "It's alright, Rei-san. We are friends here and anything you need to tell us we will listen too."

"That's right," Takashi said as Kohta and Saya nodded.

Rei nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes and started, "It all began with Shido's father…"

000

"That bastard!" Saya said as Rei finished. "If you had just said something Rei, maybe my father might have been able to help."

"It seemed to happen so quickly, Saya," the ginger told her. "Papa never thought Senator Shido would do something like that. Much less his son doing it for him since everyone said they hated each other. I'm sure Papa may have gone to your father after the fact, but it was too late as far as my grades were concerned."

"Another thing that bastard needs to pay for," Takashi said as he clenched his hands.

"So what do you want to do now?" Kohta asked. "I mean…I think we can all agree to back you and try to take him down. If even half of what Rika says he's done is true, he needs to be in the prison."

"How did the Army guys get that information out of those two?" Hisashi asked the policewoman.

"Don't know, don't want to know," she replied. "What I don't know, I can't testify to in court. All I will say is whatever means Rathgar and his crew used, it worked."

"Well that can wait for tomorrow," Saya said. "For now I think we all need to rest and think about this more with clearer heads."

"I guess we should go then," Hisashi said.

"There is no reason for that," the Takagi heiress said. "Takashi can sleep on the couch and the two of you can have his room."

"Are…are you sure, Saya?' Rei asked.

The pink-haired girl nodded, "Yes, it is too far to go back tonight and knowing those creeps are out and about, it's not a good time to be running around so late."

"I agree," Rika said. "We can talk more tomorrow."

The couple agreed and everyone got ready for bed.

"So I end up on the couch," Takashi muttered as he got a blanket from the closet.

"You could always make a futon in my room," Saeko said with a smirk as she watched.

The boy paused for a minute and then shook his head, "I don't know if you should trust me that much, Saeko."

She stepped closer, "If I did not think I could trust you, Takashi, I would not have said anything. The question is…could you trust me?" She ducked her head and blushed as she turned toward her room, the boy's shocked look following her.

000

Morning found Takashi sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee. He watched the peaceful scene in front of the house as some small deer wandered through the trees foraging for food.

He looked around as Rei came out and stopped near him. "Can…can I talk to you, Takashi?" she asked.

He nodded and motioned for her to sit down on the steps next to him.

She sat quietly for a few minutes before speaking up. "I'm…I'm sorry I didn't tell you about me and Hisashi. I was going through so much and he was there and…well I fell for him before I knew it."

The boy nodded as he sipped his drink, "I can understand, Rei. Things change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Hisashi was the one you needed at the time. I'm glad you had someone to help you."

She stared at him for a few minutes before speaking again, "You…you seemed to have changed so much. What happened?"

He shook his head, "I don't really know myself. All the drama with you seemed to push me to a certain point and then…something broke when Morita died. Something happened that…I can't really explain it…sorry."

"I understand," she said. "I feel that way too sometime. I know there are things to say, but nothing will come out. Why is it you suppose that we don't speak up and say what we feel? It seems things would go so much easier if we did."

"I guess you could say it is ingrained in our culture," he replied. "We are a private people that have been taught to hold back what we think. We don't want to insult others or be insulted, but in the end, we end up doing more damage than good."

"It is something our fore-fathers taught us," Saeko said as she walked up behind them. "When we were a violent feudal society, the mere breath of an insult could lead to death. That is a problem in today's world. We no longer live in a life or death situation on a daily basis. That is one thing this game has taught us. To live by the sword is to die by the sword, but to not live is to also die."

Takashi smiled as the samurai knelt down beside them, "That is something to think about isn't it? In some ways I feel more alive in the game than I ever did in the real world. But the question is, what will that do to us when we get out?"

"Some will go right back to living. Those that hid and could not face the ways of danger will go back to their lives and do the same in the real world as they did here. The problem is what do we do? Those of us that the game has made to feel alive. How will we adapt and learn how to overcome the urges we have felt? Even now I feel the desire to throw myself into battle, swinging my blade till my opponents are destroyed. How will I control that feeling when we go back?" Saeko looked down at her hands as she spoke.

Before the boy could respond to her, the front door flew open. Saya looked out wild eyed, "Takashi! Get in here! There's…there's been a massacre!"

000

Tokonosu, Japan: Takagi Mansion. One year, one month, 25 days. New Year's Day.

"Do we have any clues, Akasuki-san?" Yuriko asked.

"No, my lady," the computer tech said. "All we know is twelve players suddenly died last night all within a few minutes of each other."

They both looked to the door as Kage walked in. After checking on Saeko he turned to them, "So we know nothing else?"

"No, Busujima-sama," Akasuki said.

He sighed and shook his head, "I wish there was some way I could know what they are going through. Some way to experience a small part of what they are dealing with. Maybe it would help me to understand more."

"Er…we can do that, Busujima-sama," the dark-haired tech told him.

"What? How?" he and Yuriko both asked.

"Well there is another online game that is much like SAO," she said. "After Argus went bankrupt, RECT Progress took over the server management and began to develop new equipment for diving."

"Something like the nerve gear?" Kage asked.

"Only this head set cannot send out the microwaves that make the nerve gear a killer. If it detects an abnormality, it logs the player out safely. It is what the nerve gear should have been. Oh, it's called the Amusphere and the game is called Alfheim Online. All players in the game are a type of fairy and can even fly!" she said as the excitement in her voice rose in pitch.

"It sounds like you have experienced this yourself, Akasuki-san," Kage said with a smile.

"Well yes, we techs have been using the Amusphere sets as test beds in our research of SAO," the woman blushed at Kage's attention, though much older she still thought he was a very handsome man. "I could set things up and show you how to dive if you wish it."

"Well then, shall we, 'form a party' as they say, Yuriko?" the man asked as he grinned.

"Oh my! I feel like I'm being asked on a date!" the beautiful woman said as she smiled back at the sword master. "I think we should invite a few others though…"

000

Floor twenty: one year, one month, 25 days

"So all we know is one of the small guilds was having a New Year's Eve party here," Rathgar was telling Rika as they walked the killing fields. Around them was armor, weapons and other gear left when the group of twelve players died.

"Did they even take anything?" the policewoman asked as she watched Takashi and Saeko bend down to go through a pile of possessions.

"Col maybe," the big fighter said. "These were mid-level players and while they had a few high level items, they all seem to be here. Of course that might be able to be traced, money can't."

"So this was a massacre just for the sake of killing?"

"It seems that way," the man replied.

"Who took care of the zoms?" she asked.

"We did as soon as we got here," Rathgar replied. "Three girls, nine boys."

Rika shook her head. She had seen a lot of crimes in her time, but this took the cake.

"I think we found something!" one of the searchers called out.

Jogging over they saw the man holding two crystals. One was a message recording crystal and the other was a screen-shot camera crystal that could be printed out at NPC shops.

"Does this thing have a play-back mode?" Rika asked as she looked at the camera crystal.

"Yeah, it should work like a hologram," the man holding it said. "Let's see…if I push here…"

The crystal projected a faint bluish display above itself. Players in dark brown cloaks gathered around a group that was kneeling on the ground. Seconds later they dove on them like a pack of dire wolves, slashing and bashing their victims until they all turned into zombies. Then they all danced away as the file ended. The man activated the second, the message crystal.

"We are Laughing Coffin. You will all fear the day we revealed our existence! We are Laughing Coffin! Fear us!"

"Oh hell," Rika said. "We've got some real nut jobs on the loose now. We got dead piling up like cord wood and along come this bunch."

"What do you think we should do?" Rathgar asked. "Well beside the obvious of course."

"Don't know what else to do," she replied. "We hunt them and try to capture them alive if we can and if we can't…"

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," the big man said.

"Damnit!" she said as she lit a cigar. She looked around again, "Well there doesn't seem to be anything else we can do here. We're going to head back home. I had hoped to have a nice peaceful day before this."

"Let you know if we find anything else," the Army man said as she waved for Takashi and Saeko to follow her.

"What's our next move?" Takashi asked her as they headed for the teleport.

"Don't have one," she replied. "Until we get some kind of clue on who these people are, we got nothing to go on." She stopped and turned to the teens, "I am going to say one thing though, I'm going to push for Rei and Hisashi to move back in with us."

She watched as Takashi thought this over and Saeko watched the boy do so. After a few seconds he nodded.

"I agree. This is not the time to be spread out over the floors of Aincrad."

Rika sighed in relief, "I'm so glad you said that, I was really worried you would oppose me on this." She smirked as he grinned at her, "Now to get Saya to sign off on it!"

000

"I have no problem with it," the pink-haired girl said.

Rika blinked several times in surprise. "You were the main one I was worried about! What made you accept this so easy?"

"It makes good sense," Saya said. "This is not a high school drama or manga. This is a life and death situation where we are in a real danger of being ambushed and killed." She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the dining table. "In the real world I would not have this fear, but it has already been proven these people are ready to kill for whatever reason. Plus Rei has honestly apologized to everyone and explained her actions. While I may not agree with what happened, I can understand, and accept it."

Rika stared at the girl for a minute before she leaned forward grinning, "Its cause you're getting laid regularly, right? That's calmed you down and took a lot of your stress off huh?"

Saya eyes went wide as her face glowed bright red, "Wa…WHAT!? What are you saying!? I'll have you know nothing like that is going on between Kohta and me!"

Now Rika frowned, "Huh? You mean y'all are celibate? Come on, Saya, you're a perfectly healthy teenage girl living in a death game. Not to mention he's a hansom healthy teenage boy that obviously loves you. What's the problem? I mean hell; you don't even have to worry about pregnancy or STD's in here."

"Should you really be promoting teenage sex!? You're a cop you know!"

The woman leaned back and smirked as she crossed her arms in front of her, "That's got nothing to do with it. What happens in the game, stays in the game, ya' know."

Saya spat and sputtered several times before she copied the woman and crossed her arms also. Still red faced, she looked away and spoke, "It…it's not that I haven't thought about it. It just…it seems so…I don't know how to explain it."

"Well I hope you weren't going to use words like, vulgar, nasty or dirty. If you were then I have more concerns about you than you just being haughty and stuck-up."

"No! I…I don't think about it that way! Its…it's just something very personal between two people and I don't know if I'm ready for something like that. And like you said, this is a game, what would it be like if we got back to the real world and then we don't…fit, so to speak."

"Saya that's a concern you have even in RL," the woman said as she leaned forward again and smiled at the girl. "No one ever knows how you're going to fit together with your partner. You just have to do the best you can and try to work out those little bumps. Tell me honestly, do you really think Kohta would be an ass to you in real life?"

The girl shook her head, "Er, no I don't. I believe he is really showing me his true self. He can be very sweet and kind. You can see it in how he treats Alice."

"Yes I can, and I'll tell you something. If you want to know what kind of person someone is, look at how they treat children and animals."

The girl nodded, "I thought that also." She sighed, "I just…I don't know."

Rika shrugged, "Well if you want to talk about it you can always come to me, or Shizuka."

Saya frowned, "I don't know if I could talk to her about that. She can be kind of…forward."

Rika chuckled, "Yeah she tends to go overboard, but seriously, come see me if you feel like it. I know I haven't been abstaining since being in here."

"Wait! What!? You've been…ah…well that's none of my business…but I thought…"

"That Shizuka and I were a couple?" the woman smiled. "In many ways we are. We have been very close for a long time, but that doesn't mean we don't like boys too. You understand what bisexual means right?"

"Umm, well yeah…I just…didn't think of it like that," the embarrassed teen said.

"Well it's no big thing," the woman said as Shizuka flounced into the room along with Rei and Saeko.

"Rei? Can we talk to you for a minute?" Saya asked.

The girl looked a little apprehensive at first, but nodded and sat down.

Saya smiled and started, "We want to talk about you and Hisashi moving back in with us…"

000

Floor twenty-eight: one year, three months, 29 days March 1st

"What level are you now, Takashi?" Rei asked as the boy jumped over the back of a Blood Wolf and brought his club smashing down on its head. The monster exploded into sparkles as he turned towards her.

"Uhh, level sixty now," he replied as he watched Saeko kill another wolf while Saya, Rika and Kohta filled a third with arrows and bolts. Everyone except Shizuka and Alice had come to the Wolf Plains to help Rei and Hisashi get back into the habit of grinding levels.

"Waa!" she exclaimed. "We sat around too much while we were away! I'm only level fifty-one!"

"Well we're not front liners. Klein and his group are all in the low seventies. He says the big dogs like Kirito, Heathcliff and Asuna are all in the high seventies if not higher."

"I would like to meet this 'Black Swordsman' someday," Hisashi said as he and the others gathered around the pair. "I hear he's a bit younger than us. It's interesting how he got so powerful."

Takashi nodded, "Yeah, he's at least a couple of years younger."

"I attribute it to his being a solo player," Saeko said as the rest of the group came closer.

"I thought he and that Asuna girl were close," Saya said as she knelt down to rest beside Kohta.

"Umm, I think in a way they are," Saeko replied. "But to watch them in a boss strategy meeting, you would not think so."

"Yeah they butt heads all the time," Rika said as she lit a smoke. "It surprises me they have not fought a duel yet. Unlike Saeko-chan…"

The dark-haired girl blushed. She and Asuna had finally crossed blades. Saeko was known for her 'first strike' given to her by the Battoujutsu sword skill. Asuna, on the other hand, was not called 'Lighting Flash' for nothing. Once she survived Saeko's first attack, she had dazzled everyone with her speed, dashing her rapier in and out faster than the samurai could counter. The chestnut-haired girl had won, just barely, but she won.

"I have much respect for her," Saeko said. "She was an honorable opponent. I feel if, or shall we say when, she duels Kirito-san, it will be a close fight."

"I wonder what that will do to their love life," Rika snickered as the others laughed.

"Oh, by the way, Kohta-san, there was a blacksmith looking for you. She is a friend of Asuna's and she wanted to do some business with you," Saeko told the boy. "I think she was trying to make Japanese armor."

"Eh? Well okay, I guess I could help her out. Maybe she has some templates I don't," the boy said as he rubbed the back of his head.

The templates he was referring to made up the basis of his craft. Once he took raw materials and heated them over his forge, he picked a template, a style of sword, armor, or other weapon to make. After striking a required number of hits with his hammer, the raw materials formed into the item he was working for. The worse that could happen was he failed and the raw material was lost, but Kohta rarely failed anymore.

"Is there a limit on how many you can have?" Saya asked.

"Not that I know of," he replied. "Plus it will be good to talk to another smith and get their impressions on some things."

Saya frowned slightly, but covered it up as Rei and Saeko smirked at her.

"Well let's head home," Takashi said as the lighting began to get dimmer.

It was only a short trip to the town and a quick port through the gate before they were back on floor twenty-two. They strolled to the edge of town where their house was to find Alice and Silica playing outside with Zeke and Pina.

"Well hello, little one," Kohta said as the feathered dragon flew up and landed on his head.

"Skeee! Skeee!" Pina called as Silica ran over.

"Oh Pina, don't bother Kohta-san like that!" the girl scolded as she reached up to take the creature.

"It's alright, Silica-chan," the boy said. "I'm just happy she still likes me!"

"I was worried if she would remember you after she died," the girl said.

"Wait! What!? Died!?" Saya exclaimed in shock.

Silica nodded, "She died trying to protect me a few days ago. I thought I was going to be killed too, but Kirito-kun saved me."

"Kirito-kun? The Black Swordsman?" Rika asked as she pet the little dragon.

"Hold it," Saya broke in. "Let's go inside and get food ready and then Silica-chan can tell us all about it over dinner."

000

"Wow, Kirito's getting around isn't he," Takashi said as the young girl finished her tale.

"I don't know what I would have done, if he had not been there," the girl said. "I was so stupid to run off without a good map."

"We're just glad you are okay," Shizuka told the girl as she hugged her. "But you should have been more careful. You should have stopped right where you were and called us when you lost your way."

"You're right, Sensei; I should have, but I got so confused and then the Drunk Apes were right on top of me.

Takashi shuddered as she called the monsters name. Saeko noticed and reached out to touch his arm in support. He smiled and nodded as he covered her hand with his, causing the girl to blush.

Rika looked thoughtful as she spoke up, "Silica-chan? Can you contact Kirito-kun for me? I would like to meet and talk to him more about this orange guild problem."

The girl nodded, "Yes, Rika-san, I can try now if you want me to."

"That would be good, the sooner the better I think," the woman replied.

The girl opened her menu and after a few minutes looked up, "Umm, where would you like to meet at? He says he's available now if that is alright with you."

"That would be great!" the policewoman said. "Just tell him to come to this floor. Takashi can go collect him at the gate and lead him back here. Also, tell him we will make him supper for his trouble."

"Guess I'm on fetching duty," Takashi said as he got up and stretched.

"I will go with you," Saeko said. "I will need to pick up a few more items since we are feeding a larger group."

"He says he will be there in a few minutes, Saeko-chan," the little blonde girl said as they headed out.

"Well," Rika said as she rubbed her hands together. "I guess we need to get ready for a party!"

A/N: Please Review, Favorite and Follow!

EN: 1st posted 1/31/15