Author's Notes:

Firstly, I would like thank all those who favorite, followed or reviewed my story. Your support is really appreciated and pushes me to try harder.

Secondly, this chapter is still a little too close to the LN in my opinion, but the more major changes will only really work well in the second part of the tournament. When I tried them here they looked too forced, so they will wait until the next chapter.

Lastly: I do not own either "HighSchool DxD" or "SwordArtOnline"

Ghosts of the Past

Standing in the middle of a clearing that stood in a far away corner of the park near to their apartment Asuna concentrated in the task at hand.

Calming her breath she cleared her mind, eyes closed as she focused only on the shape she wanted. She could feel her demonic-power rising to the surface, answering to her will.

'Focus at the shape in your mind, make it as real as possible.' She thought remembering Akeno's advice. 'Direct your power fueled by your conviction, will its existence into the world and so it shall be.'

A faint blue aura started to envelop her body, filing her with a sense of serenity and protection, like the calm waters of a clear pristine lake.

Opening her eyes she quickly raised one hand towards a faraway tree, her other hand grabbing her arm to stabilize the aim.

Water started to form before her hand, gathering and condensing into a dense sphere the size of a melon that hovered right before her open palm.

Taking aim she fired the sphere at high speeds towards the large tree, leaving a deep indentation on its bark due to the pressure it exerted upon impact.

"Mama you did it!" Yui happily exclaimed from her perch on Koneko's shoulder at the edge of the clearing. "You really did it!"

Lowering her hands she smiled towards the little fairy girl that had just taken wing and was excitedly flying circles around Koneko's sitting form. The small [Rook] giving a small smile and nod towards her direction before gingerly biting another cookie from the basket at her side.

Satisfied with the results she had obtained Asuna decided a little snack was just what she needed after the arduous process she had undergone in order to finally translate the spell into reality.

Both she and Kirito had been wondering if it was possible to translate ALO spells and skills into the real world for a while now. The fact they did so with their SAO skills gave them hope it would be possible, but in practice they discovered it was far more difficult.

The key difference was their conviction. While after the time they spent in SAO they had come to see their sword skills like a natural part of themselves, and so had absolute conviction in their effectiveness. The same could not be said about the fairy spells from ALO.

The spell Pressure Sphere was one of the most basic Undine attacks in ALO, but even so it had taken her the better part of two hours before being able to materialize it using her demonic-power and another hour to finally make it work right.

But in the end she did it, and she couldn't wait to show it to Kirito. His expression after seeing she had made the breakthrough of materializing a spell would be priceless, she was sure of it.

Sitting next to Koneko, Asuna gave her a one armed hug, smiling at the small flush it provoked before giving Yui a cookie as she sat in her new usual perch on the [Rook's] shoulder.

Watching the small girls at her side Asuna could feel a warm glow in her chest. Koneko and Yui were getting closer by the day and she was really starting to think that Yui had been far more accurate than she believed when she had called Koneko Onee-chan.

'I wonder how Kirito is doing.' She thought, as her mind drifted towards her absent husband with a small amount of worry.

Kirito's actions towards Kikouka's request had been slightly suspicious. He had acted far too tense for such a simple task.

'But them again it is Kikouka who he is working with.' She thought with a small smile.

While she would admit that the government official had a difficult personality to deal with, Kirito apparently couldn't be in the same building than the man without wanting to throttle him. So his nervousness could be attributed to that.

Deciding to put the subject to rest she continued to eat her snack while listening to Yui excitedly retelling her week at school.

After all, on SAO Kirito proved to be able to handle practically anything that could be sent his way. She was sure he could deal with a simple investigation without finding trouble.

"Stop following me!" Sinon all but hissed at the small petite figure that was shadowing her footsteps.

"I said I was sorry. It was a misunderstanding, I didn't want to…"

"Stop following me!" She repeated, blocking Kirito's attempts to explain the situation.

Fighting back the urge to face palm, Kirito kept following the enraged sniper while wondering why his life couldn't be normal for once. His embarrassment due to his new avatar appearance ended up transforming into a very unfortunate accident and now he was paying the price.

'Did I do something unforgivable in a past life or something? There is no way all the weirdness that happens in my life can be only due to chance.' He thought while trying once again to apologize. 'Then again I guess turning into a Devil really didn't help my situation regarding possible higher powers.'

"I'm really sorry Sinon, I didn't want to deceive you. And besides I have no idea what to do next and you are the only person I know here."

Suddenly stopping the aqua-haired sniper turned towards him, a stern expression on her face, her cat-like eyes glaring towards his form.

Her expression reminded Kirito of a cat just about to pounce upon a small rat, but after a minute of staring at his apologetic expression she only sighted before sitting down in one of the box-like chairs that filled the waiting area.

Timidly taking a seat next to her Kirito noticed that the screens were saying there was less than ten minutes before the tournament would start and he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to be doing.

"…I will explain the basics at least. After that we are enemies." She said without looking at him.

"Th-thank you."

"Don't be mistaken, I haven't forgiven you. Once the countdown ends the screens will show the contestants names, enter the warp-pad in the end of one of the corridors and you shall be instantly transported towards the arena where you shall face your opponent." She said pointing towards the small corridors that where on the wall near the screens.

"The field is a 1 km wide square, with the landscape, climate and time being all randomly generate. At the beginning both players will appear at least 500 meters away from each other, the victor will be returned to the waiting area while the looser will be transferred to the hall in the first floor."

"Group F has 64 people in it, so if you win five matches you reach the final round and get the right to go to the next phase of the tournament. That's all for my explanation, I won't answer anymore questions." She said while rising from her seat.

"I think I understand, thanks."

"You better make it to the finals." She said with a quick glance towards him. "For there I shall teach you one last thing, I shall teach you defeat."

Despite her cold tone and harsh words Kirito couldn't help but smile, he couldn't help but admire her drive and personality.

"I will be looking forward to it. But are you sure you will reach the finals?"

"If I lose in the preliminaries I will quit for good." She answered with a snort of cold contempt. "This time I must definitely… kill off all the strong opponents."

The last part was said in a barely audible tone of voice as she stared at the armed opponents with a beast like smile. The smile of a wolf that was set loose amidst the sheep.

Kirito couldn't help a small shiver that was caused by her words and smile. He knew she was strong, far stronger than most of those that where in this tournament. But upon uttering those words Kirito felt that her petite body was letting out a will that far surpassed that of merely role playing gamer.

"Get to the finals, for your head is mine."

With one final nod towards his direction she started to walk away, stopping to briefly talk with a silver haired male that was wearing grey camouflage clothing that walked towards her.

'To eliminate the strong...' Her words were echoing in his mind, while some would consider it a childish declaration, the will behind the words was anything but. 'Could it be?'

He compared the lonely girl who had helped him get ready to the tournament with the inhuman voice that he had heard in the recording.

Death Gun only targeted strong players, in such a tournament that gathered only the strongest he was certain to be amidst their number.

'The lonely girl or the ruthless warrior, which is the real Sinon I wonder?'

Taking one last look at the snipers small but strong form Kirito turned towards one of the corridors and started to head towards the warp-pad.

He didn't want to consider the possibility, but her absolute confidence in reaching the finals, and killing intent released during that single moment persisted on his mind.

Standing atop the hexagonal device he tuned out the announcement saying the matches were about to start.

'No, this type of thinking will lead me nowhere, when we clash in battle then we shall see our real selves.'

He would find Death Gun and find the answers to the question that had led him here, no matter what.

Standing inside the hexagonal platform Kirito saw himself in the middle of a ruined courtyard. Large pillars stood around him, some completely destroyed and scattered around the area, others still standing proudly despite the damage they had sustained.

The sun was setting in the horizon giving the rock walls of the ruined temple that stood before him a crimson tint; a chilling wind was howling amidst the ruins blowing the wilted grass that grew between the fallen pillars.

Crimson letters appeared before him. 'Kirito VS Uemaru; Preparation time: 57 seconds left; Location: The Forgotten Monastery.'

Equipping both his Photon Sword and Five Seven Handgun Kirito waited for the timer to reach zero.

Taking a deep breath Kirito closed his eyes, reading himself for the battle to come.

'It's time to see if a sword can triumph in a world of guns.' He thought while grabbing his chosen weapon and holding it at his side.

The moment the timer reached zero the hexagonal platform he was in disappeared and he darted forward towards the cover provided by one of the fallen pillars.

Deciding on how to proceed Kirito stood there, straining his senses in order to find his enemy.

A strong gust of wind blew through the area, swaying the wilted grasslands as it passed, the rustling sound of the grass stalks hitting each other drowning all other noise.

Feeling a shiver on the back of his neck Kirito jumped forward rolling on the ground to minimize the target area, and avoiding the shower of bullets that hit the area he had been standing a mere moment ago.

Silently standing up a figure appeared out of the grass. His clothes had a streamline pattern that mixed with the surrounding grasslands and on his head there was a helmet with fake grass that only increased the camouflage effect of his clothing.

'So that's the reason for the 60 seconds preparation time.' Kirito thought while activating his sword, eyes locked on the opponent assault rifle.

Running forward Kirito dodged the red bullet prediction lines that where appearing before him avoiding the enemy's fire.

But when he tried to close the distance between them the number of red lines increased exponentially, forcing him to jump upwards towards the area with the fewest lines.

But even with his jump a bullet still hit him in his leg, reducing his health by ten percent.

Rushing forward close to the ground the same thing happened again, all paths towards his opponent where littered with red lines and the closer to him the more lines there were.

Doing a somersault towards a collapsed pillar Kirito internally cursed while remembering Sinon attempt to warn him about automatic fire. Even with all his agility and reflexes he had been hit three times already, reducing his health to a little over seventy percent.

Deciding to try to see if the handgun could even the odds a little Kirito took it out of the holster, but before he could aim Uemaru unleashed a barrage of shells towards the pillar, forcing him to roll out of the way and drop behind it in order to avoid the bullets.

The rain of bullets continued to fall at the pillar, trapping Kirito behind the stone as he desperately tried to find a way out of the situation he was in.

'This is definitely different from that revolver!' He thought while cursing himself for not really listening to Sinon explanation about automatic weapons.

There was simply no way to dodge all the bullets, and while he could move fast enough to avoid their great majority, the few that would still hit him would still be more than enough to take him down.

'There has got to be a way to defend against them! But I have no shield and my bullet proof jacket is nowhere near strong enough for this.' He thought, cursing under his breath when a bullet nicked him on the arm as rock fragments flew around him.

'If this was SAO I would parry or use another weapon defense skill…' He trailed off as he looked at the Photon Sword with a thoughtful look.

He could dodge most bullets, but not all of them, if he could just block the remaining bullets that would hit him and reach the target he would win… and this was a light saber…

He could predict where the bullets would hit; it would just be a matter of hitting them before they could hit him.

The gunfire had stopped, indicating that Uemaru was probably trying to flank him to hit around the cover of the fallen pillar.

With a deep breath, and knowing exactly what Asuna would say about his plan, Kirito activated his sword and closed his eyes.

Straining his senses he separated all the individual sounds around him, searching for abnormalities that would indicate his opponent's location. It was an Outside-System Skill he had learned in SAO and had served him well in countless battles.

Concentrating he heard the howling wind and the rustling grass. Delving in further he found it, small sounds that broke the pattern, cautious footsteps coming from his right.

"Let's do this!" He shouted, opening his eyes and rushing straight towards his opponent at top speed.

Caught off guard by the sudden action Uemaru took half a second to drop to one knee and assume a firing position, allowing Kirito to close half the distance before he started to open fire.

Once more the countless red lines appeared on Kirito's vision, there was nowhere to hide, all paths had a least a couple of bullets blocking them.

Twisting to the left Kirito dropped close to the ground into a path that had only five lines, three on his torso and two on his head.

Noticing that two of the lines on his torso were thicker than the others he realized that they would probably hit first. The thickness of the lines was a time difference that showed the order in which they would hit.

Kirito could feel the adrenaline on his system, the thrill of a PvP battle rushing his senses. Around him the world seamed to slow down as his consciousness speed up with an almost forgotten feeling.

Moving his Photon Sword Kirito positioned it to stand in the bullets path. The muzzle of the Assault Rifle flashed, the bullets flying towards him before being block by the Photon Sword.

With an electric sound the first two bullets were destroyed by the sword positioned in their path, before he moved it with blinding speed blocking the remaining three bullets with pin point accuracy.

Even at this distance Kirito could see Uemaru eyes widen in disbelief as he emptied the rifle entire magazine towards Kirito's speeding form.

Focusing Kirito ignored the bullets that wouldn't hit him, dodging and waving amidst the lines while cutting down those that he couldn't dodge, straining all his senses to the maximum and with one final leap he was past the wave of bullets an upon his opponents disbelieving form.

"N-no way!" Uemaru cried in shock even while he attempted to reload his weapon.

Grabbing the handgun with his left hand Kirito unleashed five bullets against his foe in order to gain the time he needed to approach.

Uemaru dodged three of the bullets while the other two hit him draining his health points, but the action caused him to hesitate for a split second in the action of reloading his gun and for Kirito, that was enough.

He twisted and launched himself off the ground, all the momentum gained during the mad dash between the bullets transferred to a forward lunge, sword poised to strike.

With a final thrust he pierced Uemaru's chest for a critical hit, in a perfect replication of the Sword Skill Vorpal Strike.

Complete shock was clear on Uemaru's face in the moment before his avatar shattered into countless polygons. Shocked eyes stared at the petite warrior that had defeated him with a sword in a world of guns.

Standing back at the waiting area after barely managing to snatch a victory from apparent defeat Kirito couldn't help but sight in exhaustion.

While his little gambit of blocking the bullets with his sword had paid out in the end, the act was far more draining then he had anticipated.

In order to both doge and block the storm of bullets sent his way while simultaneously charging his opponent all his senses had been working in overdrive. And while the result spoke for itself, it had taken a rather large chunk of his energy.

'And I still have to go through four more of these rounds.' He thought with a grimace, knowing he was going to literally crash on his bed once he returned home afterwards.

Looking around Kirito saw that the screens were now displaying all the battles that were happening across ruins and forest, cities and deserts. As the multitude of players battle one another with a vast assortment of weapons, from machineguns to pistols, rifles to grenades.

Noticing that Sinon was not in the waiting area Kirito started to scan the battles looking for her, concentrating in any scene that displayed blue hair.

"Are you, the real one?" A deep, hoarse and metallic voice asked from right behind him.

Startled by the closeness of the voice Kirito turned around while instinctively taking a step back. Shocked Kirito couldn't help but think that he was looking at a ghost.

Wearing a black hood, that wrought his features in darkness, with only two eerie reed orbs appearing from within its depths and a tattered dark grey mantle that covered his body, the figure greatly resembled one of the ghost mobs that were found in the 65th floor of Aincrad.

Remembering the fierce battles he had endured against the frightening high level monsters of that floor and the numerous players that perished there, Kirito had to fight back his instincts that were screaming at him to pick up his blade and attack.

"Real… what do you mean by that? Who are you?" He asked cautiously, noticing that the red glow was being reflected by the lens of a full head helmet that was shaped like a grinning skull.

Instead of answering the player silently stepped forward, stopping only mere twenty centimeters away from Kirito's face.

"I saw it, the match. A sword, you used it." He said with his deep, metallic voice in an oddly interrupted manner.

"Ah… ahhh. That's not against the rules is it?" He replied nervously feeling his heartbeat increase.

Leaning even closer towards his face, the player asked in and even deeper voice; in such a soft tone that Kirito had to strain to hear it despite the nearly nonexistent distance between them.

"Let me, ask you again? Are you, the real one?"

'I know him.' Kirito thought with wide eyes as he stood there rooted by the shock.

Desperately trying to remember where he had meet this player and why this recognition was mixed with dread, he watched as his mantle swayed to the side as he raised a tattered leather glove as he manipulated his menu.

A window with the matchups for group F appeared and his slender bone like finger pointed towards one name, Kirito.

"This, name. That, sword skill… Are you real?"

Recognition hit Kirito as a thunderbolt trough his heart. He had met this player before, he was a SAO survivor like himself and they had met and even talked inside the death game.

'No it can't be. Calm down, it just can't be.' Kirito thought desperately, his face white as chalk.

But as the mantle parted to receive the thin long arm back into its folds Kirito saw a glimpse of his white skin, just above the glove.

On it there was a small tattoo, not exceeding five centimeters in length, a western style coffin with the lid slightly open, a mysterious face drawn upon its lid and a skeletal arm waving from within its depths.

Memories quickly flashed through his mind as he stood there unable to move, memories of death and slaughter, betrayal and despair.

For in that glimpse he had seen the mark of the only red guild on SAO, the mark of the murderous guild, Laughing Coffin.

"You, don't know, what I'm asking?"

Carefully shaking his head Kirito thanked the fact that in the low lighting of the room his white and shocked appearance was not immediately noticeable.

The players gaze seemed to intensify for a moment before he turned around, his mantle billowing around him.

"It doesn't, matter. Whether, your name, is a fake… or whether you're, real." He said as the inorganic feeling of his voice seemed to intensify. "One day, I'll kill you."

As the mantled player left silently as a ghost and then suddenly vanished, and he stood there, feeling as if everything had just changed due to that brief glimpse, Kirito knew the player wasn't talking about killing in the game.

His body swaying in place, Kirito collapsed on the nearest box-bench. Cuddling his thin legs against his torso and closing his eyes, he fought the memories that threatened to overwhelm him.

Of all the tragedies, of all the meaningless deaths and destruction that had plagued SAO one stood far above the rest. Laughing Coffin, the killing guild Laughing Coffin.

In that world, where one's life was tied to the ever constant presence of their health bar there had been one unspoken rule, a rule that had been respected even by the orange players who resorted to stealing from other players.

To never drop a players health bar below zero.

In a world in which violating that rule would result in another's death, no one even thought of breaking it.

That is, until he appeared, Poh, an exotic-looking, charismatic player, fluent speaker of English, Spanish and Japanese and a skillful dagger user.

A man that turned a group of completely ordinary players, into a cold, ruthless, organized guild of murderers.

And so in the New Years Eve of their first year trapped in SAO, Poh had led those who had fallen to his charisma and sick ideals and slaughtered a party that had been celebrating the New Year outside a safe zone.

That would mark the beginning of his reign of terror, a reign that lasted months before finally being put down by the swords of the clearers.

But even in defeat in a way he had achieve victory, for his purpose of 'unleashing the players inhibitions from their foolish morals' had been achieved.

For Laughing Coffin refused to surrender, even when clearly outmatched. And while the clearers were seeking to imprison them, they were not so limited.

And so as the battle dragged on and losses happened on the clearers side, friends that had been together after enduring the countless dangers of Aincrad mercilessly felled by the swords of the red guild, the clearers inhibition was lost to grief, rage and the pure desire for survival.

After the hellish battle, of the fifty clearers who had participated eleven had fallen, and amidst their opponents, of the more than thirty members of the red guild only twelve remained, trapped and later locked away in the Dark Iron Palace prison on the first floor, while Poh himself had vanished without a trace.

And Kirito remembered talking with one of the prisoners, a high ranking Laughing Coffin member who spoke in the same halting manner that the cloaked player.

'So why can't I remember his name?' Kirito thought while fighting down the waves of nausea that threatened to engulf him. Knowing that with that knowledge Kikouka could find the player's real name and arrest him.

But even while asking himself that question he knew why he couldn't remember it, for it was the same reason he couldn't remember the faces of the two players that had fallen to his blade on that fateful day.

His mind refused to remember, refused to dwell in the actions of that day in order to stop his grief and guilt at ending their lives from overwhelming him.

For even if it had been to save his own life, the fact remained, he had killed them.

That player was Death Gun, he was certain of it, but now, being hunted by the ghosts of his past and the regret of his actions, that certainty seemed so meaningless.

Fighting down the chills that were coursing through his body Kirito couldn't help but wonder if beneath that cloak there wasn't the face of someone he had killed.

Walking back into the waiting area Sinon saw a familiar petite, black dressed figure curled into a corner.

'So you do have some skill after all.' She thought, wondering how he had won using such an unusual weapon choice as she moved towards him.

Now that she had had time to cool off, a situation that was greatly helped by the act of blowing her opponent into oblivion, she could admit to herself that she had overreacted.

The situation had been only a massive misunderstanding, caused by very unfortunate circumstances. In no moment had he tried to mislead or deceive her and for that she was willing to let the incident slid by.

'Of course that doesn't mean I won't be blowing your head off in the finals.' She thought with a fierce smile while taping Kirito in the shoulder to gain his attention.

The sudden movement and look of shock the simple action had caused gave her pause, allowing her to really see Kirito.

His face was ghost white, his hands were trembling slightly and his eyes were dilated. He looked as if he had just seen death itself.

"Are you alright?" She said taking a closer look at the strange player she had sort of befriended before the tournament. "Was your match a close call? But you came back even earlier than me."

But even as she spoke those words she knew that was not the case, something more was afoot.

"Ah… no, it's nothing." He said with such a fake smile that Sinon wondered if anyone would believe it.

"Come-on show some of that confidence from earlier! If you are already this awkward after just one fight you won't make it to the finals!" She said trying to provoke a reaction out of him, to bring out the fire she had seen as he dodged bullets earlier. "I will not forgive you if you let anyone else defeat you!"

With that she raised her fist, playfully hitting him on the shoulder. But to her surprise his small hands darted forward, grabbing her hand and holding it tight close to his body.

"W-what are you doing?!" She asked in alarm, trying to draw her hand back against Kirito iron grip.

But looking again she saw he was shaking, holding on to her hand as if it was a lifeline.

"…what are you doing?" She whispered trying to understand what was happening.

His hands were cold as ice, but even so she stood there unmoving as she was overcome by a strong sense of déjà-vu. His frightened expression and haunted eyes, she had seen them before.

She had seen them in the image of a young girl that stared back from the mirror, wondering one single question.

'Why?'

And even thought he hadn't said a single word Sinon knew. He was trapped, just like she herself was, in an all encompassing darkness.

'What happened?' She wanted to ask, but the signal for the next matches had been made.

And without a word Kirito had let go, walking forward towards his match, feelings hidden behind a mask of ice.

Letting her hand fall by her side Sino watched his departing form before heading towards her own match, a strange feeling of warmth in her hand despite the coldness.

Waiting next to the corridor that led to the warp-pads, Sinon prepared herself for her final match.

She had reached the finals, blasting her way through her opponents and now stood there waiting for her last opponent.

She had been surprised when despite the state he had been Kirito had won match after match.

Using nothing but speed and reflexes he had carved his way through his matches. Fighting in a way no one had ever seen he used his sword to deflect bullets as he charged his enemies at impossible high speeds.

His charges were fierce, resolute and even slightly suicidal. But even in the face of fully automatic fire he had soldiered on, blocking lethal hits while ignoring all else until he could reach his opponent and cut him down.

Wondering how to counter such a fighting style Sinon's mind wandered to how Kirito had been acting.

The curious smile and serene expression he had shown when they had been shopping. The wounded look and hunted eyes that had appeared after his first match. And the resolute eyes and expressionless mask that had accompanied him through the remaining matches.

'In the end, which is the real Kirito?'

Sinon herself wasn't sure why it mattered, but the brief glimpse she had seen in that single moment, when all his defenses seemed to be absent had resonated with her.

A feeling she had never expected to feel had appeared, sympathy. He was like her, and she had never thought that was possible.

She hadn't seen him ever since after the first match, and that was the reason why she was standing there waiting for him instead of already entering the warp-pad. She wanted to talk with the mystery that was Kirito before they faced each other in battle.

Looking to the entrance of the corridor she saw him and immediately frowned at the sight.

Shoulders fallen and head bowed low as he slowly approached. His face locked into a pained expression that Sinon could summarize with one word, defeat.

"Let's get this over with." He said with an absent tone of voice, gaze distant as he failed to even look her way.

"W-what?!" Sinon cried in disbelief.

"…My goal was to enter tomorrow's tournament. There is no longer a reason to fight."

This casual dismissal of their battle, of her goal, angered her beyond belief.

"No reason to fight!" She screamed, grabbing his shirt and shoving him against the wall. "Don't force your values on me! This may be just a VR match to you, but to me… to me it has meaning…" She said as her voice broke down, her last words being little more than a whisper.

A strange look appeared on Kirito's eyes as he gazed at his captor. A small fragile smile emerged as he raised one hand against his face.

"…meaning…yes, how could I… such a simple thing…" His words barely audible as he spoke to himself, eyes closed in remembrance.

"I'm sorry Sinon, even though it's just a game, to not give my all, to simply give up, to live in this world that's not an option." He said, his voice firm, eyes resolute.

"To think I would forget such a thing…" Shaking his head he looked her in the eyes. "Sinon will you have a match with me?" He asked with a smile, head held high.

Smiling in kind Sinon simply turned around and entered the warp-pad.

Looking around Sinon saw herself on a great destroyed highway that extended in a single line into the distance. Broken cars littered the landscape amidst the uneven ground.

A cold wind howled through the abandoned vehicles as the sun slowly set in the horizon, basking the highway with a crimson glow before darkness came to rule once more.

The Intercontinental Highway, the field would give her a distinct advantage, avoiding any possibility of flanking her position. Even with all the cover provided by the ruined cars and trucks, there would be no way to approach her without being seen in this straight line.

'Show me your power Kirito, show me who you really am.' She thought as she waited for the timer to reach zero.

Never before had she meet someone who could understand her darkness, but with him she knew. Not only did he understand, he could sympathize with it for he himself had darkness within him.

She knew this could be it, the battle she had been searching all along, a battle to prove her strength and eradicate her weakness.

The moment the timer reached zero she rushed forward towards a large tour bus that was situated in the middle of the highway.

Quickly climbing to its second level she positioned herself stomach down in the center of the floor, Hecate pointed through the panoramic window giving her a perfect view of the highway.

The window would hide the reelection the sun would cause on her scope, and from that position there would be no way to approach her undetected.

Looking through her scope she steeled herself for the battle to come.

'I'm ice. I'm a machine made of cold ice.' She thought as she drew Hecate's coldness down to her very core.

When she saw him she frowned in confusion. Calmly walking towards her, he approached without even trying to take cover.

A spike of anger crossed her features, thinking he had abandoned his earlier words.

The anger lasted until she saw his eyes. There was resolve there, fierce and unrelenting; there was strength on his gaze.

Sinon smiled, she didn't know what he was planning, but there was no longer defeat on his gaze.

Calming her breath she watched as the bullet prediction circle started to shrink and grow on her vision. Once, twice, when the circle shrunk for the third time and aligned itself with his left leg she pulled the trigger.

She knew he would be expecting a hit to the torso and would likewise protect it, but a gun of Hecate's caliber would had more than enough power to kill him even in a non fatal area like the leg due to the impact damage.

A thunderous roar filled the highway as Hecate released all her power in a storm of fire, Death in a crystallized form flew forward as the bullet easily broke through the sound barrier in its path towards the Kirito's petite body.

As if guided by something only he could see Kirito locked his gaze into her hiding place, sword coming to life at his side.

With unnatural speed the blade flashed forward, hitting the 12.7mm bullet that was speeding towards him as he took a step back to compensate for the strength behind the blast.

Sinon's gaze widened at the impossible feat, before understanding filled her features.

Kirito slow approach from the middle of the highway allowed him to determine her most likely hiding locations and the distance allowed him to use his speed and reflexes to predict the bullet's path in the split moment after the flash of the bullet being fired and the bullet reaching him.

'What kind of reflexes do you have?' She thought in wonder as she reloaded Hecate for the next assault.

Regaining his footing Kirito dashed forward into a frenzied charge at her position, eyes never wavering from the target.

Firing once again Sinon saw how Kirito jumped to the side, avoiding the bullet before kicking a car and propelling himself back into the path without losing any of his momentum.

Even as she reloaded Sinon knew she had to change strategies, with the bullet prediction line aiding him she would have to wait until he was right next to her in order that Hecate's bullet speed and lack of time lapse between the line and the bullet at close quarters could compensate for his reaction time.

Steeling herself Sinon raised into a crouching position, one knee on the ground and the other acting as support for her arms.

As she watched Kirito fast approaching form she knew she would have only one chance. If she fired too soon he would evade, if she fired too late he would reach her. In order to win she would have to fire at the exact moment before he could strike her down.

Drawing his pistol Kirito fired five shots against her awaiting form before jumping towards the bus, closing the distance between them.

Steeling herself Sinon ignored the bullets she knew to be a distraction, even as they pierced her flesh and reduced her health by more than half, her aim remaining true and unfaltering.

The moment Kirito's jumping form filled her scope's sight she fired, unleashing Hecate's power as the bullet easily broke the sound barrier.

Twisting in the air Kirito turned around his own gravity center, avoiding the bullet by less than an inch.

Reaching the second level of the bus he darted forward, pressing his blade against Sinon's throat before she could react and grab her MP7.

The world stopped; the howling of the wind and the sword faint vibration being the only noises as they stood there watching each other.

"How did you predict the aim of my last bullet?" Sinon asked as she raised to her feet, ignoring the blade pressed against her neck.

"Even through the scope, I could see your eye." He explained to his surprised opponent.

'Line of sight, he predicted the bullet trajectory from my line of sight. To think you have such strength.' But at the same time she had the thought the memory of his cold hands came to her mind.

"You are so strong. What are you afraid of?"

She saw the flicker of pain her words had caused, his reply sounding as if he was enduring a distant memory.

"This is not strength, just skill."

Shaking her head in denial at his words Sinon stepped forward ignoring the blade pressing against her flesh.

"Lies! If it was just technique it would not be possible to cut Hecate's bullet! How did you become so strong! …how can I be…"

"Then let me ask you!" Kirito interjected, interrupting with a low but strong voice.

"If that gun's bullet would really kill your opponent, and if you did not shoot, yourself or someone precious to you would die. Would you pull the trigger!?"

The strength of the question made Sinon take a step back as she wondered if he too knew her secret.

But upon looking at his haunted eyes that were lost in remembrance she knew that was not the case. His question was based on his own past, not hers.

"… I can no longer do that. I… cut two… no, three people at that time, and I don't even know their names… I just closed my eyes and forgot it, pretending nothing ever happened."

His pained tone told Sinon he was speaking the truth, proving to her that her guesses had been correct. Just like her, his past was lost in darkness and blood.

And she remembered his scared form in the waiting room. Something happened, something that made the buried darkness to overflow to the surface.

And them the moment was broken as his usual carefree smile returned to his face.

"Will you surrender? I don't want to cut such a cute girl." He said in a teasing tone.

Holding back her anger at his cheeky tone Sinon gazed defiantly at his eyes.

"You better not die tomorrow until I find you, for I'm putting a bullet in your head." Taking a deep breath she allowed the tension that had been building inside her to disperse. "I resign."

The F group third Bullet of Bullets qualifying final was over.

Author's Notes:

While I truly enjoyed the Phantom Bullet arc in the light novels, I always thought that the duel between Sinon and Kirito in the final could be better. The fact they stopped to talk in the middle of the battle before finally fighting cut down a lot of the tension in my opinion.

So that is why I created the warp-pads instead of simply automatically transporting them like it happen in the original. This way Sinon could beat some sense into Kirito before the battle.

Next chapter will finally have some of the more major changes I have planned for the arc, look forward to it!

Thanks for reading and please review.