A/N: Hey guys! Back again with another chapter. Things have been hectic for me recently with being laid off and getting a new job but I'm managing fine and are pressing on just fine. But now we return to Leafa's dilemma of her status. Enjoy the chapter everyone!

"Well this is a fine mess we've gotten into, isn't it Leafa?"

The tone that her brother carried was one of both exasperation and annoyance. Not squarely directed at her but to all the circumstances that led up to this situation. Kirito, Argo and Leafa all were standing off to an area covered with trees near the town. It was close enough in proximity to the town where they could hop into the safety zone if something tried to attack them. But entering the town right now possibly wouldn't be the best idea.

The marker above Leafa's head was orange, a signifier that a player committed a wrongdoing in the eyes of the world. This icon could range from mildly annoying to detrimental to the player's situation as NPC's would often turn away services or try and chase them out of town. Until it wore off, there would be a small period where Leafa would not be welcome in the safety of a town.

The black swordsman sighed and rubbed his chin in thought. "Even though this situation is rough, we should be grateful that this is a first time offense. That orange color should only last a few hours at most."

"Those bastards…" Leafa groaned as she slumped against the stonewall of the town border. Even though it was the virtual world, she could feel a migraine coming in. "Ganging up on me and baiting me into hitting one of them."

"Well at least this is only your first strike." Argo chimed in as she sat next to the girl. "Most other RPG's encourage this sort of behavior since death doesn't have as steep of a consequence. In Aincrad, there's a five step system in regards to committing a crime. The first three infractions lands you with an orange cursor for a few hours then it'll go back to green. The fourth makes it permanent until you complete a quest. But after that, forget it. No quest'll get you back to green, you're stuck as an orange player forever."

Leafa scooted away from the small girl with a frown etched into her face. "Maybe I wouldn't have to worry about that if you hadn't barged into our home for like the eighth time."

"Leafa, stop that." Kirito said while raising a hand. "True, Argo needs to learn to mind her own space and others, she is sorry that she drove you off." Said girl looked away from the taller girl with an embarrassed look but nodded her head nonetheless. "I'm more concerned about how you even got that orange marker if they harassed you first."

"It's something that scummy players have been doing recently." Argo piped up. The siblings focused attention on her as she brought out her handy dandy fieldbook. "It's something I've seen some shady characters do. They pair up in duos and attack innocent players in a manner similar to how one would handle mobs." A serious look came onto her face as she went into more detail. "Think of it like performing a Switch during combat. The other lays back until the aggro is focused on another player and then the 'victim' jumps in to take the hit after the system believes that they are no longer in combat, ergo making the defender the 'bad guy'."

Kirito let out an annoyed sigh at this new information. To think that some players would sink so low. "Bad enough everyone already hates us for being who we are. But for those Army guys to use such a scummy tactic to get one over on us is just terrible."

"I guess now we have to be more careful in dealing with other players." Leafa said as she stood up proper from the wall. "These people are so petty that they'd jeopardize front line progression by handicapping other players."

"Well we should be glad then you only got penalized for a few hours." Argo said with a shrug. "I mean, sure no warm bed tonight but it's not like any of us need sleep anyways. It's just a mental thing really."

"We might not be able to overwork our bodies but our minds would suffer if we just kept on going without rest." Kirito argued. "Resting the mind is the most important thing to keep us and our facilities in the green."

Leafa let out a groaning whimper at the thought of not being able to get proper sleep tonight. After slashing through mobs and dealing with jerks all day, she just wanted to do is take a hot shower and flop onto her bed. "Guess now is a good time as ever to give the sleeping bag a try." Her brother's annoying insistence seemed to work out for the best. Outdoor tools were something that wasn't really in high value as most large groups traveled until they hit a new or old town.

Just as the younger sister materialized the sleeping bag, a fast stomping noise caught everyone's attention. All three players reached for their weapons just in case it was a monster charging in at them. But a flash of auburn hair that moved past the two girls made it clear who it was, especially when an open palm slapped the only male in the face.

"You idiot!"

"Gahhh! What is wrong with you, Asuna!?" Kirito yelled while holding his cheek. "That was uncalled for!"

"What's this I heard about Leafa attacking some Army member and going orange? I heard she stormed off from town and caused a scene!"

"Who told you that!?" It didn't take a millisecond to realize that the group was a member short. All heads turned around to see Argo turn the corner as she ran frantically, having been caught in her little game.

Leafa ran to the corner and shouted at the retreating half pint. "You little brat! You're more of a snake than a rat! I'll get you back for this!" She tried to throw a rock at Argo but she managed to sharply turn into the gate of the town before it could hit her.

Asuna sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. Argo's loose lips would sink ships one day. "Well it looks like she's going to be hiding out from you two for a bit. Now, why don't you both fill me in on the whole situation?"

Both siblings filled in Asuna on the situation for their sides of the story. Having full context, the other girl gave a soft apology for hitting Kirito like that to which he forgave her after a flick to the head. "So what is the plan for you two?"

"Well we were going to camp it out." Leafa said while bringing her sleeping bag into view. "We would take turns keeping watch for monsters or other players until my time ran out."

"This isn't your problem Asuna. We can take care of it and be back in the frontlines by morning." Kirito affirmed. "Thanks for checking up on us though."

As the two were about to set up their sleeping situation for the night, Asuna stepped forward a bit hesitant. "Umm… Actually, if you two don't mind I could keep Leafa company." When given looks of confusion between the two Asuna further elaborated. "I-I mean, Leafa here is one of the minority of girls playing the game and not many of them are on the front lines trying to clear the game. I'd like to get to know her better if that's alright with the two of you."

"Excuse us for a moment." The auburn haired girl fidgeted slightly as the two went a bit deeper into the woods, being sure to stick to the town wall. "I think you should do it."

"What? Why?"

Her brother sighed a bit and patted her on the head. "It wouldn't do you so bad if you got to know more girls. Have some other people to talk to other than me."

Leafa squirmed out from under the affectionate touch and pouted at him. "Big talk from a guy who doesn't talk to anyone else."

"I have Argo."

"And how is Argo sitting right now in terms of relations?"

That got Kirito to hold his tongue for a moment. Mentally cursing his sister's sharp mind, he gave a bit of a forced smile. "Tell you what. You go and stay with Asuna for the night… and I'll reach out to Klein sometime soon."

"No, not sometime soon. Very soon." She said firmly. "If you're gonna put me into a situation of interaction without you, AGAIN might I add, it's only fair for you to do the same thing." Looking to the ground, Leafa let out a sigh. "... We've only ever had each other and never needed anyone else. I don't like the idea about putting myself out there considering…"

Kirito interrupted his sister by pulling her into a comforting hug. She hesitated for a moment before bringing her arms around him. "Hey, I know… I understand where you're coming from but Asuna was the one who wants to do this the most. She's different than the people at school and most others we know. I think we can trust her, she seems genuine enough as does Klein." He let go of Leafa and shook his head while smiling. "I think it might be best for us to make at least a few friends here. Even if we are the Beater and his Opportunist."

Letting out a small laugh at that last part, the younger sister nodded her head. "I guess you have a point. Alright, I'll hang out with her for the night. Be sure not to cause any trouble while I'm gone."

"I think you got into enough trouble for the both of us already, sis." A swift smack to the shoulder made the swordsman recoil slightly. "Kidding, kidding! Geez, you girls and your physical abuse."

Asuna looked up to see both of them returning with an approving look upon their faces. Kirito threw his sleeping bag towards her, clumsily catching the item thrown at her. "Alright, you two have fun with your sleepover. Don't stay up too late, alright?"

"See you tomorrow, kick Argo's butt for me if you see her!" Leafa called after him as he waved in confirmation of her wishes. As he turned the corner into the town, the two girls began to set up their sleeping situation. Having both their bags next to each other.

Silence prevailed for a while between the two. Neither of them really having a way to broach a conversation subject. Asuna's eyes looked around desperate for a point to talk to until her eyes fell onto Leafa's sword. "S-So, uh…"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Ever since the first floor boss fight, I've noticed that you and Kirito fight differently than other players." Asuna started after finally catching the other girl's ear. "H-Have you played other games before SAO?"

Leafa brought a hand to her chin as she recalled the games she and her brother played. "... I guess so but not to the extent of what SAO is. Kirito was the only one between the two of us to get into the beta of the game and play it extensively. I was lucky enough to even get a NerveGear considering…! A-Ah!" The girl soon shut her mouth upon realizing that she spoke a bit too much.

Asuna picked up on her hesitation quickly, shaking her hands in front of her to ease Leafa's worries. "O-Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to pry about the real world!"

For all players it was considered an unwritten rule that discussions of IRL or real world life were taboo. If and hopefully when everyone got out of this game, any information could be used for a numerous amount of purposes be they shady or not. Even if was something as simple as a username from another game or website.

The black haired girl realized how her abrupt stop came off and shook her own head to ease down Asuna. "N-No it's fine! It's just… ah…" She groaned into her hands while slumping into her sleeping bag. "I'm no good at this…"

"Leafa?"

She watched as the girl sunk deeper into her sleeping bag before she opened her mouth again. "I'm sorry Asuna, this isn't fair to you. I've… just never been good at talking with other girls like this."

"Leafa, you don't have to tell me about this stuff if it makes you uncomfortable."

'She's different than the people at school and most others we know. I think we can trust her, she seems genuine enough as does Klein.'

The words that her brother used to comfort her to the idea of staying with Asuna echoed in her mind. Deciding now was a better time than ever to follow up on the advice, Leafa got up from her slump and faced the other girl. "It's alright. I mean, you're a friend aren't you?"

That statement caught Asuna off guard for a moment but she met the gesture with a smile and nodded her head. "Yeah, we are."

"Well, Kirito and I played a whole bunch of games but nothing like this before. They were MMO's and other Co-Op games that we teamed up in. But the reason why we fight differently is because of the combo system."

"Combo system?"

Leafa looked to the darkness of the forest in front of them. "We figured out that the game has a set list of combos for every type of weapon that can be wielded through the menu. Not counting unconventional weapons that we just pick up and not put into our inventory. The combo system, we believe, was made to help other players who weren't good at fighting so that they could get a fair shake like everyone else. But Kirito doesn't like how it feels, it feels like his movement is being put into a flowchart."

Asuna looked to her rapier on the side of her sleeping bag in understanding of her words. Being that this was the first game she ever played, she had no idea what she was doing when combat came into play. Soon enough she learned to move with her weapon and came into becoming a front liner on her own. But she did recognize what it felt like to fight when she first started, like something was guiding her to make the correct strikes for those beginning days. "I think I understand."

"That dork was never someone to follow the rules in games. After the first few days when we started training he taught me to move without reliance on the system. It catches mobs off guard and lets us have more freedom in actions. Plus learning kendo…"

Leafa trailed off slightly realizing where the conversation was headed. Memories of a man whom she'd rather forget, times that she wanted to stay buried. Her thoughts almost put her into a fog of doubt until a comforting hand was put on her leg. She looked up to see Asuna looking at her with a concerned look.

"It's okay Leafa, you've told me enough." Placing her hand back to her lap, Asuna smiled at Leafa. "Here, let me share a little bit about myself."

This caught the black haired girl's interest. Other than a few shared interests and foods, she knew almost next to nothing about Asuna. She turned towards her in her sleeping bag and gave a look that urged her to tell.

Nearly laughing to herself over Leafa's interest, she sunk into her own sleeping bag and looked to the stars. "Honestly, I was never much of a gamer for most my life. I was never around the stuff for most my life since I had other… hobbies I was accustomed to. But one day my brother came home with a NerveGear and said he got a copy of this game. My parents didn't know about it but I asked if I could play it since he had a meeting to go to during the day to give it a try." A sigh escaped her lips as her gaze became a bit unfocused. "Guess my parents had a nasty surprise when they came home."

"Wow…" There wasn't much more that she could say in reaction to that information to process. It was certainly a far cry from how she got started in playing games. "One heck of a way to enter the world of gaming."

"Tell me about it." Asuna chuckled a bit distantly. Looking at the clock on her HUD she noticed that it was beginning to get late. "Well we can continue this story time later. Get some sleep Leafa. I think you earned it after today."

As if predicting the future, Leafa let out a soft yawn at the mention of sleep. "Right… Wake me up when it's your turn to sleep…" After seeing Asuna nod her head, she slowly fell into sleep. A soft snoring came from her lips as the other girl smiled at her getting some rest. She looked to the sky as she let the girl sleep.

'I'm glad you can at least talk to me Leafa. Hopefully, we can talk even more outside of bad circumstances.'

The hours passed by with Asuna never letting her attentive focus escape her. As the morning sun began to rise, she gave a passing glance to Leafa and widened her eyes. At once she began shaking the girl awake. "Leafa! Leafa, wake up!"

"Hu~uh!? What, what!? What's going on!?" The rustled girl stammered out as her vision tried to refocus at being abruptly woken up. "Is it time to switch?"

"No, your cursor is green again!" Asuna said excitedly as she looked at top of the black haired girl's head. "You can get back into town with no issues!"

Quickly opening up her personal information tab in her menu, the swordswoman was beyond delighted to see herself in the green. She let out a quick squeal of excitement, never once thinking that she'd be grateful for being able to do something as simple as walking into a town.

As the excitement from her high wore down, a sudden realization came upon her as she turned to Asuna. "Wait, why didn't you wake me up for my shift? You didn't have to watch me all night long."

"I think you deserved it more than me." She said simply while getting up. "Plus it's not like we're doing another advancing march towards the boss dungeon any time soon, so we can just take it easy." She passed along the sleeping bag back to Leafa as she finished wrapping it up. "Tell Kirito I said thanks for the bag. Before I go for a nap myself, I have some choice words for Kibao regarding his troops."

Leafa almost felt bad for the verbal lashing that Kibao was about to receive. But considering the circumstances, she decided to let go of her pity for the wrath he was about to endure. "Well you go and have fun with that. Wish I could be there to see it but I think I've had enough excitement for a bit."

The two of them walked back into town and split ways at the inn. The black haired girl waited until Asuna turned at the corner to walk into the building. She walked upstairs until she came face to face with her and Kirito's room. Sighing quickly, she opened the door softly and peeked inside. On his bed, Kirito was soundly asleep even though the day was beginning for most the players around town. She smiled softly as she snuck her way into the bedsheets with him and hugged him from behind. Her brother shifted slightly in his sleep but went back to snoring real quick. Leafa smiled as she pressed herself closer to him.

'It's good to be back.'

A/N: And with that, the chapter ends. Now with my schedule returning to normal soon, I can go about bringing the next series of chapters soon enough for the upcoming arc. Stay tuned for it. R&R if you want and I hope you all have a great rest of your day and to those in the USA, enjoy President's Day!