Well, I'm really excited about this chapter. Also, merry Christmas time everyone.

Zippy

Toshi drove as fast as he could to his home. He unlocked the door to his apartment, and hurried inside. He had dropped Kazuto off at his house so that they could log into GGO. Toshi went to his computer, and began to download the game. Luckily for him, his stats were able to transfer from Alfheim, all he had to do was download the game and connect the Amusphere to it.

While the game was downloading, Toshi looked up all that he could on the game. He pulled up maps and other information he could. When he specifically looked up the Krankenhaus inn in GGO, he was surprised by what he saw. There was only one, and confirming what Shouichi said, it was just a few miles outside of the city.

Finally, the download was complete. Toshi connected the Amusphere to his computer and lay back on his bed. He started up the device, which hummed to life. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

"Link start!"

Immediately, color filled his vision, zooming past him as if he was being thrust into the virtual world. The system checklist checked off his senses. Then an alert appeared on his sight.

"Transfer stats to foreign title?"

"Yes." he stated in reply.

The loading screen came and went with very little time lost. Finally, a welcome screen appeared. "Welcome to Gun Gale Online!" the screen read. He was enveloped in light, and was teleported away. He arrived in a teleporter, in the middle of a large city.

There was only one way to describe the city: Steampunk. Everything looked mechanized, even the outfits of passerbys. Even his starting armor was different, which led to his next discovery he initially overlooked. I don't have my daggers now.

He opened his menu to his character icon. He had his stats, however, the only stat that had carried was his Agility! Which broke down into his two main skills of Speed and Acrobatics.

I am not a circus animal! Why do they have acrobatics?!

Luckily, his character looked surprisingly normal. Actually, it looked a lot like he did in real life. Dark hair, and brown eyes, along with his lighter complexion were all carried into the game. The clothing matched the futuristic feel, but he felt like he was in the future somehow.

He took some steps out of the teleporter pod. There were some shady characters hovering around him that paid very little attention to him, but made him feel uncomfortable. However, he was told to stay at the spawn point by Kazuto. He stood as close to the street as possible, in case he needed a short getaway.

Why does this game feel so, sketchy?

"Toshiyan?" someone asked. Toshiyan turned to face who was talking to him. It was a girl, who looked to be just younger than he was. So many alarms were blaring in his head, but his expression remained calm.

"Sorry madame, but I don't know who you are." Toshi said, almost indifferently.

"Toshi! It's me!" the other character replied harshly.

When Toshi took another look at this character, he finally realized what he did wrong. This 'girl's' hair was long, which was what confused him at first. However, that face, he couldn't forget that. He paled when he realized who he was talking to.

"Kirito?" Toshiyan replied. "Is that you?"

"Yes it's me!" he said, sounding slightly offended.

"Oh," Toshiyan realized. "Wait, why do you look like a-"

"It doesn't matter!" Kirito interrupted. He took a deep breath, relaxing himself. "Sorry, it's just that everyone thinks that I'm a girl in this game."

Toshiyan smiled. "Does Asuna know?"

He nodded. "Yeah,"

Toshiyan just burst out laughing. The great and mighty swordsman Kirito, conqueror of Aincrad, wielder of Excalibur. Now, he's a sissy androgynous gunner. Kirito looked slightly annoyed.

"Are you done?" he asked.

Toshi relaxed himself. "Yeah, I'm done."

"Did you find out anything?"

"Yeah, I looked up the Krankenhaus while the game was downloading. It's in the southern part of the city."

"We better get going then." Kirito urged.

Toshi was about to follow, until he realized a rather large problem. "Wait, I need weapons."

Kirito stopped, putting his hand on his chin. "Yeah, good point."

"Where can I get cash fast? Is there a bank I could go to?"

Suddenly Kirito realized the solution. "No, I have a better idea, but we still have to go fast."

"Then what are we standing around here for?" Toshi asked.

"This way," Kirito said, pointing down the street. The two hurried down the road, pushing by some people. Kirito made a sharp turn into the left, making his way towards a building with large neon lights. Toshiyan followed him carefully into the illuminated building, and almost cringed when he came inside.

Now, Toshi had always been told by his parents to avoid places like this. Casinos were a waste of money, and in a game where money is real in the game and real life, it was the same principle. He was beginning to doubt Kirito, more so than before.

"Kirito, why are we in a casino? We're not here to gamble."

"Actually, yes we are."

Toshi stared dumbfounded at Kirito. It's official, Kirito has lost it.

"Follow me," Kirito said. Toshiyan followed him into another room of the casino. The two stared at an entire column of a casino game called Untouchable! It looked like a long, straight path that led up to a robotic cowboy. There were a lot of credits lined up in each station, but Toshiyan still looked kind of confused.

"Kirito, we don't have time to gamble for lucrative amounts of money we don't need!"

"Toshi, you have no idea how expensive weapons here are. I have an idea for your weapons, but they're really expensive. So do me a favor, and stop questioning me please!"

Kirito spoke softly, but with much force. Toshi was about to argue, but kept his mouth shut. Fine, I need Kirito to teach me, so that I can be done with him for now.

"Fine, what do I need to do."

Kirito smiled. "Let's look, shall we?"

They walked towards one of the game stations. One of the bystanders had put in some credits and was about to start. When the timer hit zero, the player shot forward. The robotic cowboy pulled out his gun and prepared to shoot. The player suddenly stopped, and stood in a funny position, which confused Toshi again.

"Why did he-"

The question was answered before he could finish. Bullets whizzed right past him, and then the player kept running.

"Do you get it now?"

"Kind of, he can tell where the bullets are coming from, right?" Toshi asked.

"Exactly," Kirito confirmed. "For you, it will look like several red lines that show where the bullets will be."

Toshiyan and Kirito continued to examine the player as he ran. The cowboy got progressively faster and more accurate as the player got closer. Toshi was able to notice this, despite looking at the game from the side.

"In case you didn't notice," Kirito added. "In the games attempt to make the cowboy more accurate, it actually made the game easier, because-"

"You can predict the prediction lines."

"Exactly."

Finally, the player was shot a by a quick energy gun that he didn't expect. That player set the record distance for the day, and others cheered him on his feat.

"I'd like to see anyone top that." one player commented.

Kirito looked at Toshi, who was grinning ear to ear. "You think you can do it?" Kirito asked.

Toshi stared at Kirito. "Kirito, anything you can do, I can do just as well."

"Then let's see it."

Toshi got in line, and inserted the proper credits. The cowboy shouted something obscure at him, but he didn't mind. Toshi knew that he could do this. When the timer hit zero, Toshiyan began to dash. When the cowboy shot at him, Toshiyan could see the red lines. He tried to dodge them, but suddenly, a force overtook him, moving his limbs for him. Toshi tried to fight it, and to no avail. Because of his immediate hesitation, one of the bullets hit him in the arm, and he lost.

Kirito frowned, and walked towards his comrade. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Toshiyan replied. "It's like my body was trying to move for me."

Kirito thought about it for a minute. He then had an idea. "Toshi, may I see your skill chart for a second?"

"Um, sure." Toshiyan replied. He opened his menu and showed his character profile to Kirito, who nodded in response.

"I see, you have speed, but you also have acrobatics too. It's the acrobatics skill that's throwing you off."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, Acrobatics can help you maneuver around certain objects with little to no problem, or it can help you dodge bullets. You resisted it, so it didn't work."

"What do I do?"

"Instead of resisting the skill, try to bend with it. Relax yourself instead of fighting it."

Toshiyan nodded. "Good to know."

He got back in line and prepared to start. Toshiyan could see the counter going down, but paid little heed.

I wonder why Kirito is trying so hard to help me. Toshi thought.

Finally, the counter hit zero, and Toshi lunged forward again. The cowboy pulled his gun out, and shot at him again. Toshiyan relaxed his body, and bent with the Acrobatics skill. This time, the skill paid off, and Toshiyan came out of the onslaught unscathed.

"Keep going!" Kirito called. "Be sure to watch the lines!"

As Toshi got closer, cowboy changed it's patterns again, and shot faster and more accurately. However, Toshiyan quickly adapted, and began to make educated guesses on where the lines were going to be. For the most part, he was right. He got closer and closer until finally, he was just feet away. The cowboy pulled out a small energy blaster, and shot small quick shots all around him. Toshi rolled underneath the shots and tagged the cowboy on the foot.

The crowd was dead silent, the only sound that could be heard was from the cowboy as it shouted in disbelief. Gold sputtered out of the cabin and the number displaying the money in the game got smaller and smaller. Toshiyan smiled, and accepted the money. He jumped over the fence, and ran towards Kirito.

"I did it, now where do we need to go to buy my weapons?" Toshiyan asked.

"Alright, the store is on a floor just above us, we should check there for your equipment." Kirito replied.

"Good, let's get going."

Still about 1.5 years into SAO…

Toshiyan waited in the trees for his target. He knew that Kirito usually walked this way to get to the town, and because Kirito was a solo player, getting him alone right now would be the easiest thing to do. Toshi was dead silent, but he wasn't sure why. According to his plan, he couldn't really hide from Kirito forever.

Suddenly, Toshiyan's detection skill came online. He could see someone coming from a distance. He used his Ring of Farsight to see who it was, and he saw a character dressed in black approach his location.

"Here he comes," Toshiyan murmured. "Time to try my plan."

Toshi didn't know how to go about it, but he needed a way to get Kirito's attention. The only thing that he could think of was to drop down and call out to him. He just needed to have the right timing.

However, Kirito stopped all of the sudden, looking around.

"Whoever's there, show yourself!"

Toshiyan knew he couldn't do it anymore. He dropped down from the tree, just in front of the Black Swordsman.

"Hello Kirito,"

Kirito looked confused. "Toshiyan? How did-" He stopped mid-sentence, and pulled out his dark sword. "Stay back!"

Toshi jumped back in response. He put his arms up innocently. "Kirito, what is it?"

"Your crystal," he muttered. "Why is it orange!"

Toshi was shocked. He examined his crystal by looking up, but to his relief, it was still green. However, he was more concerned about Kirito's crystal than his own. He could see clear as day, that Kirito's crystal was orange, not his.

"I could ask you the same thing," Toshiyan replied, unsheathing his daggers. "I should've known that the Black Swordsman had a double life!"

Kirito stopped, looking quite confused. Kirito knew for a fact that his crystal was green. Why did Toshiyan think that his crystal was orange. However, that aside, he had a more pressing matter to attend to. He was facing a fight he didn't know he could win. Toshiyan was a brother to his girlfriend's colleague. Not to mention, Toshiyan was also a close friend to Asuna as well. Now suddenly, he's trying to kill him?

"Toshiyan, take it easy."

"You know what Kirito, I'm really disappointed." Toshiyan said. "I really liked you. You were strong, and had good character, or so I thought. What's Asuna going to do when she finds out, huh?!"

There he was going on about the crystals again. Kirito had never attacked a green player intentionally in his life! What could this possibly accomplish. You can't change how a player views their screen.

Unless…

"Toshiyan, you've disappeared for the past few months, where were you exactly?" Kirito inquired.

"That's none of your concern, and don't try and change the subject." Toshi snapped back.

"Is it true that you joined another guild?"

"Kirito! I'm serious, this is no time for-"

"Toshiyan, I might be able to explain what happened, but I need you to answer me. Did you or did you not join another guild?"

Toshiyan paused, unsure how to react. "Um, yes."

"Did they give you an item of some sort?"

"No, they didn't-" Toshiyan paused mid-sentence. He was given an item, the Ring of Farsight. He then began to tremble slightly. "Yes, I was given a ring. Why?"

"Unequip it." Kirito stated.

Toshiyan hesitantly complied. He opened his menu, and clicked on his character slot. He tapped on the ring, telling the menu to unequip it.

Suddenly, the world changed. His vision decreased significantly, and he could see almost, clearer. As his line of sight decreased, so did his anxiety. He examined Kirito's crystal, and saw that it was indeed green.

"H-How is that p-possible."

Kirito looked down. "It's a trick that someone figured out. They can alter any weapon to change how a person views the game. Some use it as a prank, but as you can see, it was far from it.

"Wait, you mean-"

"Well that depends." Kirito continued. "You were sent to kill me, right?"

"Yeah, but there were others."

"Others?"

"I killed 18 other players, were they-"

Toshi didn't finish his sentence, Kirito's face said it all. Kirito's hung his face low, answering his question. Toshi froze. Toshi had never liked this whole business, not one bit. Now he knew why, and immediately regretted it. Toshi never wanted to kill anyone, and it took much to try to make him kill Red players. Now, everything he had done, hit him like a stab with his own daggers.

"I-It can't be true!" Toshiyan screamed, tears welling up.

"I'm so sorry," Kirito said in a low voice. "I really am, but we have a bigger problem. The only guild that I've seen do this is a guild named Laughing Coffin. They're a guild of Red players, only trying to kill innocent people. They knew they couldn't get you to join them, so they tricked you into killing 'criminals'. However, this can be good."

"In what dimension Kirito?! I'm a murderer!"

"No, you were tricked by them. You don't have to kill me for us both to gain from this."

"No, you don't understand, I have to kill you!"

"What do you mean?"

Toshiyan stared at the dirt below him. "They took Lyn, and they'll kill her if I don't kill you."

Kirito nodded. This just became much more difficult. If Laughing Coffin had taken Lyn, then it would be much more difficult to save her. Regardless, he had an idea that needed Toshiyan's help.

"Toshiyan, look at me." Kirito ordered.

Toshiyan looked at the Black Swordsman, tears staining his cheeks. "What?" he mumbled.

"I need you to tell me where Laughing Coffin's base is. I have friends who can help me get your sister back, but I can't help you unless you tell me where it is."

Toshiyan clenched his fists. He didn't want to have Lyn get hurt, but Kirito made a valid point. If they played their cards right, then he could get out of the mess he made, and have Lyn safe again. But he hesitated.

"I know where it is, but, I-"

"I get it, you don't want Lyn to get hurt. Lyn is my friend too, and I want her back as well. But I need you to tell me where it is. If you do, I give you my solid oath that we will get your sister back."

Toshiyan met Kirito's eyes. "You promise?"

"Yes, I do."

Toshiyan thought for a moment. Then, he nodded. "Alright, I'll help you."

"Excellent. If I can tell everyone about you, then I-."

"NO!" Toshi yelled.

Kirito jumped back, startled at the outburst. "Why?"

"I'll tell you where it is, but, don't tell anyone about me, alright?"

Kirito nodded. "Of course, but, may I at least tell Asuna. She deserves to know the stakes, and she can tell the Knights of the Blood Oath where it is too."

Toshiyan didn't object, he trusted Asuna more than he trusted Kirito. If anyone could help him, it was Asuna. "Yes, go ahead, but be discreet otherwise."

"Got it, thank you for telling me, you won't regret it!" Kirito said, almost excited. He ran in the other direction with purpose, leaving Toshiyan behind. Toshiyan sat down, reflecting on his conversation.

"If I can save Lyn, then she can help me make this right." he said to himself. "Besides, Kirito hasn't ever let me down. He won't do it now." Toshiyan thought, but there is always a back thought that occurs when you trust someone, no exceptions.

"Right?"

Toshiyan and Kirito hurried out of the store and hurried towards the south part of town. Both had a really high speed skill, and they pushed and shoved bystanders out of the way. Kirito stopped as they passed by a motorcycle renting store.

"Toshiyan, over here!"

Toshiyan stopped, and saw what Kirito was talking about, and ran towards the vehicles. He tapped on the top, and rented the bike, and the two sped down the road. Toshiyan struggled with the controls at first, but was able to adapt to keep up with Kirito.

With their new vehicles, they approached the south of the city quickly. Suddenly, their motorcycles timed out, and they came to a halt outside of the city. Kirito was about to activate it again, but Toshiyan stopped him before he could pay again.

"It doesn't matter, we're here anyway."

Kirito and Toshiyan jumped off of their bikes and ran towards the inn. They could see a small building in the distance. However, Kirito stopped them before they could get any further.

"What is it?"

"Someone else is there." he said, pointing. Toshiyan squinted, and could make out some figures in the distance. They were walking back and forth, almost patrolling.

"What are they doing?" Toshiyan asked.

"I don't know, but they don't look friendly."

"Did Kyouji hire them?"

"That's a possibility."

"It looks like their guarding the tavern, if that's the case, then we're probably on the right track."

"We need to get closer,"

They both crept towards a rock that shielded them from view. They were close enough to the guards that they could listen to the guards chatting.

"Did you find anything?" one of the guards asked.

"No, no sign of any activity." the other replied.

"Just like this for the entire day. Why are we even here?"

"Because, we're getting payed to do this, remember."

"We are?" a third voice interjected.

"Yeah, some rich kid is paying us to not let anyone in this inn."

"Why?"

"Um, I'm not really sure."

"Actually, I heard that we're guarding some chick."

"Seriously?!" the first guard asked. "Is she hot?"

"Does it matter?" the second guard asked.

"Of course, if we get bored, we could always have fun with her."

Toshiyan clenched his fists. They're talking about Shino. My Shino! How dare they even speak like that about her!

"Toshi, I know what you're thinking, don't-"

Toshiyan didn't let Kirito finish, he jumped from behind the rock charging full force towards the group of mercenaries. He grabbed his weapons, two beam swords. One had a yellow pigment, while the other, and electric blue. Toshiyan had picked these weapons because they had the exact weight of his daggers, and were twice as long.

"What the-"

The guard didn't have a chance to finish. Toshiyan sliced at them, being able to cut through multiple targets at a time with his extended range. Another gunner came around the corner to see Toshiyan's carnage, and pulled his gun up.

"Freeze!" the guard ordered.

Toshiyan finished with the last guard then turned to face his new threat. He began to twirl his light swords between his fingers. Both swords were spinning rapidly, creating two illuminated circles, that met with a green pigment in the middle. With his daggers, he had always found a pastime and a joy fiddling the daggers between his fingers. Now, he was using it as a strategy.

The gunner began to fire at Toshiyan. He didn't care about the prediction lines, because every bullet fired was blocked by the swords' rapid rotation. The guard kept firing at no avail, leaving Kirito the perfect opportunity to slice at the distracted guard.

"Toshiyan, you can't do that!" Kirito chastened.

"What, win? Sorry, I promise not to do that again." Toshiyan replied sarcastically.

"No, fighting in cold blood like that. You get sloppy, make mistakes. If your calm in the fight, everything is calm, and everyone get's out alright. Now, let's keep going." Kirito continued. He turned around, about to walk inside the inn.

Toshiyan didn't follow, he just stared at Kirito in disbelief. He didn't pay that much attention to what Kirito had said, all except for the last part. 'Everyone get's out alright'. That's what he said. This hit a nerve with Toshiyan. He suddenly wanted to, explode.

"Everyone except my sister, right?!" Toshiyan retorted.

Kirito stopped dead in his tracks, realizing he should've picked his words more carefully. He turned to face the Electric Assassin.

"Toshi, now isn't the-"

"Don't even think about weaseling your way out of this one!" Toshiyan shouted.

"Toshi, I'm serious." Kirito replied.

"So am I!" Too late to turn back now. "How dare you try to lecture me on how to save people after what you've done!"

Kirito sighed. "I could ask you the same thing!" he exclaimed.

Toshi's eyes widened with anger, and he reached for his beam swords, clicking them both on. "I was tricked by Laughing Coffin, what's your excuse!"

Kirito was about to say something, but decided against it. He took a deep breath, and looked at Toshi in the eyes. "Toshi, neither of us have a viable excuse for-"

"What is wrong with you!" Toshiyan exploded. "You didn't even apologize for Lyn's death! Now, you don't want to pin the blame on both of us!"

Kirito was beginning to panic. This was not the way he hoped that this conversation would go, but he had to keep trying. "No Toshi, it's not like that!"

"You expect me to believe that! Kirito, it's your fault that Lyn's dead. I trusted you to help me, and you didn't. Why? What was so important that you had to abandon your promise, and let her die?!"

"It's because Asuna was in danger!"

Toshiyan froze. What?

"She was in danger, and I had to choose. I really did want to follow you, but when I was placed with a split second choice, I made the one that benefitted me." Kirito continued. "The truth is, there's nothing that you could say, that I haven't already said for myself. I feel more guilt that you're giving me credit for! Because everytime I see you, I'm reminded of my mistake!"

Toshiyan was confused. Kirito was claiming the exact opposite of his thoughts for years. He did it to save Asuna?

"I was really unsure what to do when you arrived in my group." Kirito explained. "I didn't want to kick you out, but I knew that you could never forgive me for what I did either. So, I just, distanced myself, which worked out because you did the same."

All of the sudden, Toshi couldn't help but feel guilty. It was true, he had done the same. How can I hold him accountable for doing what he thought was right. Toshi retracted his swords and threw them down.

"What, what is it!" Kirito asked urgently.

"Why do you make it so hard for me to hate you!" Toshiyan exclaimed. He looked down at the ground, and thought for a moment. He remembered how he had gone to Kirito for help in Aincrad. He remembered how Kirito had touched the lives of so many people. He did the best he could to help anyone and everyone. He wasn't perfect, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Kirito tried, and that's the only thing any of us can do

"Kirito, you've done so much to help others. I, can't hold it against you for making the choice that you did. No one should have to do that, especially kids like us." Toshiyan stated.

Kirito nodded. "I apologize for everything. I know that there's nothing I can do to make it up to you, but, at least, give me a chance for us be friends."

Toshiyan nodded. "Sure, and Kirito?"

"What,"

"I forgive you."

Kirito smiled in response. "Thank you."

They were about to go inside the tavern, but Toshi thought of something. He remembered something that Asuna had said to him about Kirito.

"Kirito, did you tell Asuna about how you felt?"

"What, no." Kirito replied. "I don't want to burden her with my problems. I'll fight my own battles and help her when she needs it."

"Kirito, she want's to help you."

"What do you mean?"

"She worries about you. She really does care about you, and she's hurt that you help her so much and she doesn't help you. If you want to help her, then let her help you."

Kirito nodded. "Thanks, I'll think about that. Are you ready?" he asked, gesturing towards the door.

Toshiyan nodded, and they both pushed the door open. It wasn't very big on the inside, barely being able to fit about fifteen people. Despite that, the inn was empty.

"Wait, where's Sinon?"

"Shouichi said that the passage was underneath the inn. We should look for a secret door."

Toshiyan examined the main area while Kirito went into the back room. Toshiyan moved tables and even looked behind the counter. Toshiyan was about to go find Kirito, but he accidently bumped a bottle off the counter, knocking it out of view. It shattered, and Toshiyan winced. He peered over the counter to see the damage, but noticed something. The bottle's contents, were disappearing into the floor. Toshiyan smiled.

"Kirito, I think I've found something."

Kirito walked out of the back room. "Did you find it?"

"I think so," he replied. Toshiyan activated his beam swords, and cut a hole where the bottle fell. He cut as accurately as he could, and as soon as he was done, he stomped on the detached circle. Immediately, it fell down, shattering on a hallway underneath the tavern.

"Good job," Kirito complimented. Kirito jumped down the hole, and Toshiyan followed after him.

The hallway went on for a long while. Lights flickered, and it looked unkept. Then Toshiyan's eyes widened.

"Look!"

Kirito saw what he did. There was a door at the end of the tunnel. They both hurried down the corridor, and stopped in front of the door.

"You go in first." Kirito offered. "You should be the first person she sees."

"Thank you." Toshiyan replied. He reached for the door, and opened it slowly. He crept into the room, and-

He saw nothing.

Toshi's heart fell. All that work, for nothing. He had failed again, and Shino was that much further away. He was about to turn back when the door close suddenly, causing Toshiyan to jump back. The room was very dimly lit, and Toshi was more than a little disconcerted. Suddenly, he was forced to the ground by someone. This other player had bent Toshiyan's arm back at an unnatural angle, causing Toshiyan to cry out.

"Who are you?!" the other player asked.

Toshiyan looked up at his assailant. She had short, teal colored hair tied to her sides, and had glowing green eyes. Toshiyan recognized her in a second, but he couldn't say the same for her.

"Shino!"

Sinon tightened her grip, but Toshi ignored the increased pain. "I asked who you are!"

"Shino, it's me, Toshi."

She almost let go, but then tightened it again. "Not possible!"

"Why not?"

"Because, Kyouji, you killed him!"

Suddenly it clicked. She couldn't tell that he was Toshi, she just thought that he was Kyouji. It would make sense, after everything Kyouji has done, this idea wouldn't be too farfetched.

"Shino, I'm telling you, it's me!"

"Kyouji, this is not a game! Stop lying, I know it's you!"

Toshiyan was positive that she would break his arm if she was allowed to continue. He gasped in pain, but still found the strength to speak.

"I-I can prove it!"

"Really? How?" she replied sarcastically.

Toshi thought for a moment, trying to pull an experience that Kyouji wouldn't know. He obviously couldn't do anything from Shino's past, that was fair game for Kyouji's knowledge. He would have to pick something more recent.

"You had told me to come pick you up from the police station after visiting Kyouji."

Sinon's face began to soften, but she kept her grip.

"You were upset, because Kyouji said that he hated you, and that you could never care about anything, and no one could care about you."

Sinon began to relax, and Toshi got the feeling that what he was saying was working.

"I told you that we all cared about you, and that we loved and respected you. And for me as an individual, I love you more than I've ever loved anyone else in my entire life."

Sinon was dead silent, but she fully let go of Toshiyan. He sat up, massaging his arm, and saw that Sinon, was almost in tears.

"Y-You're alive!" she cried.

"If you had kept that up I wouldn't be," Toshiyan complained. "That really-"

He was interrupted when he was tackled yet again by Shino. He stared up into her beautiful eyes, and she stared at him in disbelief and awe. "You're, really here. I thought that-"

"I know, you were right to be suspicious, but I'm here now."

She laid her head down on Toshi's chest and just began to sob. Toshiyan smiled and began to shed some tears as well. He took a moment, just to be with her, and he loved every minute of it. He lifted her chin, and they shared a kiss. Again, like before, Toshi always felt good when they kissed. It made him feel, wanted, loved, something he didn't have for the past year. They broke apart when oxygen demanded it, and he sighed.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner." Toshiyan continued.

"I know, but Kyouji stabbed you with the syringe. How are you still-"

"He didn't give me enough to kill me, and with proper medical help I got really quickly, I turned out fine."

"Thank goodness." she replied.

"Did Kyouji hurt you?" Toshiyan asked.

"He, came a couple of times, and he tried to, woo and kiss me. I had none of it, and told him to leave, but he would still come and torment me."

Toshiyan frowned angrily. I'm gonna kill him if he tries anything.

"Shino, I love you. I won't let him touch you again."

Suddenly, they realized that there was someone was pounding on the door. Toshiyan realized that despite everything, Kirito had been locked outside. Sinon panicked.

"Oh no, It's Kyouji!"

Toshiyan shook his head. "No, That's Kirito."

"He's here?"

"Yes, I wouldn't have been able to find you otherwise. Kirito showed me the ropes, and I was able to find you."

Sinon smiled. "Alright, but Toshi."

"Yeah,"

"I'm sorry, for pinning you to the ground like that."

"It's fine, I would've done the same thing."

"And Toshi, I just want to say, I love you."

Toshi paused. Shino was here, and she loved him. Someone like him, a person who is as imperfect as one could get, but she loved him. He was the luckiest person in the entire world.

"I love you too." he replied.

Suddenly, he heard something outside, and the knocking stopped. Both Sinon and Toshiyan stared at the door. Suddenly, it began to unlock, and Sinon began to panic.

"That's Kyouji, he's the only one with the key for the door!"

"Wait, how come I could get in then?"

"This door can lock on my side, but I had it unlocked. Kyouji is the only one that can get in otherwise."

Toshiyan reached for his swords. "Let him come, I'll beat him to a pulp!"

"No, hide, if he thinks that I'm in any danger of escaping, he'll kill me!"

Toshiyan realized why that was a big deal. A rigged NerveGear would prevent anyone from escaping, and kill them if they died in the game. Toshiyan couldn't risk that.

"Where do I go then?"

"There's a spot behind the door, use that, but hurry!"

Toshiyan sprinted to the spot, and hid there. Suddenly, the door sprung open, and Toshi had to be careful not to move or Kyouji would notice him.

"Well hello again, my bride to be…" Kyouji hissed.

'Tis the season to take hostages, am I right? No? Oh, oops. Well, that went downhill quickly. Be sure to leave a review on how I did. I hope you enjoyed it!

Zippy