Chapter 20: Quarantine and Stuff.

"Status of Subject One is Green. Subject is displaying no signs of aggression and is cooperating fully." The figure stated, wearing a black gasmask, and a player-made hazmat suit in the room of Gabriel the founder. He was laying on what appeared to be a hospital bed breathing softly and three other figures all stood around him with the first closing the door. "Why did this happen... to me?" He croaked and started coughing again. They all unequipped their hazmat suits in near-synchronization to reveal the faces of Asuna, Caleb, Kirito, and Keita.

"Oh come on Gabriel... we all know you're perfectly fine. You've just got an ingame cold from making physical contact with another player. An infection apparently. It makes me wonder why Akihiko even designed this game if it's pretty much like real life... with all the sicknesses and stuff." Caleb stated and started to go off on a tangent... rambling incoherently to the entire room.

Gabriel's eyes widened with suprise. "Oh... thank god... I'm alright..." He nearly started sobbing. "Oh the crossed swords didn't stop me... they didn't end my life and make me miserable yet... I'm fine." The tears of joy and relief streamed down his face.

"Hwuh?" Keita asked, and Caleb just rolled his eyes.

"It's a long story." Caleb stated and Kirito just let out an all-knowing grin. Being Gabriel's number one fan and best-friend. He had to know.

"Oh... well you're not a good storyteller anyways. I'd rather hear it from Oniichan!" Keita smiled innocently, and his expression held no semblance of deceit or lies. It was also an indication that he held nothing against Caleb. Which was absolutely heart-wrenching. Caleb wiped his eyes and sniffled suddenly.

"What's your problem man?" Caleb asked and started crying just as much as Gabriel, but he made an effort to hide it with his arm.

"Hm?" Keita turned his head and the regret for what he said was obvious. He didn't mean to make Caleb feel bad about his incompetance and inability to tell stories as effectively as his twin. "Oh..." Keita whispered. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"That's why it hurts so much."

Keita sighed deeply and Kirito just patted Caleb on the back. "It's okay... you're a great story teller but you know... Gabriel may have told a lot more stories than you which means that he's ultimately better." Kirito smiled and Caleb just nodded slowly, it still burned though.

"I hate living in my older brother's shadow... why does he always have to be better at everything than me? Well actually... it's not so bad." Caleb mumbled sighed dreamily.

"I'm still alive you know." Gabriel stated and slowly sat up, sniffling quietly, though his expression didn't look much happier or depressed than usually, his skin was pale the black circles around his eyes were more prominent than before but Keita wasn't imagining that stuff from before now. He knew for a fact that Gabriel was alright.

Caleb's cheeks turned red. "No you're not... no you're not..." He whispered and covered Gabriel's eyes and patted his chest as he laid his brother down to rest. "Sh sh sh sh sh." He said, with a warm smile and the rest of the founders just set there curious gazes on him. "What?" Caleb asked.

"You seem awfully close to your brother... as a matter of fact... you seem awfully close to anyone that you meet. What's up with that?" Asuna asked him, speaking for the first time in quite some time. It caught Caleb off guard and he turned his head to answer right away but a different part of his mind spoke first.

"You have gorgeous hair... I can imagine it tasting like hot peppermint with the same sort of smell-" He winced suddenly, "Sorry... there's this thing concerning my psychological state. Where I like everything except body hair." He stated bluntly, and sighed deeply because of how it sounded.

Asuna smiled slightly at the compliment, but Caleb felt like he could've said something a lot cooler and sweeter than that... maybe it was just the involuntary psychological attraction and impulse to say something without thinking that was the deciding factor. "What do you mean concerning your psychological state?" She asked him.

"It's supposed to be a secret. So promise you won't tell anyone..." He rose from Gabriel's snoring corpse and sighed deeply. "Psychologically speaking I'm attracted to everything and everyone except people that look like my dad..." He shivered at the memories of his father's appearance. "Arm hair, chest hair, facial hair, leg hair... and the angry expression or smell of alcohol. Probably has something to do with brainwashing." He let out an annoyed sigh and the three of them just started snickering... at first anyway.

"Wait a second... does that mean you have a crush on..."

Caleb's cheeks burned bright red and he slammed a fist on his twin brother's abdomen who just started wheezing for air. "Shut up! Shut it! Shut up!" He growled then got to his feet and left the room. "It's not like I have a choice!" He slammed the door on his way out.

The three of them started snickering like delinquents that had just done something they knew they shouldn't have. "No wonder Gabriel acts so uneasy around him... do you think that-" Gabriel grabbed Kirito by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close until they were pretty much face to face.

"No, Caleb is a good brother, it's not his fault and he has rules set for himself... but to answer your question, he likes everything just as much as he likes me... but he's taken a particular liking for Chocolate because it was a present I got him for his birthday... Pretty much like infatuation." He stated and groaned as he let Kirito go, the pain he was enduring... a headache enhanced by the constant coughing, and finally the fist being slammed into his abdomen oh what a miserable state, Kirito understood.

Kirito's expression went back to its serious state once again and he nodded slowly. "Roger." He saluted and dragged the other two out of the room to the great-hall in order for them to witness the duel that was supposed to take place between an individual named Caleb, and the individual that looked like he had been a butler in the real world. Judging by the serious expression, stature and classy method of dressing. Kirito could only imagine how he looked in a woman's gown during the intitiation period that decided their position in the guild. The Crossed Swords were an obnoxious guild, their initiations were sickening and they consisted of several thousand 'Cross-dressers' globally. They even... corrupt the younglings. He shuddered with discomfort.

"Hey..." Gabriel whispered. "What was up with the hazmat suits?"

Kirito laughed nervously and Keita just snickered, "I don't know, we just thought it'd be cool... like in the movies you know, and we never really had the chance to wear those things anyway," he shrugged and left the room as quickly as possible.