Chapter 21

Shino's POV

What were we doing right now? Well, after Asuna's "agreement" to help us, we all went to bed. Since It was late and her inn was a ways away, even with teleport gates, we let her stay the night in our room. Since there was only one bed, Kazuto slept in a chair (Yes, again.) As for Asuna, she slept next to me in the bed.

After sleeping the remainder of the night away and waking up, that brings us to now. We are discussing how to deal with Xaxa. So far, the ideas the attack him and to report him have been spitballed. Unfortunately, neither of those options were very plausible. The reporting system never gets checked by our evil overlord, Kayaba. And attacking him would end one of two ways. We would kill him, and become murderers as well as red players, or we would hesitate to kill him and would wind up dead.

"So let me get this straight," Kazuto said. "We want to deal with him in a way that will last. But at the same time, we can't get violent?"

"I didn't say it would be the easiest thing to do. But I would much rather not die, and not be a killer." I responded

Asuna, who had gone silent after offering up the idea of reporting him, spoke up. "Sinon, we could just try to report him. Who knows, maybe the GM will check it for once."

"I have… thirteen times. No matter how many times I report him, nothing ever happens." I said flatly.

Kazuto's eyebrows furrowed together as if he was agitated, or think really hard about something. "Maybe we could use the system…"

I looked at him with a questioning gaze. "What do you mean, "Use the system'?"

"Well, when a player tries to harass or assault another player in any way other than combat, a flag appears in that victim's view, right? That's the system allowing the option to send the assailant to jail. If we could do that, he would be stuck in prison, and we wouldn't have to worry about him again." Kazuto explained.

"Well, that sounds like the most useful idea…"

"The only problem is," Kazuto interrupted "is that you would have to grab you or assault you. I'm not going to use a plan that puts you in that kind of situation."

I fell backwards, sprawling out over the bed, which I had been sitting on. "Then what the hell are we gonna do?" I whined. (Yes, I whined.)

I lifted my head to look at Kazuto and Asuna. Both had an expression of contemplation and deep thought. It was an almost symmetrical look. Freaky. I thought. They're more alike that I would have thought… I don't like it.

Kazuto sighed. "All that's left is to attack him outright, or to challenge him to a fight."

I thought about it for a minute. "Kirito," I started hesitantly. "I want to try sending him to prison."

"Absolutely not!"

Asuna spoke up again "It might actually be the best option. If it works, then he'll end up in prison, and if not, we'll both be there to back her up and stop him in his tracks, no matter the cost."

"Kirito… Please don't argue. I think that this is the best choice. Trust me, please."

He looked apprehensive and like he wanted to argue, but he didn't "Okay," He said quietly, barely over a whisper. Then his voice got a bit louder. "I'll trust you. I'll go with whatever you want to do."

I smile at him with appreciation. I half expected him to turn down the idea and fight it to the last breath if necessary. I was abundantly relieved that I wouldn't have to fight with him to try the plan. Arguing with Kazuto was exasperating. It was like trying to convince a brick wall to move.

"Thank you." I responded.

Asuna looked more confused than anything. "So, now that that's decided, there's one major problem that you're forgetting. How do we find Xaxa? I mean every time you've seen him he's found you right? So how are you going to find him? Or do you already have a plan for that too?"

It hit me like a bullet train. How did I not think of that? How are we going to find him? Are we going to have to let him come to us? Where some of the questions running through my head.

"Ehhhhh…"

Her expression was flat. "That would be a no then." She stated.

Kazuto spoke up then. "If she goes out in the open, he'll probably find her. He has every other time. All she has to do is walk around for a little while, pretending to do something that she normally would. If or when he shows up, that's when we put the plan into action."

"Well aren't you just the man with a plan?" Asuna asked, a smile appearing on her face. She said it almost as if she was teasing him.

The way that she acted to and around Kazuto made me mad for some reason. It's not like she flirts with him… Or does she? Everyone flirts in a different way. What if that's her way?

I never thought of myself as the clingy or jealous type. Apparently, though, I can be. I guess I've never had enough experience with relationships (Or you know, any.) to know whether or not I would be those things.

Asuna's voice snapped me back to reality. "So when are we gonna put this plan into action?" She asked.

"As soon as we can." I said. "Preferably right now."

Kazuto looked at me funny. "Right now?"

"Yeah, I prefer not to be stalked. The sooner that he is in prison the better." I responded.

"You do realize that there is a chance that this won't go the way that you want it to? A chance that we may have to fight him?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna try to get him to leave the safe zones for that reason. I won't be any real danger, but he will. I have you two backing me up. That and I don't think that he wants me dead." I answered. My statement just seemed to make Kazuto more and more skeptical of the plan.

"Anyway, let's go." I said. "We have a plan, let's make it work!"

I practically jump up from the bed and made my way to the room's door. I opened it without a moment's hesitation. Kazuto and Asuna, on the other hand, seemed very hesitant to move from their positions. I stood there in the doorway, looking at them.

"Well come on! Let's go!"

"Sinon, we want to catch the guy too, but shouldn't we plan this out a bit more thoroughly? I mean what if there's something that we didn't account for. What if he brings friends this time? What if there are too many of them to handle?" Asuna questioned.

"She's right." Kazuto agreed. "There are too many contingencies. We need to sit and brainstorm all the scenario's that we can think of, and come up with some sort of countermeasure for them."

I still wanted to leave, but I could see their point. If any of that stuff happened, it wouldn't end well for any of us. I walked back into the room, closing the door behind me and heading back to the bed.

I plopped down. "Alright, let's brainstorm." I said.

The brainstorming took another hour, or maybe it was two. I don't even know. In the end, though, we had come up with quite of a few scenarios and how to deal with them.

Some of them were: "What if he brings friends?", "What if he is too deadly?","What if he's able to cheat the system?", and "What if we think we have it, then he turns the tables?"

The answer to most of these, (and most of the other contingencies) was Teleport Crystals. The quickest form of escape.

"Alright, now that the planning part is over, can we please go?" I prompted impatiently.

"Yeah, we're as ready as we can be." Kazuto said. "Let's go and put an end to this guy's freedom."

This time, when I got up and opened the door, we all actually left.

While walking out of the inn, I had the strangest feeling. We weren't even ten meters from the inn when I looked back. The sign read "Toraburu Inn" The name means something, I know it does. The only problem is that I can't remember what it was that the name meant. It really bothered me, for more than one reason. For starters, the name gave me a bad feeling.

Then there's the fact that I should know what it means.

I turned back toward the two of them, who had not stopped, and shook those thoughts out of my head. What we are doing is more important than the stupid name on that sign. I'll find out what it means after this monster is locked up. I picked up my pace, just enough to catch up with them.

"So where do you want to start?" I asked. We had a list of places that it would be the most likely for him to show up. We were going to try them all and then some.

"Let's start in the field on the east side. The monsters there are a little lower leveled, so you can act like you're doing some solo grinding. Also, there's a lot of environment details that would make it easier to hide. Tall grass, trees and hills. Stuff like that. We could use it to get the drop on Xaxa if he shows up." Kazuto responded.

"Sounds like a plan." I stated simply.

So that's exactly what we did. We trekked all the way to the eastern fields. It was another hour before we got there. To put it simply, this field was not close in any sense of the word. The time did give me time to prepare myself mentally though. Up to this point, I was jumping into things head first without thinking. I was too eager to catch Xaxa.

Once we entered the field, it was time to separate. I kept straight on, into the heart of the field, where the stronger of the weaker monsters are. Kazuto and Asuna flanked the either side of me, just far enough away that they could get there quickly if need be. They stayed out of my sight and coincidently, if he showed up, Xaxa's sight as well. Despite that I couldn't see them I'm sure that they could see me just fine.

I wandered around the field, looking for a monster to kill. None of them in this field would present any real challenge for me. My level was high and I'm pretty good at the game as it is. But Xaxa shouldn't know that. As long as I made it look like it was challenging for me, he shouldn't suspect that It's a trap. The operative word being shouldn't. He seems to know his way around the system. If he somehow knew what my level and skill are, then he would probably figure out that something is wrong. Dang, maybe we should revise this plan. There are way too many maybes, probablys, and ifs involved.

The first monster I came across was, of course, no real threat. I did draw out the battle though. Just to make it look like I was having a hard time. I repeated this process for about forty minutes. After that, I was pretty much ready to give up on this location.

I just defeated another monster when the tall grass around me started to rustle. Xaxa? Or maybe it's Kazuto and Asuna, coming to tell me we're trying somewhere else? Either way, I shifted the sword in my hand, getting ready for whatever it was.

Someone or something jumped from the bush suddenly. I jumped back, startled by the abruptness.

I looked at what had just jumped out at me. It was a plain rabbit. You've gotta be kidding me. I got the crap scared out of me by a freaking rabbit. I lowered my sword, lowering my guard. Not like rabbits are dangerous. Rabbits don't turn into some scary monster or boss. That would just be ridiculous.

I opened my menu and navigated to the friend chat window. I selected Kazuto's name and sent him a message. "I don't think that he's coming. We should move on to one of the other areas. Let's try the north fields." I closed his chat window and opened Asuna's, her the same message.

Not even thirty seconds later, I got a reply from Kazuto. "Okay. Go ahead and make you way in that direction. I'll send a message to Asuna telling her to follow from a distance."

Right after I finished reading that I got a message from Asuna. "Just got the message from Kazuto. I'll be right behind you."

Having confirmation from both of them, I turned my walk in the direction of the north field. It was a lot easier to get there than it was to get to the east field. It was a shorter walk that the walk from the inn to the field.

Once there, I didn't bother checking in with Kazuto or Asuna. I got straight to work. Hunting monsters, grinding and acting as bait is an important job you know. I was sure that there were right behind me anyway.

That's pretty much how all of the baiting went. I would spend forty or so minutes hunting monsters and then I would move on. We were quickly running out of places to go. That and we were running out of sunlight at an alarming rate. Of course, the sun wasn't moving fast, but when you are in the middle of something, you stop paying attention to the time that passes and if flies by without you paying much mind to it.

Right now, we are actually trying to bait him out in a safe zone. Stupid, I know. If Kazuto and Asuna needed to jump in, they wouldn't do much good in a safe zone. But we were out of places to look, other than safe zones. This wasn't working either though.

"I wonder if even psycho stalkers take vacations." I mumbled under my breath.

I opened my menu again, for the umpteenth time today, sending both Kazuto and Asuna a message. "I think it's about time to call it quits for today. We'll pick this up tomorrow."

I sat down on a bench in the pavilion, the fatigue of the day catching up with me. Before I knew it I was being joined by Kazuto and Asuna, sitting on either side of me.

"Well, today was a flop." Asuna said dryly. "I mean we didn't even catch a glimpse of Xaxa, let alone catch him."

"Yeah. I'm ready to go home and crash for the night." Kazuto replied, stretching himself out over the back of the bench.

"Well then, let's go back to the inn. Asuna? Do you want to stay at the inn with us again, or do you just want to meet us again tomorrow?" I asked.

She hesitated for a moment as if she wasn't sure. "I think it would be more convenient for all of us if I just stayed with you again. If you're sure that's alright."

I could tell that she had something on her mind. Probably something other than convenience. But even if that is the case, she was right. It would make it a little more convenient for the three of us.

"Yeah, it's fine." I responded, even though most of me was screaming to decline. I already offered. A little late to change my mind.

I got off the bench and back onto my feet. "Back to the inn for all of us it is then."

With that, we started on our way back to the inn. That would be a lot easier, considering that the last place we were trying, just so happened to have a warp gate.

We jumped on. "Toraburu!" I proclaimed to the teleporter. Kazuto and Asuna did the same. After a short moment of nothing but polygons in my vision, I arrived at the town. I stepped away from the warp and waited for the two of them to come through.

While I was standing there, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. This game is way too realistic. I thought to myself. But what triggers that reaction? What causes the hair on someone's neck to stand up?

Both Kazuto and Asuna materialized at the same time. "Come on. I'm tired and I really want to go to bed." I prompted.

Kazuto smiled as if he thought it was funny. He probably thinks that I am joking. "We are, we are."

We walked most of the way back to the inn without any conversation. Any conversation that we did have wasn't worth noting either. I spent the whole time shuffling through items in my inventory. It had gotten a little crowded with junk from all the low leveled monsters dropped throughout the day.

I was still going through it when we got to the inn. I was trashing anything that wasn't even worth selling and keeping that things that might be worth some COL. Kazuto opened the door for Asuna and I. I walked in still completely oblivious to my surroundings.

It didn't take long for me to notice though, that Kazuto and Asuna were not following me in. I also quickly took note of the volume in the pub of the inn. When I had walked in it was loud and full roudy, but now, it was dead silent.

I turned back around to look at Kazuto and Asuna. They were still at the door. Asuna just looked confused, whereas Kazuto's eyes were nearly bulging out of his skull. He looked like he was in shock. Just imagine a comedy where a guy walks into a bar, and he's overcome by the sight that greets him. So much so that his eyes nearly bulge out of his skull and he can't move.

That is basically what had happened.

"What are you guys waiting for. Come on." I said impatiently. Kazuto only pointed in one direction, while Asuna stood there, still trying to figure out… whatever it was she was trying to figure out.

I followed Kazuto's finger, to where he was pointing. My eyes were probably more wide that his. My hands and feet went cold. My throat got dry.

Xaxa was sitting with a group of people in the pub. His expression was something akin to the look on Kazuto's face.

I only had one thought going through my mind at that moment. Oh… Toraburu… Now I remember. It's the Japanese word for trouble. WELL GOD DAMN!