Horrible case of insomnia, I really hope this didn't turn out to be complete crap...regardless I hope you all enjoy!

When Keiko had received the text from her sensai asking for a meeting she had not honestly known exactly how to reply to him. He knew she had gone through an unsettling series of events but not exactly what they had entailed, and she was terrified on how he would respond to the facts when she presented them to him.

She was stronger than her fears though, so she had sent a reply.

Instead of hiding, she accepted his invitation to if nothing else vent to someone who most likely would not judge her for being honest about her emotions, rather than insinuating that she should be playacting that she was ashamed of her actions.

Heathcliff met her at a diner on one of the lower floors, and once waving to her he glanced to the NPC waitress and ordered her a black tea with a twist of lemon and a dollop of honey.

Taking her seat she accepted the tea with an honest smile, her sensai knew her well.

Sipping from the newly arrived tea she met Heathcliff's gaze evenly before muttering out, "I'm sure you heard about what happened..."

He sipped his own drink before nodding, "I did, and I approve of your actions."

Kirito froze at that before meeting Heathcliff's gaze evenly, "I murdered a man."

Heathcliff paused at that a moment then shook his head slowly whilst sighing lowly, "No my dear you killed a man in self defense, there is a significant difference there I assure you."

Keiko stared down at her tea for a minute before letting out a tired sigh, "I know but...but I can't help feeling horrible about the entire situation..."

Heathcliff nodded slowly before replying, "Taking another man's life is not an easy thing to accept, are you-"

He was cut off as Keiko began giggling, it started off lightly enough but eventually she dissolved into full belly laughter. She remained that way for a time before finally collecting herself whilst shooting Heathcliff an apologetic look.

"I'm not sorry I killed the bastard, he was a murderer, would likely murder again, and with his death more innocents are saved in the long run...what bothers me is that they baited me so well..."

Heathcliff blinked before tilting his head to the side, "Pardon?"

Keiko leaned back into her chair before letting out a tired sigh, "The one their leader called XaXa? He had high level gear, high enough to give me a run for my money. After he murdered Kaita he stepped aside and ordered that other asshat to execute Sachi, and I just reacted... Didn't even think about it I just rushed in to protect my friend."

Keiko paused and stared down at the floor a few moments before shaking her head, "Bastard was a sacrificial lamb, a lure to force me to draw blood, become like them... And what I can't figure out is the why of the entire situation. What the hell was the point of it all? Were they just trying to prove that I could become as depraved as them, were they trying to recruit me? Were they just doing all this for the laughs? I don't know. I'm so confused right now and that just makes it all the more maddening..."

They were silent for a time, then Heathcliff spoke, "In the end, does it really matter what the point of their actions were? They wanted you to kill, created a scenario where you had to do just that, and it played out as planned. In the end is there even a minor risk you would join them after all of this?"

Keiko snorted at that, "No chance at all..."

"Then you should not worry about it, you have your integrity and it is not going anywhere any time soon."

Further silence, then Kirito turned towards her sensai and smiled, "Thanks...that...that helped."

He nodded slowly and they remained silent for a time after that before Keiko shifted about nervously, "Hey, Sensai. A question if I may? Completely unrelated to the player killer situation."

He cocked his head to the side then replied with a dry, "You may ask, and I may answer."

Scratching the side of her head a moment Kirito turned to meet his gaze evenly as she said, "I asked Asuna if we should get married to join our inventories and she got really...weird with me after that. Did I do something wrong?"

Kayaba began silently screaming to himself a moment later, having absolutely no idea how to respond to his personally proclaimed surrogate daughter.

He had to pointedly ignore CARDINAL's laughter after that point.

"You should ask Argo, she would likely have a better idea on what is going on in your friends head than I would."

Please please please just accept this, please please please please I do not need to be the one to point out your sexual preferences that you don't even recognize, please please please please...

"Huh...you're probably right. Well, regardless, thanks for your time, I'm going to head home and just...try and make sense out of all of this..."

Heathcliff smiled and nodded slowly, "If you have any followup questions please feel free to send them my way."

Kirito nodded and made her way back home, when she arrived she noticed that Argo was alone in the sitting room scrolling through her menu listlessly.

Sachi wasn't around which was somewhat concerning, but Asuna's absence would indicate they were likely out together, so she turned to her informant friend and asked the question that had been bothering her ever since she tried to force the entire player killer thing in the back of her mind.

"Hey Argo, is there any reason why Asuna has been acting weird since I suggested we get married?"

Argo froze, stared at Kirito for roughly five seconds, then she vanished as her stealth skill activated.

Keiko stood there for a few moments before letting out an exasperated, "What the fuck?"

Argo felt bad for her friends, she really did, but she was not stupid enough to get involved, they had to figure it out on their own, but she would be silently supporting the oblivious duo on the sidelines the entire way.