Pairings: Shigehiro/Tamaki. Kirito/Asuna. Furihata/Shino.

Warnings: AU Universe. OOC. Gender swap. Minor character bashing. Implied mature scenes

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke and Sword Art Online and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

Chapter Twenty Five: Pretenders

~January 21, 2025~

Tamaki would never tell anyone—not even Shigehiro, but she is quite relieved after the end of their first day in ALO, and she had chosen the logout option (thank the gods the logout button is there!), and she opened her eyes to the incessant beeping of the Amusphere only to meet the familiar ceiling of her bedroom in her aunt's house.

The phobia of fearing that she'll never return to the real world after going into a virtual reality world once more will likely never fade from her psyche—not after everything that had happened for the past two years in SAO. But like what Dr. Asahina had told Tamaki, she needs to face up to her fears sooner or later.

Not facing up to it won't make them disappear—it'll still be there, just not acknowledged. And though Akashi had disapproved of it, Dr. Asahina had actually suggested some time ago to go into a virtual reality world once more to help Tamaki to face up to her fears.

When he had initially suggested it, it was around the fourth session that Tamaki had with him after the psychiatrist had managed to get the teal head to trust him. Tamaki was still dealing with the aftermath of nightmares and night terrors from the SAO Incident at that time, and to say that she'd freaked out is a complete understatement.

Dr. Asahina was then quick to reassure her—saying that no, he didn't mean that he wants Tamaki to go back into a virtual reality world straight away, just something that she might want to consider once she thinks that she's ready for it.

Their first day in ALO was full of ups and downs.

Leafa and Nohac—the two Sylphs whom they have met in the forest were kind enough to lead them to Sylvein after learning that they are 'lost'. The two have even acted as their guides in Sylvein. They have even met a fellow Sylph by the name of Recon who seems to openly idolise (if not crush on) Leafa, though the female Sylph seems to be painfully oblivious of it, as she clearly only has eyes for Nohac.

(Though whether Nohac even knew that his partner and teammate seems to have a crush the size of the World Tree on him is another matter entirely)

They've even met a Sylph by the name of Sigurd, who seems to be the Sylph race's second-in-command of sorts. And to say that they plain dislike him just from their first encounter alone is a severe understatement. Tamaki actually has to hold back Shigehiro from attacking him in Sylph territory, particularly when Sigurd has said something particularly insulting about her.

(Anyone who knows Shigehiro will tell you that the friendly boy will turn into a monster if you insult or upset his girlfriend within his hearing or seeing distance)

And much like during their time in SAO with Kayaba Akihiko, the SAO survivors all felt something off about Sigurd. They don't have any explanation for it. They just felt wary about him—the same way they did with Heathcliff and even Kuradeel back in SAO. The fact that Tamaki doesn't seem to like and trust him either had already sent warning bells through their heads.

The lot of them have been SAO survivors—with the Phantom Blue guild members being Red Player Hunters for long enough to rely on their instincts and gut feeling to gauge a person's true nature. If their gut feeling is nagging at them, telling them that something about the person is not right, then they'll listen to it. After all, it had saved their asses in SAO more than once.

Nohac didn't seem to hold great respect or liking for Sigurd either, and for obvious reasons—with how Sigurd kept sniping at Leafa. Clearly, he holds no respect for women—something that simply grate at the nerves of the boys with Tamaki.

Tamaki barely managed to wrestle Shigehiro away with her to a café before a fight breaks out in the middle of Sylvein. A wise decision, as what Nohac had told them later when the two Sylphs have finally managed to catch up with them in the café that they've taken sanctuary in. Sigurd has some power and authority amongst the Sylphs; though the Sylph race is also arguably one of the most easy-going when it comes to their governing. Thus, Sigurd's high and mighty attitude had been grating on many people's nerves lately.

It is probably why Sigurd is mainly the one assigned to 'keep an eye' on Sylvein and their territories whilst Nohac is normally the one tasked with Leafa to go around the borders and their territories making sure that no Renegades cross over.

Officially, like what a grim Leafa had told them, Nohac is the one stuck with the dirty jobs with Sigurd living it up there in Sylvein. But unofficially (and every single Sylph knows it), it is the other way around. Sakuya doesn't seem to trust Sigurd either, particularly with the countless complaints from her people—the most prominent coming from Nohac for Leafa's sake.

So unofficially, it is really Nohac who is Sakuya's second-in-command whilst she's away trying to gain alliances and allies with the other fairy races.

The SAO survivors could all agree on one thing when they've all decided to call it a day—with them all deciding to go back into ALO in two days as more than half of them still have rehabilitation and therapy and they are still unable to stay awake for more than twelve hours. Tamaki for one is still undergoing physical therapy along with the rehabilitation that the others are going through as well.

There is something going on in ALO as a whole, not just Sigurd and the entire business with the Sylphs, though Tamaki is strangely concerned about it.

Quests in virtual MMOs, like what Zehar had said just before they'd logged out—are normally assigned by NPCs, the Non-Player Characters. This is common knowledge for anyone who had even played a virtual reality game, and considering that they've all been through SAO together, they knew this. But the 'quest'—the main goal in ALO being to reach the top of the World Tree doesn't seem to be an official quest at all. Generally, all quests have land markers, and sub quests upon sub quests involved in it—with the end goal all leading to the end of the quest.

But this World Tree 'quest'?

It is only something that all of them have heard outside the game. Honestly, if the lot of them hadn't heard of this 'ultimate goal' from Egil, they would likely never even know about this 'unofficial quest'.

And after subtly prodding at Leafa and Nohac after Kirito had admitted to their goal being to get to the top of the World Tree, even the two Sylphs have admitted that reaching the top of the World Tree doesn't seem to be an official quest in ALO at all, now that they stop to think about it.

Tamaki seemed to be worried about it, and upon logging out, she had immediately rang up Mayuzumi who seemed to be waiting for her call, as he'd answered the phone even before it had started ringing for the second time.

"I can see why you would be concerned about it." The older boy (or rather young man now at this point of time) had said after listening to what Tamaki had to say, "And true, it does seems weird. A main quest that is not an official quest at all? And there are no clues about how one goes about getting to the top too, you say?" Mayuzumi sighed. "I'll look into it on my end. Not that I can do anything much rather than sleep, read and go on the computer anyway if I'm not at rehab." He grumbled.

That was a day ago, and to say that the SAO survivors are all worried and suspicious is a severe understatement. And honestly, at this point, they don't need their stress levels going up.

XXXXXX

Simultaneous alerts beeped from the two phones set side by side with each other on the bedside table.

Ogiwara Shigehiro growled before tightening his arms around the slender and petite waist and burying his nose into teal blue hair, inhaling the sweet floral scent. "Just ignore it," he mumbled. "I don't want to move."

Tamaki sighed, reaching out for their phones on the nightstand before handing her boyfriend his. "It might be important," she reminded. "We're supposed to meet up with the others today before going back into ALO tomorrow, remember?"

Shigehiro growled before swiping at the lock screen of his phone and keying in the passcode, all the while not releasing his hold on Tamaki's slender waist. He then opened the messenger app that Mayuzumi had created for them not even a month after being discharged from the hospital.

Apparently, the silver head had been bored out of his mind after his discharge, and he was also steadily getting quite annoyed with how difficult it is to stay in contact with his SAO friends. And when Mayuzumi is bored, things happen.

Thus, the end result is that of Mayuzumi creating a messenger app for all the SAO survivors just so that they can stay in contact with each other, and be ensured that they're still alive. As the messenger app is on a closed server, there is also no chance of anyone hacking into it—the silver head had made sure of it at least.

Various chat messages showed up on their individual phone screens—with the majority of it being from Takao. Hell, he's the one who started the chat to begin with as well.

kazu-kun {Yoohoo! Anyone there?}

kazu-kun {Hellooooooo?}

k-kazuto {It's first thing in the morning, Kaz}

kazu-kun {It's 10 in the morning [smiley face]}

mayu-chi {Remind me to kill this idiot [angry face]}

kazu-kun {[shocked face]}

kazu-kun {You wouldn't!}

mayu-chi {I would if you disrupt my sleep again!}

ishigawa-s {Caet, can you add in a function to block someone? [annoyed face]}

seki-soma {This is the first time in days I have a good night's sleep furthermore! Thanks a lot, Kaz! [annoyed face]}

mayu-chi { ishigawa-s I'll look into it [smirk]}

kazu-kun {[shocked face]}

k-kazuto {Now that we're all up anyway, where are tsuyu and rhaen? Still asleep?}

k-kazuto {And I still can't get used to rhaen's new name [confused face]}

seki-soma {Those two are probably still asleep}

seki-soma {Something that I would love to do [sleepy face]}

kazu-kun {Together? [smirk]}

ishigawa-s {…}

seki-soma {…}

k-kazuto {…}

mayu-chi {…working on ban function}

kazu-kun {I'm jokiiiiiing! Sorrrrrryyyy!}

shige-hiro {I'm up, and this had better be good! [angry face]}

kazu-kun {Why is everyone mad at meeeeeee? [sad face]}

k-tamaki {[annoyed face] Stop being such a drama queen}

mayu-chi {oh, tsuyu's in too}

kazu-kun {both of you up at the same time [thinking face] suspicious…}

mayu-chi {working on ban}

kazu-kun {shutting up nooooow!}

k-kazuto {jokes aside, just what are you both doing?}

shige-hiro {none of your business}

mayu-chi {I somehow got a feeling that we're better off not knowing for the sake of our sanity}

k-tamaki {what is it?}

kazu-kun {lets meet up at cross café! we're going back into ALO tomorrow right?}

shige-hiro {two hours}

XXXXXX

Fukuda Hiroshi could proudly state that he is like most teenagers in this day and age.

Thus, he wasn't expecting for his life to take such a colourful change when he'd entered high school, and was coaxed by Kawahara to join the Seirin basketball team.

To be fair, his first year was fairly quiet, if one doesn't count the shocking news about Kuroko Tamaki joining Seirin. After the shock had worn off however, the basketball team as a whole then realised that genius or not, Tamaki is quite normal, if not quiet and timid. Brash and hot-tempered Kagami surprisingly seems to be very taken with her because of that, and the two soon became good friends, if not best friends. He is likely the only one who even knew everything that had happened in Teiko.

But everyone in Seirin had seen it. They've seen how Kagami had slowly broken through Tamaki's shell, and had dragged her back out. She started to smile again. Izuki-sempai and Koganei-sempai even found out that their only female teammate is a pretty big gamer, and they could literally talk about everything gaming for hours, much to everyone's amusement.

But then, the SAO incident occurred, and then, it is like everything had fallen apart.

Looking back now, it is almost difficult to believe that the entire thing had lasted for two years. It had felt longer than that.

And while Fukuda knows that it really isn't right, he was really relieved that Tamaki hadn't been one of those that have died in the game or even still trapped in there for some odd reason.

While Fukuda hasn't been much of a gamer, he wouldn't deny it when asked that he had been honestly curious about virtual reality games—the worlds that Tamaki had loved so much.

Along with Seirin, he had visited Tamaki at the hospital regularly. And even when she had left the hospital, they had still checked up on her regularly. Riko was particularly adamant on that, as she was probably the most freaked out when the entire incident had happened.

Then when news about the ALO, the direct successor to the SAO had broke, Fukuda got curious about it. He had then gone secretly to get the ALO along with the Amusphere, wanting to know just what it is about virtual reality worlds that had attracted Tamaki so much.

His quiet teammate who never seem to care about anything much other than her friends.

Fukuda had fallen in love with the world of ALO at first sight the moment he had stepped in the virtual reality world. It is honestly difficult to believe that what he is seeing around him isn't real. Is this why Tamaki had loved virtual reality worlds so much?

He had even befriended other online players, with one of them being a first time gamer like he is that goes by the name of Leafa. They have partnered together frequently. And Fukuda had even known Leafa well enough for the girl to trust him enough to tell him who she is in reality, and thus, they are even friends in the real world.

Kirigaya Suguha is her name, as what Fukuda had realised when they'd met up for the first time in the real world. A middle schooler in third year for the upcoming school year. And Fukuda had quickly realised that they have quite a bit in common during their first meeting.

Apparently, she had an older brother who had been an SAO survivor as well—that had been the entire reason why Suguha had even played ALO to begin with, wanting to know more about the world that had attracted her brother so.

And gradually, Fukuda is starting to understand why Tamaki had liked gaming so much.

It allows her to become someone else in another world. She doesn't have to hide. She doesn't have to be so helpless. And unlike the real world, there are no social restrictions that even stop them from becoming friends with someone else.

Those new guys whom they'd just met recently in ALO immediately come to mind.

Fukuda smiled as he placed the Amusphere back over his eyes.

"Link start!"

XXXXXX

"The more that I think about it, the more that I think Shinji is right." Sekiyama Soma frowned as they met up at the Cross Café as was agreed on. "Something is really weird in ALO."

"I've done some checking up on ALO and the servers as well as the quests in there." Mayuzumi piped up—with this being the first time since they were discharged from the hospital when the lot of them have seen the older boy. "And it's like what we've suspected. ALO is merely a copy of SAO. The servers were originally SAO's old servers. That is why you were registered as old existing players when you've first logged in, instead of being identified as new players."

Kazuto frowned, his brain working overtime. "Then does this mean that RCT is responsible for the continued comas of Asuna and the others?" he asked in a low voice so as to not attract attention from the other patrons in the café.

Tamaki took a sip from her vanilla milkshake. "…Most probably," she said at last from her place next to Shigehiro.

The SAO survivors all paled as one from the mere implications of what they've just discussed.

"If so, we're in some deep trouble." Shigehiro concluded at last, pinching the bridge of his nose. He turned to his girlfriend. "You still have that Kikuoka guy's contact, right?" Tamaki nodded. "Do you think he might know anything?"

Tamaki frowned. "I don't know. But I don't think it's wise to involve him in anything until we know for sure," she cautioned. "Asuna and the others might be put in danger if we act rashly."

"I'll investigate more on my side." Mayuzumi cut in with a frown. "The lot of you continue doing what you could in ALO—"

"No way! You're an SAO Clearer?"

As one, all their heads swivelled towards the table three tables away from them where a rowdy group of people—most likely college students maybe a year or two older than them were gathered at.

At this point, just the mere mention of 'SAO' is enough to attract their attention.

Tamaki frowned as she narrowed her eyes, studying the guy whom the speaker was addressing. Around her, the rest of her friends were doing the same thing. Kazuto for one was staring at the guy for an extremely long time without blinking—it is almost unnerving to watch him.

The guy whom the group of rowdy college students were addressing seemed pleased, leaning back into his chair, nursing his cup of Coke. Tamaki frowned as she studied him closely, and then realised what she'd missed earlier. While he had the malnourished body that is still clearly gaining weight like most of the SAO survivors, unlike the actual Clearers in the game who had actually seen the Hell first hand, he didn't have that haunted look in his eyes.

The things that the Clearers in the game had gone though are different from the SAO players who were content enough to remain hidden in the towns and become civilians in everything. It might have been months since they were out of the game, but the Clearers still have nightmares and terrors from what they'd seen and been through.

Any SAO player who had also been a Clearer could recognise another Clearer almost immediately, even if they've never met face-to-face.

But this guy… He is most definitely not a Clearer.

"What was it like, Ken-san?" One of the college students asked excitedly. "The newspapers and magazines never said anything much about it. The rest of the Clearers of the game had declined every interview ever since clearing the game."

"Total Hell." 'Ken-san' answered. "They don't tell you what it's like to go through floor after floor with nothing but just your guild mates and your weapons in hand, not knowing if you're going to live through it." He gave an exaggerated sigh, taking another swig from his glass. "I've seen people die, you know? They aren't very skilled to begin with, so it is no wonder."

Tamaki tightened her grip around her cup so tightly that her fingernails turned white. On either side of her, Shigehiro and Takao were glaring at Ken with murderous intent in their eyes, simultaneous growls coming from them.

"…A Pretender." Kazuto hissed with fury at last, glaring at Ken and his group of rowdy friends with murder visible in his eyes.

A Pretender.

A name given unofficially by the SAO Clearers or even the actual survivors to someone who had pretended to be someone that they're not. Someone using the hype and fame that had came with the end of the SAO incident to get attention and maybe even fame and money.

Legally, there are no laws broken when a Pretender starts doing that.

But amongst the social media circles, the actual SAO Clearers and survivors have made damned sure that those Pretenders couldn't survive amongst the social media circles any longer.

It soon came to such a point that amongst the social media circles and even in the gaming circuits, pretending to be an SAO Clearer or even a survivor when you're not had become something unforgivable.

A taboo.

The actual Clearers would never talk about their time in SAO except to fellow Clearers. It is like those experiences had become something sacred—something that had bonded them together.

Hence, it is pretty easy for a real Clearer to pick out the fakes from the actual Clearers.

And if anything, if a Pretender comes waltzing in, pretending that they've been through the same Hell that they did—have seen the countless comrades that they have die at the hands of a Floor Boss just because they're trying to do what so many countless others were too terrified to do—the Clearers were the ones who would take it personally.

"I heard that those who died during the Floor Boss battles died pretty gruesomely?" Another guy joked, thus only making the SAO survivors more pissed off.

"They aren't really that good to begin with." Ken scoffed, taking another swig of his Coke. "But I'm different from them." He boasted. "I survived after all."

"Enough that you even had someone from Gamer Paradise coming to interview you tomorrow." Another friend said. "What do you think they want?"

"To know more about me obviously!" Ken preened. "I'm the best Clearer in there after all! Ask anyone and they'll tell you the same!"

That is apparently as much as Shinji could take.

While he might not show it, the guild leader of Black Blades had a pretty fearsome temper when someone pissed him off. Unlike him, Soma is the more rational of the pair.

Shinji slammed his glass down onto the surface of the table, glaring at Ken with daggers for eyes. Kazuto was quick to latch out and grasp onto his wrist.

"Shinji, don't—"

Whatever that Kazuto is about to say was cut off as there was a loud scrapping of chairs legs on the ground, and when the group of them have looked up, there was a loud groan of pain along with lots of screaming as someone sitting at the neighbouring table had apparently lugged himself at Ken, and is now attempting to hit every inch of him that he could.

Hence the screaming.

"What the hell's your problem?"

"Get off him!"

"Hey asshole! Leave him alone!"

The workers of the café were soon rushing out to the patio where they were all seated, trying to separate the fighting pair of young men. Tamaki has no idea when it is when they'd all gotten to their feet as well, and were trying to separate the pair.

Or rather, it is Kazuto and Takao who were trying to separate them, with the rest of the boys with her holding back Ken's friends from escalating the situation. One of the workers even seemed to be on the phone, presumably calling the police.

The one who had instigated the fight was screaming even as Takao and Kazuto combined have to struggle to pull him off Ken who by this point, had been bruised up so badly that he is barely recognisable.

"Fuck you!" The guy was screaming, limbs flailing as he screamed, struggling to free himself from Takao and Kazuto. "How dare you pretend to be a Clearer? If we were still in the game itself, I'll fucking kill you myself!"

Tamaki's eyes widened when she saw his face, and she recognised him immediately. From the startled expressions of her friends, Tamaki knew that they'd recognised him too.

A fellow Clearer who had originally been the guild leader of one of the mid-level guilds, but it was wiped out during the last Floor Boss that they have faced, thus only leaving Filis as the sole survivor.

He wasn't the only one either.

Fourteen people have actually died when they've faced off against the Skull Reaper. Nearly four guilds were wiped out during that battle.

Tamaki could understand Filis' feelings now, and why he'd reacted this badly to a Pretender pretending to be a Clearer when they've seen the horrors and the deaths of their comrades falling to a Floor Boss—all of them attempting to do what countless others were too fearful to do. They are the ones that have risked their lives and their very existences to battle through the Floor Bosses and the countless monsters, all hoping to reach to the top to clear the game and get out of it.

"How dare you!" Filis was still screaming.

"Filis, calm down!" Takao grunted.

It was that name that caused Filis to stop his flailing and screaming. He blinked as he turned to stare at them, and recognition shone in his eyes as he recognised his fellow Clearers.

"…Tsuyu? And Zehar and Calerd?"

The police sirens sounded in the distance.

"All right." The police constable who is the one taking Tamaki's statement sighed, exchanging looks with his colleague beside him who is the one scribing the words that the teal head is going to say. "Let's go through it again. So you claimed that it is Kobayashi Ken-san who had provoked Kitamura Eijiro-kun into attacking him and beating him black and blue?" The officer sounded almost incredulous.

"Not 'claim'. It is the truth." Tamaki answered curtly, arms crossed over her chest even as she sat across the table. "We were there. We saw everything. You can ask the others. They'll tell you the same thing."

"According to Kobayashi-san's friends, Kitamura-kun just attacked from out of nowhere." The police constable said, reading from the file that he is holding before turning his attention back towards Tamaki. "How is that 'provoked'?"

Tamaki held the police constable's eyes for several moments without saying anything, unintentionally unnerving the man. "…He pretended to be someone he's not," she said at last, much to the two police officers' surprise. "He pretended to do something that he had never done."

"Pardon?"

"Is this about Sword Art Online?" The police scribe spoke for the first time since Tamaki had been brought into the interview room after the lot of them—along with the café's workers who were there at the scene, were brought to the police station to give their statements. Filis, or Kitamura Eijiro as he was known as was placed in the lock-up. And for safety reasons, Kobayashi Ken was placed in a different cell. "Your friends have implied as much when we've questioned them earlier."

"Sword Art Online?" The police constable echoed incredulously before turning back towards Tamaki. "That's what this is about? He beat someone black and blue, and had likely ruined Kobayashi-san's left eye because of a game?"

Tamaki bristled with fury. Clearly, this officer had never lost someone in the game, or had never even lost anyone before. Apparently, the police scribe was of the same opinion, as he shot his colleague a dirty look over his insensitive comments.

"This game has people dying in it. Or are you so out of touch with the news and reality that you didn't know that?" Tamaki said frostily, and the police constable flushed.

"All right, let's try this again." It was the scribe that spoke this time, obviously realising that Tamaki wouldn't respond to his colleague very positively, and thus, he passed the laptop that he'd been using to scribe Tamaki's words to his colleague. Apparently, at some point, the two have decided to swap. "Do you know what begun the entire situation to begin with?"

"Like I said, it is Kobayashi who had provoked Kitamura-kun." Tamaki said. "He did something that is completely unforgivable to the SAO survivors. He pretended to be someone he's not. He pretended to be a Clearer—one of those that risked life and limb and our very existence itself to clear the game and seek a way out."

The police constable who is now the scribe paled even as he typed in Tamaki's words in the laptop in front of him. His colleague kept his composure, but it is clear that Tamaki's words had affected him as well.

"And I wouldn't blame Kitamura-kun as well." Tamaki said. "I understand his feelings. All the Clearers would. If Kitamura-kun hadn't gotten there first, one of us would have done worst than just destroy Kobayashi's left eye. I know for one that either Shinji or Shige-kun would have probably knocked out some of his teeth at best."

"Why?"

"'Why'?" Tamaki echoed. "A pointless question." She will say 'stupid', but Tamaki doesn't feel like being rude to the police officer who seemed to understand the entire situation better than his idiotic colleague. "We were all SAO survivors, SAO Clearers—just like Filis—Kitamura-kun. For two years, we saw several of our friends fight and gave their lives just to clear the game. Over 6000 players died over the course of two years. And then we get that Pretender—Kobayashi—coming along and pretending to be someone he's not. Pretending to do something that he had never done. Coasting along on the deaths and sacrifices of hundreds if not thousands for something that he had never done when most likely, he is one of those cowards who is content enough to hide in the villages and towns as we went about risking our lives. Those that'd died—they were our friends. Friends killed by Player Killers. Friends killed all in the name of clearing the game. And some of those blasted Player Killers are still walking around scot free from murder. And like it's not enough, we get Pretenders like that guy practically spitting on the lives and sacrifices of our friends—making light of it. Pretending to be one of us when he isn't—he will never be. If we had still been in the game, Kitamura-kun would have killed Kobayashi, and no one will bat an eye, as in our eyes, it is well deserved. So tell me then, Mr Inspector." The pair of police officers almost flinched as Tamaki leaned forwards over the table. "If you were us, what would you have done?"

All of them were released within the next hour.

A/N: Sorry for the late update, people! I have a severe lack of inspiration for this story of late, and had been focusing more on my Yuri on Ice story—a crossover with Kuroko no Basuke. I might just attempt my own Yuri on Ice story sometime soon.

Also, I've ghosted over the events of ALO that leads up to Sigurd's coup d'état, as it honestly isn't really that important. If you truly want to know what happened, go and watch that episode, please.

And too bad that none of you got Nohac's identity correct. I guess Fukuda had been really looked over in this story, as most of you guessed Nohac as Furihata or even Kagami. One of you even thought that it's Akashi.

This chapter focuses more on the outside world, and what the SAO incident had done to the real world and the people as a result.

I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!