A/N: Early chapter yay! Short chapter, f*ck. Oh well. So this time I ran the chapter through a spell checker. If there are any errors idk what to say.

One of the reviewers (JintoLin) did point out a missed opportunity. Specifically, theres a character named Johnny... and I didn't use 'Heres Johnny'. To be fair I usually don't use to many obvious refrences unless its comedy so it probably wouldn't fit...

Speaking of readers, this story went from 11 followers, to 23 in one week. Holy sh*t. Never thought I'd get that many readers...

I'd also like to say sorry that the scenes in this chapter are so short. It gets difficult to extend some of them. And with that lets get into it

Beta: No one

Shino was terrified.

It seemed obvious. After all, not everyday a serial killer decides to bust down your door. But she hadn't felt this scared since... well since Death Gun. She knew she should be helping, or fighting, or something. But she couldn't move at all. Just stuck hiding in the shower, flinching with every noise that came out of her room. When had she become so weak? No... She thought I've always been weak... always. Her mind flashed back to when Shinkawa was in her appartment. She had felt the same fear then. But hadn't she fought back then? Not for herself though. It had been fear of Kirito ariving and being in danger. He was in danger now though. And it was that thought that pushed her to move.

/-/

Kazuto was on his back. Black was on top of him pushing hard with the knife, trying to pierce Kazutos throat. Both reacted in shock when the bathroom door burst open and Shino tackled Johnny off Kazuto. His surprise was the only thing that let Shino pull off such a feat, and once that was gone they began fighing on the ground. Kazuto noticed among the fighting and scraping, Johnny had something tucked in his waist band he was reaching for. Kazuto ran up and kicked Johnny in the back of the head, causing the object to fall to the ground. Shino saw it immedeatly and dove for it, pulling it up and forwards in an almost automatic fashion. It was a gun.

The whole room froze. Kazuto got up from the ground and watched Johnny Black, making sure He didn't try anything. He wanted to check on Shino, but obviously she was handling her issues pretty well if the gun was still trained on him. However he could hear the tell tale shaking behind him. The tense standoff lasted only for a few seconds, as Johnny black started laughing.

"My my Kirito, did you not notice?" The question made Kazuto pause before he realized.

Johnny wasn't alone

The very moment he realized that, a shot rang out. All three of them turned to the door and saw another man in a hoodie holding a pistol. Kazuto looked at Shino, fearing the worst. But all he saw was her look of horror at him. Thats when he noticed the warm feeling covering his stomach. His hand came up to the wound, and came away bloody. He locked eyes with Shino before his vision went black.

His body hit the floor a second later.

Shino was calm.

She shouldn't have been. No one would be. But when she saw Kazuto hit the floor, and the gun move towards her, she didn't scream or freak out. Instead her right arm swivled around and fired 3 rounds in quick succesion. The first shot hit the man at center mass, the next two missing the mark and thuddig into the wall. She didn't see any of it as her left hand came up to the gun. Shinos turn was halted when Johnny Black tackled her by the midsection. The gun went flying, and the two began to fight on the floor. Johnny was overpowering her when they both heard a siren. Panic flashed over his face, and Shino used the moment of hesitation to knock him off and dive for the gun. When she came up with the VP9, Johnny Black was nowhere to be found.

She immedeatly dropped the gun, nauesia coming over her in a strong wave. Shino pushed it back, however, and rushed to Kazutos side. Her hand went to his wrist, and when she felt a weak pulse relief flooded her. She grabbed a discarded peice of clothing, and put pressure on the wound. Several men in suits filled the room, guns drawn. Last of which was Kikuoka, a rare look of anger on his face. Shino let herself be taken away from Kazuto as a medic came forth. When she saw the body of the man she shot, the nauesia and panic came back with a passion. As the ambulance doors closed on her, the main thought breaking its way through the panic was;

Is Kazuto alright?

The light hit him first.

It was bright, and as he slowly opened his eyes it invaded further. The smell hit him next. The sterile smell of disenfectant. Even before he heard the machines he knew it was a hospital. When his vision finally adjusted, he took in his suroundings.

On his left was some machinery, on his right were two familer faces. The first was Asuna, at which Kazuto was hardly suprised. She was fast asleep on his hand. The second was ony a small suprise, Kikuoka, also asleep in a chair. Kazuto knew his visit most likely wasn't out of worry or care. More he wanted to be here first to get information on what happened. On that note... what did happen?

We were fighting... then the other guy joined...and..? His hand shot to his stomach. Bandages were the only thing his hand felt. I was.. shot? He had never even felt it. It knocked him out before he could. Then he really paniced, shooting up and startling Asuna awake. Sinon!

"Kirito! Are you ok?" Asunas question calmed him for a moment, and Kikuoka was just waking up as well.

"Yeah don't worry I'm fine. What about Sinon? Is she ok?" His voice was more a croak, most likely from lack of water. Before Asuna could answer however, Kikuoka had interjected.

"Miss Asada is fine. Only some minor scrapes and bruses. Compared to you She's in peak condition" Kikuoka, of course, was straight to the point with his answer. "Now how about you tell me what happened, and how Death Gun even got to you in the first place." Of course he would want to know immedeatly, and after a quick sip of Asuna provided water, He spoke.

"Well I don't know much. I was out of the fight pretty quick. Why don't you just ask Sinon about it?" After all she would have seen most of the fight, even at the end.

"Two reasons. One, I'd rather have both stories to draw from. Two, Miss Asada suffered a bit of a panic attack after the fight. She passed out and still has yet to wake up." Before Kazuto could overreact to that, Kikuoka held out a hand to stop him. "Don't worry! She should be fine. After she wakes up you can be the first to see her."

Kazuto pushed his panic down, and nodded thanks to the suited man. He put his water down and began to explain everything that happened in detail. Kikuoka wrote down everything he said and when he was done a second man came in to take the notes. Once he was gone, Kikuoka spoke.

"I have to say I really am sorry, Kirito. I know it doesn't mean much but I had no idea he had partne-"

"Oh cut the crap Kikuoka" The interuption startled both Kikuoka and Asuna, who was silently clinging to Kazuto. "I already know the SDF was tracking the Laughing Coffin movments." If Kazuto could frame Kikuokas shocked face, he would. The mans jaw was hanging like a cartoons. He quickly composed himself, at least apperence wise.

"How?! Thats classified SDF Intelligence. Theres no way even you could have..." He hesitated for a moment, a look of realization on his face. Kazuto thought he heard him mumble 'The Rat' But he could have imagined it. "It doesn't matter. Okay yes, we knew they were in the city. But we couldn't move until we had proof it was for nefarious purposes." The man calmed down and spoke again. "Look. We detected Black leaving the city. You and your family should be ok to return home for the time being."

Kazuto was shocked at the news, however he made an effort not to show it. He was glad to finally be able to return home though.

"Now the same can be said for Miss Asada, however I'd advise you both keep an eye on her. During the fight she took the life of a Laughting coffin member." Kazuto couldn't hide the suprise then, and even Asuna gasped. "I'm worried how her past trauma might effect her. Especially with how similar the situations are."

"We understand. She's our friend so we will have her back no matter what" Asuna was the only one to speak. Kikuoka nodded, and left the room. As soon as the door shut, Kazuto felt Asunas lips on his. The kiss was short, and she straightened back up right after.

"Are you sure your ok? I was so worried.." Kazuto stopped Asuna before she could ramble on.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I should probably get a nurse though..." Asuna winced when he said that, and he sent her a questioning look.

"Well problem with that. Everyone else is waiting for you to wake up so as soon as the nurse arives..." He sighed and clicked the nurse button, accepting his fate as the door burst open as several people tried to fit in at once.

Eh... not the worst way to wake up...

So I know it was *Kinda* a cop out to just have Death Gun bail like that but uh I'd like to keep my main villian alive for the moment. Since I kinda got nothin without him. In case I have any GGO readers out there who wanna know, The gun used in this chapter is the Heckler and Kotch VP9. Used by the Japanese SDF. Its a 9mm pistol that looks kinda ugly ngl.

Anyway please leave a review or any advice you have (Trust me I need it) and until next time

Next Chapter: October 12th. Or whenever I finish it. Whichever comes first