Chapter 7

The sun is high in the digital sky, bathing all the players in warm sunlight as they go about their day. Sachi shuffles her feet as she stands near the centre of the town alongside the Black Cats. She awkwardly twists on her feet, pulling her spear closer to her. It's weird, just plain strange; her stomach drops and she feels so cold despite the sun above her. Something isn't right. She feels unsure of what Keita is asking of her. The thought of it makes her mouth go dry.

"Alright. I'll be off," Keita grins briefly at the team, waving his hand a little before disappearing in a flash of glowing green specks.

Sasamaru pushes his honey-coloured hair from his face. He tilts himself forward and crosses his arms. He can't help but smile in amusement, "I didn't know it'd be this exciting buying our own house," he says as his parakeet-like eyes glow a little.

"That's something an old man would say!" Ducker snorts, his sky-blue eyes flashing as he cocks his head around to look at Sasamaru and teasingly nudges his shoulder.

Tetsuo smiles at the two before turning his attention away, "Hey, let go make some cash while Keita's off buying the house. It'd be a good idea," he adds, tilting his head thoughtfully as his face melts into a relaxed smile.

Ducker rocks his head backward, his nose twitching and his eyes rolling upwards thoughtfully. He hesitates before smiling his famous dazzling smile. "Then how about going to one of the upper dungeons?" he offers, looking at his teammates.

"D-Dungeons?" Sachi pipes up quietly.

Her warm eyes sparkling, she breathes in deeply and pushes a lock of silky peacock hair behind her ear. She frowns a little and ducks her head. That doesn't sound very good, she notes to herself. The Black Cats aren't very high level; they can easily be hurt, or worse: be deleted and killed. Like… Diavel-kun.

"…Wouldn't our usual hunting spots be much better?" Kirito suddenly says, gaining everyone's attention. Sachi presses her lips tightly together and shyly looks at him, noticing the way his jade eyes flicker with slight concern.

Ducker grins so widely one has to wonder if it hurts his cheeks. Of course, Ducker shows no sign of pain; instead, he shrugs his shoulders a little and shifts his weight.

"It'd be more efficient in the upper dungeons. At our levels, we'll be fine," he supplies to Kirito. He smiles even wider, and it's almost comforting.

Sachi bites her bottom lip, pushing her hair from her face. She lowers her head thoughtfully, her eyebrows pulling together, and she sighs softly.

"A-And what d-dungeon?" she asks out loud, staring at Ducker with her shoulders hunched.

"Um... I was thinking about level 27?" he says, crossing his arms over his shoulder with his head dipped a little, "I heard about this secret dungeon hidden within another dungeon. I heard it has great treasure. I bet we'll get big bucks for it!"

Ducker grins widely, his sapphire eyes glowing with excitement.

Kirito frowns, tilting his head away and staring blankly down at the pavement. His stomach drops and he sighs to himself. That isn't right. Kirito knows for a fact that the creatures on level 27 are way above their level; there's a very high possibility something will go wrong.

He wants to protest, but everyone seems very excited to enter the floor. Shifting his weight, his sword bounces against his back, reminding him that he is a very high-level player with strong stats. Kirito knows he can protect them, all of them, as long as he stands strongly to face the monsters. He has to do it.

Kirito's ebony locks fall across his forehead. He licks his bottom lip and almost tiredly arches his back, "Well, we'll have to be prepared. There are pretty strong monsters on that floor," he finally says, stepping farther into the circle of the Black Cats.

He forces a strained smile as his inky eyes scan around the others. They pause, looking briefly at Sachi. The look in her eye captures his attention.

Sachi looks worried and nervous about this. Kirito swallows a small lump and shifts his feet. He glances at the other members of the guild, watching as they begin to pull out their teleport crystals. He inhales deeply and opens his storage, summoning out his own crystal to follow them.

Kirito blinks, watching as one by one, they disappear like shards of glass, sparkling and glowing. In fact, Kirito is oddly reminded of glitter; Glitter being thrown randomly in the air and the person underneath it vanishing without a trace. Kirito shakes his head and puffs out his cheeks, glancing to the side to see Sachi has yet to follow.

"Sachi?" Kirito calls to her, stepping up to her side and tilting his head worriedly.

It looks as if she's in deep thought, and expressions flash across her face, worrying him. There's concern, followed by fear, sadness, and one where she looks like she's about to cry. Kirito has to repeat himself to snap her out of it.

Sachi bites her bottom lip, holding her own crystal in her hands and cradling it to her chest as she tilts her to look at Kirito. She blinks, her long eyelashes casting shadows over her pale cheeks.

"K-Kirito-san…" she murmurs, her shoulders shaking a little before she breathes in sharply. Her small nose twitches and she lowers her head, her short hair falling in front of her eyes.

Kirito smiles comfortingly at her, seeing the fear bubbling in her beautiful eyes, "It'll be alright," he says gently, placing his hand carefully onto her hunched shoulder.

"Kirito-san," Sachi mutters, chewing the inside of her cheek and glancing to the side.

She hums a little under her breath and returns her attention to him. Anything could happen. Their team is so weak, Sachi worries that Ducker might get himself into trouble. He's like a magnet for trouble, always picking fights and shooting off his mouth. It's a hundred percent worse now in Sword Art Online.

"It'll be alright, Sachi. Don't worry," Kirito says, spreading his fingers widely and petting her hair, "Nothing bad will happen. Come on, we better hurry up or they'll leave us behind."

Kirito chuckles; it wouldn't be the first time for the others to do that. Recently, Kirito noticed the team left him with Sachi many times. Not that he has a problem with it, she's a nice girl, but oddly enough, it's like Sachi hasn't noticed how much they're being pushed together. It's like anything like this goes straight over her head.

Sachi, pressing her lips together, twitches and shifts her weight. She glances down at the crystal in her hands and sighs deeply, her lips pulling into a warm smile.

"Right," she said, "And knowing D-Ducker, he'll most likely b-be in some kind of trouble right now. Without Keita around, Ducker, S- Sasamaru, and even Tetsuo will get into s-some kind of trouble…" She chuckles under her breath and pushes a lock behind her ear once more. Her eyes sparkle, and her mind turns back to a time in the real world.

"Really? I thought Tetsuo would have prevented him from getting him in trouble. He seemed like a very grown-up kind of person. Almost like a dad, really…" Kirito trails off thoughtfully, rubbing his chin before smiling in amusement at the expression overtakes Sachi's face.

Shaking her head slowly, Sachi smiles and chuckles, "No. Actually, T-Tetsuo's sometimes the reason why Ducker's in t-trouble. They have b-bets, dares, and play ridiculous games. Sometimes Tetsuo encourages him," she says with a soft happiness on the tip of her tongue.

Her eyes glow as she thinks of her dear friends. She remembers the many times she would find the two in a dare, or bet. One time, they had played a game on whoever could do the stupidest things.

"It's a-actually Sasamaru who is the v-voice of reason," Sachi adds, tilting her head and looking at Kirito.

Kirito's cheeks burn a little as he notices the way the sun captures Sachi's features just right. He sniffs a little, lips pulling into a tiny smile.

"Ah. I see," he mutters.

He has to agree with Sachi; Sasamaru seems like the one who's the most suspicious about things, always looking at everything with a reasonable edge, speaking logically.

"O-Oh, um… w-we should be g-going…" Sachi whispers, pulling her gaze away when she finds herself staring at Kirito a little too long.

She finally holds her crystal up. Her arm shakes a little from the small weight of the stone. Sachi bites her bottom lip harshly as she finally disappears in a flash of white shards. It isn't long until Kirito follows, disappearing into shards of midnight.

The 27th floor is surprisingly dark in comparison to the previous levels, which are bright and warm and oh-so-colourful. The Black Cats first appeared in one of the run-down towns of the level. The 27th floor is one of the floors that holds the most realistic world so far. It always unnerves Sachi whenever she steps onto this floor. Granted, floor 27 has a beautiful flower field, but there is still a stomach-clenching aura that pulses with everything and anything.

Sachi shudders as she steps behind the rest of the Black Cat Guild, following them through the long, pulsing corridor. Her head feels heavy and almost dizzy from the way the bright colours seem to blind her, zipping up and down.

"Is t-this really a d-dungeon?" she wonders out loud, her eyes flickering slowly around, and feeling her stomach drop in concern.

It's odd that the guild has stumbled across this supposed secret dungeon.

'Very odd…' Sachi thinks, turning her head to the side and looking at the glowing wall near her.

She wants to touch the wall, but a small voice in the back of her head tells her not to. Instead, she settles for hugging the spear close to herself. Sachi really wants to hold her bow instead as her legs tremble underneath her. She feels unbelievable nerves nipping at her stomach with each step, almost like chains are holding her down.

Sasamaru walks ahead of the group, his back arched and his head held high. Out of all the guild, he is, other than Keita, the highest level at 23, with Tetsuo right behind at level 22.

"Just a bit more and we might make it to the front lines," he says confidently.

"You said it." Ducker grins widely, almost skipping as he walks.

Sachi glances at him and the ghost of a smile appears on her lips. He looks so happy and excited, it makes her stomach warm as she looks at his expression.

Ducker's bright azure eyes glow and his lips pull into a large 'O' shape. His heart skips a beat and he runs ahead.

"Look! Here it is!" he calls over his shoulder, reaching a hand out and pressing his sweaty palm against a square tile on the wall.

'…A secret door? Here?' Kirito thinks in confusion, pulling his dark eyebrows together and clenching his teeth tightly.

His gorgeous dark eyes narrow in thought, the gears in his head turning as he watches the doors tremble and slowly open, the walls around them shaking as if an earthquake is going off. Kirito shifts his feet, his hands curling into fists at his sides, making his small crescent moon mark appear on the sensitive skin of his hands.

Feeling the ground shake, Sachi carefully turns on the spot to peer down at the corridor behind her. Her knees quiver while she watches the walls shake, making small bits of debris fall around her. Sachi isn't quite sure if this is normal, as she avoids dungeons whenever she sneaks out at night to train. Honestly, she has only been in one dungeon since Diavel's death.

The only other time is when she's moving onto the next floor; normally there aren't any monsters about where the defeated boss used to be. Other than that, Sachi has never accepted quests to go into dungeons or anything.

Sachi cocks her head backward, scanning her eyes along the tiles above her. The ground finally stops shaking as she pouts, returning her attention to the door and having to jump a little to see over so many heads.

'A treasure chest?' she thinks to herself, her lips twisting together and her eyes sliding half-closed in thought. 'That doesn't sound right… but maybe it's different in a dungeon…'

Sachi ran her fingers smoothly along her spear and tightening her fingers around the thin handle of the spear, pulling it close. She isn't a treasure hunter, either, so maybe logic is different for things like this. She doesn't really play games like this, but in her opinion, it all smells a little fishy. Honestly, Sachi is unsure if she can open that chest, even if it really is a real treasure chest.

"Wait!"

Sachi jumps, startled, and breaks out of her thoughts to find three of her teammates have entered the room. Without thinking, she runs after them worriedly, but as soon as her boot touches down, the soft green and blue floor rips into a gut-clenching rose colour that almost blinds her eyes. She whimpers and stumbles backward, only to yelp in shock as the door behind her swings shut, locking them in. Wine-coloured lines zip around, hanging off the walls smoothly along with flashing cherry and scarlet, like an alarm has been set off.

"Damn it! Ducker!" Sasamaru growls out, shifting his feet and stepping backward. His parakeet eyes narrow with his teeth clenching, "It's a trap!"

Ducker's eyes widen, his shoulders twitch, and he slowly pushes himself up, "W-What?" he gasps out/

Ducker twisted his head to the side to see one of the walls nearest to him give away and creatures with masks come charging out. They hold hatchets tightly with hunched backs. They wear long red and green rag-like robes with heavy boots. Amour covers their large shoulders, and long, furry, white material hangs over their chests like beards. Glowing ruby eyes peer out from the shadows of their masks.

Sachi's heart pounds within her chest, making her stomach drop and her body freeze cold as flashes of nothingness appear around them. Large, tall creatures fall from above, slamming to the ground on large, stone-like feet. They hunch to the left from the right with low shoulders, made from all stone, jammed together oddly with empty eye sockets and even longer arms which dangle by their sides and scrape across the ground.

"Teleport to Taft!" Ducker cries out desperately, holding his teleport crystal above him. His eyes widen and his lips pull out into a large oval shape.

"Teleport to Taft!" he tries again and again, his arms shaking, "They're not working!"

Gasping, Sachi steps backward. "T-The crystals aren't w-working…" she murmurs, her eyes widening so much that they begin to sting. She bites her bottom lip painfully.

"So this is an Anti-Crystal Area?" Kirito breathes out, pulling his sword out and twisting it in his hand.

He sniffles a little and gulps, pressing his lips together and tilting his head to the side. He looks at his blade and watches as it flashes in the pulsing red light. Just as the creatures charge forward, his dark eyes widen and he arches himself backward, slashing his sword down and ripping the blade along the creature's stomach. Kirito pants as the creature shatters in front of him, disappearing into glass shards. He swings himself around as another creature comes running with its hatchet held high.

Ducker yelps, finding himself being thrown to the ground. He grumbles, his stomach throbbing as it's slammed against the ground. His back arches with his arms numbly laying against the ground. He slowly lifts his head and gasps as a shadow overcasts him. Ducker lifts his head to find a pair of masked creatures standing above him, holding their hatchets high before they bring them down upon his much smaller body.

Ducker screams from pain as the sharp blades rip into his body; redness begins to seep out of him before he feels his body drop. His insides fizzle and he finds darkness ripping its claws into his body just as he disappears into glowing white and blood-red shards of death.

"Tetsuo!" Sasamaru cries out, tilting his head back in time to see him disappear in matching white and red shards of glass.

Sasamaru heart pounds upon seeing two of his friends die right in front of his eyes. His shoulders shake as he holds his own spear; said spear feels heavy in his slack fingers. Sasamaru stumbles backward, his legs buckling a little before he runs forward with an angry cry, throwing his spear and slashing into the creature that has killed Tetsuo.

"They're high-level…" he gasps out, finding his blade has done nothing to the creature.

His stomach drops as the creature slowly lifts its large and bulky stone-like arm above his head and brings it down upon his body. The arm swings full force into his side, making his body collapse in on itself. Sasamaru even hears a snap somewhere inside him, echoing around him before his view darkens and his body disappears into death shards.

Kirito's body feels cold. His hands clench his sword and swing it around himself. He slashes his blade angrily through the creatures, his level of 50 overwhelming their much lower level. It only takes him one good hit to remove the creature, but every time he takes one down, two more take its place. There are so many of them. His heart pounds harshly in his chest and he arches his head around desperately in time to see Sasamaru fade into salt and berry-coloured shards.

"Sachi!" he gasps out, just as he takes down a creature in time to see her.

Sachi feels her heart leap into her chest. She stumbles backward as she finds herself surrounded by the stone-like demons, their long arms rocking around at their sides. One of the creatures lifts its arms and goes to bring it down upon her. She gasps and cries out loudly, ducking underneath the arms, swinging around, and holding her spear out above her to prevent another one of the stone creatures from attacking her. She shudders as its arm hits against the middle of her spear; her body shakes from the sole weight of it.

Her feet shake and, with all her strength, Sachi shoves the creature backward. Her breath comes out shakily.

"K-Kirito!" she calls, turning her head to see him trying to get to her.

Sachi's stomach twists painfully just as a shadow falls over her and she spins around in time for the same stone-creature to swing its arms once more. She swings her spear up to block it. Her blood freezes as she feels her spear shake under her fingertips. It suddenly becomes a lot lighter, causing her body to shake and her warm lavender eyes to grow wide, making the soft skin around them sting and twitch as her throat tightens like a hand is clenching her neck. Her spear snaps in half, tiny wooden shards spilling out through the air.

'No,' she thinks in fear, watching as her spear shatters.

Her arms swing backward, and her legs feel weak underneath her. She feels the much larger bodies beginning to close around her, their arms swinging above her, readying themselves to slam into her weak body. She shakes, shuddering as pain erupts through her back, spilling along the middle of her shoulder blades. Wetness begins to crawl across her back from that spot, crimson appearing and slowly dripping along her arm.

Sachi looks down at her feet to find little drops of blood appearing around her boots, staining her clothes. Her stomach drops and she feels like everything around her has frozen, becoming blurry and somewhat fuzzy. Her head spins and she breathes out slowly as her arms begin to lift, fingers twitching in the air. She blinks slowly and looks up at her Health Bar, seeing it drop a good length, but it doesn't kill her in one hit like her teammates. Reaching level 40 has done great for her statistics, especially her health bar, now doubled. The creatures need to hit her a few more times to kill her.

Her eyes flicker as the thought appears in her mind. Sachi ducks her head, allowing her hair to cover her face as she twists her hands, her fingers stretching out as whiteness gathers between them. Her chosen colour flickers and sparkles around her arms as Sachi twists on her feet and holds her arms up. She straightens her arms, arching her fingers as the light brightens and an arrow shoots straight out from the light. The arrow flies through the air and slams into the stone-creature that has hit her.

"S-Sachi!" Kirito calls.

The stone creature in front of him disappears into glass shards and he had to duck to avoid the very same arrow from making a home for itself in his head. Instead, the arrow flies straight over his head and hits another creature behind him. His eyes widen as the shards fade away, much like glitter. Sachi appears, almost glowing from the effect of the creature being defeated by her. Her body is arched with a gorgeously carved bow held gently in her fingertips.

The wood suddenly begins to glow a warm coconut colour, melting into a newer and much stronger form that spreads out around her. Sachi gasps for breath, blinking a little. She glances down at her bow and her heart skips a beat at seeing her bow has finally levelled up high enough to take on a newer form. It's no longer wood.

Kirito's breath gets stuck in his throat as he stares back at her. Their eyes lock, and Sachi finds her heart beating anxiously from worry at being caught out, but that's quickly pushed away as she stares back at the great shock swirling around in Kirito's eyes. His lips part; no, his jaw drops from shock. His sword feels slack in his hands while staring at her, watching as her hair seems to flutter around her rosy face.

"Sachi…" he murmurs, his breath hitching a little, and his heart pounds within his chest. Kirito swallows a lump in his throat, hands shaking before his fingers tighten around the handle of his pure white and black sword and swing it around, slashing the blade along the creature behind him. The blade rips across the creature's stomach; he watches briefly as it shatters before moving onto the next demon.

Sachi shakes her head, licking her dry and chapped lips. Her back stings as she forces herself to spin around and slam the sharp edge of the bow into the stone-creature's head, and she yanks it out as it bursts into shards. She pants and summons another arrow, aiming it at the rock creature lifting its arm to attack her with. The arrow shoots quickly in the air and smacks into the creature's head, making it stumble backward, allowing Sachi to run forward and twist her bow around, piercing the creature through the stomach with the somewhat bladelike edge of the bow. Her arms shake from the pressure. Sachi gulps and watches the creature shatter.

Her soft hair sticks against her forehead from sweat. Sachi gasps for breath, feeling the pressure quickly begin building on her chest. Her lips shake as she clenches her bow and turns around, aiming another arrow at the creature behind her.

Feeling her body vibrate with exhaustion, Sachi tilts her head, watching as Kirito swings his sword and charges after the last stone-creature. As soon as his blade rips through the rocky texture, the pulsing red around her fades away, melting into a gentle and calm cerulean colour that glows from all directions.

Sachi tilts her head to look at her new bow. It's much longer than her previous one. It stands roughly the same height as her, reaching above her head just a little and both ends curling into large loops with sharp, sword-like edges poking out. Sachi slowly reaches to one of the ends and runs her finger along it as gently as possible, only to gasp and wince. She blinks a little and looks at the red appearing on her fingertip.

It's that sharp? She can't believe it. The bow feels as light as a feather and seems to move like the wind; it's easy to handle. It's not wood, but some kind of metal. Sachi's eyebrows pull together in thought. She has no idea what kind of metal this bow is made from. It feels cold in her hand, but it's a nice, gentle coldness that spreads across her palm. It's a snow-white colour that glows and glitters with every movement she makes, and soft pink symbols are etched across the middle of the bow.

Sachi lets out a shaky breath, her head slowly rocking before the familiar box of statistics appears in front of her face. Her eyes flutter while they scan the pink numbers and words surrounded by whiteness. Her skill for fighting has increased by 500, the highest she has ever gotten, followed by her archery that has quickly increased by 450. She smiles weakly and sadly, her legs giving out underneath her, causing her to crash to the ground, landing on her knees.

"O-Oh…" she whimpers, her body shaking and hands trembling.

She stares down at her lap, her bow falling in front of her with a low and soft clap. Her breath comes out short and choppy. She tries to gasp for breath, but it feels as though a fist is inside her chest and twisting. She whimpers to herself, her head lowering and shoulders hunching. Her bottom lip trembles.

Kirito pants as he slowly lifts and tilts his head to look at her. Slowly, he walks toward her before pausing with a good distance between the two.

"Sachi?" he calls out, his voice low and gentle.

His eyes lower when a broken whimper is his reply. Ever-so-slowly, Kirito watches as the first tear slides down her flushed cheek, leaving behind a small trail like rain on a dusty pane, the rest following in an unbroken stream. Sachi bends forward where she sits on the floor and presses her palms into her eyes, harshly rubbing as she begins to cry with the force a full storm.

Shifting on his weight, Kirito breathes in sharply. His eyes blur, welling up with familiar tears, and his lips form into a small frown that twitches before his shoulders sag. He knows it's bad, but he can't help feeling relieved that Sachi is still there. Kirito tries sniffing discreetly as his frown flickers a little more and he slowly lowers himself in front of her.

"Sachi," he whispers, his voice cracking a little, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. "

Sachi hunches forward, her head bowing with her hands pressing firmly into her eyes. Her fingers spread wide, making a few strands of soft hair spill between her fingers. She shakes her head furiously.

"It's n-not your fault. T-This is my fault. I'm a h-higher level. I should have known," She sobbed, her voice becoming higher as she spoke, "It happened again! D-Diavel-kun—"

"Diavel?" Kirito repeats in surprise. His eyes widen a little, staring at her. His own tears spill along his pale cheeks, leaving trails behind. His lips part briefly before he presses them together.

"So you're the…" he trails off and shuts his eyes, shaking his head.

It's so obvious now; he should have seen it. Sachi is like the mystery hooded girl's twin; of course they're the same person. He really should have seen it before, and feels stupid that he didn't, but the thought only brings another wave of his own tears. Turning his head to the side, Kirito lifts his hand and slowly presses his fingers to his forehead, pushing his hair from his face a little.

Inhaling sharply through her nose, Sachi lowers her hands and hiccups a little. Her face is a soft scarlet with slightly swollen eyes. Why does it feel like death is following her all the time? Now her closest friends are gone. She swallows a lump in her throat and breathes in deeply while pressing her hand firmly against her chest, feeling the way her chest tightens, clenching like hands were pushing against her insides. She blinks a little more, licks her lips, and winces from the salty taste.

Kirito tilts his head and watches as Sachi tries to climb to her feet. He bites his bottom lip as she shakes, and her legs almost give out underneath her. He quickly moves forward and catches her before she falls back to the ground.

"I'm so sorry," he says in a low voice, "It's my fault. I'm a high level…I should have been able to protect everyone…" He bows his head and a sad smile appears on his face. It's all his fault. "I failed you…"

Sachi's eyes lower, her long eyelashes shadowing her cheeks. She shifts a little and winces from the pulsing pain that quickly flares across her body, nipping at her back, and she whimpers.

"My b-back…" she whispers to herself, tilting her head to look over her shoulder.

Her eyes widen and sting as she sees how much blood has seeped across her back. Her eyes flicker up to her health bar and she bites her bottom lip as her health begins to drop. She lifts a shaky hand to open her storage to find a health item, only to have her stomach drop when she finds she is out of health items. Sachi can't help but wonder how in the world she hasn't noticed she has no more of those items left—how has she run out so quickly? She swore she restocked a while ago.

"Here," Kirito says, interrupting her thoughts. Sachi blinks owlishly, her eyes puffy and red, and she lifts her head just as he pushes the glowing green bottle into her hands. He breathes in deeply, his throat itching and burning as he passes the item to her.

Sachi blinks slowly once more, looking down at the bottle, and she tilts her head thoughtfully. She smiles sadly to herself and bows her head.

"T-Thank you," she says quietly, and sips from the bottle.

Her body shudders as the wound on her back disappears in flash of white shards, while her clothing returns to the state they were before she entered the room. She gulps and hiccups loudly, sniffling a little, and shifts herself.

"K-Keita…" Sachi breathes in deeply, lowering her head and allowing her hair to shield her face.

He doesn't know and she can just picture the heart-breaking expression on his face. She feels her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. She has to see him, but her stomach twists. She's the Beta, she has played this before, and she should have known what was going to happen. Death. There was no avoiding it, it crawled in everywhere and at the thought, she feels her knees buckle once more, sending her back to her knees. She stares blankly at nothing on the odd, pulsing blue floor.

"Sachi…" Kirito quietly says, crouching down in front of her and looking at her face.

Sachi's face holds no emotion, her eyes are unfocused with her cherry lips parted and her head rocking slowly. Kirito breathes deeply and reaches out, patting her on the head, gently stroking the soft hair that curls around his hand. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he pushes himself up and turns around, crouching back down.

"Sachi. We can't stay here," he says.

Sachi mumbles quietly, her eyes closing and opening. She tilts her head up a little when Kirito speaks again. She presses her lips tightly together and stares at the back of Kirito, noticing absentmindedly that he's waiting for her climb onto his back. Her body is cold and numb, like she has no feeling anymore.

"Sachi?" Kirito says over his shoulder, forcing a comforting smile onto his face, "I'll carry you, so climb aboard…"

Hearing this, Sachi sniffles, her eyes flickering about before she slowly climbs forward and shakily loops her arms over his shoulders. Kirito grunts a bit before shifting his feet and loops his right arm around Sachi to keep her close while his other hand grips her bow, lifting it up and using it to help him stand up straight before attaching it to his belt. Looping both hands underneath Sachi's knees, he peers one last time into the glowing blue room before leaving.

Sachi shudders, leaning her head against the back of Kirito's neck. She clings to him like a lifesaver, her hands shaking and her eyes dilated, her pupils just blown from complete shock. No matter how strong she gets, she can't save anybody, ever. Maybe it was best if she's alone after all, if she never met the Black Cats at all in the game. It all happened without warning, happened too fast, flashing before her eyes. She did nothing but stand there and watch. She could have done something; if she had summoned her bow earlier, she might have been able to change what happened. Sachi never felt as cold or as helpless as she does right now. But somehow, she isn't even aware of the way she hugs Kirito tighter as he walks back the way they came.

"Haha. Kirito? Sachi?" A familiar voice breaks the poor girl from her thoughts.

Sachi blinks a little, her head buzzing with sound that makes her ears almost bleed. She sniffles and slowly lifts her head from the black material of Kirito's coat.

Kirito shifts his weight and breathes out as he feels Sachi move for the first time since they started moving. He gulps and carefully lowers Sachi back down, twisting to help her as her legs shakes.

Sachi chews her bottom lip, her eyes flickering all around herself. She can't help but wonder to herself when they reached the edge of the level, the edge of the town; no, when did they reenter the town?

So many questions flash through her mind at once, and it makes her head spin. She shakes her head a little and turns to her bow, finding Kirito holding it tightly, clenching it when he notices her staring, he holds it out to her. With no emotion, she takes it back and holds it close to herself, suddenly feeling a whole lot better with her bow pressed against her.

'How weird is it that my bow gives me such comfort?' Sachi thinks, allowing her eyes to shut briefly, her lips parting as she feels a nice breeze blow across her body and move her short, sweaty hair around. She can't wait to wash it away, to wash everything away.

"You're the Beater? You don't have the right to be with us!" Keita's trembling voice brought Sachi back to Earth.

She tiredly lifts her head and looks at Keita. She feels her breath catch in her throat at his expression. He knows, she realizes, and Sachi snaps her eyes desperately to Kirito; he told him. Obviously. Sachi swallows painfully, and seeing Keita holding a chain of keys tightly, his eyes seem to become much like hers, his brown pupils blown. Sachi wants nothing more than to hug him, but finds her body unable to move.

"Y-You... I—"

Sachi chews her bottom lip desperately. She stares at Keita, watching as his eyes flicker all around them, even becoming blinded briefly by the setting sun to their left. Finally, his eyes settle on Sachi. They soften a little and close. He breathes deeply, his shoulders slack.

"Sachi…how did you…" he begins, eyes dropping to the pure white bow in her hands and his eyebrows pulling together thoughtfully.

"What level are you…?"

Sachi whimpers, ducking her head and feeling her body tremble uncontrollably. She refuses to look at him, feeling her heart break.

"44…" she whispers.

After the fight, she increased a few more levels. She wonders very briefly what level Kirito is now. He's ten levels higher than her, maybe more. Sachi swallows a lump in her throat and shakes her head.

"I w-wanted to tell you, but I was s-scared you'd push me out… I know it's stupid, but I've s-seen how the closest of friends turn on e-each other because one of them w-was a Beta," she gasped out.

"Beta?" Keita interrupts, making her gasp.

Her body arches and the blood in her veins freezes. Keita's mouth opened and shut, his eyes wide and dilated.

"You're… you're a Beta?" he murmurs, and when Sachi slowly nods, he makes a soft clicking sound from the back of his throat.

"That summer, with Diavel. The game you guys tested for was… Sword Art Online, huh?" he mutters, more to himself then Sachi. Slowly stumbling backward and forward, his legs buckle underneath his weight. He sniffles a bit, his small nose twitching, and presses his lips tightly together.

"Sachi… you're a… a… Beater?"

Sachi gasps loudly, snapping her head up finally and looking at her guild leader with large, desperate eyes. Her ears ring from the word and her heart drops before she feels as if freezing cold water is thrown over her as she sees the familiar crazed look in his eyes. He staggers a few feet backward. She recognizes that look. She has only seen it once, a long time ago... but back then, she wasn't alone. Diavel was there to help.

"Keita!" Sachi cries out, seeing him climb onto the floor edge rails numbly.

She runs forward, hoping to prevent him from falling straight off the edge, her hand stretching out and her fingers spread wide. Her bow falls to the ground with a soft thud and Sachi feels her breath ripped from her throat as Keita flops forward, disappearing through the clouds around them.

"Keita…Keita…" she gasps, leaning over the rail, her hand wiggling helplessly as her body begins to dip forward.

She stares blankly down at the emptiness that has claimed its own share of players. Her eyes burn and her body rocks forward. Sachi doesn't even try to prevent herself from sliding forward over the rail.

Just as she was about fall limply over it, someone runs up behind her and grabs ahold of her. Arms wrap around shoulders, pulling her backward and onto the level's platform. She lets out a broken cry as she stumbles backward, the glowing orange, red, and yellow clouds swirling around her as she dips and falls to the hard ground with a very harsh thump. She whimpers and winces from the painful throb that goes up her spine.

As soon as she falls into a sitting position, her chest tightens very painfully, like thick rope was looped around her neck, pressing into her windpipe and trying to crush it. She gasps, her body limp, swaying side to side as she gasps for breath. Pain flares along her throat, making it difficult to breathe. She finds herself unable to breathe at all, her chest hitching and soft wheezes escaping her cherry lips.

Great pressure crushes against her lungs painfully, making her eyes widens so much all she can see is white. The white specks overtake her sight, making her head spin and her body shake. Sachi feels like a fish out of water. She can't breathe!

"Sachi. Sachi," Kirito calls out softly, rubbing her between her shoulder blades while his other hand presses very firmly against her chest, right where her raging heart pounds forcefully against her ribcage.

"Sachi. It's alright. It's going to be okay," he calls out desperately to her, panicky even.

Kirito feels himself bristle. He bites his bottom lip and arches his back. He shifts himself and pulls Sachi into him for a hug; crushing her against him, tightly wrapping his arms around her shoulders, and digging his fingers into her skin.

Sachi gasps, her chin resting on Kirito's pointed shoulders. Her face flushes as her heart slowly begins to calm down. She wheezes deeply as her body starts to relax. She stares blankly at the setting sun and the twinkling night sky behind it. Her mouth feels dry and her throat is itchy. Very itchy. Her body goes slack against Kirito, and she breathes softly and tiredly.

She isn't sure how long the two sit like this, but when Kirito allows her to pull away, she finds it's very dark. She sways a little, feeling very tired, and her body is stiff. "Kirito…I can't stay here…" she whispers, her voice broken. Her head lowers much more and she breathes deeply, her shoulders lifting and falling.

"Sachi… I…" Kirito begins, eyes twitching as he stares down at her. His mind swirls with so much and his body aches; he still needs a health item himself.

Sachi breathes deeply and numbly holds up a hand, "I'm sorry…" she adds, looking up at Kirito.

"…N-No…I'm sorry…" Kirito breathes, his own head lowering.

Sachi lets out a soft and broken chuckle. "We're both sorry, huh?"

Kirito reaches up and scratches the side of his head, "Yeah…" he whispers, sniffling and rubbing his face as he presses his lips tightly together, "I guess… this is goodbye."

Breathing in deeply once more, Sachi reaches up and bravely cups his face, her palms gently taking his cheeks, "Kirito. We'll… see each other again… one day. I hope so, anyway."

"Sachi…" he murmurs, lifting a hand and placing it on top of her head, making it bob a little. He'll work hard and train hard. That's what he'll do. He'll go to the most dangerous training field and do his best to level up.

"Let's both work hard. Okay?" Kirito said softly.

Sachi's eyes become owl-like. "Yeah…" She smiles gently and finally climbs to her feet.

She turns and reaches for her bow, twisting it in her hands, and attaches it to her back. She looks back at Kirito and watches as he gets to his feet. Sachi holds her arms in front of her, holding her hands tightly together, and carefully bows to him. "You want the truth? I never wanted to leave Starting Town. But if I fought with thoughts like that, I know I'd definitely die someday. That in itself is nobody's fault, but mine alone...

"Ever since that night, you continued to assure me that I would definitely survive. So if I died, I'm sure you would try to place all the blame on yourself. And… I actually know what level you are… I caught a glimpse of it before. I also remembered you from the first level, so it wasn't hard to connect the dots. Thank you for that, Kirito." Sachi smiles at him, her eyes glowing beautifully, "For protecting me back then, too."

She tilts her head. Another cold breeze blows between the two, making her short raven hair flutter about once more, and she lets out a soft laugh. "I honestly thought long and hard about why you would hide your level… but then I realized I'm a hypocrite, as I'm doing the exact same thing. Though I never did figure out why you joined us… but, you know, when I learned how strong you were, I was glad. I was really relieved."

"Nee..." Sachi tilts her head, her eyes shutting a little, "Kirito. Live to see the end of this world, okay? Even if I don't make it. Find the meaning behind its creation. The meaning behind the presence of a weak girl like me… why was I chosen to become a Beta?"

"Also… the meaning behind our meeting… that's my last wish. Stupid, isn't it?"

Kirito gulps. He arches his neck up and slowly shakes his head.

"No… it isn't, Sachi..." he mutters, rubbing his eyes with a small smile appearing across his lips. He sighs to himself, his eyes closing, and he nods a little, "If I don't make it..." he begins, opening his eyes and looking at her with a firm and determined expression in his eyes. "Then I want you to also try to find out the meaning behind our meeting too. That's also my last wish."

Sachi's eyes widen a little, her cheeks darkening before she smiles and closes her eyes. Her head dips forward with her lips pulling into a warm and gentle smile that could make anyone's frozen heart melt. She nods and loops her arms behind her, threading her fingers together and slowly turning on the balls her feet.

"Goodbye, Kirito. Thank you for everything."

"Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer

Had a very shiny nose

And if you ever saw him,

You would even say it glows

All of the other reindeer

Used to laugh and call him names

They never let poor Rudolph

Join in any reindeer games

Then one foggy Christmas Eve

Santa came to say:

'Rudolph, with your nose so bright,

Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?'

Then all the reindeer loved him

As they shouted out with glee:

'Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer,

You'll go down in history…'"