Chapter 8

An entire year has already gone by. Sachi can't believe how quickly the time passed.

She pants to herself and pushes the dark tufts of hair out of her face. Her legs burn as she runs awkwardly along the forest trails. She throws herself over a fallen trunk as she goes along, having to twist her hands to keep her speed.

Sachi winces as her feet crunch against what can only be a skull. She gulps, finding her throat dry and scratchy. She shakes it off; she has to. The thing is charging along behind her; she can hear the slight swipe of something at her back, causing her to groan out loud and bite her bottom lip harshly—drawing blood.

She can't stop, not for a second. She has to keep on going, has to keep running faster and faster. The blood rushes to her head, pounding—her feet ghost upon the forest floor as she flies between the thick and gnarly trees, desperately dodging every outspread branch in her path. She feels it chasing her, the sound of her painful heartbeat filling her ears, adrenaline pumping like ice in her veins, her instincts screaming at her to get away.

Fear fills her body like blood. This is the hunt, and she is supposed to be the prey, but not everything is how it seems. Sachi pays extra attention to her direction, escaping being the only thing that really matters.

Her animalistic instincts, buried deep down beneath the morals and etiquette associated with humanity, pulse through her like a second heartbeat, telling her to keep running. But another side of her says to her—no, screams at her to stop and fight with everything she has. But she can't; she has to keep running. It's the only thing that truly matters to her. Sachi senses it behind her, rapidly catching up.

Sachi bursts out from the brush, feeling the pointed branches pierce into her skin. She charges into an open clearing, with the trees all spread out wide, their branches reaching for the sky. She pants for breath, comes to a stop in the middle, and spins around, fully expecting to see the creature—but nothing is behind her. Nothing in sight, at least, but she knows, she knows it's still there—still with her—watching her.

"W-Where?" she gasps, trying to catch her breath, eyes darting around.

She glances up and down between the branches of the trees before gasping and yanking her head up to look above her. Shadows move across her, splashing against the ground and crawling along the roots.

The ground rumbles, and Sachi scrambles back just as a massive mass of black and red rains from the branches. The long, twisting creature screams, shrieking and snapping its pincers together. It writhes upon the ground, its many small red-pointed legs grinding against the dirt. It twists its smooth, round head with its fangs ripping open, letting out another bloodcurdling shriek.

Suddenly, its long body loops across the ground, sliding along, and Sachi's eyes widen seeing it charging towards her. Crouching slightly, she throws herself forward and leaps over the body. She rolls across the ground and pushes herself up fully, barely missing a small, pointed leg ramming into her stomach. She gasps for breath, her skin crawling as she looks at the giant bug. She can't help but wonder—what the hell is the deal with Sword Art Online and bugs?

Sachi springs to her feet, spinning to the side as the creature launches itself forward. Its long fangs snap at her with its many small, plump legs crashing against the ground, sending harsh rumbles through the earth as it moves. She winces, but finds her health bar still in the green, pulsing brightly at her, reminding her of her level—of how hard she has worked.

She quickly holds her hands up and closes her eyes briefly, summoning her slowly-growing levelled bow. She holds it tightly in her hands and lifts her head to look dead-on at the creature. Her breath gets stuck in her throat as it shrieks and throws itself forward.

Sachi gasps and ducks her body, having the creature's fly above her. Her eyes flicker up to look at the shining scales moving above her, and she quickly spins her bow around, ramming one of the sharp points into the fleshy scales.

Sachi's lip curls in disgust, hearing the squishy sound of flesh being ripped apart—especially with how the bug moves outside. Even with Sachi's attack, it keeps throwing itself forward and causing the knifelike edge of the bow to rip straight though its belly. Sachi feels her arms shaking from the force of the bug, causing her to jolt back and forth and eventually sending her backward with a loud thud, slamming against the ground on her back with a horrible gut-twisting pain coursing along her spine.

"Why did have to be a centipede?" Sachi whimpers to herself, shaking her head furiously and carefully getting to her feet.

She turns her head to the long bug, curling back and forth in its struggles to recover from the rip along its stomach. It reminds her of a drunk, stumbling back and forth. She sees its blood and guts seeping between the jagged slit flaps and spilling out across the ground. Her nose twitches from disgust and she frowns deeply.

The centipede is enormous in comparison to the version in the real world. It is truly terrifying, with a snakelike body from which hundreds of fat legs twitch and shift around, slicing repeatedly against the ground. Red and black scales are imprinted across the back and its white eyes glow eerily.

Hissing through clenched teeth, Sachi tightens her fingers around her bow, gripping it tightly and taking an arrow out from her storage, aiming it at the centipede's moving head. Of course, luck isn't on her side—the centipede moves as soon as she looses the arrow and it sticks into the tree behind it.

Sachi curses under her breath and leaps away when the centipede throws itself at her again. She shifts her feet and pants for breath, feeling as if her whole body is struck by lightning when it suddenly flips itself and crushes her small body, wrapping around her figure and pressing her in on all sides, causing Sachi to throw her head back in a painful cry.

Wiggling urgently, her legs kick a little and she gasps out with wide eyes.

'It's crushing me! Is this how the other players died?' Sachi thinks in panic, struggling to get out of the centipede's death grip. Her waist pulses in pain, and when she checks, she finds her health bar decreasing quickly. Its colour glows with each passing second, quickly turning bright gold.

No. Sachi's breath comes out in gasps; she feels as though acid is burning through her throat. She cries out and leans forward, opening her mouth and ripping her teeth into the flesh. She flinches upon tasting that vile, stomach-curdling flavour, but she holds on, biting even harder as the Centipede shrieks and began to wiggles around.

Sachi's eyes grow wide and her body arches horribly when the Centipede uncurls itself and swipes her off to the side. Sachi cries out as she rolls across the ground. She spits out whatever was in her mouth and shudders. So disgusting! Completely vile! It makes her whole body shudder and she whimpers loudly, spitting again and hissing. She can't wait for this quest to be over! She's never done that before and hopes she never has to again.

She hears the shrieking and crying of the Centipede. Her eyes flicker to the area she bit and notices it isn't too bad. With a cry, Sachi pulls her bow high up and aims once more. This time, the arrow shoots through the air and rips into the Centipede's side.

Though her head pounds, Sachi smiles, and her body twitches when the Centipede throws itself back and forth with loud cries and whimpers. It wiggles its body along the ground in loud thuds erupting through the earth, vibrating through the rocks and dancing up Sachi's legs.

Her eyes widen and her jaw drops when the Centipede charges for her again, and she spins around, climbing up the tree with shaking arms and scraping her legs against the tough bark. The sharp edges cut into the soft flesh of her legs.

Eyes narrowing, Sachi forces herself to climb farther up the branches, twisting her hands around and flipping herself along the tree. Breathing in painfully, she looks down at the Centipede and watches it skitter around below—preparing to climb the tree after her. Sachi bites at her lip, twisting around before throwing herself forward. She leaps off the branch and braces herself for the landing.

She lets out a shuddering breath as she lands directly on top of the Centipede. Her eyes narrow and her lips press together, her body shivering as she sets herself upon the bug. Her stomach burns from being crushed, but she ignores it and pulls her bow out again, summoning a glowing white arrow above the Centipede.

Pressing her feet against the scales, she holds the arrow above the smooth head and looses the arrow. It shoots into the back of the head, slicing straight through, ripping through the soft tissues and piercing the brain and sending gloppy blue thick liquid through the air. Feeling the flesh underneath her shake and twitch about, Sachi reaches down and seizes the arrow, pushing it farther through the head. She growls a little and clenches her teeth together as she pushes it with as much strength as she can muster up.

The Centipede shrieks again, throwing itself side to side, and fearing she'll be thrown off before she can finish the job, Sachi drops down, wincing and clenching her thighs together on either side of the Centipede's neck, and thrusts the arrow harder through the head. Her hair is thrown around her face as the Centipede moves about harsher, trying to throw her off, but she holds on even tighter.

With one more battle cry, Sachi rips the arrow out and holds it above her head. She slams it down with as much strength she can gather up, ripping the head apart with the arrow, pulling it out and twisting it back in over and over again, feeling the blue blood erupt with every punch she makes.

The Centipede freezes. Its long body arches before it falls with a thud. Its body crashes against the ground. Sachi rolls off the Centipede's unmoving body, her own body twisting as she rolls straight off the side. She winces as she slams into the ground, and she lies numb, panting for breath as she looks above herself. The sound of shattering glass fills the air, and she knows the Centipede's body has vanished.

Congratulations! Centipede Cleared!

Sachi groans and rolls her head across the forest ground, her hair spilling out all around her. Her chest shudders as she breathes and presses a shaky hand to her forehead. She can't believe it worked; she didn't believe her badly put-together plan would work, but it did.

Oddly, Sachi realizes she's pretty good at dealing with bugs—the thought doesn't please her. Bugs are horrible, the worst, and it's twice as bad now with how big they are in Sword Art Online.

"Diavel-kun would be so proud of me," she sighs to herself.

She carefully pushing herself up and groaning from how her stomach aches. She gently rubs the surface, and hums softly under her breath. Her nose twitches a little.

Lifting her fingers, she opens her storage with a burst of white and pink. She quickly applies a potion to herself, healing her body, and she glances up at her health bar. She sighs upon seeing it glowing green and pushes her hair out of her face, getting to her feet. Her knees buckle underneath her weight.

Smiling weakly, Sachi presses her hand harshly against her chest to add pressure. She sighs softly as she feels her asthma starting up, only to subside before it can really begin. Sachi smiles happily and glances down at where the Centipede was. She notices a new item and slowly walks up to it.

"Shell," Sachi mutters to herself, picking up the soft midnight and ruby shell parts and turning them over in her hands, "A shell plate from a Centipede. Good for making high levelled shields."

She hums softly to herself, thinking she should get a shield soon. She tends to make low-level ones, just because they're cheap. Maybe getting a good strong shield would help.

A whole year has passed since Sachi lost everyone. She can't believe it's gone by so quickly. It's sad, but Sachi has nothing to remember them by—they live in her memory now and she won't allow herself to forget them.

Diavel, Tucker, Sasamaru, Tetsuo and Keita.

They're all alive in her memory, and when Sachi feels she can't take it anymore, and she wants to just end it all—she remembers them, their smiles and laughter, and she knows she'll keep her promise and clear this game. She'll survive it and make it out on the other side. She'll do it for them.

Her bow hasn't levelled up quite yet, but Sachi is happy with the one she has. Its attacks are becoming stronger and stronger with every fight or quest she goes into. She's recently reached level 60, and she's beyond proud of herself for it. She still isn't in the top ten strongest players—hell, she isn't sure where she places, but she's slowly making progress. She knows the frontlines are in the 70s, or just below. Last she heard, Kirito has finally reached level 75, and Sachi can't help but feel proud for him.

Recently, she's teamed up with somebody she hasn't seen face to face since the first boss fight: Asuna, the red flash! Sachi was amazed when she stumbled across the beautiful girl, Asuna, who was fuming as she stood in front of the quest board.

Apparently, there was a quest she wanted to do, but it was a pair one. Sachi gathered up her courage and asked if she wanted to team up for the quest. After stumbling over her answers, doing her best to answer every question the Red Flash threw at her—Asuna agreed.

Asuna was strong, just like how everyone said she was. Sachi was stunned, and the pair cleared the quest before long. They grew close, and for a while, Asuna allowed Sachi to stay in her house. Sachi was surprised to find out that Asuna owns a house! Because of that, the pair kept in contact—Asuna is trying to convince Sachi to join Knights of the Blood Oath. She brings it up every time they see each other, but Sachi always declines, instead teaming up for a quest or something. Asuna is truly a nice person, but Sachi is a little afraid to become close to anyone, since she's lost so many people already. Sachi feels bad because Asuna considers her a friend, but Sachi can't bring herself to consider anybody else a friend.

Asuna began to train her in hand-to-hand combat, sword-fighting even, letting Sachi use one of her other red swords. Sachi isn't very good at it, though. She hasn't had any practice since what happened last year. It isn't very fun like it was with Kirito. Asuna is a strict and firm teacher, and she's very impressed with Sachi's bow and arrows points.

Sachi wants to buy her own home, but can't bring herself to. The Black Cats of the Moon bought a house which was sold and the money shared between herself and Kirito.

Kirito has been sending her messages every now and then, mostly an email once or twice a month, letting her know about what's happening and what the front line guilds are planning. Once or twice, he invited her to the meetings, but Sachi doesn't believe she's strong enough to be on the frontlines with him. Kirito mentioned how the frontline guilds keep requesting him to join.

Sachi smiles a little to herself, remembering what he wrote in the last message. He doesn't want to join any other guild, but will if Sachi does. It's nice to know he's still thinking about her. Sachi supposes he's her only friend still in Sword Art Online, or at least the closest thing she has to a friend now. She always replies, just to let him know she's fine, but it's been a year since they saw each other last—and maybe that's for the best. Sachi doesn't want to become attached again.

Sachi stumbles over a root and she sighs as she falls face-first. She grumbles, and then chuckles to herself. Just her luck. Shaking her head slowly, Sachi pushes herself up, feeling a little bit of mud drip off her cheek.

She's standing and brushing herself off when she hears a soft scream echo through the trees. Sachi spins around and looks in the direction of the scream.

She straightens up and sprints towards where she can see some light. Just as she climbs over a root, the ground shakes as something large lands hard, sending vibrations up her legs.

Sachi's eyes dart around the place. She's in another clearing with glowing white and green trees. Small, crystalline stones are scattered across the forest floor, lighting up everything in sight with a beautiful glow. It's one of the prettiest things she's ever seen.

Sachi shakes her head furiously; she doesn't have the time to take in the beauty, not with the large, hairy, gorilla-like monsters around—breathing heavily and sending tremors through the ground with every footstep. Sachi's heart leaps into her throat when she sees a young child leap out the way of another incoming attack from a gorilla.

"Look out!" Sachi cries, summoning her bow back out with a pale shimmer. She shoots an arrow at the creature behind the little girl, pushing it back easily before it has time to strike her again.

The girl cries out and crawls away with shaky legs. She holds a small dagger in her hand and sniffles. She struggles to her feet; her face is heavily caked in mud, and she looks like she's about to cry. She looks at Sachi, tears swimming in her eyes as her whole body trembles.

Sachi bites her lip and spins around, shooting another arrow at a creature, which stumbles backwards and shatters like the others.

"Are you okay?" Sachi asks, looking back at the girl, who sniffles.

"Y-Yes. Thank you," she breathes out shakily, tilting her head to the side when a soft azure-colored dragon flutters from the tree branches and hovers in front of her face. It glows brightly and spits something at her. Sachi blinks, realizing the baby dragon is healing her.

"Thank you, Pina."

Sachi looks at the young girl and the dragon, realizing the two are close. She swallows a lump in her throat. She holds her bow up, aiming it at another mutant creature. She watches as it stomps towards them with a loud growl that fills the air like thunder.

Sachi feels her heart leap into her throat as she realizes there's another one behind them that she didn't notice. She cries out when it swings its hairy arm, flinging the young girl into a tree. Sachi shoots an arrow at it, watching as it shatters into red glass-like shards, and she rushes towards the young girl.

Falling down next to her, Sachi carefully pulls her up and looks her over. She pulls out one of her healing items.

"Are you okay?" she exclaims, frowning when she notices the girl's health is now red. She applies her healing item.

"Mm-hm," the girl sniffles. She lifts her head before letting out an ear-piercing scream.

Sachi spins her head around just in time to see the gorilla creature swing its large arm once more, and just as it's about to hit the pair, Pina charges forward, taking the attack for them. Its wings arch up with its head thrown backward. Pina lets out a pained cry, its blue feathers trembling before it falls to the ground.

"Pina! Pina! PINA!"

Sachi's chest tightens and her eyes widen at the girl's screams. The girl crawls up to the dragon and pulls it close to her chest. She hugs Pina close, her body frozen, and the small dragon shatters, leaving behind a single glowing feather.

"P-Pina…"

Covering her mouth in shock, Sachi stares wide-eyed as the sparkling blue shards of the dragon dance through the air, spinning around one another. Her heart aches as the girl wails, tears spilling out. Sachi can't help herself; she pulls the girl into a hug. The girl clutches Sachi tightly, sobbing her heart out.

It's then that Sachi remembers the creatures. She turns her head to the side, looking over at the mutant monkey-like creatures making their way closer and closer to them. Her breath is trapped in her throat and her eyes are wide. She almost swears aloud, tightening her fingers around the girl in fear. Her eyes flicker to her bow laying a little away from her. She isn't able to reach her bow in time. What can she do?

Sachi feels the familiar pressure building in her chest as her fear grows. How can she have been so careless? She let her emotions take over before dealing with the monsters.

Just as the gorilla lifts its arm above them, readying to slam it, something shoots through its chest. The tip of a sword rips through flesh and blue blood spurts out. Sachi's eyes widen and her mouth pops open before she turns and clenches the young girl tightly as the monkey lets out a shriek. Twisting painfully, its body begins to crack, like little spiders are making their home on it, before it shatters like glass, falling to the ground and disappearing.

"Sachi?"

Her heart stops in her chest, and Sachi feels as though everything in her whole being has frozen and drained out her feet. She shudders, her knees pressing together; she can't believe what she's seeing. Her eyes flicker and she hiccups. Sachi wonders briefly if she's seeing things, and she has to pinch herself a little to make sure she's not dreaming.

"Sachi."

Kirito stares down at her in surprise. He didn't count on seeing her, but he's happy nonetheless. His dark eyes flash in the dim moonlight above them, and he inhales deeply. He's wearing the same clothes as the last time Sachi saw him. She's happy to see him, too, but neither have time to greet one another as the girl in Sachi's arms wails again.

"Pina, Pina, please don't leave me, Pina," she sobs.

Sachi removes her arms from around her, slowly pushing herself up to give the girl room. She crawls towards the single sparkling and glowing feather, scooping it up and holding it close. Hot tears roll down her cheeks, and she lets out another broken cry.

"What's that feather?" Kirito finally asks.

Awkwardly shifting on the spot, his eyes flicker between Sachi and the girl. His lips press tightly together and he stands with his arms hanging loosely at his sides.

The girl's shoulders shake with more sobs and hiccups. She rubs her face, and cradles the feather as if it's her child.

"It's Pina," she says, "My partner… I-I'm a beast tamer…" Her voice cracks and breaks.

"I'm sorry. If I hadn't been so careless… I could have saved your friend…" Sachi says regretfully.

Sachi breathed softly to keep herself from having an asthma attack—something she hasn't had in a couple of months now. She shifts her weight and places her hands in front of her lap, standing. The guilt quickly grows within her stomach.

The young girl lifts her head, looking up at Sachi with red eyes. Her lips twitch, "No, I was being stupid," she whispers, shaking her head. Her head is bent so that they can't see her cry anymore, "I was stupid to think I could make it through the forest on my own."

She lifts her head to look at the two once again with a small, watery smile, "T-Thank you… for saving me."

"Does that feather happen to have an item name?" Kirito asks kindly, kneeling on the girl's other side.

The girl looks at the feather and opens the feather's item name. Her nose twitches as more tears spill down her cheeks, and Sachi crouches down on her other side, placing her hands onto the girl's shoulders.

'Pina's Heart'

"Don't cry," Kirito says in a surprisingly comforting way.

He placed his hand onto her head, he gently pets her, hoping to cheer her up somehow, "If Pina's heart is still here, you can revive her."

"Really?" the girl gasps loudly, eyes growing as wide as saucers and spinning her head around to look up at him. Her bottom lip shakes, and she hiccups again.

"There's this place on the south side of Floor Forty-Seven; the field dungeon there is called the Hill of Memories. It's rumoured that a flower grows there that can revive pets," Kirito explains, his voice low.

"Floor Forty Seven..." The girl's eyes widen before they soften and she looks away. The hope in her eyes drain and she lets out a low whimper, sniffling as she murmurs the words again in a broken whisper.

Sachi frowns and gently strokes the girl's hazelnut hair. Her locks flutter through her fingers.

"Maybe we can go for you?" Sachi suggests meekly, noticing how sad and broken the girl became when she learnt it was on floor forty seven. Maybe the girl isn't a high level. They're on the lower levels right now—Sachi doesn't trust herself to be on the newer floors that the front-lines are clearing.

"It won't work," Kirito interrupts, blinking a little when both girls snap their heated gazes onto him. He nervously scratches at his cheek and rubs the back of his neck.

"Um. If you gave us the GP, we'd go for you, but if the pet's owner isn't there… the flower won't bloom," Kirito explains. He glances at Sachi, especially when said girl gives him a pointed look. He could have said it more kindly.

Kirito turns his attention back to the girl. "Um. Sorry…"

"That information is enough," the girl murmurs, a small smile appearing across her face as she looks at the pair. She looks back down at the sparkling feather in her hands. "If I work hard to raise my level, then someday..."

Lowering his head, his hair shadowing his face, Kirito frowns and speaks in a deep and almost dark tone of voice, "But the time limit to revive a pet is three days."

The girl's eyes widen and her shoulders hunch, "No..." she gasps quietly, her voice quavering, and her bottom lip trembles. She sniffles, holding the feather to her chest. "It's my fault. I'm sorry, Pina."

"Don't worry," Kirito says, and stands carefully, almost gracefully. His dark blue jacket flows around him as he stands. He straightens, turns, and holds his hand up. A glowing light flickers around his fingers as he opens his menu up with a swipe of a hand, "This equipment should be enough to raise you a good five or six levels."

Sachi's blinks and tilts her head to the side thoughtfully, "Um, I'll go with you. I'm sure it'll work out," she says kindly. She sends a comforting smile to the short girl and carefully gets to her feet, dusting her blue skirt off. The other girl sends a watery smile up at her and slowly gets to her feet.

"I'll go, too," Kirito adds, nodding in agreement and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Sachi looks at him, not sure if she feels relieved or not. He doesn't know what level she is, or anything.

Anxiously, the girl taps her fingers together and glances meekly up at the two older teenagers, "Why would you do this all for me?"

Kirito glances to the side and places a hand to his face to conceal his embarrassment.

"If you promise not to laugh, I'll tell you," he says, awkwardly looking around himself. He refuses to meet Sachi's eyes—not that she would mock him or anything, but he can't help his embarrassment. Sachi cocks her head to the side in curiosity.

"I promise," the girl says, her cherry-shaped face serious and determined.

Breathing sharply, Kirito glances down at the girl before covering his eyes and groaning softly, "It's because you look like my little sister," he finally admits quietly.

"Sister?" Sachi repeats thoughtfully.

She remembers Kirito admitting once that he has a young sister. She tries to picture what she might look like. Sachi looks at the girl, thinking that she doesn't look like Kirito. Now that she thinks about it, she can see the girl better now. She has soft syrup locks pulled into ponytails, with large pinkish eyes which glow beautifully. She's pretty short, only reaching Sachi's shoulder.

Sachi smiles herself when the young girl bursts into giggles. She tries to muffle them with her hands, but can't. Her laughter only grows, and her cheeks flush red. Soon, she shakes her head slowly and lets out a deep sigh.

"Sorry," she breathes out.

She rubbed her eyes and snickering under her breath. She shakes her head a little, and her lips twitch in amusement. She lifts her hand, her fingers sparkling a sweet honey as she draws her menu up.

"I'm sure this isn't anywhere near enough to pay, but..." she mumbled quietly.

"It's okay, you don't have to pay us," Sachi interrupts, making the girl squeak in surprise.

Knees buckling, the girl lightly claps her hands together.

"R-Really?" she says, and tilts her head to the side, her hair bouncing around her face.

"This isn't entirely incompatible with my reason for being here," Kirito says finally, stepping up to the girls and scratching the back of his head. He eyes the young girl briefly before his eyes flicker to Sachi and he sighs to himself, rubbing his chin a little.

Sachi gives the small girl a smile. Her head bounces a little, hair fluttering around her face and gently brushing against her pink cheeks.

"So we can help each other while we're together," she says warmly, and holds her hands in front of her, bowing to the girl.

"Oh! I'm Silica," the girl says happily.

Silica's eyes sparkling brightly as she bounces on the balls of her feet a little. She then bows back to Sachi, not nearly as low, but just as respectfully. Sachi can't help but like her so far; she's noticed not many of the players in the game have manners anymore.

"I'm Sachi. It's nice to meet you, Silica," Sachi says, lifting her hand and gently petting Silica's head, watching as her hair bounces around her hand. Silica smiles brightly up at Sachi.

Kirito pushes his bangs out of his face before holding his hand out to Silica, "I'm Kirito. We won't be working together long, but it's nice to meet you," he says, shaking hands with a small smile. Sachi looks at him, her eyebrows lifting at his blunt tone.

Sachi shakes her head a little and rubs her hand along her neck. She turns her head, her eyes running across the forest floor before sighing in relief upon seeing her bow still laying in the same spot it was when she dropped it. Humming softly to herself, she walks towards her bow.

She smiles as she picks it up; she looks over it and sighs in relief when she finds it's not damaged. Placing it back into her storage, she turns back to the other two. Her eyebrows knit together as she finds Kirito staring at her, and when he notices she's caught him, he looks away with a deep sigh.

It doesn't take them long to reach the closest town: Misha on level thirty-five. Sachi likes to come to the town every now and then, mostly to restock on supplies she needs. Misha has good poisons, as well many arrow heads; there are so many on the market because nobody's interested in them.

They're weak on their own, but Sachi has worked so hard to level them up that now, her bow and arrow are the strongest weapon she had. It can do a lot of damage now.

Sachi glances at the open stalls, her eyes running across the many things on view before she turns away and sighs to herself. She's hungry, she realizes, and she shakes her head a little. She turns her attention to Silica and crosses her arms. "Silica-san, are you hungry?" she asks.

Silica blinks once, and then twice. Her face burns brightly as her stomach lets out a loud growl. She laughs nervously and nods. "Um. Yes, I haven't eaten since this morning! I know this good place in town!" she exclaims, clapping her hands together and laughing softly.

Sachi smiles widely while watching her—it's nice to see such a happy girl in Sword Art Online. Sachi sees hardly any happy people in Sword Art Online anymore—the game is such a cruel place. Sachi learned that the hard way.

"Sachi-chan? Is something wrong?" Silica suddenly asks, cocking her head to the side in concern. She presses her hands to her chest and leans forward to look Sachi in the face, her eyes filled with worry.

Sachi blinks furiously, her cheeks burning a little—especially when she finds Kirito staring at her in worry too. His dark eyebrows pull together, and his lips press into a small line.

"O-Oh. I'm fine. Just hungry, too. Lead the way Silica-san," Sachi says, letting out a small chuckle at the way her face glows.

It's a little unnerving how Kirito keeps looking at her as if he's trying read her with his eyes. It's making her feel uneasy. She's already self-conscious as it is and being stared at like that isn't helping either! Almost as if he senses her uneasiness, Kirito flushes and turns away, playing with his bangs and sighing softly.

Sachi shudders and rubs her elbows, turning back to Silica and smiling kindly. "Then lead the way Silica-san. I'll treat," she says, and Silica smiles even wider at her, eyes glowing in happiness.

"There's Silica-chan!" a voice suddenly exclaims, and Silica pales. She awkwardly turns around to look up the street, her shoulders hunching.

Sachi turns and sees two boys walking up to them. Their eyes widen and practically sparkle as they notice Sachi standing with Silica. Their eyes rake up and down her body, and Sachi can't help but blush from embarrassment.

She wraps her arms around herself and smiles shyly at the two. She remembers seeing them somewhere before—most likely in the grand hall where everyone was right at the beginning.

"You're late! We were worried!" one of the boys says, smiling brightly at her. He's chubby and wearing green armour. He appears shy, but kind, with messy brown hair that falls into his flushed face. He glances at Sachi shyly and smiles meekly at her.

"Let's party up sometime! We can go wherever you want," his friend says bravely.

He's much taller, with sandy-blonde hair. He smiles and bows, eyes flashing as he glances between the two girls.

Silica nervously shifts on her feet, nervously pressing her hands together, unsure of what to say to them. She flushes and shakes her head, wide eyes flickering around.

"U-Um. That's very kind of you, but…" she mumbles, unsure of what to do or say.

"Hello. I'm Sachi. It's nice to meet you," Sachi finally says, holding her arms in front of her and smiling at the two.

They don't seem high-level. Her heart tightens in her chest as she's reminded of her old friends—especially Tucker. These boys are most likely lonely, and trying to gather up a good team of friends. Sachi can't help but feel for them—she can only hope they worked hard to level up.

Both boys gasp as they turn to look at Sachi. Their eyes widen as they take in her form once more before smiling widely at her.

"Hello, Sachi-chan!" one of them says happily.

"We can't team up today, but I wouldn't mind teaming up for a quest much later," Sachi says kindly.

It's true; she wouldn't mind. Yes, she needs a lot of time on her own to work hard to become a strong and high levelled fighter. But whenever she can, she'll help very low-level people increase the best she could. Sometimes, Sachi wouldn't mind teaming up to clear a quest.

One of the boys, the one wearing pink armour, steps forward with wide eyes. "Wha—really?! You wouldn't mind teaming up with us? Even if it is for one quest?" he gasps, eyes glowing brightly, and he grins even wider when Sachi nods.

"Thank you so much Sachi-chan!" the other boy cheers, clapping his hands together.

Sachi laughs softly, sending her famous eye-smile at the two, "I'll add you two to my contacts, and I'll send you a message when I'm free," she says, opening her contacts in flash of sparkling white.

It doesn't take her long to add them to her quest contact file along with Asuna and a few other people she completed quests with. She isn't exactly a loner like Kirito; she likes to work with others when she can. It helps her keep her sanity.

"Sachi," Kirito finally says.

He stepped up to her side and glancing at the two boys. His face is blank, but he stares the two boys down. He makes a soft sound from the back of his throat before turning his gaze off the boys and onto Sachi, meeting her eyes.

Kirito steps up to Sachi and gently takes her elbow. Once again, he looks at the two boys.

"Sachi. We should get going," he says sternly with a small, insistent tug on her arm.

Sachi blinks and looks at Kirito in confusion before her eyes widen in realization, "Oh," she exclaims. "Right."

She turns back to the boys and says with a kind smile, "I'll message you when I can. I've got to go now." She waves before turning and walking forward.

As Sachi begins to walk away, Kirito lets go and looks back at the boy. He almost snorts when he finds them glaring daggers at him. When they see him looking back, their stares turn even deadlier.

"Sachi-chan, you're really kind," Silica exclaims, eyes wide as she stares up at her in admiration.

"Your fans?" Sachi asks, chuckling at how red Silica's face turns. She smiles wider and places her fingers to her lips, "You must be pretty popular."

Silica sighs and turns away, her head slightly ducked, "N-No. They just want me along as a mascot. But I got full of myself when they began to call me Dragon Tamer Silica." Silica looks ready to cry again and Sachi frowns, placing a motherly hand onto her small round shoulder in comfort.

"Don't worry, with the three of us together; we'll make it in time to get Pina back," Sachi says reassuringly, and smiles when Silica sends a large smile up at her, "Right, Kirito?"

"Huh? Oh, um. Right," Kirito murmurs, turning back around.

Silica smiles brightly and rubs her eyes, "Right. Maybe we should stay in an Inn around here?" she asks, tilting her head to the side, "Besides, the cheesecake is really good here."

Sachi lets out an amused laugh, "The cheesecake, huh? I'm not a big fan of cheesecake, to be honest," she admits, and giggles when Silica looks horrified.

"You serious? Who doesn't like cheesecake?" she gasps, and this just makes Sachi laugh more. She pets Silica on the head again with an amused smile.

"Oh, if it isn't little Silica?"

The shrill voice comes from behind them. It sounds almost suggestive, and its sugary sweetness fills the air, making them shudder. Sachi notices Silica has become stiff and has curled in on herself. Sachi turns to find a woman. She's tall, her hair sweet curls of crimson framing her face and falling over the left side. Her skin is pale and dusted with freckles. Her clothes are like onyx, trimmed with ruby colors. She shifts her weight and adjusts a line spear in her hand, using it like a crutch.

"You made it out of the forest. I'm relieved," she murmurs smugly.

Her eyes flash dangerously as they run over Silica. Sachi isn't sure if she likes her. The woman has an air of arrogance about her. Sachi frowns deeply and steps back.

"Is something wrong?" Kirito whispered to Silica, noticing how she curls into herself and steps a little behind Sachi, peering out at the woman.

Silica shakes her head slowly, "No. It's nothing…"

The woman swiftly closes the small gap between them and towers above them with an aura of superiority oozing out from her body, "Oh, what happened to the lizard? Could something..." she begins, a wide cherry smirk appearing across her face. Her eyes flash as she takes in the three of them, snorting loudly.

"Pina died," Silica says simply. She narrows her eyes and glares up at the woman, "But I'm definitely bringing her back!"

"Eh? Then you're going to the Hill of Memories," the woman drawls. She rights herself and flicks a lock of hair off her shoulder with a low laugh. Shifting on her weight and adjusting her hip, she smirks again, "But at your level, will you be able to clear it?"

"U-Um…" Silica pouted.

Unsure of what to say, her head lowers in uncertainty. Even Sachi is beginning to believe this woman's words, and it worries Sachi. She's been around enough people like this woman to know how she can affect other girls. Sachi is now sure she doesn't like her.

Sachi stares back at the woman, "She can. I'll help her," she says bravely.

Sachi feels her chest tighten and her heart shuddering in her chest. She tries to stand tall, but even somebody like her wants to fold to that woman—one of the many reasons she tries to avoid people like her.

"Hmm? You don't look particularly strong to me. You look pretty weak," the woman chuckles.

She lets out a snotty bark of laughter. Her eyes narrow while she stares down at Sachi, making Sachi slowly lower her head. It's true, Sachi isn't nearly as strong as other warriors. Can she really help out?

"Looks don't always define power."

Both Sachi and Silica jump, having forgotten about Kirito. Sachi turns to look at him, and he shifts his weight and crosses his arms tightly. He closes his eyes briefly and makes a low growl.

"Come on, let's go eat," he says, turning around and walking away.

"O… okay," Silica mumbles, gripping Sachi's arm tighter before the two share a look and follow after him.

Sachi softly breathes out, following Kirito into the Inn's restaurant area. She tilts her head to the side, looking at the pretty decorations pinned up around the building. It's a soft yellow colour, with blue flowers hanging up. Kind of cheesy in her opinion, but she likes the grandfather clock near the staircase. Eventually, the trio settles into a booth. Sachi glances meekly up at Kirito, and is concerned to see him looking so annoyed. Shaking her head, she turns to look at Silica. The small girl is still clinging to her side.

"Silica-san. Are you okay?" Sachi asks in concern, eyebrows pulling together.

Silica sniffles and lifts her head. She looks up at Sachi and whispers, "Why is she so mean?"

Sachi frowns a little and pets Silica on the head comfortingly. She goes on to speak, but Kirito interrupts her, "Is SAO your first MMO?" he asks thoughtfully. His nose twitches as he speaks, staring blankly across at the young girl.

"Yes," Silica says with a small nod.

Sachi tilts her head and looks up at Kirito through her bangs, "Um. It's my first MMO, too…" she admits after a few seconds.

She laughs nervously when Kirito snaps his gaze over to her. She smiles meekly, lightly rubs her cheek—she hasn't exactly told Kirito about this before. She looks off to the side to avoid looking at him.

"In online games, since no one knows each other personally, some people like to act as the bad guy," Kirito mutters slowly, reaching for his green-team and taking a sip. He shrugs a little and sighs to himself, "Some of them even enjoy playing as outright villains."

"Our player indicators are green, right? However, if you commit a crime, the indicator will turn orange. The worst criminals, those who've killed someone, are known as red players," Kirito explains.

Sachi stares in surprise. She knew about orange players, but not red players. It shocks her—are there really murderers in the game? Real, bloodthirsty murderers? It makes her shiver.

"You mean murderers?" Silica gasps, sniffling and hunching her shoulders in disbelief.

Kirito sighs, lifting his dark gaze, "Yeah, hard to believe killers still even go around. We were all there when Akihiko Kayaba said these games will kill us. Seems like even in a game of life and death, they can't take things seriously," His lips press together in a small straight line.

"They treat it like it's nothing," Kirito says, gripping his mug, and Sachi notices his fingers are trembling. She wonders what else he has seen since they parted. She gulps, swallowing a thick lump in her throat and holds her own green-tea, "This game isn't really a game at all."

"Kirito-san?" Silica whispers.

"I'm sorry," Kirito says, growing quiet. He looks off to the side with a small sigh.

"You're a good person!" Silica shouts, putting her hands on his. She leans across the table and stares at him with wide eyes, "You saved me!"

Kirito blinks once and turns his gaze across down briefly. He lifts his head and catches Sachi's eyes. She smiles at him, and Kirito finds himself smiling back in return.

"Seems like you've cheered me up instead," he says, turning his head to Silica and chuckling, "Thanks, Silica."

Silica squeals, blushing. She slowly pushes herself back and bites at her bottom lip. She looks side to side, sniffling and beginning to babble about the cheesecake being late. Sachi smiles even wider at Kirito, who looks away with a pink dusting appearing across his cheeks from embarrassment.

Soon the cakes turn up. Sachi has a lemon tart. Silica is a little quieter than normal, but she's still super excited about eating her cake, bumping her legs back and forth in excitement as she eats.

Eventually, Sachi and Kirito walk Silica to her room and bid her goodnight. Sachi is a little worried leaving her alone in the room, but she can tell Silica wants time alone. She prepares to walk to her own room in the Inn, having booked a room when she came to train on the level.

Sachi stops in the corridor and glances at Kirito. "Um. Kirito? Do you have a room in the Inn?" she finds herself asking, making a low sound from the back of her throat and blinking when Kirito pauses on the spot and looks at her with wide eyes.

"Um… no…" Kirito murmurs weakly, nervously laughing as he scratches at the back of his head.

Sachi laughs kindly and shakes her head, "Um. My room is the next floor. If you want, we can share… like we did, um, b-back…" she stutters, looking to the side as she remembers her time back then.

She frowns a little, remembering the Black Cats and the Inn they used to stay in. She really doesn't like remembering back to that Inn, and she avoids it—too many painful memories.

"Are… A-Are you sure?" Kirito asks, cheeks flushed. He looks to the side briefly before looking at Sachi and smiling a little.

Sachi feels her heart beat harshly in her chest from embarrassment. She breathes softly.

"Um. Yeah…" she mumbles shyly, and shifts on her weight.

It's very embarrassing, but she can't let him sleep out on the streets—especially after everything he's done for her. She nods once more to him before leading him up her room.

It doesn't take the pair long to get into the room. Sachi's room is quite small, with a single bed pushed up next to the window, and a small wooden table with a brownish couch on the other side. It's cute, and smells nice with plants that Sachi picked laying on the table, all arranged neatly and held together in different colored ribbons. Kirito walks up to them, his eyes running across them. He knows pretty much all of the items and smiles, impressed with the girl.

"I'm impressed, Sachi. Most these you can only obtain through clearing a high-level quest," he says, picking up a golden petal flower and turning it in his hands. He laughs and looks at Sachi, "This is used for potions, right? The kind that can heal you completely—burns and everything."

Sachi smiles and nods, "Yeah. I've kept record of all the items I've been picking up," she admits, lowering herself onto the bed and stretching her sore arm.

Kirito turns and sits on the couch, facing Sachi, and slowly nods. "Sachi, what level are you now? I've been checking up on you whenever I can. I've seen how many quests you take. I'm proud of how much you're working."

Sachi's eyes widen briefly, and her pale cheeks turn pink. She looks to the side and slowly nods.

"O-Oh. Um… W-Well. I've recently reached level 60. But I know you are well in the 70s. I'm glad you didn't give up, Kirito," she says sweetly, eyes glowing as she places her hands into her lap.

"You're at level 60? That's pretty good, Sachi. Keep going like that, and you'll be as high as everyone else," Kirito says, chuckling deeply with his eyes flashing from the dim light of the room, "You really should come to the meetings. We could really do with somebody with a bow and arrow to help out. You could really help the frontlines."

Sachi blinks and sits up straight. "K-Kirito. You know I can't do that. I'm not nearly as strong enough, and I'll most likely get in the way. I… I don't want to be the reason another p-person dies…" she meekly admits, playing with her fingers in her lap, and bites at her bottom lip. She pushes her hair off the back of her neck. It's still short, since her body isn't growing within the game.

"Sachi. You know that isn't true. You are strong enough. You just need to trust yourself," Kirito says, blurting the words out before flushing a little and leaning back. "Um. Yeah. You are more than capable now. I'm sure you can handle yourself on the field now," se says softly, smiling warmly and lowering his head.

Sachi feels her cheeks heat from embarrassment. Even her ears flush pink, "T-Thank you. I just don't think I'm ready. Maybe when I'm a few more levels h-higher…" she says softly, smiling down at her lap.

Kirito's eyes soften and he tilts his head to the side, "When you do decide to join… us, on the frontlines… don't worry. I'll protect you," He smiles warmly at her when she lifts her eyes to him. Her cheeks flush and she breathes in sharply, and finds herself returning the smile with a much shyer one.

"T-Thank you," she forces out.

Sachi's fingers looping them between one another as she holds them together in her lap. She has no doubt that Kirito will protect her, and it makes her smile, but she doesn't want him to. She doesn't need him to protect her. She wants to be able to protect herself, look after herself, and maybe, just maybe, protect him at times.

Finally, Sachi eases onto her feet and shyly looks over at the boy, "I'm going to… go change in the bathroom. Okay?" she mumbles.

It's true that everyone changes their clothes very different to the real world. They don't need to take their clothes off, they can just select what they want to wear from their clothing storage. But the problem with that is that it's unable to go from one outfit to another. The player has to discard the clothes they're wearing—putting it back into storage and then choosing another to replace them. So the players in their underwear or naked are in between the clothes changing.

Kirito blushes and nods, turning his head and tugging on the collar of the soft blue shirt he wore, shifting on the couch. He watches as Sachi speeds to the bathroom with her head down, her own face becoming redder and redder. Pure embarrassment grows more and more, becoming heavier as time passes.

When Sachi disappears into the bathroom, Kirito lets out a deep breath and stands, pressing his hand lightly against his chest. He missed Sachi, and was so happy to see her again. He's very impressed with her progress, but he can tell she is still doubtful about her own skills. He can see that she is becoming stronger and stronger, slowly but surely. Kirito is sure she will reach her goal. He just wants her to be braver, to believe in her own strength now.

In the bathroom, Sachi shifts on her feet and peeks at herself in the mirror. She still looks the same as the very first day in Sword Art Online, all the way down to that cowlick curling above her. Nothing Sachi did could keep that annoying hair down to sit with the rest of her hair. At least she looks similar to her real self.

Sighing softly, Sachi opens her clothes storage and quickly undresses from her pale blue shirt and skirt. The same outfit she has worn since her time back in the Black Cats. Granted, Sachi does have to update her armor. She can't keep going around in the leather armor; it's dangerous.

Whenever she sees Asuna, the strong girl always tries to get Sachi to wear different clothes. Sachi has a few days' worth of outfits thanks to said ginger haired girl, ones she would wear if she wasn't training—but she doesn't have any other training clothes. Asuna has even gone as far to say the Blood Oath uniform would look good on Sachi.

It doesn't take her long to find her night-dress, the familiar long white one that sits around her knees. It's a bit frilly, and opens across her shoulders. It isn't long-sleeved, just a normal, stranded nightie. Once again, Asuna has suggested that she buy a much cuter and sexier night-gown. Sachi turned into a tomato when she suggested it and even showed her a few nightgowns.

Sachi promised Asuna that she would go cloth shopping with her someday, and she has a feeling that Asuna isn't going to forget that anytime soon.

"Um. Kirito?" Sachi calls out, opening the door and poking her head out. Her eyes flicker around the room, and she breathes in relief upon seeing he's decent.

Kirito turns around and smiles at her. He swallows a little as Sachi steps out in the familiar night-dress. Kirito simply changed into his stranded long sleeved shirt and pants, the very same ones he wore all those months ago.

"Sachi," he says as she walks further into the room.

Sachi looks up at him, sitting back on the bed and pulling her pillow onto her lap to hug like she always does.

"Hmmm?"

"There's something I forgot to tell you about… Floor Forty-Seven," Kirito says with a small frown, scratching the back of his head. Eyes closing very briefly, he makes a deep hum before pulling something out from his storage and placing it onto Sachi's small table.

"Shouldn't we go get Silica-san?" Sachi questions, kneeling on the bed.

"I'm pretty sure she's asleep. I can just run this by her tomorrow. I think it might be best if we discuss the plans beforehand, to make sure we've got it all planned out."

Sachi blinks and leans forward to look at the item. It looks like a little golden case with soft green markings engraved into it.

"Kirito? What's that item?" she asks, tilting her head to the side in wonder.

"It's called a mirage sphere," Kirito explains, leaning back and lightly tapping a purple button on the lid.

As soon as he moves his hand way, the small pot makes a loud steam-like sound. The lid opens, hovering above them and sending out a stream of blue light that connects between the lid and the bottom of the pot. The lid shakes and spreads open, creating a large glowing azure hologram sphere.

Sachi's eyes widen and she carefully gets off the bed. She walks towards the hologram, tilting forward to look at the glowing pictures. It's like many little blue fireflies are fluttering around within it. Sachi's heart skips a beat, and she hugs her frilly pillow close to herself.

"Whoa. It's so pretty," she mumbled.

Kirito smiles at her and points at a glowing blue mark, and soon Sachi realizes it's a map of the cleared levels.

"Here's Floor Forty-Seven's town area, and this is the Hill of Memories," Kirito explains.

He slides his fingers across the map, highlighting an area and enlarging it so Sachi can see it better. His eyes lift to look at her through the glowing map and he almost smiles. With light from the hologram highlighting Sachi, she looks really beautiful, especially with the small sparkling sapphire orbs dancing around her cherry face. He hums softly, seeing that Sachi is too focused on the hologram to see him staring.

Shaking the thoughts away, Kirito returns his attention to the map and points at another spot.

"So we'll be following this route…" he said.

Sachi blinks and looks at Kirito. Why did he suddenly stop talking?

"Kirito? What's wrong?" she asks worriedly, straightening herself up.

Kirito's eyes narrow into slits. He snaps his head around to look at the door to the bedroom. He suddenly shoots across the room in a blur and Sachi gasps as he throws the door open as if about to throw the door off the hinges. He throws himself out and examines both directions of the corridor.

"Who's there?" Kirito shouts, just as the person runs down the stairs and out of sight. He growls to himself and shakes his head.

Sachi slowly walks up to the doorway and pokes her head out. Her eyes flicker around the hallway in confusion.

"What… what was that?" she meekly asks. Trembling lightly, she tightens her arms around the pillow and crushes it to her chest.

Kirito sighs softly and runs his fingers through his hair. "Somebody was listening to us through the door. Obviously someone's really interested in us now," he mutters, gently placing his hand onto the lower part of Sachi's back and guiding her back into the room. He gives last look over his shoulder before closing the door behind them.

Sachi frowns a little. She thought nobody could hear through a door, unless they knocked first… and if she recalled, nobody knocked on the door.

"It's okay. It is possible to hear through a door without knocking… some of the front line people have that ability," Kirito explains, making Sachi look up at him.

"O-Oh. I see…" Sachi breathes out. So a high levelled person might be able to hear through a door.

Sachi jumps, startled when Kirito places his hand onto her head again. "You don't need to be a high level to have high listening skills. It's something anybody can do. But few people invest the time to raise it," he says kindly, and pets her a little, ruffling her hair.

Sachi nods slowly in understanding. "Why would they want to listen in on us?" she asks.

"I don't know, but we should be careful tonight." Kirito frowns and shakes his head.