The long awaited (not really) mystery character is here! Are you excited? I know I am :D
I try to break these binds, but all these ghosts come with their knives - Trauma (Nathan Wagner)
o0o0o
"Kelp tea and black coffee, please."
Karma rolls her eyes in amusement when Megu once again throws her a mild stink-eye at the mention of the black coffee. She pretends the fact that Karma's tastes have changed so drastically is some kind of minor personal betrayal.
They go to pay, and Karma is left staring at a confused-looking cashier before she realizes that no, a holographic window won't pop up for her to pay. Hurriedly, she swipes down with two fingers to access her inv-
Nope, not that either. Sighing at herself, she digs out her wallet to pay.
"You're so weird," Megu sighs, half amused, half confused as they sit down. "Why do you keep doing that?"
Karma gives her a bemused look. "Why do you think?"
Megu blinks, and comprehension dawns. "Oh. Ah, um, I-I didn't mean-"
"Good grief," Karma snickers, leaning back in her chair, "if you want to ask, just ask. I'm not going to break down crying, y'know."
The words come out a little sharper than she intends, and she clears her throat, taking a sip of coffee awkwardly. Luckily, Megu looks more thoughtful than offended, and with her, what you see is what you get. She never says anything she doesn't mean (and when she tries, it's hilariously easy to tell) and wears her heart on her sleeve. With a tendency to speak her mind as she felt like it, Megu has always made more enemies than friends at first, unwittingly or not, but Karma thinks it just makes being her friend easier.
"So...why do you keep doing that thing?" she finally asks, mimicking the swiping motion.
"That's how you access your inventory, your menu, that sort of thing."
Megu nods, cupping her hands around her tea. "Did you fight at all?"
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes again, Karma raises her cup to her lips. "Here and there." Honestly, she can't recall a single day when she didn't draw her sword at least once.
Megu leans in slightly, looking like she was trying not to be fascinated (and also failing horribly at it). "What was it like?"
Karma closes her eyes and exhales, dark ripples fleeing on the surface of her drink.
It's the sensation of her body moving under the system, light painting the air like the tail of a shooting star following her blade. It's the breathless feeling of moving under her own power like she never could in real life, knowing the potential for destruction she wields in her own two hands.
It's the sobering realization of being so keenly aware of how many lives weigh down her blade. It's the horror at the ease with which steel cuts through virtual muscle and bone when it's not just an AI that ceases to exist. It's the guilt of knowing she did that.
It's the camaraderie of fighting alongside someone else, the satisfaction of working together like a well-oiled machine, like something even smoother than a machine. It's the security of knowing her back is watched, and the strength that comes with knowing that someone trusts her to watch theirs. It's the confidence, no matter how brazen or foolish or out of place it might be at times, that stems from fighting to protect.
"It's exhilarating," she says, and it's something she could never truly put into words, in no small part because she knows she'll never feel any of it again the way she did before.
"Did you make friends in there?"
Karma takes a sip of coffee. It tastes different from the kind back home.
"The best friends in the world," she admits.
And the best family in the world.
At Megu's peeved expression, she adds hastily, "Present company excluded."
Megu leans back, crossing her legs. "Hmph," she mutters into her tea, but Karma knows she's not actually mad. "...So have you thought about what you're going to do about school?"
Karma goes into a coughing fit as her coffee goes down the wrong pipe. "S-school? Who do you think I am? You?"
"Well, no one said you had to go back immediately," Megu says placatingly, propping her face up on the heel of her hand. "I'm just saying, you're an adult now. You should be in college by now. Even two years ago, you were dragging your heels on what you wanted to do after high school."
Karma sighs, watching the streets outside the window but not really seeing. "Yeah, I dunno."
"I can help tutor you," Megu offers with a grin. "I tutor plenty of people at uni already, so I could totally use some extra practice dealing with the lazy ones," she teases, leaning over to flick Karma in the forehead.
Karma catches her hand and lightly pushes it away, leaning back with an amused 'tch'. "Maybe I'll take you up on that."
She probably won't. She literally does not have the capacity to care about what comes next. How can she, when she barely has the capacity to care about now?
Besides, there's the matter of what she did in Aincrad. Regardless of her reasons, there will always be that matter. That body count, the little 'plus' symbol tacked on at the end because she doesn't even know the exact number, will follow her until she dies, throughout her life and inside of her head. What future can she reasonably hope for when everyone will think—and, to be perfectly honest, rightfully assume—that there is something wrong with her?
o0o0o
"Hello, how may I help you today?"
Customer service is pretty easy for Karma. Putting on a polite mask in front of strangers isn't so bad (not when she's been getting plenty of practice at her so-called therapy). And working in a coffee shop is pretty much as close to a dream come true as it can get right now. The first few days took getting used to, especially since they kind of had to throw her into the deep end with a staff shortage, but she landed on her feet. The owner didn't even really care that she was a former SAO player and hired her anyway.
Learning all the drink recipes was hard, but she's not the only one working at the counter, which helps. And some patrons come here often, so she has to learn their regular orders, but that's just rote memorization.
When she told Megu, Megu had the most scandalized expression on her face.
"You have befouled the good name of tea-drinkers the world over," she said, in such a shocked tone that Karma spit out her coffee laughing.
She didn't really need a job, to be honest. She didn't need the money, and her parents would've given it to her if she did need it for something. But it felt strange to not have her own money. It's not like she's been eying a pretty accessory or anything, even though that's what her parents think (she lets them; it's easier than explaining), but in Aincrad, she always earned her own way. The guild provided her money if she really needed it, but she rarely did. She killed enough monsters (and players) to keep herself afloat in terms of col.
Being able to earn her own money in the real world wasn't necessary, but not being able to made her feel too dependent. Plus, she gets cheap coffee here, and the people are nice enough.
"Have a nice day," she says, handing off a drink to a customer with a polite smile and turning as the next one walks through the door. "Hi, how can I h-"
The words stick in her throat as her hand flies to her pocket, where her knife is under the apron. In a split second, she takes everything in—the other barista left to go to the bathroom, there are no customers waiting, and only a few at the tables. The back exit is through the door behind her, all the way down and to the right; if it comes down to it, she can run for it before too much collateral damage is done-
Run?
Since when did she become the prey?
Kotori approaches the counter with a languid spring in her step. Her hair has been cut short to her shoulders, but her bubbly smile and the crooked part in her hair, although it's not clover green anymore, are unmistakable.
Her hand slips into her pocket, and Karma has her knife blade half-unfolded inside her pocket when Kotori slides some money onto the counter, the coins dragging across the surface with a metallic scrape. Karma's nails dig into the grip of her weapon.
"I'll have a latte, please," she chirps, all sunshine and smiles.
For a moment, Karma wonders if Kotori possibly, against all odds, somehow does not remember or does not recognize her-
In a flash, she's leaning on the counter on her elbows, smiling right up in Karma's face. "How are you, by the way, Natsuki-chan? Personally, I think it's great to finally be out of that dark cell you threw me in. Ugh, physical therapy is a pain, though, especially since I won't even be able to go back to the studio for a while-"
"You've been watching me," she interrupts lowly, relieved to know what's had her so paranoid lately, and also dreading what's to come even more now.
Kotoro props up her face on her hand, blinking up at Karma. "You noticed."
"I didn't survive hunting criminals for almost two years by not being observant," she rasps, mechanically sweeping the money up.
Karma enters her order and counts up the money, her other senses blaring on high alert while her sight is preoccupied for any warning of hostile action. Kotori sighs airily.
"Yeah, they're keeping an eye on me and Haruhi," she complains, as if this is but a minor inconvenience, and Karma flinches at the mention of another former friend. "But it's not that hard to get away." She straightens up, and Karma has to consciously tell herself to not take a step back. "I told you we'd finish this in the real world, didn't I, Natsuki-chan?"
That name still grates on her in all the worst ways. Karma's heart is pounding like a war drum in her chest to a rhythm of fight flight fight flight fight flight-
"Then do it," she challenges, moving to start that latte. "I'm always armed, and I bet your muscle memory isn't so good after a year and a half of prison."
Kotori's eyes narrow, her smile unwavering. "Oh, no, I think I'll wait. Revenge is a dish best served cold, don't you know?"
When it's done, Karma sets down the latte a bit harder than she intended to, ignoring the pain flashing through her hand when a bit of the hot drink splashes out.
"You don't have to do this," she says quietly. "I'm a hero of SAO, remember?" It's a title she hates, for many reasons, but if it can be useful, she'll take it.
"Oh, of course I remember. I've heard the rumors," Kotori hisses, bristling with the same unhinged fury that Karma saw when she killed Rue. "You're all alone, got no one there for you. Me and Haruhi, we're a team, and you're going to get what you deserve for killing Rie."
"I've always worked alone," Karma growls, lowering her hands below the counter so she won't see them trembling; every instinct screams at her to eliminate this threat before it eliminates her. "I took six of you down myself." But what can she do, when she cannot flee nor afford to fight?
Kotori leans in, grinning a gap-toothed grin from that time she lost a tooth on the tumbling floor; Karma still remembers.
"That was in the game. This is real life," she whispers, as if she has to remind Karma of that. "No weapons, no stats, no items, no magic heal crystals. You're no one here, and you've got nothing; you are nothing."
Suddenly, the back door opens, and Karma jumps before she can stop herself.
But it's just the other barista. "I'm back! Thanks for covering for me."
Kotori jumps into action before Karma can stop her.
"Heya, thanks for taking care of my friend here!" she exclaims with a sunny grin, reaching across the counter to thump Karma on the shoulder maybe a little harder than necessary. "I was just coming to check on how she's doing and all. It's great to see that she found such a great place with great people to work at!"
"Oh, that's okay," Karma's coworker says, smiling; she's nice, but gullible, but Karma can't think of what to say to make Kotori shut up and leave.
"See, we haven't seen each other since before the whole SAO thing, and when I heard Natsuki-chan was working at my favorite coffee shop, I just had to stop by and say hi. I'll get out of your hair now!"
With a cheery smile, she grabs her latte, wiggles her fingers in a wave, and skips out the door.
o0o0o
Karma scans the street warily as she slips out of the coffee shop. At this hour, the number of people is staring to dwindle, and the streetlights have turned on. Her knife is tucked into the large pocket on the front of her hoodie, her clammy grip tight on the handle, ready to draw in an instant.
She contemplates telling the government official she talked to first. But they would probably just tell her that Kotori is being kept under careful supervision, like all orange and red players, and that Karma has nothing to worry about, and then they'll write it off as her being paranoid because they think she's insane.
And who else could she tell? Kirito can't do anything from where he's at, nor can any of her friends from SAO; none of them even live in Kyushu. And she's definitely not telling Megu or her parents that one of her former close friends is out for blood—hers, specifically.
"She was wrong," she mutters as she hurries down the street, walking briskly with an air of purpose, she tells herself, not fear.
She looks down at her other hand not clutching her knife and curls it into a fist, the red fabric bunching and stretching, so she doesn't have to watch her hand tremble as much.
"I am not nothing," she tells herself in a whisper, but the way her feet involuntarily pick up the speed like a skittish rat says otherwise.
When she arrives back at her apartment, she consciously locks the door behind her and wiggles the doorknob to make sure. Shooting off a perfunctory greeting to her parents, she goes to shower, still with one hand in her pocket on her knife.
Kotori knows where she lives. She always has. They did use to hang out outside of school and the gymnastics studio. That includes Haruhi too. Karma's not sure what Haruhi feels about all of this, but Kotori said that she and Haruhi are a team, which makes Karma think that when they finally decide to make their move, they'll do it together. Karma highly doubts other girls at the studio will be involved—they weren't in SAO, because if they were, they probably would've been with Kotori and Haruhi. The thought doesn't comfort her much, though.
She gets dressed at top speed, feeling a moment of panic when her head gets a bit stuck in the darkness of her hoodie. With a gasp, she finally pulls it down and has one hand back on her knife before she realizes how absolutely ridiculous she is.
"Relax," she whispers to her foggy reflection in the mirror. "She can't get to you here. Don't...don't be stupid. They probably don't remember how to fight properly like you. Y-you have nothing to be scared of."
But in SAO, there were safe zones, codes built in to make locked doors inaccessible, period.
But here, in the real world?
Nowhere is truly safe anymore.
The steam in the bathroom gets even thicker, but then something wet and warm rolls down her cheek, and she realizes it's not the steam blurring her vision further.
"I wanna go home," she whispers.
After staying up past midnight, she finally goes to sleep (and even using the word 'sleep' is being generous) with her NerveGear tucked up against her chest and a knife close to hand. One of those objects makes her feel slightly better about closing her eyes, and she's almost ashamed that she knows exactly which one it is.
o0o0o
I can't be sober, I cannot sleep; you've got your peace now, but what about me? - You Said You'd Grow Old With Me (Michael Schulte)
you barely glance back at the damage in your wake; you may never care that I'm the one you could've saved - Nothing Left (Beth Crowley)
Lmao you guys thought I was bringing another friend back when I mentioned it in chapter 2 ;P
(Sorry not sorry)
Remember that minor orange player OC from half of chapter 6 in Retribution? Yeah, this is her. :) (Man, it feels like I posted that chapter so long ago XD)
(If you don't remember, Kotori was a real life friend of Karma's who formed an orange guild with other real life friends, who Karma had drifted away from a bit before SAO started. Karma was tasked with hunting them down, and she ended up having to kill one of Kotori's real friends before locking the rest of them up. Haruhi, who was mentioned briefly, is another one of Kotori's friends and Karma's former friends who survived and was part of the orange guild. Kotori swore that they would finish this in the real world...so here they are now.)
I don't actually really have an explanation for why she decided to help kill people in SAO in the first place, or why she doesn't feel any remorse even now in the real world when she knows that the people she helped kill won't be coming back. *shrug* She's just meant to be a catalyst, so I don't really feel like digging into her head.
And Karma clearly doesn't have enough problems right now, so I threw another one at her to make everything worse! Let's see how this one goes :D