Chapter 5: One Shot, One Kill

Shino played with her scarf for the upteenth time as she waited by the entrance to her apartment complex. Kazuto had told her that he would meet her there at approximately 3 in the afternoon. The movie was at 4 and they would eat out, then he would walk her home. As expected, it was 2:55 and Kazuto was nowhere in sight. She shifted her scarf once more and was about to turn to go inside when she heard his motorbike. The ugly little dirt bike pulled to a stop next to her.

"I hope you don't expect me to get on that thing." Shino scoffed. She loved the motorcycle and enjoyed every time she rode with him. But, it was freezing.

"Of course not. Like we agreed on, walk there, walk back. But since I live so far away, I brought my bike." Kazuto locked the wheels down. "Can I leave my helmet in your room?"

"Sure." She let him use her card and he ran upstairs. A minute later, he returned. "Can we go now? I'm freezing." She moved herself close and wrapped her arms around his.

Kazuto grinned nervously. "You must be cold to latch on to me like that."

"Shut it!"

Together, they began their walk. It wasn't a very long way to the theater and Shino wanted to stop off and get some snacks at a convenience store nearby. Kazuto just eyed her curiously.

"Why get food here? They have food at the theater."

Shino smiled triumphantly. "Let me teach you something Kazuto." She led him by the hand into to the store and dragged him around the aisles. "The candy and drinks at the movies are ridiculously overpriced. This chocolate bar would run you about 350 yen in the theater. Here it's 175 yen. Drinks are the same way." She pulled an orange drink out of the refrigerator. "This would cost 300 yen there, 140 yen here. See, this is what's it's like to live on a budget."

Kazuto just grinned. "Well, you really do know a lot about saving money Shino. You ever give thought about being an accountant? I'm sure there are many companies that'll hire you."

"I thought about a lot of things when trying to figure out what to do with my life. That was one of them. I've been good with numbers since I could count. But ever since... the incident, I've been focused on getting stronger." They walked up front and bought their items. Shino then placed them in her purse to sneak in the movie. "There were times I wanted to be a police officer, but the terror of guns well... you know."

He wrapped an arm around her to comfort her. "You've gotten a lot better from when I first met you, so I'm sure you could be a cop if you really want to. A girl trying to hide behind her avatar to get stronger. I know that feeling all too well. Look at yourself now, you've been able to pick up your toy gun for what, 30 seconds now and not panic?"

"Yes, I held it before you came in case the movie was violent. I think I got to a full minute before I put it down. I didn't throw it either, just set it down."

"That's great Shino!"

Ever since they figured out that both of them had the same kind of trauma, they used each other for support. Shino would often ask to play GGO to try and use the Type 54 'Blackstar', the same one used when she killed the robber 6 years ago to save her mother. Kazuto would join her and help her with it. If she ever felt scared or her eyes got wide with it, he would pull it away from her and hide it behind his back. Then he would force her to look at him.

Recently, she's been able to hold and even shoot that gun. Now Shino had to do it out here. Not shoot of course, but at least put it behind her.

"Mizue sent me a letter the other day."

"Did she now?"

Mizue was the daughter of one of the women that Shino saved that day in the attack. "Yea, she was asking if I'd like to come to her birthday party next weekend."

"That's great. You two have become friends over the year, right?"

Shino nodded. She still had the drawing that Mizue gave her up on her fridge. Some days she would go and visit Mizue or babysit her when her mother and father worked late. Ever since they met a year ago, Mizue tended to see Shino as her big sister.

As they walked and talked, Kazuto's instincts picked up something malicious. It wasn't aggressive, yet, but it was closing the distance. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as louder steps came closer. 'Why does this remind me of Death Gun?' It wasn't that Johnny Black was back after him, since he was arrested before the Underworld, but it was that same feeling. The bloodlust sense he'd developed in SAO still stuck with him. It was what allowed him to find Death Gun in GGO and his intuition about the knights in Underworld.

In an effort to lose their tail, he led them down an alley. A few turns later, they hit a dead end. A building in front. Another to the left. A chain link fence on the right.

He turned back to find a man in a mask and trench coat. "Money, wallets, bags, now!" The man demanded. He had a hand in his pocket and began to pull something out.

Shino was going to say something, but she couldn't. Not with that in his hand. What that was, was a Type 54 'Blackstar' pistol. The sound of chambering of 7.62 millimeter rounds, the smell of gunpowder, and blood flooded her senses. Her stomach began to churn and she gripped Kazuto's shoulder hard. It took everything she had to not curl up in a ball on the ground. It just had to be that pistol that this man had.

Even though they had been working with her therapy in game and some days IRL, she was still having trouble with the sight of one with her own eyes. Shooting one in GGO was slowly becoming reality but the sight of one here was nerve racking to the point it was inducing a panic attack.

Shino had done some research in the past about this particular pistol. There were around 250,000 units made in all and a great many of them were smuggled into the Japan. She knew that the chances of running into this gun again were slim to none with the population of Tokyo so high, but it was a possibility.

"You not hear me, rat? Money, wallet, bags! Do it now!" He waved the hand gun wildly in the air.

Only once he spotted the gun, did Kazuto look at Shino. She was a mess beside him. Then he took a closer look. That black star, the rounded end of the slide. 'Blackstar'. He thought to himself. He'd seen that pistol a million times over the year he'd spend helping Shino with her issue and he knew the damage this was doing to her progress. "Easy, we don't want any trouble." He began to reach for his wallet.

"Now!"

"I said, easy. I'm getting it. My friend here doesn't do well with guns, so it'll take a bit longer. I ask you to please be patient." While he talked, he engraved the man's features in his memory. He was shorter, about 5'5". His voice was gruff and a little slurred, maybe drunk. Kazuto looked at his eyes which were blue, a single brown hair fell out of the mask. "Here, it's not much, but it's what I have." He tossed his wallet on the ground.

"And the bags!"

"There's nothing in there but candy and drinks. No money and nothing of value." Kazuto had one hand up and one around Shino to try and keep her sane. "I ask that you please take it and go. My friend is terrified of guns and you're not helping."

Their assailant then began to taunt him. "Oh r-really." He stepped forward and aimed it at Shino. "So I don't need to do something like this."

Shino heard the safety click off and she went white. Her voice was small and frail. "Help... Someone... Help me."

"Hey, I asked you nicely. All you're doing is making this worse." As terrified as he was, he needed to step up for them. He needed to protect Shino.

"Shut up! You're in no place to tell me anything!" The assailant waved the gun a bit. "Maybe I should just kill you both."

Once again, Shino shook. "Someone... Help... Help... Kirito!" Her eyes squeezed shut and she shrieked his avatar name.

The gunman rushed to cover his ears, and in doing so gave Kazuto his opening. Now, Kazuto wasn't nearly as strong in the real world as he was in games, but he was still a lot faster than your average person due to his kendo training with Sugu. He let go of Shino, kicked the attacker in the chest and watched as the gun dropped. The pistol hit the ground and fired. Luckily, the shot simply went into the wall, but it scared Shino to death.

With his pistol and upper hand gone, the man scrambled to his feet. His mind set with taking Kazuto's wallet and leaving. That was, before he felt eyes on him.

Kazuto stood tall with the 'Blackstar' in his hand. He pulled the slide and chambered another round. "I may not know much about guns, but I do know that one pull of the trigger and you stop breathing. And even I can't miss at this range." His voice no longer pleasant, but cold. "You can leave, now, or I can put one in your head. What's your choice?"

"I-I'm leaving." The man scurried off back down the alley.

Shino, having no one to hold onto, was sitting in fetal position on the ground, her faced stained with tears. Kazuto rushed back up to her and held her. He began to slowly rock her back and forth. "You're okay Shino. It can't hurt you. Without him, it's just metal." He then took the pistol, unloaded the magazine and chamber, and tossed it under a dumpster. "It's gone now, Sinon. You're alright." His arms once again wrapped around her. He thought that maybe calling her by her avatar name would help. Especially since it was her tougher persona.

With her body encased in his warm hug, she began to refocus on the world. "K-Kirito?"

"Close enough Sinon."

As soon as she gained her senses, she broke down crying. "W-Why did it h-have to be that d-damn gun!" She wailed as Kazuto rocked her.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that it's over. No more scary gunman, no more Blackstar. Over." He planted a kiss on her forehead.

They sat for many moments try to gather themselves. Only after a little while did Shino realize she'd dropped her glasses. It didn't take long for her dark eyes to find them near the fence. "My glasses."

Kazuto looked over and found them partly hidden under a newspaper. "You can see them? I thought they helped your vision."

She shook her head. "No, I have good vision. But the frames are bulletproof. It helps me, or I like to think it does."

He picked up her glasses, blew the dirt off of them, and returned them. "I think they make you look adorable." He instantly clamped his mouth shut. In the past, he would say something like this, or pull her tail in ALO, and get slapped or scolded. So, he braced for impact.

Again, Shino surprised him. When he would normally throw a comment like that, she got mad at him. But instead, she stood up, dusted herself off, and blushed. "Y-You think so?"

"Yea, I think so." He rubbed the back of his neck. "They add a bit of a nerdy girl side to you. A-And they bring out your large eyes."

She blushed again. "M-My eyes are not large!" She yelled and threw her hands out.

Kazuto just laughed. This was one of their tactics to calm her down after shooting the 'Blackstar' in GGO. "And just like that, she's back to normal Shino Asada."

Realizing what she'd been lured into, she pouted. "Hmph, you always pull that trick."

"Hey, it works." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Shino, are you alright now?"

"I'm fine." Her lips still contorted in a pout.

"Do you want to go see the movie? We can just go hang out at your place if you want."

She just looked down. "W-We can still go. I want to make a memory with you that's not in a game. Something I can hold onto when I'm old and alone surrounded by cats."

Kazuto turned her to him. "Shino, what makes you think you'll be alone forever?"

"Oh god, I don't know. Maybe my hopeless attraction to you? Kazuto. You are the only man I can even trust anymore. Kyouji tried to get close then tried to kill me. How do I know that someone else won't try that too?" Her voice was rising despite her being in front of him. "I-I'm better off alone."

"You're not alone Shino. You haven't been since we met. No matter how long, you'll always have me, and Asuna, and Yui, and all of our friends. We're all here with you. You're never alone." He pulled her into a hug. "And even now, I'm not the only one with you. I'm sure there is a certain blue haired sniper that is with you too. Sinon watches over you whenever Shino is scared."

Shino leaned more on him. "Kirito watches over us too. His sword ready to strike our fears."

After a few minutes, Kazuto checked his watch. "Movie starts in 15 minutes. Are we going?"

"Of course!"

Once the movie ended, they left the theater. In the end, there were some guns in the movie and Shino didn't feel afraid. She simply pointed them out and told Kazuto the make, model, bullet size, and other little facts. He didn't mind though, this was her way of getting past her trauma. In her own way, Shino loved it.

Their journey back to her place was a lot smoother than the journey there. However, when they passed the alley where they were attacked, Shino stopped.

"Hey, you okay?"

"There's something in there that I want." She began to walk into the dark alley with a curious Kazuto following. Cats meowed or hissed at her as she walked along quietly. Somewhere around here was her target. Eventually, they reached the spot. Getting down on hands and knees, she pulled the Blackstar out from under the dumpster. "I wanted this."

Kazuto just stared. Shino was holding a Type 54 'Blackstar' pistol in her hands and not freaking out. "H-Hey, Shino. I think we better leave that here."

"I want this. Where did you put the magazine?"

"Are you sure?"

"Where is it?"

"We should give this to the..."

"Where."

He sighed and pointed to a cardboard box. She walked over, causing a nearby alley cat to jump, and found the clip. Gold casings filled the inside. "You sure you want to have that?"

"The fact that I can hold it this long without freaking out is a step, isn't it?"

"I guess."

She placed the weapon and it's ammo in her bag and grabbed Kazuto's hand. "Now, we can go home."