Later-much, much later-Asuna smiled angelically and told me that if I hadn't found her sword at that moment, she would have thrown me through the window of the inn.

Honestly, I'd been acting on pure instinct whenever I'd charged into Asuna's room and forced her to eject her entire inventory onto the floor using the 'materialize all items' command. I'd been so focused on the ever pressing time limit to consider the consequences if my hunch had proved false. So I guess I'd been really lucky to have dodged a bullet there.

Anyway, some sense of normalcy had returned after the prior chaos. Asuna sat on the edge of her bed, cradling the wind fleuret with Lisbeth by her side, while I occupied the guest chair. I was fidgeting the whole time, certain in the knowledge that if I said the wrong thing here, I'd suffer a punishment worse than anything else I'd experienced so far.

Maybe I'd taken things a step too far when I tossed aside Asuna's undergarments in my mad search for her rapier, but there wasn't anything I could do to change that now. More than anything, I wondered why she felt the need to have so many. I mean, I was a woman too, and I didn't feel the need to carry more than three sets of underwear.

Could it be that Asuna had more experience with being an 'adult' than I did? The answer was inconclusive, but I was sure nothing good would come of asking the woman herself.

"So, I've done some self-examination."

Asuna's sudden declaration brought me out of my ever-spinning thoughts, and I gulped loudly before saying, "I-is that so…?"

She nodded primly. "If the anger I'm feeling represents ninety-nine g, then my joy is a hundred g. Therefore, the one leftover g represents my gratitude to you."

"Eh, what about me? I helped out too, ya know."

"Lisbeth, you must really be the one with the death wish if you wanna get involved with this," I said, looking at the blacksmith horrified. Clearly, she was the bravest soul in this entire game.

Lisbeth looked between Asuna and I before shrugging. "Hey, why is it represented in g?"

"Isn't it obvious? If my anger had been the greater force, I would have pummeled Kirito to make up the difference."

"So the g is for gravity, not gold, huh? That makes sense. Hey Kirito, was your new ambition as an underwear thief interrupted by finding Asuna's sword, or was it all intentional?"

I was quick to try and clear my name when Asuna's face darkened. "Plan! It was all part of the plan!"

"Oh, enough already. I'm pissed off at you, but I wanna know how you saved my sword, so let's hear it."

I shut up and did my best to settle down, making sure to shoot a pout in Lisbeth's direction. But she fixed me with a quizzical look herself; after all that we'd gotten up to together, I guess it made sense she would wanna know what I'd figured out as well. I was all too happy to change the topic from what had happened only a few minutes ago, so I started to verbally walk through my thought process.

"A few minutes ago, you asked me why your shattered sword was in your item storage."

"Yes… and?"

"That was the centerpiece for an upgrading scam." As soon as I uttered that last word, the mood dropped considerably. Lisbeth in particular looked distraught, but I didn't blame her for it. It was sad to think that in this game of death, someone would still be self-centered enough to try and scam other players. Actually, it was probably worse for Lisbeth-who put everything she had into her blacksmithing.

"Liz, it'll be easier to explain if you help me," I said, hoping to draw her out of her funk.

"Huh, me?"

"Yeah. Like, do you know what happened in the system whenever I handed you my Anneal blade?"

Lisbeth nodded dutifully. "Yeah. Even though I'm the one holding your weapon, the equippers info is still designated to you, so it's different from something like a disarm or weapon-snatching. It's a 'handover'."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I see the significance."

I turned to regard Asuna. "It's important because of those ownership rights Lisbeth was talking about. If a weapon gets disarmed and then taken by another player or monster, it's gone from my inventory immediately. But with a handover, the weapon's owner ID is still mine, even though someone else is holding the blade."

Asuna's eyes lit up. "That's why my rapier was still in my storage! Because in truth, it wasn't really shattered!"

Lisbeth similarly came to life. "Oh, I get it now!" she claimed while slamming a fist into her palm.

"Hm?"

"See, there's a caveat to all this. If a weapon is in someone else's possession for long enough, you lose the ownership rights to that player. With me and Kirito, that Anneal blade of hers would've been mine if I held onto it for more than an hour." After explaining that much, she turned to me, "Kirito, you were hoping to get Asuna's weapon back using the 'materialize all items' option in the menu, right?"

I smiled at her. "Yep. It was my last resort for trying to fix everything."

"Oh man, we got really lucky," Lisbeth said with a shudder.

"Hm, what do you mean?"

"I just remembered; if Asuna had equipped another sword into her right hand slot, that also would've given it to Nezha. Note to self; be careful when using the quick change mod…"

I shuddered myself after that little revelation. Disregarding my own feelings, I can't begin to imagine how Asuna would've felt if she'd learned that her rapier was lost forever due to her own actions.

Speaking of, the girl herself crossed her arms and huffed. "Why would they bury the 'materialize all items' option so deep into the menus? It seems pretty important."

"You just answered your own question," I told her. When she gave me a confused look, I elaborated, "The game developers wanted the game to be challenging, which is why it's possible to lose weapons and such. Thing is, they probably figured it would be too cruel without giving players a sort of 'last resort' option. So they made it less convenient to compensate."

"I guess games are kind of like magic tricks in the real world. It's all about maintaining the illusion."

I turned to regard Lisbeth after she made that comment. She was a surprisingly insightful woman, I was quickly coming to realize. It was almost disappointing that she wasn't on the front lines, because I had the feeling she could be a great help. Oh well, I wouldn't wanna take her blacksmithing away from her, anyway. She was clearly passionate about it.

"Anyway, I understand the logic of how my sword came back now, at any rate," Asuna said. "But then, what about the sword we all saw shatter on the anvil?"

"Ah, what indeed?" Truthfully, I hadn't been able to figure that part out yet. It was obvious that Nezha was running an upgrading scam. The name varied based on the game, but the idea remained the same. A blacksmith would advertise their services only to deceive the player making use of them with some self-serving deception.

The ways it happened could vary as well. Maybe the blacksmith would claim the upgrade failed and hand the player a weapon of the same make that was of lower quality. Or maybe they'd keep the materials entirely, or in the case of Nezha, pretend to destroy the item. It was an easy practice in a normal MMO because the player doing the scam and the victim were playing on seperate screens.

In that regard, doing the same thing in SAO was almost impressive. Because this was a VRMMO where we operated virtual bodies with our minds, the victim was able to see every detail of the blacksmith's process. Of course, this hadn't helped us any in identifying the trick, but that was why I held the slightest bit of admiration for Nezha and his friends for figuring it out.

They were bending the Cardinal system to fit their needs, just like I had tried during the martial arts quest.

Anyway, I turned the question elsewhere. "Any ideas, Liz? Blacksmith's intuition?"

"Well, I don't know about that…" she grumbled, but turned her gaze to the ceiling. "I'll be honest, I was only half-paying attention when Nezha was upgrading the weapon. Regardless, he would've pulled the switcheroo when the rapier was in the forge with all the materials. The weapon's obscured by the flames then, and they keep the players' attention too."

I nodded along to her explanation. "Makes sense, but we still don't know the trick. We'd have to see it again and pay extra attention…"

"I wouldn't count on that happening anytime soon," Lisbeth interrupted.

"Why not?" It was Asuna who put my thoughts to words.

"Well, Nezha must've realized by now that there's no wind fleuret plus four sitting in his inventory. Now that he knows someone's caught on to his fraud, I doubt he'll be setting up shop for a while. Even if he did, he probably won't be trying that trick again."

I immediately groaned after hearing her response. "Dammit, you're right."

"I guess it's good if he's not tricking anyone for a bit. But… he didn't seem that excited about my rapier in the first place," Asuna's soft words resonate with me. It seemed that we had all come to the same unspoken agreement about Nezha's character. He didn't seem like the type to scam someone.

I shook my head. "We'll have to lay low for now. We can gather information on the switch-out trick and Nezha, but we need to get back to the front line tomorrow."

"I can focus on getting all the info, then. I'm a blacksmith, after all."

I turned to Lisbeth after she declared that and smiled. I could see why Asuna was friends with her. "That would be awesome, Liz. You're the best," I said honestly. Really, I hadn't known her for long, but I'd been on something of a hot streak when it came to first impressions recently. First with Sinon, and now this insanely passionate and dedicated woman named Lisbeth.

She scratched her cheek and looked to the side. "W-well, that's only natural…" I noticed her cheeks were slightly pink, and wondered if the room might've been hotter than I thought. Anway, I raised my arms above my head in a stretch, and let out a sigh of relief when my shoulders popped.

"Tomorrow's going to be the raid against the field boss blocking the way to Marome," Asuna informed me.

"We should get some sleep then. Who's leading the raid?" I asked.

"Kibaou and some other guy… named Lind."

My mood immediately soured when I heard Kibaou's name. That idiot was the reason I had to take on the mantle of beater, and experience persecution the same way I had in the real world. The idea of him being a leader on the front lines made my stomach churn.

"I guess that's all for now. I'll see you tomorrow, Asuna." I said brusquely before leaving. She must've guessed where my irritation was coming from, because she eyed me with concern. It wasn't enough to make me stay, though, and I promptly left Asuna's room.

"Wha-hey, wait up!" said Lisbeth, who got up and chased after me. We were walking even by the time I reached the stairs. "Um, are you alright…?"

I sighed heavily. I wasn't, but I didn't want to talk with her about it, so I just said, "I'm good, just tired."

Lisbeth looked to the side. "Yeah, today's been nothing if not eventful. I mean, just look at all that happened. We stalked a player through the street's and uncovered an upgrading scam, and then you had to run off to rifle through Asuna's panties-"

"That's not how it was! C'mon, you're gonna ruin my reputation saying stuff like that!"

Lisbeth giggled and pulled my arm against her chest like Argo did. "Calm down, you big baby. I wouldn't do that to a friend."

I raised an eyebrow, "We're friends?"

"Of course! What kind of question is that?!" Lisbeth asked, affronted.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm glad to have you as a friend, Liz."

After that, I slept remarkably well.

000

The next morning, I saw Lisbeth off at Urbus' gate.

She was planning to take the next couple days off to stake out Nezha and find out the trick to his weapon switching. Meanwhile, I was going to the rendezvous point for the field boss raid. It wasn't actually going to start until noon, but I had reason to set out a little early.

I had no intention of participating in this raid with Kibaou as a leader, but I still wanted to be there. Given how much of a raging idiot that guy was, I didn't trust him not to put people in unnecessary danger. If-when-that happened, I could at least try to save them by being nearby. Moreover, I wanted to see how this Lind guy was in action as well.

Maybe it was a little arrogant of me to criticize the raid leaders since I was a solo player. With the stigma of beater following me around everyone, I had all but abandoned the right to involve myself with matters involving the front lines. With that sobering thought in mind, I continued on my way to the location of the field boss.

The boss this time was called the 'Bullbous Bow' and in appearance it was basically what it read on the tin. A giant bull with a bulging, rounded forehead that it used for powerful and deadly charging attacks. Outside of that, though, it wasn't too dangerous of an enemy. All the raid group had to do to beat it was have the tanks block it's charge, then send in the melee fighters to attack the flank. Rinse, repeat, and the field boss would soon be finished. The only potential hiccup I could see was if the melee fighters accidentally drew the Bullbous Bow's attention to itself.

It was nine twenty-four in the morning when I found a nice mesa that overlooked the boss' lair. It was a basin about two-hundred yards long and fifty yards wide. Asuna wasn't going to be a part of the raid group, but she must've had some of the same concerns as me, because she would be here soon enough.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Eep!"

I jumped nearly thrice my own height into the air before turning around to face whoever had spoken. Short black hair. Small, kinda skinny body, but a glare fierce enough to bring down those twice her size. I was only more embarrassed by my startled yelp when I realized I was facing Sinon.

"That's my line, dammit! There are better times to use the hiding skill, you know."

Sinon looked bemused by my complaints, "You didn't actually answer my question."

I sighed but relented, "Asuna and I are gonna meet up here and watch the boss raid."

"There's a boss raid happening? When?"

The urgency in her voice made me slightly concerned, but I still told her, "Noon." She hummed in thought before walking to the edge of the mesa, and I felt my concern skyrocket. "Uh, Sinon-"

"Guess I'll have to do this quick then," she said, cutting me off. With no more words exchanged, Sinon retrieved her spear from her back and prepared to throw it. This one was different from the one she'd used to duel me, I noticed. It was a rich black, and had a large arrow-shaped tip at the end. The head was connected to the shaft of the spear with what looked like rose vines, and those same vines also ran along the butt of the spear, which was rounded and slightly thicker than the shaft.

The spear began to glow a pale orange color, and I decided to sit back and watch her work. Was she planning to hit the boss from here? It was nearly a hundred and fifty meters away. I knew Sinon had the blade throwing skill, but she couldn't have developed it more than I had my one-handed longsword skill. She also hadn't been on the front lines nearly as long. From all the information I had available to me, it seemed impossible for Sinon to make this shot.

But then again, she'd made surprising me something of a habit.

Sure enough, when Sinon let loose, her spear arced across the early morning sky like a comet. After a couple of impossibly tense seconds, the spear sunk into the Bullbous Bows snout. It warbled in rage and stomped it's hooves, desperately searching for whoever had attacked it. We were outside of it's agro range though, so it quickly calmed down.

I whistled and said, "Nice shot."

"And that's not all," Sinon told me, and I could hear the satisfaction in her voice. It was only then that I noticed her spear hand was not empty. She was holding onto a line of roots the same make as those which surrounded her spear. With a forceful yank that likely used all of the strength in Sinon's virtual body, her spear was dislodged from the Bullbous Bow and returned to her waiting hands.

"Whoa…" I mumbled in admiration. "Where did you get that?"

"It was a quest reward," Sinon explained. "The spear's name is 'Everlasting Root', and as you just saw, it has a pretty amazing unique property."

"I'll say. That's probably the best weapon you could've asked for." Now that she had a way to fight at a range without running out of ammo, she was that much more terrifying. I dreaded having to fight her again.

"It's not just that. I put that twelve-thousand coal you invested in me to good use," Sinon said, gesturing to her outfit. Now that she'd called my attention to it, Sinon's gear was completely different from the last time I'd seen her. She now wore an olive green cropped jacket with black shoulders. A white undershirt with black trim was covered by a breastplate, and her black jeans looked almost military issue. Even without having seen the numbers, I could tell the outfit gave her a very good defensive boost.

"That looks good on you," I told her earnestly. Then, I thrusted my right hip forward and said, "But you're not the only one who decided to switch things up."

Sinon looked me up and down before saying, "Fishing for compliments isn't very cute, ya know."

I pouted and crossed my arms, but Sinon remained unfazed. What is it with me and icy women? First Asuna, now this. I guess I have a type, or maybe I'm the type? I didn't know which was more true, and Sinon turned away from me after a moment to look back at the boss.

"So the boss raid starts at noon, huh?" she asked, but I suspected it was rhetorical. She rammed the butt of her spear into the ground, and turned to face me with a cheshire cat grin. "How mad do you think the clearers will be when they show up and find out the boss has already been beaten?"

My own grin quickly came to match hers.

000

The two of us were well into the process of abusing Sinon's Everlasting Root when Asuna showed up.

She looked between Sinon and I with an expression that screamed way too many questions for me to answer, so I just gestured to Sinon as if to say, 'this'll explain everything'. And once Asuna witnessed the Everlasting Root in action, the only question she asked was, "Who is this, Kirito?"

Sinon didn't react to Asuna's presence; she probably picked her up with her search skill and decided she wasn't a threat. Since she had no interest in anything but the boss, I said, "This is Sinon. We fought a couple weeks ago when I was doing the martial arts skill quest. She's a good friend."

Asuna put her hands on her hips, sighed, and said, "Only you, Kirito."

I shrugged unrepentantly before turning my attention back to the Bullbous Bow. Since Sinon was the only person attacking it, and it took about ten seconds for her to throw and retract her spear, the 'fight' with the boss was proving to be kinda tedious. That was fine with me, though. If there was a way to fight every boss with this little risk, I'd gladly sit on the sidelines.

Sinon retracted her spear again, but didn't immediately move to throw it. Instead, she checked the weapons status, then 'tsked' and said, "The durability is starting to get low. Any chance one of you two can reinforce it?"

Asuna and I both shook our heads, but then a thought came to me, "What if we got Lisbeth's help?"

"She's stalking out Nezha, remember?"

"But isn't this more important? We can afford to spend a little more time on that."

Asuna proceeded to glare at me, but I just glared right back. If she wanted to turn this into a battle of wills, then I'd win. Grrrrrr…

"Hold on a second. The Bullbous Bow is acting strange…" Sinon said, but it was just white noise to me.

Grrrrrr…

"Is it… coming toward us? No, that can't be. We're outside of it's aggro range."

Grrrrrr…

"Kirito, Asuna, we need to move now!" The urgency in Sinon's voice finally pulled me away from my glaring contest with Asuna. When I looked in her direction, I perfectly understood why Sinon was so concerned. The Bullbous Bow was barreling right toward us! But we'd been so careful about staying out of it's aggro range. How had this happened? I guess those were questions better saved for later, because I had about two seconds before it's snout collided with the mesa.

"Shit!" I cried as I leapt to my feet. Our best option was to run down the side of the mesa opposite the Bullbous Bow. It's charge would invariably knock us off our feet, but at least we would be out of its range and able to recover. I was already starting to move in that direction when I saw Sinon, and immediately froze.

Sinon was right by the edge of the mesa. Even though she was racing in the opposite direction, there was no telling if she could make it to Asuna and myself on time. If she didn't, the Bullous Bow's charge would likely throw her off the mesa… on his side. And if that were to happen, she would suffer a tumbling status, and be unable to defend herself if the boss were to charge again.

In other words, she would die…

I can't let that happen. My body was already moving before I had any time to consider my options. My sword flew from its sheath and into my hand. The Anneal blade rested at my side for half a second until I felt the system take over. Without hesitation, I threw myself forward with the sword skill Vorpal Strike, and drove my blade into the Bullbous Bow's snout. Of course, I wouldn't be able to push the boss back on my own, even with my considerable strength.

But that was fine. It wasn't my goal to force the boss back, just delay it. And I more than succeeded when I entered a clash with the Bullbous Bow. I stood at the very edge of the mesa, pushing against the boss' charge. The slightest misstep would send me spiraling over the edge, so I couldn't sustain this for long. Thankfully, Sinon had already gotten some distance and readied herself for battle. The same was true for Asuna, so I said, "Asuna, Sinon, switch!" and swung upward with all my might.

Thankfully, it was just enough to knock the Bullbous Bow's snout aside. Before it could recover and resume it's charge, Asuna and Sinon rushed past me and rammed their respective weapons into the boss' eyes. It reared back in pain and let out an ear-piercing wail, but it gave me the chance to leap back onto the mesa and get my feet back under me. Sinon, Asuna and myself then immediately turned tail and ran down the opposite side of the mesa.

Upon arriving at it's foot, the three of us darted behind a nearby tree. The boss was still raging, but at least like this we were out of it's range. "I don't get it. Why'd it suddenly change it's tune like that?" I asked.

"Asuna's presence aggroed the boss," Sinon said. I looked down at where she was huddled against the tree, silently asking for an explanation. Thankfully, she obliged, "You and I were both using the hiding skill to keep the boss from noticing us, but Asuna doesn't have that skill, or am I wrong?"

Asuna shook her head. "No, that's right. I'm sorry I caused you guys trouble…"

"Don't worry about it. This is actually a great opportunity," Sinon told her, and I raised a brow in question. Before I had any chance to wonder what she was talking about, Sinon started to step out from behind the tree. My hand shot forward, clasping over her wrist and keeping her in place.

"What the hell are you doing!?" I hissed.

"What's it look like? I'm gonna take down that boss," she said, glaring at me.

"Are you insane?! You can't beat that thing by yourself."

"Then help me," she said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

I let out an aggravated sigh and said, "Look, your Everlasting Root gave us an interesting opportunity, but it didn't work out. It's better if we leave it to the raid group now."

"Kirito's right, Sinon. I'm sorry I ruined it for you, but even if all three of us fight together, it's too risky."

Sinon's expression darkened significantly. "Is that what you think? We'll just 'cuz you feel that way doesn't mean I do!" The raw emotion in her voice startled me, and I ended up loosening my grip enough for her to escape. Sinon darted out from behind the tree and charged the boss. The Bullbous Bow had recovered from our attack at this point, so it immediately reacted to her presence.

Sinon remained unfazed by this fact, as she continued her reckless charge toward the boss. Her spear was let loose once more, a streaking orange comet that punctured the Bullbous Bow's snout. It shook its head violently to try and dislodge the Everlasting Root, but that was only achieved when Sinon brought the spear back to her hands.

Now free of the thorn in its side-er, snout-the Bullbous Bow prepared to run Sinon through. "Son of a bitch! She's gonna get herself killed!" I swore before rushing toward her. I was soon surpassed by Asuna, who once more resembled a shooting star as she raced across the mesa. The Bullbous Bow charged at Sinon, who likely couldn't avoid the attack.

Thankfully, Asuna was there to intercept the boss. The tip of her rapier punched through the Bullbous Bow's charge, and stopped it in its tracks. The two initiated a clash, one Asuna was likely to loose considering she didn't have a strength build. But I had managed to catch up at this point, and sent the boss flying back with a sword skill. Now that we had a moment of relative peace, I turned to Sinon and shouted, "What the hell are you thinking?!"

"If you're not gonna help me then stay out of my way! This is my fight, Kirito," she said. Sinon threw her spear once more, and this time it stabbed into the boss' eye again. The Bullbous Bow had two health bars, and its first had finally been depleted with that last attack. Sinon flanked the Bullbous Bow by running along the blind spot she'd just created, and I followed her after a second of hesitation.

It was obvious she had little interest in listening to me now, but I couldn't leave her alone until I figured out how to get through that thick skull of hers. What was she even hoping to achieve with this? Before, I thought she just wanted the satisfaction of having taken down the boss before the raid group showed up, but now I'm wondering if she just has a death wish.

Sinon's spear carved a chunk of flesh out of the Bullbous Bow's thigh, and I joined in with my Anneal blade, tearing into the boss' flank. It snorted angrily and turned in our direction, but that's when an explosion of red light came from the boss' other side. Turning in that direction, I saw Asuna with her rapier poised and ready to attack. "Kirito, Sinon! I'll keep it's attention and dodge it's attacks, and you guys can come in from behind. Just make sure not to draw it's aggro!"

I sighed in relief and shouted, "You got it!" before disengaging. Sinon followed suit-thank god-and after another powerful attack from Asuna, the Bullbous Bow forgot about us entirely and turned to face her. Before she could get away from me, I grabbed hold of Sinon's wrist and said, "Enough. Asuna and I are involved now, so you don't get to pretend this is all about you anymore."

"I never asked for that!" she shouted, and I was surprised when her voice broke in the middle. "My life is nobody's business but my own. How I live it, and even if I throw it away… it doesn't matter 'cuz it's all on me. Nobody can blame me for what happened…"

I was at a loss for words. Sinon's monolog left me overflowing with so many emotions that all the things I wanted to say got caught up in my throat. But before I could actually say anything, my attention was drawn back to Asuna. She was fighting the Bullbous Bow all by herself right now and really needed our help. I bit down on all the feelings coursing through my body and focused them onto protecting her.

With a beastial cry, I charged for the unprotected flank of the boss, with Sinon following a second later. Her Everlasting Root shot over my shoulder and scored a hit on the boss, and I was quick to follow it up with a couple choice slashes. The Bullbous Bow's attention was pulled away from Asuna for a second, and she used that time to steady herself. She attacked the boss before it could try and attack us, so Sinon and I quickly disengaged.

Now that we'd been afforded a moment of respite, and the storm of my emotions had quieted down slightly, I turned to Sinon and shouted, "Don't say selfish shit like that!"

"Wha-?"

"It doesn't matter if you feel that way, 'cuz now you're with me! We're a part of each other's lives, so there's no way you can die on your own."

She responded to my angry plea with anger of her own, "I didn't ask for that, either!"

"I doubt anyone asked to be trapped in SAO, but it still happened. Sometimes life isn't interested in giving you what you want, so will you calm the hell down and leave this to the raid group."

"...You hypocrite," Sinon whispered, her head facing downward. All of the sudden, my frustration was blown away like it'd been a falling leaf, and I felt this jolt of anxiety crawl up my spine. "You were the one who told me to become the strongest in SAO, but now we're gonna leave something small and simple-a goddamn field boss-to the raid group…? Don't give me that, that's chicken shit!"

Her words hit me harder than any monster could. I suddenly realized just how unfair I'd been to her. It's like I'd placed a curse on her; the curse of strength. She was so determined to prove her own worth, and for what? Because I'd said so? I should've just kept my stupid mouth shut, then none of this would've happened. But I couldn't change the past, so I had a responsibility to try and make things better now.

I took a couple seconds to search for the right words, then finally said, "You can be strong with other people around."

"Are you seriously about to give me a power of friendship speech, Kirito?" she asked incredulously.

I snorted, "No, that's not it at all. I'm just trying to say that your strength isn't diminished, even when you're working with other people. You told me I'm the strongest player in SAO, but I still work with the assault team all the time. Do you think that makes me any less strong? 'Cuz I don't. I'm still able to shine in my own way, and I know you will too, Sinon. That's why I can't let you throw your life away here."

Sinon turned her gaze to the ground, "But if I'm always with other people, how will I ever abandon my weakness?"

Her question made me exhale softly. For all my talk just now, I couldn't believe that I was strong. Not in any way that mattered. I'd abandoned Klein in the town of beginnings to ensure my own survival, and I'd separated myself from the rest of the front lines because it was easier for me. Maybe that was why I identified with Sinon so much. We both wanted to figure out how to be strong.

With that thought in mind, I told her, "I don't know… but you'll never figure that out if you die."

"Kirito…"

Sinon looked at me with wide eyes, as if I'd just presented her with the universe. I feel like we understand each other better now. Before I could really appreciate the moment, however, my attention was pulled away when I heard a pained scream to my right.

My head swung in that direction, and I was horrified when I saw Asuna's form flying through the air. Dammit! We'd taken too long talking! Asuna slammed into the ground with a pained grunt. Since we weren't in a party together, I had no idea how much HP she'd lost from that attack, but I'm guessing it's somewhere in the ballpark of way too much to be comfortable. The Bullbous Bow snorted and prepared to finish her off, but I was racing toward the damn cow before it could even scuff it's hooves.

With Sinon lagging behind only slightly, we charged the Bullbous Bow with reckless abandon. "Let's finish this!" I roared.

"You got it, Kirito!"

Sinon's spear sank into the boss' flank once more, and I attacked only a second later with the sword skill Vertical Arc. It reared back and turned its attention back to us, abandoning Asuna. That was good; she'd gotten a tumble status when she crashed to the ground and wouldn't be able to move for a little bit. "Sinon, can you carry Asuna?!" I asked while I frantically dodged it's charge.

"Sorry, my strength parameter isn't high enough for that."

Unfortunate, but expected. Equally unfortunate was I couldn't ask her to distract the boss while I carried Asuna, either. Sinon wasn't slow by any means, but her agility wasn't high enough to keep that going for long. I'll just have to stall the boss until Asuna recovers. "Be ready to run as soon as your tumble status goes away!" I shouted to her. I couldn't see Asuna's response from where I was, but I trusted her to follow my instructions.

I rolled out of the way of the boss' next attack, avoiding it by the skin of my teeth. The tumble status only lasted one minute, which doesn't sound very long but is a short eternity in the heat of battle. Asuna had managed to do this for much longer while Sinon and I were fighting, so it only felt right that I take on this burden. She got hurt because of me, so I had to do what I could to make that right.

The Everlasting Root pierced through the Bullbous Bow's left hind leg, but I carved a triangle into its body before its attention could shift to Sinon. Over the course of the battle, we'd managed to whittle away a quarter of it's last HP bar. A part of me was frustrated that we were going to run away after all that, but survival came first in this death game.

With the Bullbous Bow's attention now firmly focused on me, I darted to the left so I could lead it away from Asuna. The boss followed my path with angry eyes, and charged at me after a second. I hadn't been able to back away to a safe distance, so I had to frantically throw myself to the right in order to avoid getting trampled.

"Kirito, wha-"

Unfortunately, doing so sent me crashing right into Sinon.

We hit the grass like a bag full of rocks; our limbs tangled in a jumbled heap. I tried to speedily push myself off her, but I tripped over her legs and crashed onto her stomach. Sinon tried to throw me off but failed, same as me. I frantically looked behind me only to freeze when I saw the Bullbous Bow barreling towards us. Given that she had a front row seat to it, I guess it only makes sense she would try even harder to separate us. Her efforts proved to be in vain, however, and I clenched my eyes shut as I waited for the inevitable impact.

The Bullbous Bow's attack sent Sinon and I hurtling through the open air. I was up so high I swear I could've reached out and touched the bottom of the third floor, but that was probably just my eyes playing tricks on me. As gravity took effect and I started to fall, I did my best to center myself and put my feet under me. It was no use, though. No matter how I contorted, the winds were just too harsh for me to achieve anything other than hopeless flailing.

I hit the ground just a second before Sinon did. Dust exploded outward from our combined impact, but when it dissipated we were left lying helplessly next to each other. I looked up at my health bar and saw a tumble status next to it. Given that Sinon wasn't getting to her feet, I could only assume she was in the same position. A quick look to my right showed that the Bullbous Bow hadn't forgotten about us, either, as it was getting ready for another charge.

All my efforts to stand up only amounted to spastic twitching and writhing. There was no way the sixty seconds necessary for the effect to wear off was gonna pass before it attacked us again, either. We were sitting ducks, counting down the seconds to our death. Strangely enough, I didn't feel any sort of fear or regret. The only word I could think to describe my current mood would be resignation. How ironic was that? And after I spent all that time lecturing Sinon…

I wonder if Diavel felt the same way when he was dying?

"Kirito…"

I turned back to look at Sinon, only for my heart to break when I saw tears welling up in her eyes. It was my fault she was gonna die here. If I'd been more focused on Asuna and the boss then giving her some grand speech about something I probably had no right to be saying, maybe she could've lived.

"I'm such a coward…" she said. "I dragged you into my fight because I wanted to get strong. I told you I didn't care if I died, but now that we're here… I'm just so scared." Her voice broke as she was speaking, and she struggled to reach her hand toward me.

I took it without hesitation. "Don't cry, Sinon," I told her, trying to imbue my voice with strength I know I didn't have. "You're scared, and I think that's probably how it should be. If someone isn't scared by dying, it just means they've wasted their life…"

It was true, too. I haven't done a single worthwhile thing with my life. I'd pushed my mom and sister away because I didn't belong at home, and then I'd become a gaming addict with no future. I abandoned the first friend I'd made in this death game, and I've done nothing to make it up. I haven't done anything to pay back any of my friends, actually. Asuna, Sinon, Lisbeth, Argo; I'd never done a single thing in return for all their help.

Sinon gripped my hand tight, and it pulled me back from my spiraling thoughts. "I don't know if I believe that, but if nothing else, I wish we could've spent more time together, Kirito."

The dam inside me finally broke, and tears spilled down the side of my face as I said, "Same here, Sinon. I think we could've been good friends." I clasped her hand even tighter, and she returned the favor. Sinon closed her eyes tightly; she didn't want to see the exact moment when we died. I didn't, in contrast. I looked at Sinon's scared expression and cried even harder. I really was worthless, and now my rotten character isn't just going to ruin my life, but someone else's.

The Bullbous Bow's stampede felt like it happened in slow motion, but I had no plans to look away from it. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did, since this was all my fault. The boss was almost on top of us now. Even if I could move, I don't think I'd be able to defend myself.

"Not gonna happen!"

The person who'd shouted wasn't Asuna. In fact, it belonged to someone I'd never heard before. Regardless, a man clad head to toe in armor with an onion shaped helmet on his head jumped in front of us. He thrust his shield forward, stopping the Bullbous Bow in its tracks. I noticed that his shield, longsword and armor all gave off a faint shine. That meant that all of his gear had been enhanced to its maximum effectiveness. That was incredible, especially considering we're only on floor two. With equipment like that, it doesn't surprise me he'd be strong enough to tank a field boss all on his own.

Two more players quickly jumped to his aid. Like onion-head, their weapons and armor were also enhanced to perfection, and they drove their weapons into the boss' side in a pincer attack. The Bullbous Bow was blown backward, and the guy who'd saved our lives turns around and asks, "Are you both alright?"

Everything had happened so fast I was struggling to process the fact that I was still alive. The most I could do at that moment was nod weakly. He smiled and said, "That's good to hear. You can just leave this to us!"

He ran off to go fight the boss with his friends. Now that my brain had finally finished it's reboot sequence, I realized I had actually seen that guy before. He was the guy in Nezha's party that Lisbeth had a fight with. That explained how his gear was so tricked out. He was the one benefitting from Nezha's upgrading scam.

But why was he here? I wasn't about to complain about his timing, but it seems overly convenient that he would show up right now. The answer to my question was quickly answered when a storm of other players soon appeared from behind us and rushed the boss. It was the raid group, I belatedly noted.

By some miracle, we had managed to stall the boss long enough for the raid group to arrive. I couldn't believe my luck, and considering the flabbergasted look on Sinon's face, neither could she. "Kirito! Sinon!" This shout came from a voice I immediately recognized. A quick turn of my head revealed Asuna sprinting towards us with tears welling up in her eyes. She dropped to the ground in front of us, and we were pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

Even though this was a virtual world, Asuna's body was warm. I instantly relaxed and rested my head against her shoulder. As the battle against the Bullbous Bow raged on in the background, I whispered, "I'm such a poser…" Wrapped up in my friend's warm arms, I felt at peace. I didn't have any kind of real strength, only ability. Somehow, I'd confused one for the other, and because of that, Sinon had been cursed by my words. We could've died today, and all because I fooled myself into thinking my beta experience made me a big shot.

"I'm sorry, Sinon…" I moaned. She still hadn't let go of my hand, so I rubbed my thumb over the back of her palm. The tumble status finally abated, so I wrapped my other arm around Asuna. "I'm sorry…" I said again. She'd suffered because of my delusions too.

"Geez, don't look so down, Kirito."

My body tensed after I heard Sinon say that. She returned my gesture from earlier by grazing her thumb along my palm, then she said, "We're still here. Still alive. That means we can keep searching for the answer. Both of us…"

I separated myself from Asuna so I could look at her properly. There was a small smile on her face, one I could tell was incredibly fragile. She was weak, and she knew it, but she was determined to move past that. That was admirable, but her specific words scared the hell out of me. Once again, she'd taken what I'd said to heart, and was going to pursue it with everything she had. Had I just replaced her past curse with a new one, without even meaning too?

Dammit, why can't I do anything right!?

What do I do? I can't let Sinon ruin her life again because of something I'd said, but if it wasn't my place to tell her what to do, it sure as hell wasn't my place to tell her what not to. Moreover, I didn't want to stand in her way if she was trying to overcome her weakness. I couldn't forgive myself if I did that. After all, I wanted the same thing she did; strength.

Wait a minute…

I grabbed Sinon's other hand and held them between us. I knew what I was about to do was desperate and pathetic, but the only way I can take responsibility for this whole mess is to keep Sinon alive, no matter what. With that thought like a broken record in my head, I asked, "Sinon… will you stay with me? I-I want to be there with you when you find your answer. I got this feeling like… maybe I'll find what I need if I do."

Sinon chuckled lightly. "Ya know, you're really pushy when you want to be."

"Ah, sorry…"

"Don't apologize; I kinda like it," she told me. She interlaced her fingers with mine and held our hands between us. "Anyway, I like the sound of that."

Hearing those words made my heart soar. Now, I had an opportunity to actually do something worth a damn for someone other than myself. I'll dedicate myself to keeping Sinon alive, and I'll make up for placing curses on her with my ignorant words.

I heard a sound like shattering glass off to my side. When I turned in that direction, I saw that the boss had finally been beaten. The fact that we hadn't been involved in the end of the battle after putting in so much work kinda irked me, but I guess being alive was a pretty good consolation prize.

"It's nice to see you acting so friendly, but I'm feeling a little left out here," Asuna said. My attention shifted to her, then my and Sinon's intertwined hands. We abruptly backed away from each other. Ah geez, I hope Asuna doesn't spread any annoying rumors.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm glad you're okay too Asuna," I told her, hoping to move past what'd just happened. I frowned and looked at the ground, "I'm sorry Asuna. It's my fault you ended up getting hurt…"

"Look, let's not play the blame game. We're alive and that's all that matters. I mean if you wanna talk about whose fault this is, let's not forget who drew the boss' attention in the first place."

I couldn't bring myself to agree with that, but there was no point in arguing with her. I simply nodded and leaned back to look at the sky. Today was exhausting, no doubt, and it wasn't even half-past noon yet. All I wanted at this point was to crash onto my bed at the inn and sleep for the next two days, but I still needed to talk with Liz and find out what she's learned. Although, I feel a little bad snooping around Nezha's party now that they'd saved my life.

"You're both alright. I'm glad, but I was hoping you could answer some questions for us."

The guy who'd spoken had a commanding voice, but it wasn't one that I recognized. My eyes slid downward so I could get a proper look at their face, and I was taken aback for a brief second when I did. Blue hair done up in a ponytail, strong eyes which gave him the look of a leader, a longsword sheathed at his waist and a shield in his off hand. This guy looked remarkably like Diavel, and that made me feel a little anxious.

"Yeah, sure. Um, who are you exactly?" I asked.

The Diavel look-alike placed his hand on his chest and said, "Call me Lind. I'm one of the leaders of this raid group."

Oh, so this was the guy Asuna mentioned the other night. Now that I know who he is, I think I actually recognize him. He was a member of Diavel's party, I'm pretty sure. That explains why the front lines would trust him with his position. With the dyed hair and armor he was wearing, he also looked a little bit like his fallen friend too. I guess he was trying to fill in for Diavel.

"Okay… what do you want with us?" Sinon asked, narrowing her eyes. I winced a little bit at her attitude. I knew that she had a bit of an icy personality, but I don't think that attitude's gonna make her very popular.

"I want to know why you were fighting the boss before we arrived. What was your goal?"

"Aint that obvious?" a new voice interjected, one I was unfortunately familiar with. Kibaou strolled up beside Lind with his arms crossed and a prominent scowl on his face. It instantly made my temper rise, especially since I had an idea what he was gonna say next.

"They were hoping to take it out on their own and grab all the drops and EXP for themselves. Am I wrong? Little miss beater?" he spat.

Asuna immediately came to our defense. "No, you've got it all wrong! We were trying to beat the boss, but only because we'd found a way to do it without risking any lives."

"I'm not trying to call you a liar, but I find that a little hard to believe when you all almost died," Lind pointed out. I couldn't exactly fault his reasoning either, or Kibaou's if I were being honest. They'd only showed up when we were on the verge of death. They didn't know the full story.

"Yeah, everything kinda went to hell, but that's not how it started…" I said, hoping to clear things up.

I paused, however.

Should I really try to make them understand Sinon's and my actions? The obvious answer was yes, but I wasn't sure it was the right one. I'd created my beater persona to try and protect the other beta testers, so wouldn't it be kinda contradictory to claim I wasn't after money and EXP now? Kibaou might be an idiot, but I didn't think Lind was. And he'd been there when I pulled this stunt, so he might figure out my real intentions if I didn't play my role. That might not end badly, but was that really worth risking the safety of the beta testers.

Unfortunately, the decision was taken out of my hands entirely when Sinon spoke. She said, "It's because of the weapon I use. It has a special property…" She proceeded to explain how the Everlasting Root worked, and the plan we'd made to safely beat the boss. Asuna chipped in to talk about how it was her fault things went wrong, and apologized.

All the while, I sat there like a sack of potatoes. Maybe that was for the best, though. I'd done nothing but cause chaos whenever I opened my big, dumb mouth. It was the whole reason Sinon had got into this mess, so it was probably for the best if I just stayed out of it.

When the two of them finished explaining, Lind nodded and said, "I understand. What you tried to do was admirable, but if something like this comes up again please let us know. We could've helped you out and kept things from going so bad."

I was tempted to point out that a big ass raid party was even more likely to draw the boss's attention, but I got his point. It was kind of ironic that I'd gone off about working with the raid group to Sinon after I hadn't told them about our plan. Whatever; what's done is done and all of us are still alive. I may have placed a curse on Sinon, but I'd be around to protect her. Things weren't good, but we'd avoided the worst possibilities and that was enough for now.

"Where'd you even get a weapon that awesome, anyway! I bet it was because you were a beta tester, right?"

That was a new voice, and I turned my worried eyes in its direction. It belonged to a guy with shaggy gray hair that fell along the front of his face. He looked equal parts scared and angry, and he was shaky slightly as he spoke. I had the impression he was a jittery guy. Either way, his thoughtless claim could've been the nail in Sinon's coffin. If people thought she was a beta tester, then people might exclude her from the raid group. I didn't want that to happen; she'd need their protection to stay alive, same as every front-liner.

"No, that's-!"

'Leave it, Joe." To my surprise, it was Kibaou who'd interrupted me to shut down the now-named Joe. "It's all over and done with, now. I don't wanna be known as the kind of guy to harp on endlessly when everyone's done talking about it. Let's get going to the next town."

Joe didn't look happy with being told off but still kept quiet and obeyed. I guess he must've been Kibaou's subordinate. Honestly though, I was surprised by him. I'd never have thought Kibaou of all people would be the type to let go and walk away. Oh well, I guess I should just be grateful Sinon wasn't under fire anymore.

"Are you ladies going to be alright on your own?" Lind asked.

Sinon scoffed, "You're talking to some of the strongest players in SAO; what do you think?"

Lind's previously neutral expression fell into a frown, and he only offered a grunt of affirmation before he left, taking the raid group with him. I turned to Sinon with a tired smile, "Was that really necessary?"

"The guys in this game are dorks. I don't need some knight in shining armor to come to my rescue."

"All evidence to the contrary notwithstanding?" Asuna replied sarcastically. Sinon blushed in embarrassment and I laughed. Now that everything was over, I was feeling a little light-headed. I slowly pulled myself to my feet, then helped Sinon up.

While I was holding her hand, I said, "We should get moving, right partner?"

"Sure thing… partner," Sinon said, and even with all my insecurities and self-loathing rolling around, her smile warmed my heart.

"Don't ignore me just so you can flirt!" Asuna complained, placing her hands on her hips.

I blushed furiously while Sinon shouted, "We weren't flirting! Don't go making assumptions like that on your own!"

"Really now? You seemed pretty caught up in a moment there. I'm not interrupting you guys, am I?"

I groaned in exasperation, face still red as a tomato. "Since when did Argo pick up a protege?"

Asuna just smiled and laughed at our expense. Then she turned toward the route to the next town and said, "Well, let's get going guys. I don't wanna fall behind the others."

"Eh? Wait a minute, you're coming with us, Asuna?" I asked in mild surprise.

Asuna frowned at my question, "I thought that was obvious? The three of us are some of the only solo players on the front line, and if you and Sinon are teaming up, it just makes sense for me to join you. I mean, we get along just fine, don't we?"

"It'd be pretty stupid of me to say no after I accepted Kirito's help, so I don't have any problem with it," Sinon said casually.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine with it too. It's just… are you sure?" I almost got her killed today because I was too busy having an argument with Sinon. I'm kinda surprised she'd want to be anywhere near me after that, let alone party together.

"Geez, Kirito," she sighs, with an expression of total bafflement on her face. Abruptly, she steps forward and jabs a finger into my chest. "You can be so impossible sometimes, you know that! I'm the one who said I wanna party up, so it should be pretty obvious I'm sure, right?"

"Ah, um, yes ma'am!" I chirp, unprepared for her sudden verbal assault. Sinon just laughs at my expense, the traitor. Thankfully, my sputtered acceptance seems to be enough for Asuna, who finally relents with a small smile.

"Well then, I look forward to our partnership. Kirito, Sinon."

"Here here," Sinon says with a sly smirk.

Looking at the two of them, I can't help but feel a warmth growing in my chest. I don't know if I'll even be able to make up for all the problems I've caused Asuna and Sinon, but now that we're together… Maybe now I finally have a chance to get started.

"Alright everyone, let's mosey!"

A.N.: …So I'm finally back. There's a lot of different reasons I haven't posted in such a long time, but I don't really feel like sharing. All I know for sure is that I want to finish this story. I love SAO and I have a lot I want to try and say with this fanfic. Of course, don't expect any kind of regular updates. I'm really busy in my personal life, but I'll update this whenever I can.