AN: Two updates in a month?! Just what is the world coming to! I'm just kidding. So, I can't think of a moniker for Hanna. I mean, Kirito is called The Black Swordsman, and Asuna is The Flash, but I can't think of one for Hanna. Ideas are welcome. That's all I have to say about this chapter, enjoy!

Review responses:

13stars- Well, technically they were already together, they just weren't married.

February 23, 2024- 475 days since SAO launch:

Rosalia kicked the table over in rage. After they ran into that little brat and those two nobodies, she'd been kicked out of the party. It wasn't that big of a deal, as the only real reason she'd joined the party to begin with was to lure them into an ambush after they'd gotten some good stuff and a nice amount of money. No what infuriated her was the smart mouthed bitch that got her kicked out to begin with, and took a shot at her reputation in one fell swoop.

None of her guild seemed to want to draw her attention to them, seeing as she'd been wrecking the house they owned for the last half hour in her fury, but her second in command, a black haired glasses wearing man named Yoru, hesitantly spoke up, "Rosalia… It- It's not that bad. Please calm do-"

She whirled around to him, "Calm down?! You were watching from the crowd weren't you?! Didn't you hear the way she spoke to me?! No one talks to me that way and gets away with it! No one! Especially not some bratty little bimbo!" She scowled furiously at the floor for a bit, then turned her gaze to the two 'spies' of their guild, "Go find out everything you can about that bitch and her little boyfriend."

Yoru shifted nervously, "Rosalia, shouldn't we be focusing on-"

She glared at him, "On what Yoru? Finding me a new party to trick? That brat Silica was involved in tonight's events, so word will spread rather far amongst the mid-level players. We might be able to luck out and find some idiots who don't know, but it's more likely that we'll have to wait a bit for the gossip to stop. And besides, those brats are going after the «Pneuma Flower». An item like that will be worth a nice bit of col." She shrugged casually, "Going after them will kill two birds with one stone. I'll get that bitch back and we'll all make a nice profit off the flower. The only downside is that their gear didn't look all that special, so I doubt they'll have much else on them worth more than pocket change." She made an impatient shoo motion with her hand, "Now go dig up as much as you can about them. I want to utterly destroy them tomorrow."

Yoru and the two 'spies' got up and turned to leave, before Rosalia called out to them, "Oh, and Yoru?" He turned only to have Rosalia's spear stop an inch from his eye as she pinned him with a rather terrifying glare, "Don't you ever question my orders again, understand?"

Yoru nodded quickly, "Never again Rosalia, I promise."

Rosalia pulled her weapon away and casually rested it on her shoulder, "Good. Now go. You three better not come back until you can tell me exactly who those two are."

Then she turned and walked away. Yoru breathed a sigh of relief. None of them believed that 'death game' bullshit, and you couldn't feel pain in Aincrad, but Rosalia could be terrifying anyway. There was a reason she was the guild leader despite technically being their weakest member. Yoru shook his head, then turned back to the other two, "You heard the lady, let's go!"

Hanna gave Kirito a look as they entered their room, "Ok, I'll admit it worked out since we found Rosalia, but what were you thinking, offering to escort Silica when we'd already agreed to help Manu?"

Kirito gave her a surprised look as he sat at the table in the room, "I thought it was obvious. The Pneuma Flower is a rare item, and would be worth quite a bit. I merely thought we could kill two birds with one stone. We help Silica, and draw Titan's Hand out with the Pneuma Flower. Titan's Hand is only a mid-level guild, it should be rather easy for the two of us to take care of them and protect Silica at the same time. Though, I concede that I don't like the idea of using Silica at all, it's the best option to be able to help both her and Manu-san. That said, I'll admit that I didn't expect the guild to fall into our laps so easily." He looked away, before frowning, "It worries me that Rosalia was in a party with Silica though. The only reason I can think of that she'd be joining parties for, is to lure them into ambushes. If that's the case, how many people have they killed without anyone knowing?"

Hanna gave Kirito a look, she knew what was going through his head without needing to ask, "You can't fix every problem in the world Kazuto, whether it's the real one or Aincrad."

Kirito sighed heavily, "I know, but the criminals in Aincrad are finding new ways to trick, hurt, and kill innocent people. It makes me sick."

Hanna flopped onto her back on the bed, "It's like that in the real world to Kazuto. No matter where you go, there's always going to be people like that."

Kirito sighed, "I know that, but…. Maybe we should push for the front liners to do something. Pking was already a major issue, but with that new criminal guild 'Laughing Coffin' it's gotten worse. Not only are they getting larger at an astonishing rate, but they're inspiring other criminal players in the worst way possible. Something needs to be done before it gets even more out of hand."

Hanna sighed, "I know, but with how focused on clearing the game the front liners are, it'll be difficult to convince them to spare the time to do something about it."

For a few minutes there was a heavy silence hanging in the air. Then Hanna looked over at Kirito, "Sooo… Onto less depressing matters! Does she really look like your sister? Or were you just trying to make her feel better?"

Kirito looked startled at the sudden question, "Well, I wasn't precisely lying…. I suppose it's less of a matter of her looking like Sugu and more a matter that she just reminded me of her for some reason, even though they have next to nothing in common."

Hanna turned on her side to face him and propped her head up with her hand, "Sugu, huh? Were you close?"

Kirito sighed sadly, "Suguha actually, I just call her Sugu, but no, we haven't been particularly close in a while… We used to be when we were younger, but….. I….. found out I was adopted when I was 10. I wasn't completely unrelated to my adoptive family, as my adoptive mother was actually my aunt. Her sister and brother-in-law, my birth parents, died in an accident when I was one, and she took me in and raised me. After I found out, I felt like I'd been living a lie. I just kept thinking things like, 'I don't belong here', 'you aren't actually my sister', or 'you aren't my real mom'. So I kinda pushed them away…. It was only after we found out that this was a death game that I realized how much of a mistake that was. It's probably…. my biggest regret….." He stared off into space for a minute, then shook his head and turned back to her, "What about you Marzanna? Do you have siblings?"

Hanna hummed, and looked away in thought, "Well, I have a twin brother, but…. Well, it's complicated, but the short version is my mom was forced to marry an abusive asshole, so she had an affair with my dad to get back at the bastard. My mom managed to get away from him and married my dad when I was six, but Mike, my twin, ended up staying with…. my stepfather." She said the term with utter disgust, and frowned heavily before refocusing, "I didn't see my brother for years…. However…. Well, it's kinda the opposite of you and Suguha. I grew up with my cousin from my dad's side, and even though he was just my cousin, he was always there for me, you know? I remember in particular, that when I started attending a new school when I was eleven, some of the students tried to bully me. I never put up with it, but it was definitely frustrating. He realized something was wrong within a week, and took me up to his room where we played video games and rocked out while he waited for me to be ready to talk. He mostly just listened to me rant, but he gave me some great advice as well. After that, he made it a point to hang out with me everyday after school. The only time he didn't was when he had to work, and even then he always made it up to me later. He was definitely more of a big brother to me then a cousin."

Kirito smiled in a regretful manner, "I wish I'd acted like that to Sugu… I mean, she's never had a problem with being bullied, but I still wish I'd been there for her."

Hanna sat up looking at him wide eyed, "I didn't mean-"

Kirito grinned at her, "I know. It's alright. Ever since this death game started, I've promised myself that if I make it back, I'll be a better big brother to Sugu, and try to make it up to her for pushing her away for so long. If anything, hearing about your cousin just gives me a standard to hold myself to."

Hanna relaxed at his reassurance, then gave him a teasing smile, "I don't know. Nero was the most awesome big brother a girl could ask for. You sure you're up for the task?"

He laughed, "Well, I can certainly try my best!" There were a few moments of comfortable silence, then Kirito turned to her again, "I remember…. That when we were arguing right after we became Beaters…. You said something about being hated and discriminated against. Were you talking about being bullied?"

Hanna sighed, "Partially…. My family…. aren't like other people… No matter where we go, there's always people who discriminate against us." She paused and smiled bitterly, "Well, I suppose, if you think about it, it's that way for everyone to some extent. It probably just sounds like whining to say this, but my family has always had it worse then most. It doesn't really matter much. Me and my family aren't the type to let it really get to us, it's just a bit frustrating at times. It's led to me being more intolerant than most when it comes to bullies. To be honest, that's why I reacted so harshly to Rosalia earlier. She was bullying Silica."

Kirito nodded thoughtfully. A moment later there was a knock on the door, after sharing a quick confused glance, Kirito answered the door. A very hesitant looking Silica was on the other side, Kirito gave her a look of curiosity, "Silica? It's rather late, did you need something?"

Silica shifted nervously, "Err, sorry. You weren't about to go to sleep were you? … I just- it occurred to me that I forgot to ask you about the 47th floor. Never- Never mind. I didn't realize how late it was, sorry!"

Kirito quickly glanced back at her and she shrugged in return. He turned back to Silica, "No, it's alright. We weren't going to sleep yet. Come on in."

Silica hesitated again, then entered. She stared at the bed in confusion for a moment, then turned red. Hanna was confused, until she realized how her and Kirito sharing a bed would seem to a girl as innocent as Silica. She was honestly surprised it even crossed the younger girls mind.

Kirito pulled Silica's attention away when he removed an item from their inventory. The item in question was a box with what looked like a small crystal ball in the middle. The ball caught the light of the room's lantern and seemed to shine, briefly mesmerizing Silica, "Pretty….." She refocused on Kirito, "What is that?"

Kirito smiled lightly at her innocent reaction, "It's called a «Mirage Sphere»."

Kirito clicked the item and quickly navigated the menu that popped up. As soon as he was done, the sphere began projecting a hologram of the 47th floor in its entirety. Silica looked amazed, and this time both of them grinned. Kirito quickly pointed to a town on the map and a dot appeared where he touched, "This is «Floria», the main town of the 47th floor, and where we'll be teleporting to." Then he moved his finger over to the northern part of the map and another dot appeared, "The Hill of Memories is here." He moved his finger back to Floria and started carefully tracing a line between the two dots, "This is the route we'll be taking. If you can remember it, that's good, but don't worry if you can't, Hanna and I will lead you there. The floor is themed like a garden, so all the monsters are plants. The ones around the Hill of Memories tend to try and grab you wit-"

Kirito abruptly stopped talking and turned sharply to the door. He stared at it intently for a minute, much to Silica's confusion, "Kirito? Wha-"

He pressed his finger to his lips and made a sharp, "Shh!" He stared at the door for a moment more. Then he burst into action, moving over to the door and throwing it open in a split second, "Who's there?!"

The sound of footsteps running away was his only answer. Silica looked on in confused alarm, "Wha-What is it?"

Kirito was quiet for a moment, leaning out the door watching the stairs intently. Then he pulled back and closed the door, "Someone was eavesdropping."

Silica only looked more confused, and Hanna couldn't help but think that she really was too innocent, "Huh? But you can't hear anything past a wall. And how'd you even know they were there anyway?"

Hanna sighed, "You can actually, if you've got a high enough «Listening» skill. There are really only two types of people who train the listening skill. Criminals who want to eavesdrop on conversations, and people like Kirito who mostly use it to know when they're being spied on, and to be able to detect when monsters or players are coming from a further distance than line of site."

Silica was wide eyed, "Oh! I knew you could use listening to hear things coming, but I never knew you could hear through walls with it!"

Kirito nodded a bit solemnly, "I'm not saying you should be paranoid Silica, but never assume that it's impossible for people to overhear you. Not just because of the listening skill, but because if someone really wants to know what you're talking about, they'll probably find someway around the systems rules."

Silica nodded hesitantly, so Hanna reached over and tugged lightly on the end of one of her pigtails. She grinned when Silica turned to her with a pout, "Don't worry so much. While he's partly right, he's also making it sound worse then it is. He's a big worrywart, so he tends to be overly concerned about things."

Kirito gave her an annoyed look, muttering lowly, "I'm not a worrywart! I just like-"

Hanna grinned at Silica, as she said in perfect unison with Kirito, "-to take into account all possible outcomes and problems."

Kirito pouted at her, and Silica giggled, "You guys have been together for a while, haven't you?"

Kirito flushed slightly, "I suppose. We've been a party since the day this death game started, but we've only been dating for seven months."

Silica tilted her head, "You guys have been in a party since the beginning? Did you know each other before?"

Hanna shook her head, "No. We met just a few minutes before Kayaba teleported everyone to the plaza. We left as soon as he finished his so called 'tutorial'."

Silica looked startled, "Really?" At their nods she seemed even more shocked, "Then you guys were probably the first to leave the Town of Beginnings. I thought that the original front liners were the first to leave."

Hanna glanced at Kirito, "Well…. We are front liners…"

Silica's mouth dropped open, "Seriously?! But then, what are you guys doing down here?"

Kirito shrugged, "Someone asked us to help them with something, which is why we were in the forest that late."

Silica bit her lip, "But…. If you guys are front liners… Then you don't really have that much time to hang around the lower levels….. Is it really ok to help me out when you already said you'd help someone else?"

Hanna ruffled her hair, "It's fine. We can do both at the same time, you just need to trust us, ok?"

Silica stared up at her unsurely for a moment, then smiled widely, "Ok!"

Hanna smiled in return, "Good. And on that note, I think it's time for you to go to bed. It's getting rather late, and we'll be leaving early tomorrow."

Silica pouted a bit, but nodded as she got up, "Oh alright. Goodnight."

Kirito put the Mirage Sphere away, "Goodnight Silica."

Hanna nodded, "Night. Oh, and make sure your alarm is set to seven."

Silica nodded and left.

Yoru waited impatiently for the 'spy' he'd sent to eavesdrop to return. He was irritated when the man came barreling out of the building, and hurried over to the alley he was waiting in, "What the hell are you doing? You were barely gone for five minutes!"

The man watched the inn door for a minute, then seemed to relax and turned to him, "The guy has the listening skill. He realized I was there rather quickly. They were going over their plans for tomorrow. The only things of worth I heard, are that they have one of those expensive Mirage Spheres, and Silica called them Kirito and Hanna."

Yoru jerked, "The Beaters? Are you certain?"

The other man shifted nervously, "Well, that's what I heard. They might just be fooling the girl…."

Yoru narrowed his eyes in thought, "I don't think they are….. Now that I think about it, they do match the description of the two….. The black swordsman alone would be a problem, but his little girlfriend too….. Come on, we need to tell Rosalia. If they really are the Beaters we need to either abandon this or prepare, and knowing Rosalia, we're going through with it…. I just hope we have enough time to figure out a solid plan…."

It was late, but Mike was in the hospital with some of his family. It was Marzanna's monthly meeting with Kikuoka. With him were the males of the family and his mother, who was currently on the phone with Kikuoka. He glanced at her as she finished her call, "What was that about?"

His mother shrugged, "Kikuoka is going to be about an hour late. He knows that even if it's Friday you only have a finite amount of time. He said to use the time while we're waiting to visit Marzanna, as he's going to need the rest of your time for his check in with her."

Mike shrugged, "Alright then. Is the device setup?" His mother nodded, "Then I'm going in."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he focused on his bond with Marzanna. A moment later he felt it, the feeling like gravity had shifted ninety degrees and he'd moved with it. Then he was sinking face first, not into water but something much thicker. Another moment, and he felt like he fell out of the fluid on the other side. He opened his eyes as he stepped forward into Marzanna's mind. Shaking his head to get rid of the fuzziness in his head he glanced behind him briefly.

The first few times he'd entered Marzanna's mind, the horrible state of their bond made for a rough entrance. He'd felt like a meteor crashing into her mind. With their bond now repaired though, it was more like stepping through a doorway, or it was supposed to be anyway. With Marzanna being her usual strange self, it was more like stepping through a mirror with the viscosity of syrup. In fact behind him was a shimmering mirror like object, though it was already pooling into a puddle and disappearing.

He refocuses when Nero's voice comes through the floating diamond, "Is she not here yet? Marzanna is usually right there when you appear."

Mike tilts his head as he concentrates for a moment, "No, she's here. I think she's asleep…. Though she knew today was the monthly meeting with Kikuoka, so either she forgot or she fell asleep waiting. I can sense where she is in her mind though, so it's not really a problem."

He heard his mother hum, "I would say we should just let her sleep, but she needs to speak to Kikuoka later anyway. Go ahead and go find her."

Mike nodded, then set off in the direction he could sense Marzanna in. Eventually he rounded a bookshelf to find the ghostly area he saw the first time he was here, except it was a lot more defined now. Everything had color, though it was off a bit, and everything seemed blurry.

From the diamond he heard his mother draw in a sharp breath. He glanced over at it, but before he could say anything his dad spoke up in concern, "Lily? What's wrong?"

His mother took a few moments to reply, and her voice was shaky when she did, "That place. I've seen something similar in my own mind when I practiced occlumency."

Vergil sighed, "If that's the case I doubt it's anything bad. So why are you getting so worked up?"

Lily was quiet for another moment, then murmured almost to low for Mike to hear, "That- It's…. the representation of a soulmate bond…" There was an almost physical silence at that quiet proclamation. Then his mother broke it again by clearing her throat before speaking at a more normal volume, "Before a person meets their soulmate, it appears as a white mist. As they get to know their soulmate and become closer to them, it slowly forms into objects. The closer soulmates get, the more defined it becomes. Eventually it looks like that, with most things looking a bit off and only a few things in full color. At that point, the only thing you're waiting for is a bonding ritual. Only once that's done will everything gain their full colors, and lose the blurriness by 'clicking' into place. But….. usually it takes years to get to the stage Marzanna's is in… How…"

There was another silence before Nero broke it, "So…. Marzanna has found her soulmate, and is possibly in a relationship with them? That's a good thing isn't it?"

In response Dante made a growling noise, Vergil huffed in irritation, Lily gave a rather enthusiastic yes, and grandpa Sparta, who'd fully adopted the name Alessio since even some of the people in the family got confused, made a pleased hum. There was another beat of silence where Mike could all but see the four in disagreement giving each other surprised looks.

His mother's displeased voice came through the diamond a moment later, "Dante, Vergil, would you care to explain why you seem to think this is a bad thing."

Mike could nearly hear the scowl that was surely on his dad's face, "Lily, sweetie, that's my baby girl… I'm not gonna have some boy who's probably a rude, disrespectful, womanizing bastard chasing after her."

Lily snorted, "You do realize that you used to to a womanizing bastard yourself right? You changed because you found me, your soulmate. Furthermore, I doubt Marzanna would have a rude disrespectful mate. Soulmates generally share a lot of their views, including how people should be treated."

Vergil huffed again, "If Marzanna is mated to some human, he'd likely hurt her. Even if unintentionally. Humans don't really understand devils, much less Nephilim. Or he could end up getting himself killed."

Alessio sighed, "I understand why you're being overprotective, she's the baby of the family, but in case you're forgetting Vergil, you, Dante, and Nero were all mated to humans. While I will concede that yours died, something you must take into account is that you and your mate were on your own. The entire family is together now, and has even gained more members that aren't strictly related to us, but are nonetheless family. They wouldn't let anything happen. Lily is also correct. Knowing Marzanna, it is highly unlikely she'd have a bad person for a mate."

Dante made a growling noise, and Lily replied in a warning tone, "Dante…."

Mike coughed, "Normally I'm not the type to get between my parents when they're arguing, but if I may? The first time I was brought to see Marzanna and our bond tried to resynchronize, I saw quite a few of her memories. I'm fairly certain I know who her mate is. Judging by this area I'm fairly certain it's her party member, Kirito. He's a very kind, caring person, though he does have a low opinion of himself. Mostly because he's the type to feel like every time something bad happens, there was surely something that could've been done to prevent it. Even if he logically knows he couldn't have done anything himself, he still often blames himself anyway. From what I saw of her memories, Marzanna acts both as his voice of reason as to exactly why it's not his fault, as well as attempting to convince him that he's not total scum just because he couldn't help everyone."

There was a beat of silence, then his grandfather sighed, "The self blaming sort usually have low self esteem of themselves, but they also tend to be very honorable because of that. They always strive to be better people because they have such low opinions of themselves. If you're right about her mate, we have even less reason to worry about the type of person he is. Of course, we could just wake Marzanna and ask her…"

Mike nodded and eyed the enormous bed taking up at least 60% of the area. It was completely surrounded by a pitch black canopy, and even though it was made of a sheer material, it was thick and layered, making it so he could barely make out the figure laying on it. Moving over to it, he pushed the canopy open. Marzanna was sound asleep in the middle of the bed with her back to him. The bed was so large, even kneeling on the edge of it he had to stretch out almost completely to reach Marzanna.

She stirred when he shook her shoulder, then rolled over and gave him a sleepy look of confusion. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she yawned widely before speaking, "Mike? What are you doing here?"

He snorted, "So you did forget. It's your monthly meeting with Kikuoka remember?"

Marzanna stared at him blankly for a minute, "... Must've slipped my mind. Suppose it doesn't matter much, I'm awake now."

Mike tilted his head at her, "I'm surprised you didn't wake up sooner to be honest, with how loudly everyone else was bickering."

Marzanna looked surprised, "You guys were arguing?" At Mike's nod she shook her head, "Huh… Usually I'm a pretty light sleeper….." A bemused grin filtered over her lips, "Kazuto must be rubbing off on me."

Mike looked confused, "Kazuto?"

Marzanna glanced at him, "My party member. Kirito is his in game screen name. His real life name is Kazuto. He's a sleepy head, so it can be a bit of a challenge to get him to wake up. Anyway, is Kikuoka ready?"

Mike shook his head, "Kikuoka isn't here yet. He got held up by something, but he'll be here later. More importantly, is Kirito your soulmate?"

Marzanna jerked at the sudden question, "What? Why… Well yes, but how-"

Mike tilted his head, "Marzanna, why don't you look to see where we are."

She stared at him in confusion for a moment, then glanced around. As soon as she realized where they were she turned bright red, "...Oh….."

Dante growled again, "Little bastard better not try anything or hurt you."

Marzanna looked at the floating diamond with a strange combination of offence and bemusement, "Kazuto's not like that, dad."

Dante scoffed, and in a manner as though it explained everything, bluntly stated, "He's a boy. A teenage boy."

Lily made a frustrated noise, and Mike rolled his eyes at his parents, then gave Marzanna a teasing grin, "So, you finally with him or are you still beating around the bush."

Marzanna flushed then narrowed her eyes at her brother, "We're together. How about you? You still pussy footing around, or did you grow a pair and ask out Hermione?"

Mike looked away in a failed attempt to hide his own blush, "... No…."

Abruptly both her parents spoke up at the same time, though their lines of thought were completely different, even if the topic was the same.

Their mother seemed annoyed, "Wait a second! Mike's got a crush?! Why I'm I only just finding out this?! And why didn't I know about Marzanna's soulmate?!"

On the other hand Dante sounded horrified and betrayed, "What?! Mike you knew?! You're my son, you're supposed to tell me these things! I trusted you!"

Mike and Marzanna both stared at the diamond for a moment before sharing a glance, Marzanna jabbed her thumb at the diamond with a roll of her eyes, "Parents."

Mike nodded sagely in return to the single word. He glanced around the area again before giving Marzanna another teasing look, "Your mate is kind of a nerd isn't he?"

Marzanna laughed, "Oh, you have no idea. He's not just a mega nerd, he's a major geek too. Not that you're one to talk, Hermione's a nerd as well."

Mike grinned happily, "Don't I know it! She'll chatter my ear off about nearly anything. Not that I'm really complaining. She's adorable when she gets excited."

Marzanna nodded with a smile of her own, "I know, right?! Kazuto does it too. He went full geek mode the other day. I mentioned something about Aincrad's programming and he totally geeked out and went on and on about programming for what must've been an hour and a half. I didn't understand even a quarter of what he was saying, but it was really freaking adorable anyway." She paused then grinned, "Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that both of our romantic internets are adorable nerdy geeks?"

Mike gave another sage nod, "Definitely. Nerdy geeks are the best. They're just too adorable for their own good."

The two grinned, and shared a high five before Nero's amused voice cut into their conversation, "You guys must get it from Dante. Aunt Lily it's kind of a nerd too." Then he slyly added, "So, if you think about it, since everyone is born with a soulmate, the fact that Marzanna has found her very own nerdy mate is partially your fault Dante."

Much to the amusement of the twins, their dad made a rather hilarious noise that was somewhere between offended, disbelieving, and protesting, "This isn't my fault! This-"

Their mother cut across him sternly, "-is absolutely wonderful, and unless you want to sleep on the couch for the next month, you'll leave it be sweetheart."

Dante grumbled, but didn't say anything more. Marzanna shared another grin with Mike. The moment their eyes met, Marzanna began giggling and Mike descended into snickering. Marzanna shook her head. She had wanted to tell her family herself, but hadn't quite decided how. She certainly hadn't wanted them to find out about her and Kazuto like that. Her mom seemed happy at least, though her dad…. Well, it could've gone better. Could've gone worse too, so she'd just accept the situation for what it was. It's not like her dad would hurt Kazuto…. Right?

February 24, 2024- 476 days since SAO launch:

Hanna woke up to her alarm rather abruptly. Looking up at Kirito from his chest, she found him still sound asleep despite the fact she knew his alarm was going off. Shifting up so she was propped on her elbow, she grinned in amusement before reaching out with her other hand and carding her fingers through his bangs, "Kirito. It's time to wake up sleepy head."

Kirito mumbled something unintelligible, then rolled into her. Her grin grew, though she pushed him back and ignored his protesting whine, "Come on, it's time to get up."

"Nooooooo….. It's time for more sleep…"

Hanna shook her head at her mates antics, "Hmm. I think not mister. I think it's time to go get ready before we head out." She waited a moment for a response, then upped the ante, "There will be food….. Delicious appetizing breakfast….."

Kirito cracked an eye open and gave her a sleepy contemplating look, "Hmmmmm… You have a very good point…... Delicious food, or cuddle with you some more? Hmmm decisions, decisions… Nope, I think I'll take staying in bed with you."

With that he closed his eye again, and pulled her closer. Hanna laughed lightly, "Well, I'm touched you'd choose me over food, but we really have to get going."

The only response she got was a vaguely disagreeing grumble. She hummed in thought, then grinned. Leaning down she kissed her mate. Kirito gave a sigh of contentment, and lazily deepened the kiss. After a few moments she began slowly pulling away. Predictably, Kirito whined and chased after her. She continued to slowly pull away, but carefully didn't end the kiss so Kirito would continue to follow.

When she finally broke the kiss she grinned at her mate, "Hey, look at that! You're sitting up!"

Kirito looked a bit confused then seemed to realize what she'd done and pouted, "That's cheating!"

She just continued to grin unrepentantly, "Finally awake sleeping beauty?"

Kirito huffed, "What's with you and nicknames? First I'm sleepy head, then I'm worrywart, now I'm sleeping beauty?" He gave her a rather petulant glare, "Considering my new nickname, and the fact you totally cheated, I'm tempted to just go back go back to sleep." Then he gave a haughty sniff, "But I don't want to cuddle with a cheater like you anymore. So yes, I suppose I'm up now."

Hanna was barely keeping herself from laughing, "Well, I am a Beater. Cheating is half the job."

Kirito glared lightly at her, "Yes, but you aren't supposed to cheat when it comes to other Beaters."

Hanna's tone and expression were utterly amused, "Oh, is that right?"

Kirito nodded firmly, "Yes. It's in the Beater handbook. Page 3,479, paragraph 4, 'All Beaters shall be courteous and fair to their fellow Beaters.' The exact quote in case you were wondering."

Hanna was trying her best not to laugh, "My sincerest apologies, love. I must not have gotten that far."

Kirito only managed to keep a straight face for another minute before his mates laughter got to him. Shaking his head with a smile he climbed out of bed, "Come on, we need to get ready. Silica and Manu are counting on us, and I want to get some of those really good sausage like things before we head out. By some, I of course mean at least twenty, so we need to get moving if I'm going to have time to eat breakfast and those."

Hanna shook her head in exasperation, "Honestly, if you eat like this all the time, I can't even begin to comprehend how you stay so skinny irl, and I know you are since the NerveGear got a general idea of our bodies during its fake calibration."

Kirito sighed sadly, "My mom works pretty much all day everyday as an editor for a magazine about technology, specifically computers. She always does her best to be there for us, but her job usually has her leaving very early and coming home rather later. So me and my sister have to do a lot of stuff ourselves. That includes cooking. Except my knowledge of cooking is extremely limited and my sister is similar. The only thing I've ever seen her make are salads and sandwiches, and she rarely makes the latter. My own knowledge is so limited the only thing I can really do is help her with those two things. This depressingly means I pretty much eat salads for every meal of the day, every day, unless I can convince Sugu to make sandwiches."

Hanna gives him a look of mock pity, "Oh, poor, poor Kazuto." Then she turns thoughtful, "At least you've got some cooking skill. I can theoretically make a sandwich, but I've never actually tried." At her mates obvious confusion she gave him a slightly smug look, "My cousins wife and my mom are awesome cooks, and even though they could take part in the family business, they choose to take care of the house and our family instead. Hell, my cousins wife, Kyrie, actually gets offended if you try to make your own food or order take out and stuff when she's home."

Kirito gave her an envious look, "Some people have all the luck."

Hanna was listening to Silica and Kirito's idle chatter as she followed them. She occasionally added a comments and remarks, but for the most part she stayed out of it. After Kirito comparing her to his sister, Silica seemed to start thinking of him as a big brother, if the way she talked to him was anything to go by. The younger girl seemed to be enjoying having a temporary 'big brother', so Hanna was content to fade into the background for now and let the girl hog Kirito's attention for a bit. Plus, Kirito seemed to be enjoying having another little sister.

She wondered if the girl realized that this wouldn't be the only time she saw Kirito. From the way she acted, Silica certainly thought so. There was a slight edge of sadness to the girl, it was rather obvious she was not looking forward to when she'd have to say goodbye to them. Hanna knew better though. Kirito had become fond of Silica already. When they were done helping her out, he wouldn't say goodbye. He'd likely send her a friend request and stay in contact, even if they didn't get another chance to meet up before this game was beaten.

Hanna was abruptly pulled from her musings by Silica crying out. Looking up, she saw that a mob best described as a giant venus fly trap had grabbed Silica and was dangling her over it's open mouth. Silica was wildly swinging her dagger at thin air, holding onto her skirt and shouting for Kirito to save her without looking. Kirito had covered his face so he wouldn't see her panties in case they showed, but was peaking through the gaps in between his fingers in mild concern.

Hanna was about to help Silica when said girl apparently lost her temper. Shouting at the mob in anger, she let go of her skirt in order to grab onto one of the mobs vines, before pulling herself up and cutting herself free. Twisting around as she fell, she slashed at the mob's head, hitting its weak spot and killing it instantly.

Grabbing onto her skirt again, she looked at Kirito slightly teary eyed, "You didn't see, did you?"

Kirito closed the gap between his fingers, "... No."

Hanna rolled her eyes, then gave Silica a small smile, "I know it may seem difficult sometimes Silica, but just keep your head in those types of situations and you'll be fine. If you hadn't panicked and been so worried about your skirt, you'd have been able to get free sooner."

Silica turned her watery eyes onto her, "But….. My panties would've shown…."

Hanna nodded, "Yes, but would you rather have someone see your panties, or die to a mob you can clearly kill? I know we can all sometimes find ourselves in embarrassing situations, especially us girls, but it's better to be embarrassed than dead, ya?"

Silica flushed but nodded her understanding.

Kirito shifted, "Is it safe to look yet?"

She scoffed lightly. He may not have meant to see anything, since he'd only been peaking out of concern for Silica, but he'd seen the entire exchange between the mob and Silica. He knew very well it was safe. She tilted her head. Now that she thought about it, he was probably only pretending he didn't see anything for Silica's peace of mind.

Hanna shook her thoughts off as Silica straightened and quickly checked her skirt, "...Yes, it's ok now."

Kirito carefully peaked before slowly removing his hand, "All settled then? Well, let's get moving. The sooner we get the «Pneuma Flower» the sooner you can revive Pina."

An adorable look of determination swept over Silica's face, and she nodded firmly.

As they neared the top of the hill, Silica ran forward excitedly. As Kirito and Hanna watched from a distance, a flower began to bloom on an altar like rock. Hanna hung back a bit as Kirito approached the girl and flower. When he drew even with her, Silica gave him an unsure look.

Kirito gave an encouraging smile in return and nodded, "Go on, take it."

Silica carefully picked the flower, like she was scared it would shatter into polygons the moment she touched it. She relaxed as soon as the pop-up telling her she'd acquired the item appeared, then gave Kirito a slightly tearful smile, "I can finally revive Pina…."

Kirito patted her head, "Yep, but let's wait til we get back to town, ok? There are a lot of strong mobs around, and we wouldn't want Pina to get hurt again."

Silica wiped her tears away and moved firmly, "Ya!" She looked down at the flower in longing, then carefully deposited it into her inventory, before murmuring almost too low to hear, "Just wait a bit longer Pina. I'll revive you, then tell you all about my day. I promise."

At Silica's words, Kirito seemed to realize something, and glanced back at her. Looking away a strange expression took over his features. Hanna shifted uncomfortably. For once, she couldn't understand what was going through his head, but the sadness in his gaze…. She wanted to talk to him, find out what was bothering him, and sooth him if she could. She glanced at Silica. It would have to wait though. She wouldn't breach what was most likely a sensitive topic with others nearby.

She cleared her throat, "We've got the flower, so let's head back. No reason to linger when Pina's waiting for you Silica. And Kirito and I still need to tend to that other business."

Silica jolted, before turning to her and nodding, "Right! Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm ready to leave now!"

Hanna nodded absently. As much as she liked Silica, and as much as she wanted to help Manu, right now she was focused on her mate. However, she couldn't figure out what was bothering him until they'd escorted Silica back safely, and dealt with Titan's Hand, which was undoubtedly waiting to ambush them on the path back. She twitched slightly. Her instincts wanted her to tend to her mate and were very difficult to suppress. It grated against her in every way to ignore them. Titan's Hand better hope Kirito dealt with them before she did. She just knew that by the time they reached them, she was going to be…. irritable. It did not feel good to practically ignore her mate, and she was already becoming annoyed.

Kirito put his arm in front of Silica to stop her, then momentarily ignored her confusion, "I know you're there, come out!"

There was a beat of silence, and Silica looked at Kirito with unsure confusion. Then Rosalia stepped out from behind a tree. She was smirking faintly, but seemed a bit tense, "You must have a pretty high Searching skill to detect me. I guess I underestimated you a bit."

Hanna narrowed her eyes. For a woman who underestimated them, she certainly seemed a little too weary. Silica looked even more confused, "Rosalia-san? What are you doing here?"

Hanna scoffed, "Isn't it obvious? She and her little guild buddies, who are trying to hide, are attempting to rob us." Then she snorted as she noticed something, "Not doing a very good job at the hiding part though, it doesn't bode well for their robbing skills. For them anyway. Fucks sake, that person in the bushes has his toes sticking out."

Rosalia wiped around, and scowled fiercely as she saw that there was, indeed, the edge of a boot peaking from a bush. Silica on the other hand, had only gotten more confused, "But…. Rosalia's got a green cursor. That means she's not a criminal…"

Kirito shook his head, "It's a simple trick, Silica. A group of criminals makes sure a few of their players keep green cursors so they can go into towns unhindered."

Rosalia growled at the man as her companions all revealed themselves, then turned back to them with a false smile, "He's new. Won't be for much longer though." The guy began to look nervous, but went ignored as Rosalia narrowed her eyes at them, "You seem to know who we are, yet you don't seem to bothered. It gives a bit of weight to Yoru's suspicions. See he seems to think you two are front liners. And not just any old front liners, but Kirito and Hanna, the best front liners."

Hanna grinned a bit, "Well, he's not wrong. Though if you know that, it was rather foolish of you to try and rob us anyway."

Rosalia glared at her, "Ah, but I don't really believe it. Why would such important front liners, Beaters in fact, be down on the 47th floor, wasting their time with an arrogant little brat? It just doesn't add up. Even if you really are Hanna and Kirito though, even you shouldn't be able to take on nine people at once. Front liners have some really good gear, probably quite a bit of money too."

Kirito narrowed his eyes, "Watch it, Rosalia. I don't appreciate people treating to my girlfriend in such a manner. As for why we're here….. 10 days ago, you attacked a guild known as the Silver Flags. You killed all but one of them, and left him there to die. He didn't though, he made it back to town and made some money. Once he had enough, he bought a Corridor Crystal and set it to the «Black Iron Prison». He went up to the front lines and stood near the teleport gate everyday begging any who would listen to send you to jail for what you did."

Rosalia laughed mockingly, "That guy-! You people-! You guys actually believe that nonsense about this being a death game?" She scoffed loudly, "We may be stuck here, but there's no proof we'll die in real life just because we die here! Honestly, you're all taking this much too seriously! And you two! Helping him? Really?"

She rolled her eyes at them still snickering in amusement with her guildmates. Kirito glared at her with all the ferocity of a dragon, "Shut up." The command was so intense the members of Titan's Hand followed it immediately, before shifting uneasily under Kirito's fiery gaze. Kirito took a deep breath, then began murmuring just barely loud enough for everyone to hear, "You people make me sick. Don't you even realize what you've done? If the NerveGear was really incapable of killing us, why wouldn't the people outside just remove them? And if Kayaba is insane enough to make it capable of killing us, he's definitely crazy enough to have made this a death game. You murdered at least eight people! And then you have the audacity to laugh about it… You- You people-"

Kirito had been steadily waking forward, before stopping halfway between Titan's Hand and them. He cut off unable to continue and shook his head. Looking at the guild in fury and disgust. Rosalia glared at him, then glanced at her companions, "Kill him."

Nine of the guild immediately attacked Kirito, who just stood there. Silica shouted in alarm and took a step forward as she clutched her dagger, but Hanna grabbed her arm, "Don't. You'll only be in the way." At Silica's unsure look, she sighed, "Look at his health bar."

Silica watched it for a moment, then looked baffled and glanced at her in question. She merely shook her head and gestured to Kirito as the players disengaged in confusion. Kirito lifted his head, "All nine of you only do about 400 damage every ten seconds. I'm level 82, and my HP is 16,000. Normally, if I just stood here and let you go at it, I'd be dead in about six and a half minutes. However, my «Battle Healing» skill allows me to automatically regain 850 HP every ten seconds. In other words, I could stand here all day letting you guys hit me as much as you want and you wouldn't be able to defeat me."

The would be bandits looked uneasy, and murmurs of disbelief broke out at Kirito's declaration. Kirito silenced then with a look, "It's completely possible. It's what's so unreasonable about level based MMORPG's, from the moment they start the difference between players becomes increasingly unbalanced. A difference in a few numbers will make a ridiculous disparity in strength!"

The people who had been attacking Kirito backed away a bit as though afraid. Rosalia pulled a Teleport Crystal from her pocket with an annoyed tsk. Hanna immediately pulled a throwing dagger and nailed the Crystal before she could use it. The impact shattered both, and Rosalia glared at her again. She just grinned smugly at her as she saw Kirito slowly let go of the throwing pick he'd been reaching for. Even if she hadn't stopped Rosalia, Kirito would've.

Rosalia then grabbed something else from her pocket and held it up, it was a small glass vial, "That's quite enough. Do you know what this is? This was extremely hard to get. It's a level 71 airborne poison. My people have immunity to it already, but if this vial breaks, even you two will be dead in seconds. I honestly thought you two weren't really frontliners, but I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. I'm glad I prepared this." Rosalia leveled her spear at Kirito, "Now, hand over all of your items."

Kirito hummed, "No. You made a very stupid mistake pulling something like that. You would've just had to deal with me before, now you've gotta deal with Hanna. And she's in a terrible mood right now. Be glad you're incapable of feeling pain."

Rosalia scowled and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Hanna cut her off. With her feet. Pushing her agility stat to its limit, she crossed the distance between her and Rosalia before anyone but Kirito even noticed her move. As soon as she was close enough, she launched herself at Rosalia, planting both of her boots into the woman's face and kicked off before Rosalia went flying by the backflip Hanna just used her face to perform. The redhead was thrown back violently, dropping her weapon in the process, and sending the the vial flying. Twisting as she landed, Hanna caught the vial, completely ignoring her cursor changing a light orange for assaulting a green player.

Rosalia stood up slowly staring at her fearfully with wide eyes. Hanna flicked the vial over get shoulder casually, and Kirito caught it so effortlessly it almost seemed like the vial was magnetically drawn to his hand. He immediately clicked the item to open its menu and deleted it.

Rosalia backed up a few steps, "W-Wait! I surrender! I'll come quietly!"

Hanna was furious that this woman had threatened her mate, and was about to ignore her pleading to beat her up some more, when Kirito's spoke up, "Tch! You act all tough, but the moment you no longer hold all the cards, you crumble as easily as ash. Leave the coward alone Hanna, she isn't worth it. Besides, as soon as they step through the Corridor, we've completed what Manu asked of us."

Hanna eyed Rosalia, "... She just threatened to kill you… I don't like it when people threaten you..…. Besides, given what she did to him, even if she can't feel pain, I'm sure Manu wouldn't mind me roughing her up."

Kirito seemed aggravated, "Oh trust me, I wouldn't mind it either, given that she threatened you too, which I hate, but I'd rather just be rid of her so I never have to see her again."

Hanna forced herself to take a deep breath, and reign in her temper like her grandfather had taught her so long ago. Once she was reasonably sure she had control of herself, she looked at Rosalia and jerked her head to gesture behind her, "Move it, before I really lose my temper."

Rosalia nodded rapidly, then scurried over to her guild. Kirito wasted no time and activated the Corridor Crystal. The guild seemed eager to enter, though perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they were eager to get away from her and Kirito, even if it meant going to prison.

There was a beat of silence as the Corridor closed behind them, and Hanna moved back over to his side. It was broken a moment later by a gaping Silica, "That-... That was-..."

Hanna shared a glance with Kirito. They hadn't precisely forgotten Silica in their emotional states. It was more that their awareness of her was limited to absently noticing that she wasn't in immediate danger. Now that they'd dealt with Titan's Hand, they needed to explain everything to Silica. Kirito gave her what could best be described as an apologetic grimace, and she sighed. It was probably for the best if she explained. Neither of them were very good at talking to people, but while Kirito could act fantastically, when it came to honest conversations, she was better at it.

She turned to Silica and cleared her throat, "Silica…. About all of that. I understand if you're angry at us, you're not stupid so-"

That was as far as she got before Silica burst like a dam, "That was awesome!" Suddenly she was clutching Hanna's arm and babbling, "That was so cool Hanna-nee-chan! You were right beside me, and then you were kicking Rosalia in the face, and then you just caught the vial without even glancing at it, and then-"

Hanna was baffled, but amused as she covered Silica's mouth with her hand, "Calm down there midget. You're not mad at us?"

Silica looked sheepish at the gentle command, then looked confused, "Why would I be mad at Kirito-nii and Hanna-nee?"

The two shared a glance, then Kirito unsurely answered, "Well…. because we used you as bait….."

Silica tilted her head, "So? Hanna-nee and Kirito-nii wouldn't have let anything happen to me, right?"

They both shook their heads immediately, and Hanna verbalized it, "Of course not. We told you to trust us didn't we? That's as good as a promise to keep you safe when it's coming from us."

Silica tilted her head, "Then I really don't see why I would be mad. I wasn't in danger, and you even helped me get the Pneuma Flower to revive Pina!"

Hanna was unsure, "Well, yes, but…. We used you Silica….."

Silica puffed out her cheeks, "Ya, but…. You actually wanted to help me, like you were helping that other person, right? You didn't do it just because it was convenient for you."

Kirito sounded offended at the very idea, "Of course not! Of course we wanted to help. It just happened to help Manu-san as well! We could only spare three days away from the front lines, but even if helping you and Manu-san hadn't mixed so well, we would've found a way to help. Even if we just put you in contact with someone else who could take you, we would've figured something out!"

Silica was smiling at this point, "And, you weren't just pretending to like me, right?"

Hanna, who was faintly grinning as she'd caught onto what Silica was trying to say, shook her head, "Not in the slightest. While we're both rather good at acting, you're a sweet kind girl. So we didn't need to act at all."

Silica blushed at the compliment, but smiled even wider, "Then there's no problem! Honestly, the only thing I don't get is why you didn't just tell me from the beginning. I would've been fine with it, since you'd be helping me revive Pina in the process."

Kirito still looked conflicted, and Hanna rolled her eyes, "Ignore him. It'll get through eventually. He's a self-blaming guilty type of person. You'll be trying to persuade him for hours, which is my job. I'll make sure he understands later. As for why we didn't tell you… It's rather simple. We thought you'd be scared. Neither of us wanted that. You might've turned down our help, and been unable to revive Pina. Plus, we might've been unable to help Manu without your help, unknowing or not."

Kirito flushed, then gave her a mock glare, "Really? First you steal my new imouto and now you're making fun of me. That is literally adding insult to injury."

Hanna grinned and nodded. Silica just giggled and hugged Hanna's arm tighter.

Once they made it back to the inn, Kirito gave Silica an encouraging smile, "It's safe to resurrect Pina now."

Silica smiled wildly and pulled «Pina's Heart» from her inventory, then gently set it on the table in an almost loving manner. Then with equal delicacy, removed the Pneuma Flower before she looked to them for guidance. Kirito was quick to supply her with the information she was looking for, "Do you see that drop of water in the flower's center? All you have to do is drop that on Pina's feather."

Silica nodded, and carefully did exactly that. As soon as the drop hit the feather it began to glow. The light quickly expanded and took shape before bursting away from the now revived Dragon. Immediately a teary eyed Silica cried out, "Pina! You're back! I missed you so much!"

The blue feathered dragon returned a happy crooning noise. For a few minutes, Silica and Pina had a tearful reunion. Then Silica turned back to them. She seemed to slump into herself, "So….. I guess this is goodbye… Thank you so much for your help. It was fun, having older siblings."

Hanna grinned and ruffled her hair, "Pff, as if midget. You ain't getting rid of us that easily! We've gotta return to Manu and the front lines, but we ain't leaving until you're on our friend lists. You're stuck with us now. Stuck with having annoying older siblings who fret and worry over you, and will message you all the goddamn time to ask how you're doing and how your day was, not to mention randomly pester you to meet up with them because they miss you."

Silica's eyes were shining happily, but she played along, "Seriously? That sounds like a complete hassle. I take all that forgiveness stuff I said earlier back. Go away."

Kirito shook his head with a grin, "Nope! There's something Hanna said to me about a month after we met, and I think it's rather appropriate. We're like vampires, once you let us in, there's no going back."

Silica rubbed her eyes, "You mean it? You won't get mad if I message you, and wanna meet up every now and then?"

Hanna gave her a mock stern look, "You better young lady, or I will be very cross with you!"

Silica nodded happily, and quickly sent them friend requests which were immediately accepted, "It's a promise then! So, I'll see you later, Kirito-nii, Hanna-nee!"

Kirito smiled and waved as he left, and Hanna laughed as she walked backwards out of the door, "Later midget!"

Silica suddenly puffed her cheeks out as a look of annoyed realization came over her face, "Don't call me midget!"

Hanna's grin almost seemed like it would split her face, "Nope! If there's one thing I've learned about having an older sibling from experience, it's that you get to call your younger sibling all sorts of nicknames. Even ones they hate!"

Silica pouted, but it only drew laughter from the two as they departed.