Thank you everyone for your continued support! Last chapter was actually a huge hit, surprisingly enough for us both. Your comments, both positive and negative, are largely constructive and we appreciate you for the time you took to create them.

TDLBallistic: We hope you enjoy the next installment of the story. Also as a side note: in this fic, the events of volume 4 didn't take place.

Kyyteo: With that being said, thank you for being so patient while I take my time to properly mourn and get enough motivation to continue with this story.

Ryou felt his heart trying to make its way through his ribcage as he rode on the train that would take him to see Chigusa. He checked his phone again impatiently to see that only a minute had passed since the last time he had checked it. His mind ran amuck with concerns. He envisioned every possible scenario that he could think of and he was worried that this could only end in disaster.

But then he remembered who he was dealing with. After all, he had gotten to know her almost intimately the past year, including peering inside her memories. He knew what lingered in her heart, and how good of a person she truly was.

But at the same time he also knew himself, and no matter how much maturing he did over the past year, he still knew he was, as she once put it "easily misunderstood by others, and not at all honest. And he had a mean mouth and a bad attitude. Oh and his eyes looked kind of mean too." He smirked at the memory and brushed his hand through his thick hair.

"Jeez, why am I so nervous? It's not like she's gonna be different offline or anything." He crossed his arms and fumed out loud, causing some of the passengers to look over at him, some with looks of amusement, and some of annoyance. He quickly realized he was drawing attention to himself and tried to shrink as best as he could. He sighed and glanced out the window to see the Chiba prefecture, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he was in the city of Chiba.

That thought only made his heart beat harder. He decided to distract himself by opening up the guild management app he had installed on his phone. It was a nifty little app that CC Corp developed to help guild leaders manage their communities, even when offline. He scrolled through the list to see who was online, and tried to familiarize himself with the names of some of the new members.

His right hand man was of course online, so he decided to send the blade brandier a message, and check up on the happenings of Canard. Anything to calm him down enough to meet the player behind Atoli. The same girl that whether he knew it or not was harboring feelings for.

00-00-0-000-0-0

Walking around the empty void, Kite tried to find an exit, but couldn't find any. He sighed and scratched the back of his head. His first instinct, of course, was to gate hack. Problem was, there was no gate to hack, and he was sure he didn't have any virus cores to do so. Crossing his arms, he decided to check his skill list and see if he had anything that could help.

At a single glance he realized that he only had 2. Good old staccato, and Gale Blade, which he wasn't familiar with yet. He was level 1 which meant he didn't have a whole lot to work with, but it somewhat excited him. Moving onto spells, he was pleased to see that they were still using Repth, but otherwise nothing else.

"Oh please tell me I have a sprite ocarina in here…" mumbled the twin blade moving onto his items. "No dice huh?" He groaned and sat on the ground crossing his legs. "How am I supposed to get out of here then?" He closed his eyes and tried to think of a way out of the situation, though after 10 minutes he realized this was a mute point.

"What I wouldn't give just to see Mac Anu right now." The twin blade closed his eyes and thought of the screen shots he saw of the new version of the beginning Root Town he enjoyed spending time at. At that moment, he felt something tug at him, and his eyes shot open.

His entire body was wreathed in an azure flame. He resisted the urge to stop drop and roll when he saw that his HP wasn't decreasing in any way. "What is this?" He asked no one in particular before his being was pulled into a small fireball. It disappeared into the air and began to travel at high speeds through the data.

He saw streams of code whiz by him for a while before all movement stopped and the small ball of azure flame exploded, giving him his form again as he gently hovered to the ground. "Well… that's certainly new." He said meekly, before glancing at what looked like a Chaos Gate.

"Yeah! Talk about a flashy entrance." A woman approached him with her hands on her hips, and smiled widely at him. "Been a while hasn't it Kite?" His heart warmed a little and he couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. "It really has… BlackRose."

She stood next to him, and looked him in the eye. Her character model was taller than his, much to her delight. "Still it was surprising to see you in the same old outfit. I thought those character models were gone when R2 hit." He scratched his cheek with his index finger and said "It's… a long story. What about you though? I like the changes you made."

She smiled and showed off her character with a twirl. Her outfit for R2 kept her black tights with rose thorns crawling up the sides, but with a set of black and red greaves, one with a small healthy flower on her shin, the other one with a wilting flower. They were both carved into the armor instead of painted. She wore on her hips a short leather battle skort with a dark tan color. Her belly was exposed, but starting at her ribs she wore something of a metal corset with the same crawling rose thorns which covered her breasts, but left some cleavage exposed. Attached to her arms were some leather vambraces, and finally she had some leather fingerless gloves. Her hair was still pink, but was a little longer, now reaching her shoulders.

"I'm rather satisfied with it." She commented smiling. "So, what should we do now?" She asked, leaning against him comfortably. "Well… how about for now, we just go out and enjoy this game for a bit?" He suggested with a grin. "Besides, the sooner we learn the faster we can help."

"Oh! Are you guys new players?" a voice rang out as a young looking boy with a green motif and a ponytail approached them. "If you'd like, I can show you the ins and outs of this game."

000-00-0000-0

"Why does it want me to run across a lake?!" Ryou screamed at no one in particular. His mobile device wasn't exactly giving the best of directions as he was trying to make his way to Chigusa's house. He closed the app and reopened it before putting the address back in. After a short wait, it said that he was just a left turn away from her place.

Sighing, he made his way. The butterflies in his stomach were now a ravenous swarm. Her house came into view, and it was a surprise for him. It was a nice looking house, on the smaller side. It had a more American feel to it, middle class family in the suburbs. There were some stone steps leading to the door. The house was painted burgundy.

He hesitantly reached out and knocked on the front door. He rehearsed what he was going to say in his head over and over again before the front door opened. A middle aged woman stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. She had a scowl on her face that really brought out the wrinkles around her mouth, and the classic I-want-to-see-the-manager haircut. She was wearing a really modest dress that was very old fashioned.

"What do you want?" She asked rather coldly. Channeling his customer service skills he straightened his spine and said as politely as he could. "Hello ma'am, I am here to get Chigusa. Is she available?" She huffed and turned away before shouting into the house, "Honey the trash collector is here!" He was initially confused, then the realization set in. His fists clenched in anger, knuckles turning white.

A man with the same scowl appeared at the doorway. His hair was graying, but he was otherwise clean shaven. He was wearing a checkered blue button up and khaki slacks. He was carrying in his calloused hands some purple luggage and a duffle bag set, which he practically threw at Ryou.

Reacting fast, he caught the luggage and steadied it on the ground. He struggled to remain calm and composed. After all, these were her parents. The same parents that we're kicking her out for being such a "disgrace". Emotions were fluctuating within him, not wanting to burn the bridge between them and her, and at the same time wanting to murder them for putting their daughter through this.

The door slammed shut for a few minutes, as yelling started to erupt from the house. He couldn't hear all of it, but he definitely heard "Slut" and "prostitute" being thrown around. His teeth grit as the sounds came closer and clearer. The insults were practically spat in disgust when the door was flung open, giving him full view of the woman now red in the face.

"And as far as your father and I are concerned, we no longer have a daughter. If you ever dare contact us again, I will press charges. Now get out of my sight!" A young girl with straw colored hair was forcefully ejected from the house. She looked up at the boy after nearly losing her footing the door slamming forcefully behind her.

Her eyes were swollen and puffy, hiding the emerald gems underneath. She was wearing a black school uniform with a jacket. The girl brought her arms to her body out of habit, almost as if she was holding herself steady, while her lip began to quiver and tears made their way down her cheeks. It was all that she could do to keep herself from falling apart, and Ryou wanted nothing more than to burst through that door and tell them all off, but his top priority was Chigusa.

Without thinking or asking, he grabbed the luggage that was previously hurled at him and turned to her "Come on, let's go find some place to sit for a few." She let out a soft whimper before nodding and stepping over to him. The young man took her hand into his own without thought and led her to a nearby vending machine with a bench next to it, gesturing for her to sit down. She, like an empty puppet on strings staring at the ground, took a seat, wrapping her arms around herself again. He went to the machine and started to put some yen into it for some drinks, calming down a little now that they were away from the scum that were Chigusa's parents. Selecting a nice tea for her, and a cola for himself, he returned to the bench and plopped down next to her, handing her the cold beverage. "Here. Drink this." Looking at him, she took the drink into her hands and brought it into her lap, staring at it silently.

Ryou didn't know what he could say in a situation like this. He had his own parental issues to be sure, but nothing like this. He opened his drink and took a few sips from it and decided to act as nonchalant as possible, not wanting to be the first one to say something. He stole occasional glances at her, watching her trace the rim of the can with the tips of her thumbs. He was able to get a better look at her, and in his opinion, she was absolutely stunning. It took all of his willpower to not just stare at her. Besides, right now wasn't the best time to let his feelings for her flare up. He took another sip and glanced at her luggage. Besides it being very little, he felt like something was missing from the picture. A wave of realization hit him like a truck.

"Atoli…" He said not realizing he just used her screen name instead of her real one. "Where are your birds?" He asked this in a way that was barely concealing his growing wrath. The girl in response flinched like someone had driven a dagger straight into her heart. Droplets of water began to fall onto the unopened can as her body began to quiver again. There was no need for her to say anything, he knew what happened. Dropping the tough guy act, he wrapped an arm around her and she dove her face into his chest. The sounds of her letting out all of her pain and anguish echoed through the empty park, striking chords in his heart. He let her stay like that and stroked her hair softly, trying his best to soothe her.

0- —000—-00000-0

"Rengeki! Gale Blade!" Screamed the teal haired twin blade, unleashing a devastating combo on a goblin. "Yes! Just like that! You guys catch on quickly!"

Kite had to admit… the combat in this game was a much faster pace than in R1, and he was enjoying every second of it. Silabus, the person that decided to help them out, was an excellent teacher. He was apparently a leader of a guild dedicated to helping newer players, and seemed to have a lot of experience teaching others.

"Hey hey hey! Don't steal all the spotlight!" His partner said charging in to unleash her own skill. "Tiger Blitz!" She brought her sword down on the next goblin, and then brought it back up in a V shape dealing massive damage to both her foe and the ground underneath it.

The green haired Blade Brandier gave an applause as the combat finished. "You guys are naturals at this. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you guys were smurfing." Kite sheathed his blades and gave a puzzled expression. "Smurfing? What's that?" He felt more and more out of touch as he played. So many terminologies and expressions that he had never heard before made him realize just how much time had passed since he last played a game like this.

"Smurfs" Silabus began to explain, "are players who have another character that's much stronger than the one they're playing. They pretend to be new at the game so they can PK other players. It's a tactic that's quickly picking up popularity with PK's to try to avoid PKKers." Nodding in understandment, Kite said "There wasn't this much of a PvP problem in the R1, you had your occasional PKers, but nothing like this." He brought his hands behind his head and lazily kicked the dirt. This evoked a look of surprise from their mentor.

"You played R1?" Kite clammed up at this, not wanting to reveal too much information about who they were, however BlackRose wanted to take the opportunity to boast just a bit. "Oh sure, we were pretty deep into that game during its prime. Not to brag or anything but we were pretty strong. With all of our experience, we'll probably become the best players in this game before too much longer" She puffed out her chest and placed her hands on her hips as if to say 'Tell me about how amazing I am'. Kite let out an exasperated laugh scratching his cheek.

Silabus grinned and crossed his arms "Well I like your enthusiasm. Why don't you show me some of that strength when we fight the boss. Then we can get the treasure from the Beast Statue and head back to town. The girl pumped her fist into the air and marched off towards the next mob pack. "Alright! I'm all fired up to clear this dungeon!"

The Twin Blade stared at his girlfriend, noting how easily she was able to just jump back into the thick of it. As much fun as he was having with the new systems however, he was still finding it hard to adjust, and more so to shake the feeling of dread that was looming in his heart. Despite agreeing to help, he still had reservations about the whole thing. He had a good life now and didn't want that taken away. This would be dangerous no matter how one looked at it, and he was having doubts. The Edge Punisher looked behind her and yelled out "Hurry up slowpoke! Or else we'll take all the EXP and leave you behind" Kite snapped out of his stupor and rushed towards them.

0000 — 00 —-00000–0

Chigusa's sobs were petering out into sniffles and occasional tremblings. Yet, she did not leave the warmth of Ryou's chest. The boy bit his lip, knowing that they would need to leave soon, and patted the girl on her back. "Hey, we need to catch a train to get back to Tokyo. It's going to be a long ride." She nodded and pulled her head away, but kept her grip on his shirt. He looked into her eyes, and gave her a reassuring nod. "It'll be okay. I promise."

There was one thing that Chigusa knew for certain, and that was Haseo never went back on his word. She released her grip on him, leaving noticeable wrinkles in his shirt as well as a damp spot in the middle. "I'm sorry…" She managed to say softly. Ryou smiled softly and gingerly brought his hand down on her head in a chop. "Idiot… you have nothing to apologize for." He stood and grabbed her things, slinging the duffel bag around his shoulder and pulling out the handle for the rolling luggage. The girl stood and glanced at the tea that she had all but tossed aside when she buried her head into his chest and picked it back up.

The walk to the station was uncomfortably quiet, both of them unsure of what to talk about, or what to say to each other. The only noise that greeted their ears was the wheels rolling across the concrete below them, and the sounds of the train approaching the station. Using his pass twice, they boarded the train and took some seats for the almost 3 hour ride back to Tokyo. He knew that they couldn't sit in silence the entire time so he tried to strike up conversation and distract her from what she was going through.

"Did you see that they announced a new guild raid? It's supposed to be about something with that giant gun you were telling me about when you first invited me to an Area." He felt pretty awkward talking about The World in public like this, but it was for her. "Apparently, they're gearing up for some big expansion," he continued. This caught her attention and she perked up a bit.

"Really? It might be fun to go do that with everyone… but… I don't have my gear." The boy smiled and said "I figured that might have been the case so I replaced it." She was about to protest when he cut her off, "and I don't want to hear anything about it other than "Yes Haseo, I would love to heal this raid because I'm a valued and treasured member of Canard" " He said that last part in a higher pitch trying to imitate her poorly. For the first time since he saw her, she smiled, and then began to laugh softly.

"Is that how I sound to you?" She asked in a tone that could only be described as fake offended. He pressed further and gently nudged her shoulder replying in the same tone "Whatever do you mean?" This garnered further laughter from her, filling the empty train.

This is what he wanted to see. She was much cuter with a smile on her face. And he was going to do everything that he could to make sure that smile never vanished again.