Hi everyone, I remembered my story existed finally. Sorry for the wait.
Hope everyone has been staying safe from the virus and stuff, made life very different for me in many ways. But enough of that, time to give y'all another chapter after whats felt like years
I am annoyed that my new computer can't access this story's file, cause from now on i have to boot up this old boy just to make progress or upload new chapters. But in the end, this is just another hurdle that i have to cross to get this story to the end. Okay, i'll shut up now.
Sword Art Online and its characters are NOT my own, this is just a fanfic and tbh why do i put this here every chapter, no one cares anyway lmao
Toran had gotten used to it at this point, but it was still annoying to have to watch everyone be able to log off while he was still game-ridden.
Lucky for him though, the only person who didn't log off was his newfound love. After a few moments of awkward silence, Sinon suggested that they see if Tamaki was still online and go talk to her some more. This was possible because Toran could look at the list of logged-in players via the admin menu without being caught by Kayaba since it was only a minor activation. As it turns out, she was still online and currently residing on the third floor.
While the pair made their way to a teleport gate, Sinon wondered aloud about Toran's ability.
"Hey, I know you told me about it before, but I still don't fully understand why it's so dangerous for you to activate any admin commands," She asked him. He took a moment to think seriously about it before replying.
"I don't blame you, I did kind of half-ass my previous answer because I wasn't in the best of states for thinking properly," He laughed "But to be honest, it's because of the ability that Kayaba has,"
"What does that mean?" She asked curiously.
"Think of it like this; we both have game-changing power over the properties of this world, but while he's a fully-fledged administrator, I'm kind of like a moderator. So I have most of the same capabilities as the admin, but the admin still has the power advantage over me. This means that when I do something or access something that only a moderator can, he can see the moderation usage and acts accordingly," He explained in depth. "He generally doesn't seem to notice if I just look at the player list or view a secret map of a dungeon, but when I flat out spawn legendary weapons or raise my stats, he quickly reverses the access and sends me threats,"
"What kind of threats? Like, death threats?" Sinon questioned, now in a slightly concerned tone.
"I guess you can call them that, the last one I received when I used that legendary fire sword to save you in the forest on the first floor, he said the next time he catches me, a piece of me will disappear forever. Not sure what it means except for the fact that I need to avoid doing anything he might notice from now on," Toran finished explaining with a sigh. Suddenly, Sinon grabbed his arm and hugged him.
"Good, cause I don't want any of you going anywhere," She said softly, which Toran was slightly taken aback by but welcomed the loving words.
"I promise to not disappear on you. One day, whether in the near or far future, I'll embrace you with my real arms," He promised as he reciprocated her hug, though it didn't take long for her to sigh and separate herself from him.
"Ugh, lovey-dovey stuff is weird," She said, causing Toran to laugh. "Let's just go find your sister," She demanded as they entered the teleport gate together. After arriving on the third floor, Toran started to send a message to Tamaki asking to meet up in the town square of the third floor's main settlement of Zumfut, but this turned out to be unnecessary as before he could press send, he heard his sisters loud and obnoxious voice come from the weapons shop just on the other side of the town square. As they approached, they could see that she was currently apologizing for knocking over a weapon stand. Toran had to laugh a little as it reminded him of when he had done the same thing all those months ago after meeting Kirito for the first time.
"Tamaki!" He shouted, causing her to whip around in a flash. Once she laid eyes on Toran and Sinon, she bolted towards them and completely ignored the store owner as he yelled.
"Tobi!" She squeaked as she pulled him into a hug before letting go almost immediately and thinking for a moment "I mean, Torie? Is that it?" She confused herself for a moment. "Ah, I'm just gonna call you Torie from now on," she giggled as she winked at the two of them.
"Uh, no you're not," Toran attempted to retort but Tamaki ignored him.
"So, what brings you down here?" She asked cheerfully. Sinon noticed that Toran seemed rather taken aback by something so she initiated the conversation.
"We just came down to see you and, personally, I wanted to ask you a few questions about…stuff," She responded, albeit somewhat awkwardly.
"Oh, ok. Then fire away," She announced happily. But rather than Sinon, Toran asked the first rather serious question.
"Hey Tamie, first question, what's gonna happen regarding mom and dad?" He asked with hesitation. The question definitely wasn't answered immediately, but Tamaki eventually said something.
"First of all, I will not stand for being called 'Tamie' and you will pay dearly if you say it again. Secondly…they don't know anything yet, about the whole you being fine within the game and talking to me freely I mean," She said, with some more thought put in before continuing, "To be honest, I don't plan on telling them either. I kind of fear that they may try something reckless if they learn that you're okay, considering the state they're in," Sinon noted the expression that Toran made when he heard that, it definitely hurt him in some way.
"Have they been worse for wear the entire time?" Toran asked again, hoping for the opposite of the answer he got.
"Yeah, they've never really gotten over it. Dad's been able to bury it down for the most part and provide for the family but mom…it's not pretty," She revealed. Sinon started to feel like she was a part of a conversation that she didn't belong in, considering how personal it sounded, but Toran moved it on shortly after.
"Well, I'll leave it up to you on whether to let them know or not, but it's good to know at least. I really do miss them," He said somewhat emotionally, "But other than that, I do have another question…what's gotten into you?" He suddenly asked. Tamaki was quite taken aback.
"W-What do you mean by that?" She almost sounded insulted.
"It's just that, you're being way nicer than you normally are. Like, shouldn't you be making fun of me a lot more? This isn't like you at all," He asked very seriously. Tamaki was clearly lost for words.
"W-Well hang on a second, normal? Nothing about this situation is normal! I haven't seen you in four years! Is it wrong to be nice every once in a while?" She retorted rather angrily. Sinon was very much regretting ever wanting to involve herself in this until she suddenly heard a chuckle escape from Toran's mouth, and as a very cheeky-looking grin showed itself on his face, he realized the façade was up and he burst into a peal of very loud laughter.
"Oh my god! The look on your face," He managed to say during his laugh. Sinon now understood that he was simply just teasing her back but when she looked in Tamaki's direction, she could see on her face that she did not see the funny side.
"You…how dare you…," She muttered angrily before shouting directly in his face. "YOU FUCKING DICK!" She shouted loud enough for all of Zumfut to hear before punching Toran square in the face as hard as she could. The force of the punch sent Toran flying so far back that he fell into the fountain in the middle of the square. Sinon would've been concerned but for one thing, he kind of deserved it and two, he was still laughing even while flying through the air so she had nothing to worry about. Even so, she still waited for Tamaki to stop steaming before thinking about saying anything.
"Ah, see? Now there's the Tamie that I remember," Toran said while still laughing as he muscled his way out of the fountain. Tamaki made no effort to converse with him further and turned around in a huff.
"I've had enough of that idiot for another four years," She growled as she walked away. Sinon waited for a moment but quickly decided to follow suit. When Tamaki noticed her follower, she sighed. "Sorry you had to see that, he really knows how to grind my gears sometimes," Sinon laughed a little herself in reply.
"I guess that's what siblings are for, not that I've had that experience but that kind of behavior seems rather common for most people," She said as she thought about her own lack of experiences as a child.
"Maybe, but I'm sure none of them are THAT annoying," She scoffed, but it sounded a little more sarcastic than genuine anger so she was cooling down already. "Anywho, you said you wanted to talk properly, right?"
"Huh? Oh, right. I just kinda thought I'd ask you about Toran since I don't really know too much about his life before he got stuck in here," Sinon explained, and after giving it some thought, Tamaki obliged.
"Fair enough, I'll tell you what I remember…but to be honest with you, I was going to ask you the same thing," Tamaki's reply confused Sinon for a second before she explained. "I mean, I've gone the last four years without him and thinking he's basically dead so I also wanna know if he's changed or learned anything," Sinon thought her answer sounded odd at first, but as she thought about it, Tamaki had every right to be like this. Her own brother was basically a stranger to her after that much time, and though their initial reconnection may not have taken long, it would be a while before anything would be the way it was before SAO between them. Regardless, it didn't stop Sinon from delving into further questioning.
"So…what was he like before SAO?" She began as she didn't want to start out too personal.
"Well, he had only just turned fifteen when he dived into SAO, but he was nothing like most young teenagers. Very to himself and introverted. He had a small group of select friends but he never went out of his way to see them. He's never felt comfortable being surrounded by more than a handful of people. Like the kind of person who only speaks when spoken to and stuff like that," Tamaki revealed. A lot of that information was stuff that Sinon hadn't really known. Toran always seemed to dodge questions that related to his past so this was a gold mine for her.
"I can see that, he showed off that kind of personality quite a lot during our first few weeks of knowing him. Even now, you kind of have to shake some things out of him for him to be open about stuff," Sinon agreed as she recalled some of their times together on the first few floors, and even recently with the whole 'secret' fiasco.
"Of course, I don't mean to say he's a hermit, but he's always preferred his own company if you know what I mean. Though that being said, he's definitely changed in that regard," Tamaki concluded as their walk brought them outside the bounds of Zumfut.
"Most of our initial interactions were very awkward. He was just always on edge and particularly emotional as well, but I guess that's what happens when you go over a year without a single civilized interaction," Sinon surmised aloud. "It still gives me chills thinking about it, he went so long with nothing. Nothing to talk to, nothing to see, nothing to feel, I just can't imagine how horrible that would've been for him," Sinon thought about Toran as she spoke.
To think that he was able to stay somewhat sane after what had happened was almost unbelievable and she wholeheartedly wanted to give him the eighteen months' worth of happiness and joy that he missed out on being trapped in here. Sinon continued to think as the next few steps the two girls shared were in silence, before it was broken by Tamaki.
"Say…do you wanna come to see him?" She asked out of the blue. The question left Sinon somewhat confused at first.
"What do you mean? He was just here earlier, wasn't he?" She questioned, but that wasn't what Tamaki meant.
"No, I mean, do you want to see him IRL…like, at the hospital?" Tamaki asked again. This time, after understanding the question, Sinon drew a bit of a blank. She had never actually thought about going to see him IRL, and if she was being honest with herself, she didn't know if she wanted to.
She didn't like the idea of seeing how bad of a state his real body was in, knowing how lively and cheerful he was in the game. But, despite that, she felt like this moment was the push she was waiting for. It was like the motivation to do it that she couldn't originally find was suddenly there.
"Yeah, that would be appreciated," She replied with a heartfelt smile, though deep down, she knew it wasn't going to be an easy experience.
"Awesome! Let me know where you want to be picked up from and I'll get a private cab sent there for you so you don't have to pay," Tamaki offered suddenly, causing Sinon to reel back a little.
"Wait, a private cab? Aren't those, like, stupid expensive?" Sinon asked in flabbergast.
"Oh, I guess that's another thing Tobi hasn't told you. Yeah, our family is actually pretty wealthy," Tamaki revealed, though she didn't sound very ecstatic about it. "Which, to be honest, has been a bit of a blessing in disguise because being able to afford to keep Tobi at the hospital all this time is the only reason he's still alive,"
"I guess that's true, especially a hospital as prestigious as that one," Sinon sympathized as she recalled Kirito mentioned the name of the hospital after he went. "Wonder what it's like to be rich enough to not have to worry about tolls or taxes," She wondered aloud, causing Tamaki to react with a sigh.
"Trust me, having lots of money is not at all what it's cracked up to be," She responded. "There's hardly any humility or honor within a rich family, especially ones that got their wealth through mischievous gains and selfish ideals. They always take and never give, and I hate being treated as one of them just because I happen to be in the same boat," Sinon didn't really expect a reply, much less one as aggressive as this, but she clearly knew what she was talking about, and to hear those words come from someone who was rich seemed oddly therapeutic.
Suddenly, Tamaki stopped in her tracks and shook her head. "I really should apologize. Not quite sure what came over me just then, I guess a little bit of built-up stress creeped out of me," To that, Sinon laughed in reassurance.
"No it's perfectly fine, don't worry. Frankly, I feel a little honored that you would feel comfortable enough around me to open up like that," She remarked. Tamaki momentarily looked away with embarrassment before turning back with a comfortable smile.
"It's not that hard with someone who's managed to make friends with Tobi. Especially one who has managed to develop feelings for him, which I was starting to feel had become an impossibility," Tamaki chuckled, which caused Sinon to as well, though not as loud.
"Well, he sure didn't make it easy," She joked as they laughed together. Shortly after that, they both made their way back to the Zumfut town square to find Toran still hanging around the area so they used the opportunity to say their goodbyes and log off for the day. Once Tamaki had gone, Sinon walked up to him and embraced him with a hug.
"Uhh…you okay?" Toran asked awkwardly.
"W-what, you're girlfriend can't hug you goodbye? Is that…not a normal thing?" Sinon embarrassingly fired back, though she didn't look up at him and kept her head on his shoulder.
"O-oh right, sorry, just caught me off guard is all," He said before properly reciprocating the hug. The hug went on for longer than he expected so he assumed he had to say something else, but it didn't go very well.
"You…uh, smell nice," He said, mentally thinking that he nailed it.
"Wow, that was all you could muster? You gotta work on your charm," She teased before letting out a small giggle and separating from his hold. "Well, I'll see you soon,"
"I'll be here waiting, cause, y'know, I can't go anywhere else," He laughed. A part of Sinon always stung whenever he would joke about not being able to leave the virtual world because she knew the amount of pain that was hidden behind those jokes. But as always, she kept it to herself and finally logged off. Once she had gone, Toran decided to head down to the Town of Beginnings and asked around about any info brokers that were currently logged in.
After not that many attempts, someone told him that an info broker was currently in Urbus on the 2nd floor so after making his way there through the giant teleport gate in the middle of the Town of Beginnings, he walked over to a slightly shaded alleyway and waited. Not even ten minutes later, a somewhat short girl with a brown cloak and short but curly brown hair made her way over to him.
"Heard you were looking for an info broker. Anything you want to know, I got the info, as long as it's a reasonable piece of info and not something like 'why is the game so hard?' because it's crazy how many people ask dumb questions like that," The info broker started. While Toran was thinking of how to word his question well, the info broker seemed to take a particularly good look at him.
"Say…ya look like that guy who often hangs around Kii-bou and his group. Toran, was it?" She randomly asked.
"Uh…yeah, that's me," He replied, causing him to forget what his original question was briefly.
"Oh, cool. If that's the case, I'll give ya a free piece of info on the house. The name's Argo, nice to meet ya," She revealed cheerfully, but before Toran could say anything, she started on something else. "By the way, can ya do something for me as a favor?" She suddenly asked.
"Aren't I suppose to be asking the questions here?" Toran retorted but was ignored.
"Kii-bou said he was gonna come meet me IRL, but the idiot hasn't done it yet. Can you remind him for me? If you do, I'll give you a 1% discount on any piece of info," The way Argo talked reminded him of a dog that wouldn't stop barking even when told off. He was under the assumption that info brokers were very silent people until they saw money but he must've been wrong.
"Uh, y-yeah, I can do that," Toran agreed awkwardly.
"Awesome, thanks for that! Now, what do you want to know?" Argo asked with her tone slightly changing after the thanks.
"Do you have any information from any of the next floor bosses?" He asked seriously, to which Argo thankfully gave a serious reply.
"Only on the 23rd-floor boss sadly, but if you want to know exactly what it is, it'll cost," She warned, but Toran didn't mind paying and transferred the money.
"Alright, lay it on me," Toran asked as the moon started to rise on Urbus.
Yes, yes, i know. "After all that time all you give us is an uneventful part 2?" Yeah, well...so? gotta give the characters some sort of life i guess,
Normally i make promises about the length of the next chapter or how long until it comes out but everything about this is a trainwreck anyway, WOO WOO!
If anything at all, at least it won't take as long to come out as this one...i hope.
pls excuse any and all shitty writing mistakes, i edited this while playing trackmania so i wasn't very careful lol