She nervously walked along the street of npc vendors and wondered if she could find a spear like the leader of the Beta guild had suggested to her, late after the rest of her friends from outside the game fell asleep at the inn. She had already passed by the street where all of the other players had their stalls before, and the street had been empty. She was nervous to be walking around at night on her own, but she wanted to get over her nervousness as much as possible. That person leading Beta was so strong and calm even when marching off to the boss battle the day before...

She took a deep breath and sighed. What good would it do for her to risk herself all alone at night? There were still creepy and terrifying people in the game, and she wanted nothing to do with them.

She shivered against the cold status the night was giving off. There was a light breeze which passed through her leather and cloth armour in the uniform blue colour her guild were originally going to share, and the breeze chilled her to the bone. Sometimes, she wondered just how different the game was from real life. With how realistic food could be, the effect of sleeping...

There were so many things that came to her mind. As she arrived back at the teleport gate plaza, she sighed and wondered if there would be something on the eleventh floor she could purchase. Maybe something to warm up like a hot cocoa drink.

She reached the teleport stone and took a deep breath to prepare herself.

"Teleport, eleventh floor."

The scenery around her vanished to black for an entire second like usual when traversing floors, and she found herself on another floor of the game when colour returned around her. Another new floor. One she hadn't seen yet. She looked around, but there were no immediate signs of people around or any npc shops in the teleport plaza. She shook her head and turned around to see if there might be an inn with a restaurant. Bigger inns had restaurants she had found so far, so when her eyes rested on a large building with an inn sign and coffee cup picture on another sign hanging on the end of it, she started immediately making her way over.

She found it both calming and terrifying to have nobody around. There were no people, no sounds of insects or other night animals about on this floor. Of course, there would be npcs who would retreat into their homes and players who would have found a place to spend the night. There were some people who enjoyed going out during the night and play their games, but even many of those kind of people like a couple of the boys from her guild had switched to daytime alone for their activities because of how dangerous it could be to train at night.

She made it to the door of the inn, grabbed the handle and turned it. She made her way in gently, as if she were intruding. She was given a welcome smile by a person with an npc name and marker over their head and she sighed. The first npc she saw was someone who asked her about purchasing a room in the inn, and there was another who she was alerted to by the sound of squeaking as they polished a glass at a counter where it almost seemed familiar as a coffee shop.

"Would you like to purchase a room for the night?"

Sachi shook her head with a smile, and started walking over to the counter where the other npc was polishing a glass which she could recall memories with family at a small restaurant. Those kinds of glass usually had juice in them.

"What can I get for you, miss?"

The man on the other side of the counter was as friendly as he was programmed to be. It was strange. The npcs felt so real sometimes, but she was able to communicate with them so easily.

"Can I get a medium hot cocoa please?"

After she said those words, she earned a nod and he turned around. Another sound entered the first floor of the restaurant from the stairs. She could hear a stifled yawn, and soon she saw a figure cloaked in a white night dress, pyjamas which looked so comfortable to her on first glance, she wondered if she could work toward that. She closed her eyes and reminded herself of the spear. It didn't last long in reminded herself before the sound of the light clack of the mug with hot cocoa was placed in front of her. She looked at it and sighed. As soon as she finished sighing, taking in the scent of the cocoa, she heard as the other person who had descended the stairs sat beside her.

"What can I get for you, miss?"

"Coffee, black please."

Sachi turned to face the other person, their voice ringing clear and familiar in her ears. She became anxious as she saw the unforgettable face of the leader of Beta.

"Good morning. How are things with your guild after my involvement yesterday?"

Sachi became nervous and flustered, and...she saw those dark brown eyes and how honest they were and she wanted to let out how nervous she was about the entire situation of the game. She didn't feel that way about her friends, which made her feel guilty about not being able to talk to them like that.

"Uhm, miss...thank you again..."

Kirito sighed and took a sip of the coffee. There was something about her which was just so calming and made Sachi feel like opening up to her.

"You're welcome. I just...really felt bad seeing you pushed so much. It reminded me of how difficult it used to be for me to play a game as a tank role. I guess reality has much more an effect here, so my kendo helped me with playing tank this time around, and it's become so much more important to me to stress that people suited for roles take those roles. Nobody should risk themselves. We're trying to get out of here alive. I preferred archery outside of the game, so I'd like to unlock that skill like one of my friends, but being able to protect them feels more important."

Kirito's words rang in Sachi's ears like a song. She was almost in tears for how much Kirito must have gone through.

"Miss..."

Sachi wanted to say something, but words couldn't come to mind.

"My name is Kirito."

Kirito already knew Sachi's name, but he had a feeling that Sachi didn't know his.

"Kirito-san...such a pretty name."

Kirito blushed a little, and paused a little for another sip of coffee.

"Kirito-san, would...would you be able to merge our guilds? Convince the others somehow to join your guild?"

Kirito shook his head. He knew just how the others of Sachi's guild thought of him. Intrusive, and elitist. Of course, he was only promoting safety in the end, but he was still the highest level player and the most well known in the game.

"I can't change your friends. They're determined to play recklessly, and they were willing to risk you as a tank role. I'd wager you've played a tank role in another game before this? That would be their reason for having you tank here, right? While it's understandable to a degree, it's also terrible. You definitely give off more of a healer kind of feel. Staying back and supporting your team. While this game doesn't have magic, the use of items has become very important. This shouldn't be thought of as a game. At least, not the battle aspect of it. Take mechanics and such and patterns into account, but consider a battle as what it is here, something dangerous."

Kirito took another big sip of his coffee and sighed. Sachi hung her head and took her first sip of the cocoa, sighing at the pure satisfaction of how nice and sweet it was.

"Would...would Kirito protect me too, like your friends?"

"Of course."

She looked at him, and her eyes were filled with tears. To hear that voice so calmly and assuredly immediately answer a confirmation to such a question...

"Would you like to join our guild, Sachi? I feel awkward asking it when you have that guild with your friends, but it would be easier to protect you if you joined our guild. I've realized all too painfully with all of those people who challenged the tenth floor boss that I can't protect everyone, but I can ensure the people in my guild are at least fully prepared and safe a lot of the time. I would encourage continuing talking with your friends, so that things aren't awkward outside when we finish the game, but there is nothing I personally can do about their point of view. How they're used to things. I feel like things could have been different if I played like normal with games and went solo. Maybe I would have joined your guild, and maybe something unfortunate would happen because of how your friends are. This is a chance that we can make them consider their safety more. You can join us, then they would have to consider changes to how they are. Sometimes it's good to give your friends a little push."

Sachi had to agree with everything Kirito said, and the allure of the idea in joining Kirito and the rest of the guild was something she had difficulty thinking there was another good path to go for herself.

"Kirito-san...I've been so...so terrified, and weak, and...I just bring everyone down. Are you really okay with me?"

"Sachi just hasn't had the chance to prove yourself yet. Things are less scary with friends who are ready to protect you. Weakness is telling yourself that you can't do something. Just...just be yourself, do what you can and we can help you. Weakness here in this world can be changed with gear, practice and levels. You just need to make the choice that will let you grow from this experience. I already feel like things might be even more fun with you joining us. I could even teach you alchemy and you could do something with potions. Or you could do something with other crafting. There are a lot of things I could help you with, and all you have to do is say that you're ready to stand up for yourself. We'll help you."

She was crying, just listening to his voice. She barely missed her cup of hot cocoa and she turned and threw her arms around Kirito's shoulders and hugged him.

"Thank you so much, Kirito-san."

Kirito smiled and sent her the invites for both joining the guild, and to join his friend list.

"I already have a room, so let me buy you a room for tonight. You should get some rest, but finish your cocoa first, alright?"

Kirito left the hug and placed down the currency to pay for both of their drinks, and walked over to the inn counter, where he pointed Sachi out and started scratching his head in confusion. He turned around and returned to her.

"I'll invite you to the active party, and they'll extend the room we already have so you can join us. It seems they won't let me purchase a room for another person."

He scratched his head again and sent her the invite to the active party. She was surprised to see the list of different names fill the side of her vision where everyone's simplified information was. The leader of the party was marked as Kirito. His name was at the top of the list under her information for health, skill points and such. Under his name, next was Sinon. After her, was Leafa. Next in the list was Asuna. The last two under them in the list were Lisbeth, then Silica. In total, she counted the party now having a total of seven. They were just under the amount of people which would normally be considered a full party. Eight people were usually considered a full party, and they carried a third of responsibility in a full raid situation, things like the floor boss of the tenth floor. Sachi had a feeling it might not be long for Kirito's kindness to reach another person, and they would have a full eight person party. Kirito was just that kind of enigmatic leader. Attracting people in all the good ways. Sachi took a deep breath, and realized her heart was pounding. Of course it would be. She was excited. Maybe there was more to it, but she was excited to have the support of such a good person.

Kirito walked back over to the reception for the inn, and Sachi drank the rest of the cooled down cocoa before joining him. She grabbed hold of his hand, and he seemed a little nervous. She let go, feeling as if she had gone too far with her actions. He led the rest of the way up the stairs, and to the first door on the right, which opened to a large room where all but the new bed added in by the game's system were pushed together.

"Ah right...quietly please. I forgot about their whole sleepover idea. Would you like me to put your bed with everyone else'?"

Sachi saw everyone sleeping peacefully, and she felt a warmth in her. All of those strong people who led the raid before, were strewn about on the beds which were pushed together. People that she immediately respected since the group together had defeated so much of the early part of the game.

"I don't want to wake anyone. I'll sleep on the separate bed. I'm sure Kirito-san has some sort of skill which will let her use the beds without waking everyone. Kirito-san...thank you again."