Hey guys! It is time for another chapter and it is finally summer! Finals were horrible but I passed with honors and now I'm a senior! I even got this nifty American History award plaque beating out this one bitch from my class so that made me happy. I also had to usher for the seniors' graduation which sucked but now I'm done and can finally relax. So I was looking at all my stories and checking to see if I updated everyone on time and then I got to this one and was like "oh shit..." Because it's almost been three weeks! What the hell happened!? So now I gotta bust my ass to do this chapter! Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you think of it! Feedback is always helpful unless you're an asshole about it! Finally thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!


Ch. 20

(Chris's POV)

I've been here for two weeks and so far everything has been fine. No suspicious activities have crossed my path other than that one incident with the flash on the bush. But that was on the first day and I was just paranoid about even being here and acting like the teenager I probably should be like given my age. I should be protesting the cost of college right now or getting mad about a person for not being politically correct. However, I joined the military so I'm nothing like that.

Not at all, thank god.

I do think though that I'm getting better at acting like a normal teen. I've even had genuine fun with this group I've been assigned to. They're not as bad as I thought they would be. I kind of feel foolish for being so skeptical at first. Thorn is mature for his age and acts kind to his guests but acts laid back with his friends. Arkady and Sinon tend to stay quiet and usually stare into each other's eyes and whisper things in each other's ears. They then giggle amongst themselves and go watch TV together. Kazuto and his cousin Suguha are alike in many different ways; one being that they're both shy at certain times which is sometimes a good thing. Asuna might just be the best cook I've ever met. Sure, the chef at the military base back in California is professional and balances his meals out perfectly, but Asuna has this certain "home-made" feel to the food she makes like she's your mom. Charles and Erin are...in a word...unique. They are like a system of checks and balances. If Charles acts childish Erin will hit him over the head and scold him for it. It's amusing to watch actually.

There's also a new person on the team. Her name is Yuuki and she joined about a week and a half ago. She's a little younger than the rest of the group but she finds a way to fit in. My biggest surprise though was her natural purple hair. That's definitely not something you see everyday! Not only that, she even beat AIDS! She told me the other day that she was working on an official cure for the disease and that she would implement something like that in the game.

Speaking of the game, I still find VRMMORPGs repulsing and dangerous but my bias has softened a little. I realize now that it all depends on who makes the game like a decision of good and evil. SAO was evil but the game we're making is good. If you could even call these virtual reality things "good" at all. It is hard not to argue against someone who believes in them deeply but I know that my opinion is unpopular and it would break my character.

"Hey Miles?"

I looked up from my analog notebook and saw Suguha standing at my door with a look of urgency on her face.

"Oh. Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm late for my kendo practice so I have to go like right now! I was just wondering if you would be okay by yourself here. Sinon and Arkady are on a date and staying over at her apartment. Thorn is at the Zaskar office downtown on an official update report and Kazuto's is over at Asuna's house for dinner."

I waved her off.

"I'll be fine Suguha. You go on to practice."

She stared at me for a couple of seconds before sighing in relief.

"Okay. I'll probably be the first one back so I'll bring some dinner. You know where everything is and-"

"Suguha, I'm not twelve. I'll be alright."

I chuckled. She gasped and then giggled in embarrassment. She then apologized quickly and ran out the door with her wooden kendo sword. Hmm, no wonder she's skilled in sword fighting in the game. I watched a demonstration the other day and I had been meaning to ask her about it.

When I heard the front door close I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. These hipster clothes I have to wear are too flashy for me so I took my shirt off and slipped on a normal black tank top. It was smaller than my normal size so my muscles stuck out some but it was alright. As for pants I just switched to normal athletic shorts.

Zzzzzz!

That was my phone. I bet Suguha forgot one of her things...I answered the phone and ran a hand through my blonde Ivy League-styled hair.

"Hello?"

"Burke! Hey! How's it going?"

It was that guy I met in the car before I got here. Kikuoka Seijirō. He works for the victims of the SAO incident but for now he was teaming up with me for the operation.

"Uhh...Fine I guess...Why?"

"Just doing a scheduled check-up. It's been two weeks now and you and the other agents on the operation are doing just fine. We can start the second phase now. We will need you to take regularly scheduled walks around the neighborhood to scan the area for any LC activity. If one of the kids ask, just say your going out for a jog. They won't push the subject any longer than that unless they're just annoying...Are they annoying Chris?"

He asked me with a hint of laughter in his voice. I narrowed my blue eyes at the ground and shook my head.

"No, they're actually pretty cool for a group of teenagers."

"Awesome! I knew they would be! Now get going! We will keep an eye on you from our satellite feed here at the Yokosuka military base. Call us if you have anything to report. Ciao~"

Okay that was weird. Why was he so amused by everything? I rolled my eyes and stretched. I switched my stylish shoes to normal tennis shoes and then walked out the door with the key to the house in my pocket. I thought about bringing a pistol from my hidden duffel bag but I decided against it this time. I jogged down the street effortlessly and looked around. Some kids were playing out in the front yard and some teens were riding on their bike from school or work. Other than that, there was nothing else worth looking at. I turned the corner and jogged like I was listening to some music along the way. I had to stop when another person close to my age ran up to me with a calm smile. He started talking to me and I raised an eyebrow. His hair was a bluish color and his eyes were an aquamarine as well. He was speaking japanese but I could understand him completely.

"Chotto! Watashi wa anata dake de, hoka no hi Kirigaya no ie ni idō shita koto ni kidzukimashita! Genki? Bijinesu? Kazoku? (Hey man! I noticed that you just moved in at the Kirigaya house the other day! So what's up? Business? Family?)"

He asked me. Internally, he was seriously raising some alarm bells in my mind. You don't just walk up to a random person and ask them these questions. Not unless you really care about something or you're really nice…This guy has only said twenty-one words to me and he's already suspicious. I played dumb.

"U-Uh...I don't speak Japanese dude...Sorry…"

I said to him with a kind chuckle while I scratched the back of my head. His eyes widened for a second before returning to their original state. He was clueless for a moment before smiling back at me.

"O-Okay!"

He said with a nod. That was probably the only English he knew.

"Goodbye!"

He scattered the word on his tongue with some effort as he waved and turned to leave. I waved back and went around the corner, watching him out of the corner of my eye. His smile faded a little bit when he thought I left as he turned to the sidewalk and walked across it. I stopped and hid behind the building corner of a house and watched him to see where he was going. When he rounded the corner I followed and saw him go into the apartment-like building next to the house I was staying at. That was the same building where I saw that flash in the bushes. My eyes narrowed at the tallness of the apartment and the graying color of it. It was definitely old. All of the windows were tinted black to where you could not see inside but people could see you outside. The boy stopped at the door and took out a key and a card. He inserted it in the slot and even though the door unlocked he punched his finger on the buzzer and actually asked if he could come in.

"That's not suspicious at all…" I whispered to myself. Not long after, he was let inside and the door closed quietly behind him. I took a deep breath and started jogging again, this time past the apartment building. I took a good look at it in the one second I could fully see it. I didn't want to linger at the front door too long. It might have a security camera on it. I then went inside Kirito and Suguha's house and crossed my arms with a frown.

"We might have a problem…" I thought out loud. That whole thing was weird and unusual but it's obviously not something I should report to the military base. Not just yet. I need more information and proof that there's someone from Laughing Coffin in that apartment. I will have to keep an eye on them for now on. I walked over to the window and peered out of it slightly. There was nothing I could see. Oh well, I'm sure something will pop up. But for now, I think I'm going to see if Asuna left any left-overs from that last meal she left us in the fridge…Annnnd I think I'm going to turn on Fox News while I'm at it.


(Thorn's POV)

"So yeah, she added the hospital here and we programmed the healthcare system immediately after that. Right now, we are just working on a new military mode that everyone can play in. It'll be awesome! Trust me! After that, all we need to do is fix some tweaks here and there and then we'll be done! The countries are formed, the cities are built, the enemies are made, the world leaders have been created, and the world has been realized!"

I said to Yukio, one of the programmers for ALfheim. He was assigned by Mr. Harrison to oversee our game as well and he happily agreed to it, especially after we fixed the little problem from their game that almost got us killed earlier…

"That sounds great Thorn! I knew you guys would come up with something awesome! Now I've set the date for the first trailer of the game for this Friday. It's Tuesday right now so you have three days to take some footage from the game. I hope that's not asking too much of you guys."

He said with a look of sympathy. I shook my head and smiled with a relaxed grin.

"Nah, that's fine! We can make a badass trailer in that time. And you said it was going to air in America, Europe, and Asia?"

"And Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and South Africa. Yep, it will be a worldwide release! With the money we are spending on this game we really need to make a huge profit off of it! And by the way things look now that'll happen on the first day it comes out!"

He sure sounded excited. But who could blame him? I was really excited too! After some more "That's awesome" and "so badass" I packed all of my paper and said goodbye to Yukio.

"I'll see you Friday bro! You want the trailer on a disk or a flash drive?"

"It doesn't matter to me. Either works. And see ya!"

I left the room with a smile and entered the elevator. My stomach churned as it began to lower me down to the ground floor. The bright glowing numbers on top of the door moved down numerically every few seconds as I tapped on my bag with my fingers. I moved the brown hair out of my eyes as the doors opened. The girl at the front desk, Aniston, was still the same bitch as when we first met her. Though, I think I've gotten used to her attitude. I even think she enjoys it when I make a smartass remark back to her.

"About time. Took you long enough you loser. Did you have fun talking about your stupid game little boy?"

She asked teasingly with a smirk. What was she talking about? I was taller than her…

"Had a great time! Having fun sitting at a desk all day bitch?"

I replied. Her smirk turned into a nod of approval as she leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed.

"Hmm touche American...See you later!"

"Yeah bye!"

I made my way out of the Japanese Zaskar company building and got inside my mustang. I laid my back in the passenger seat next to me and took out my phone, unlocking it with my finger print.

To: Angel

Hey. You still at practice?

From: Your G-Spot Hitter

I laughed to myself at that last part. It did not take long before she texted me back.

To: The Thorn in my rose

Yeah we're just finishing up but we'll probably be done in ten minutes. I kicked this one guy's ass so hard that he went home early haha! And don't label your name as "Your G-Spot Hitter"! That's gross Thorn!

From: Your babe

I hummed and clicked the phone off. Might as well pick her up from practice. That way I might get some action on the way back! No I'm kidding, I could never focus on the road if she was sucking on me while I was driving. The thought does make me wonder though...ANYWAY, I put the car in drive and drove over to her school. It was only five minutes from the company building so it was really convenient! I got out at the auditorium and stuffed my hands in the pockets of my dark jeans as I walked in. There were a few people in here. To my left, the girls' volleyball team was practicing. To my right, I saw Sugu drinking a bottle of water and brushing her long black hair with a brush. She had changed back into her regular clothes from her kendo wear and she looked like she was just about to leave. I entered the gym room completely and some volleyball girls gasped when they saw me from the bleachers. With my improved Japanese I could comprehend what they were muttering to each other, and honestly it made me feel really good! It's always nice when girls think you're hot!

I continued on to Sugu and her eyes sparkled when she saw me.

"Thorn! You never texted me back so I thought you just had another meeting with Yukio. I didn't know you were picking me up!"

I smiled with redness coming to my tanned cheeks.

"Of course! Anything for you babe. You ready to go?"

I asked her. She nodded and picked up her wooden kendo sword. The both of us walked out of the gym and I opened the door for her. She got in after kissing my cheek and I gently pushed the door closed after her. I kind of jogged to my side and then we got moving back to the house. It was about eight in the afternoon I'd say and we were the only ones coming back from the day's events. I think Kazuto said something about sleeping over at Asuna's tonight. But wasn't her mom a bitch? Damn, he's gonna sneak in her room later! Kazuto you sneaky little bastard…

"Oh man, practice was brutal! Coach had us run laps for an hour and we only got to do match-ups at the last half of it. You don't even need to run in kendo so what the hell!? Ugh, and we have practice this Sunday too which sucks because that's my weekend! I swear, that man really stresses me out!"

She said with a reddened face. I nodded in understanding. Being on a varsity soccer team a couple years ago wasn't exactly the most easiest thing I've done in my life. To make her feel better, I took my right hand off the wheel and rested it on her thigh. She instantly stopped ranting about her stupid coach and looked at me. I continued to stare at the road and I sensed her smile grow.

"You know, yeah, I think I need something to ease all the stress that's been building up just waiting to explode from me~"

She whispered seductively in my ear. I couldn't help but blush as my hair fell over my eyes again.

"Don't talk like that Sugu…"

I said back to her in a needy tone. But of course, she kept on with her sexy rhetoric. Jeez, she's killing me! And she's making me uncomfortable to where I have to shift my jeans every now and then. Ugh...After the five minutes it takes to drive to her house I was just about ready to put the car in park and shove my-...well let's just wait until we get inside the house.

"Miles! We're home! I brought you some dinner like I said I would. It's sushi and sesame chicken."

Sugu announced as she dug in her bag for a small box full of food and set it on the counter. The blonde teenage boy was watching Tv in the living room while munching on some green tea kit-kats. He glanced at us and smiled, throwing me a kit-kat in the process. I caught it and took a small bite. He and I were better friends now and I stopped suspecting him of being someone he wasn't. He does still act weird sometimes though...And these kit-kats were always good!

"Cool, I've just been watching Tv all day. You know they have this weird game show where if they miss the questions a big fat sumo wrestler's butt is pushed in their face. Who's idea was that anyway?"

"I love that game show! Don't question it! Record it for me!"

Sugu yelled with a laugh. Miles rolled his eyes and recorded the next upcoming show. I lightly tugged on the back of Sugu's skirt and she looked over her shoulder at me. I gave her a hard lust-filled look and she got the hint. She turned back to Miles and her voice came out shaky.

"U-Um...We're just gonna go to bed...Night!"

She said to him as we hurriedly traveled to our room. I winked at him as we closed the door and he sighed under his breath,

"Gosh, they're going to have sex again…"

I heard him say. I busted out laughing and Sugu looked at me with a tilt of her head like she was confused. I shook my head and laid both of my hands on her shoulders. She swallowed hard as I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. All that talk in the car was gonna bite her in the ass right now. Well, more like her vagina hehe...She moaned and held my arms as we stood there making out. We then stumbled onto our bed and I planted my hands on both sides of her, softly kissing her neck and nibbling on her sweet spot. She held my neck as she sighed sexily. Her skin was shuddering and her breathing became heavy as I moved lower to her chest. Yep, this was gonna be another one of those nights…


And that is the end of the chapter! Sorry that took so long guys! But I know that you know what the next chapter will be about. I cut it off there because I'm a jerk! And it's midnight on a Saturday and I'm tired haha. But please review or comment on the chapter guys! Do it! Do it now! My birthday was the other day and I just turned 18 so wish me a happy birthday if you want! That would be awesome! Finally, thanks so much for reading and we will see you next time!