And now it's time for another chapter of my Sword Art Online fanfic! Now I have 38 reviews for this story and I'm just ecstatic that you guys like the story lol. Since I'm talking, I would like for you readers to read my other in-progress story which is about Attack on Titan. It's just as good so you might as well read it lol. But talking about this story, I think I'm going to get into the SAO game world if you know what I mean instead of the characters in real life. So I hope you like that decision but I assure you that there we be just as much real world chapters as SAO world chapters. Yes, it's kind of confusing but you'll figure it out. :D So yeah, please reiew and all of that junk and thanks for reading.

Ch. 16

"Thorn…."

"Thorn!"

My eyes blinked a couple of times before I opened my eyes to find Sugu looking at me. As soon as I saw her, I smiled. Her long hair flowed down her body in strands. She smiled and handed me my phone.

"I think your boss called."

She said. My eyes widened as I sat up in the bed quickly.

"What did he say?"

"Oh well, he just said to call him back when you had the time. He seemed really nice. Anyway, I'm going to clean myself from last night's….hehee…..lovemaking…."

I smirked as she grabbed an outfit and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I sighed and looked at my phone. Why would Mr. Harrison be calling me so early. I hope I'm not in trouble. I dialed in his number on the touchscreen and listened to the synchronized ringing coming from the phone.

"Hello?"

"You called me, sir?"

"Ahh….yes…..I know I called you a little too early for comfort but I have a problem."

My eyes widened as I got up from the bed. A problem with my boss wasn't a good thing, at least with me anyways. He better not be firing me or something like that.

"What kind of problem?"

"Well, it's a problem with the game you are currently playing."

"ALfheim Online?"

I asked with my head tilted.

"Yes, it seems that there is a glitch in the system. The Japanese company that currently owns the game has no idea how to fix it. I mean, we would try to fix it ourselves but since the game is not in our possession and the HQ is in Japan, we can't."

I leaned on one leg and responded immediately,

"What do you need me to do about it?"

"The company said that the problem is within the game and that a player would have to fix it from the inside. But the company doesn't want to risk anyone getting hurt or dying from the glitch itself."

"How could it kill you if it's just a game?"

I asked in a shocking tone.

"If the player did something wrong, then the system would crash and we would have another SAO disaster on the industry's hands."

Sugu came out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel, and looked at me. My yes had been in confusion since the whole phone conversation started. What did he mean by SAO disaster? And how was it even possible to die in the game and in real life?

"SAO?"

"Uhh…..That's another event for another day but we have to focus on this right now before that actually does happen. They heard that we were having you play the game and reviewing about it. So they wanted to ask if you could investigate the problem in the system and solve it in the best way you can."

"But what happens if I….do actually die?"

I said with a little fear in my voice. Sugu gasped at my sentence and walked over to me with worry on her face.

"Yes we know the risk. But we really need someone to check this out. If we don't, the game could crash entirely. I can almost assure you that this is just a small bug. There really shouldn't be anything to worry about. We do ask that you do this immediately and we, of course, will pay you handsomely for it."

Thinking about my decision, I sat back down on the bed with my face on my palm. If I do it, I will get paid but might get hurt in the process. But if I don't, the game will probably crash and no one will ever get to play it. They might be able to make another game with the creating info they have but that will take too long. It shouldn't be that dangerous if they're asking me to do it.

"Okay….I'll do it."

I could hear a sigh from the other side of the phone.

"Thank god for you Thorn. I knew there was a reason I hired you."

I kept my face cool but smiled inside at the praise.

"Now that we have that settled, I will send you your plane ticket right now."

"Plane ticket?"

"Well yeah. We want you to work with the Japanese company's creators on the problem. They will guide you to the problem in the system. So we need you to fly to Japan…..is that a problem?"

"No, not at all sir!"

"Good, your plane leaves tonight...fly safe and thank you for taking this on."

And with that, he hung up the phone, leaving me speechless. He already planned for me to go anyways!? The fucking plane leaves tonight and I just found out! Oh god, what am I going to tell Sugu and them? They got here about four days ago and now they are getting back onto a plane.

"Thorn?"

Sugu said, making me jump out of my thoughts. I fell on my butt and she helped me up with a giggle.

"Sugu….I…"

"Thorn, what's wrong? What was that conversation about?"

I looked at her for a few seconds before I decided to tell her about the whole phone call. She listened to me with a serious look and kept her hand on me the whole time.

"And he said something about a SAO disaster."

She gasped and her hand tensed up. I tilted my head at her and she shook her head.

"Sorry….I just….it's nothing…."

"No Sugu, I know you know what I'm talking about so please tell me."

She squeezed my hand and stood up.

"Don't ask me. Ask Kazuto when the time comes but don't ask until we get to Japan again."

She was acting suspicious and now I really knew that she knew what I was talking about. But when was the right time to ask Kazuto about this. I don't know, maybe he will bring it up so I don't have to. She started putting clothes in her suitcase and gave me a soft smile.

"Soooo…you're not mad that we have to leave early?"

"No, because you're going to stay with us this time, Thorn! That's going to be awesome and I can show you my kick-ass house. Oh! And you're definitely sleeping in my bed with me."

I smirked and gave her a small kiss on the lips. She moaned slightly from my loving gesture and pecked my cheek in response. She seemed to be happy again so I was glad. Besides, we did plan on me going to their house anyways. I blinked when she zipped up her suitcase and sat it on the ground.

"I'm going to tell Kazuto and Asuna about this so we can hurry to the airport."

She said with the smile I knew and loved. Any other girl would have kicked my ass at hearing that we were leaving early but Sugu understood everything. It's just one more thing that I don't have to worry about. But I still can't brush off this feeling that I have. Like something bad is going to happen but I'm sure it's just my imagination. I worry myself too much so I shouldn't try to think about it until I get there.

"Better get packed…"

I said to myself as I laid out my clothes on the bed. I unzipped my back pack and stuffed the folded clothes in there. I also packed things like my tooth brush, music player, extra shoes, and passport. I really didn't need the headache of not having my passport at the airport. I zipped up the bag and walked into the living room. As I entered, I saw that everyone else was packed and looking at me. I dropped my bag and looked at them with a sad look.

"I'm really sorry that you guys have to leave early…..It's just my work so I have to do it."

They all smiled and nodded in understanding.

"We know and we're fine with it. We had a fun time here and are glad you were here to show us around."

Said Kazuto with a grin. I smiled at them and nodded. Kazuto walked up to me and leaned on the wall as the two girls chatted with each other.

"Sooooo…..you two slept in the same bed together last night….Anything happen?"

I laughed in embarrassment and blushed. I looked at Suguha and saw that she was blushing to. Asuna was probably asking her the same thing. I leaned on the wall and nodded slightly while scratching the back of my head.

"First time?"

He asked with his eyebrow raised and an evident smirk plastered on his face.

"Yeah…..it was fucking awesome Kazuto! I just hope that you're not mad that I did it with your sister."

I said with a nervous laugh. He laughed along with me and shook his head.

"Not at all actually. She really needed to lose it because she has been horny ever since she turned 15. It's a real pain in the ass when you have a horny sister who used to like you."

I tilted my head and said in a joking tone.

"Like you?"

He sighed.

"It's a long…long…story. But I couldn't even sleep because she was….uhh…..touching herself…."

He said with a gross expression on his face. I, on the other hand, found it quite sexy. I started to imagine her doing that and Kazuto noticed. He snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"Oi! Stop thinking about it haha."

"Haha sorry bro, can't help it."

I said as I took a quick glance at my clock. The plane left in two hours so we had better get there or we would miss it. I lifted all of our bags and stuffed them in the trunk of my car in one swift move. The others just stared at me like I was the incredible hulk. I closed the trunk and looked at them.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

They all said in unison. I rolled my eyes with a smile and got into the car. Turning on the car, we finally made our way to the Birmingham airport.

Reaching the airport, I scanned my tickets and bought the others tickets. The lady let us pass and security today wasn't that intense as it usually was. We made it to the gate just in time and boarded the plane to Japan. I made sure that I sat next to Sugu so we could hold hands the entire trip…Or at least until the one of us fell asleep.

"You ready for another plane ride?"

I asked her.

"Yeah but I'm getting some F-ing sleep on this one."

She said with a smile as the plane flew off the runway.

The plane ride was fine but only because I had Suguha to talk to. While she slept, I just watched movies and fell asleep too. I woke up to the sun shining through the window and the plane hitting the runway with a soft thud. I looked down to see that I was still holding Suguha's hand and couldn't help but smile. She was already awake but didn't bother separating from my grip.

"Morning sleepy head."

She said with a smile. I returned the grin and just talked to her about my dreams. It wasn't anything special but I felt the need to tell her about it anyways. The plane stopped and we all got out of the plane, stretching. Kazuto called a cab while we waited in baggage claim and it arrived as soon as we got our bags. I thought I was in a new world as I looked out the window at the Japanese country. It was filled with millions of people and everything seemed to be centered on anime and video games. This was totally fine with me because those things were a part of my life. We reached Kazuto and Suguha's house and I scanned the house up and down. It was a big traditional house that just amazed me. My apartment was no comparison to this awesome beast of a house. Sugu chuckled at my reaction and showed me around. Their rooms looked tidy, as if no one had ever lived there before. Suguha's room was simple but the thing that caught my eye was the poster on the ceiling. It had her avatar, "Leafa", flying into the ALfheim world. I wonder if she drew that or just edited it then printed it out.

"Soooooo…..like my room?"

"Hell yeah, it's totally kick-ass, Sugu!"

She smiled and turned when we heard Asuna's voice.

"I think I'm going to stay for three nights so I don't have to go home to my mother. I mean, if that's okay with you."

Asuna said with glee in her voice.

"Totally fine with me."

Kazuto said as they entered the room. Sugu and I blinked at them and Kazuto smiled at me.

"Yeah this room is cool but mine is better! Come on, I'll show you!"

He said as we both entered his room. I have to admit, it was pretty cool. His bed was freaking huge and he had a perfect view of the city. I glanced down at the tiny table next to his bed and saw a helmet. I looked closely at it to see that the name of it was, "NerveGear." I turned to Kazuto and asked.

"Hey Kazuto, what's this thing?"

And that is the end of the chapter. I know the airport thing was kind of rushed but I didn't think you guys wanted to read about another plane ride lol. I really hope you have liked this chapter so please tell me about it! I would like some reviews on this story! And I do get reviews on this story but I'm going to issue the challenge. I want to see if the story can get a thousand more views and 5 more reviews before I make the next chapter. That would be great and I will be counting everything so yeah lol. But the views shouldn't be a problem. The first few days of a new chapter usually get that much so that's no big deal. So please write 5 reviews guys! And as always, thank you so much for the support and thanks for reading! But wait! I am asking that someone from deviant art draw something from this story. I would draw it myself but I'm still learning lol. But if you want to just PM me and I will be the happiest person on Earth!