Floor 68
The wind blew through the trees, the light flickered as it shone between the leaves above us. We had just finished up some hunting and we felt like passing out at any moment. It had been two years since me, Sachi, and thousands of other players were ensnared in SAO. Even though much time has passed, we still lived in the Town of Beginnings, we hunted until exhaustion, but we still always made the best of it. But today, even I was too tired to fight anymore, which both Sachi and I took by surprise.
Soon we grew tired of walking and decided to take a quick brake. Sachi plopped herself on some nice soft grass, while I sat on a mossy rock. Sachi put her sword and shield down, laying herself onto the ground. I put my sword away and let out a sigh of pleasure as the cold rock felt good on my hot hands. I look over at Sachi as she just looks up into the trees, with not a care in the world.
"Hey Sachi, do you think we should just take a break", I asked nonchalantly.
"Aren't we taking one now", her sarcastic voice almost felt like something I would say.
"No. I mean to take a break of fighting and dungeon roaming, and just take it easy for a while."
"You mean like a vacation."
I think about it for a second, "ya, a vacation for just the two of us. And I know just the place, come on."
I get up from the rock and give Sachi a hand pulling herself off the ground. As the day grew short, we headed back to the town of Genicent and preceded on to the teleporting platform.
Floor 60
We arrived in the small town of Neobarona, it didn't have that many players, but lots of merchants and stores. Small flags were hung like decorations, with many different colors all throughout the town. As Sachi gazed and marveled at the different trinkets and jewellery, I went into a certain shop. In there hung pictures of many different houses and buildings. The store clerk wasn't an AI, but another player working as a housing salesman.
"Welcome to Kiabi's Housing, how may I help you sir?"
"Hey there, you remember me right, the one that reserved number 189 on floor 42."
"Yes, I remember you and as I promised, here is your keys to your new home. Please enjoy."
He handed me the keys and deed to our new house that I was able to save my money up for. I especially wanted this one because there was something interesting nearby it. I left the store and found Sachi with a salesman. He was trying to get her to buy a diamond encrusted dagger. As I walked over, it seemed that she already bought something and had put it in a little bag.
"No thank you sir, but this is all I needed..." said Sachi as she slowly stepped away from the merchant. Which led to bumping into me.
"And what is it that you bought from this kind sir" I asked Sachi sarcastically as she had her back pressed against my chest. She twirled around and held the bag closer, as if she was hiding something.
"Nothing really, just something that I though would be useful one day". She made the bag vanish into her inventory before I could try to figure what was inside.
At that, I decided to let it be and continue with my surprise. The merchant apparently had a rolling cart and waved goodbye to us as he went to another part of town. We headed to the teleporting platform, and our destination was Sangeum town on floor 42.
Floor 42
The town of Sangeum was sort of like an old country town with houses made of wood and stone. The streets were very big in contrast to the size of the houses. We soon left the small town and entered a forest on the foot of a mountain. Sachi was anxious to see what the surprise was, to the point where she always had a bounce in her every step. As we walked down the dirt path leading to her surprise, she continued to ask if we were there yet.
"Are we getting closer", she asked impatiently.
"Well we're getting closer, but we're not there yet", I replied as we continued throughout the forest.
She frowned and puffed out her cheeks as she crossed her arms, annoyed by the fact that we weren't there. As we got closer, I stepped in front of her and asked her to close her eyes.
"Why", she asked curiously, while trying to look past me.
"Well, it's because the surprise is too big for me to cover up", I confessed trying to keep her from passing me.
Her face lit up like a Christmas tree, which meant she had a good idea. She put her hands in my face, which made me stumble back. With this, she got past me and ran down the path. By the time I gained my wits, she gasped in amazement. When I reached her she was still too amazed to form words, let alone sentences
"Wa di ho thi ca n bu whe", she stuttered too badly to translate.
I placed my hand on her shoulder, "Sachi, welcome to our new home!"
It was a wooden and stone house with a wooden tile roof. It was a two story house and windows with wooden frames on both floors. There was a path made of circular stepping stones that branched off the dirt path and right to our doorstep. Behind the house was some more forest before it reached the foot of the mountain. And since it was around sunset, the sun let off a orange glow as half of itself behind the mountain. When I saw this house for sale, I knew I had to get it for us. When I checked it out the first time, the view was breath taking.
I soon escorted Sachi into our new house. The door was wooden with a small circle window to see through. I took out the key and unlocked the door so we could enter. The floors were dark wooden planks, and the the walls are smoothened slabs of stone. The first room was the the kitchen to the left, which had light brown wooden covers and a green steel oven. Past the kitchen was the living room, it had a large window, a small wooden table, a couch, a comfy chair, and a closet. The closet was empty, so it had no specific use.
Next there was a small hallway that led to some stairs. Once we went up the stairs, there were two beds, one for Sachi and one for me, lined up against the wall. There's was another closet and it had two doors with mirrors on the inside. It was a wardrobe for us, and it had some nice clothes for her and I already. Finally there was a balcony at the other end of the room from the stairs. It had glass doors, and the view from the balcony was the small town of Sanguem.
As Sachi leaned on the wooden railing of the balcony, she let out a sigh of amazement, "Katzugami, I can't believe you bought this for us. Wait, how much was it all?"
I stood behind her as I tried to remember the price. "If my memory was correct, about 3,500,000 COL, and the clothes all together was about 50,000."
She sprung ups from the rail and swirled around to face me, "you used that much COL all from your pocket, why?"
I walked onto the balcony and put my hands on the rail, "because it was money worth spent. Plus there is one more thing that this house came with."
She looked at me puzzled, "you mean there is more. Where, we went through the whole house?"
As I turned to her, a small gust of wind blew from the mountain through the forest. The air was nice and fresh, but there was something else in the air. A warm steamy feeling swept past us, like a...
"Let me show you the best part of our new home. Come outside", I hurried Sachi down the stairs. And for the first time in a while, I felt as happy as a little kid. We exited the house and we took a right into the forest, heading straight towards the mountain.
Holding Sachi's hand, I dragged her through the forest. As we got closer to the mountain, the warm steamy smell got stronger. And my grin and pace grew bigger and faster. So fast that Sachi was running out of breath.
After five minutes of running, we got to a small clearing at the bottom of the mountain. And what Sachi saw made her grin into a full out smile. In that small clearing, there was a hot spring! It was big enough for a small party, and had a large rock down the middle so we could both have some privacy.
And on that note, I showed Sachi the perfect home for us. A small house in the quiet part of the forest, with a beautiful view of the town, and a hot spring to put it all together. And I did an amazing job if I didn't say so myself.
As the sun began to vanish, I pulled out a lamp so that we could see. And since we are at a hot spring, mite as well use it, "Sachi, do you want to take a dip."
Sachi was just marveling at the spring until I asked that question, "y you mean now! Won't we get attacked?"
"Don't worry, if we are around 15 kilometers or less from our house, monsters won't be seen for miles."
She looked around nervously, as if she knew someone was out there. She was most likely embarrassed by the fact that I asked her to join me.
"If you feel uncomfortable, we can turn our backs from each other so we can't see."
I turned my back from her and went into my inventory to remove my armor and sword. She frantically tried to get me to stop, too embarrassed to even get naked around me, " no it just t t tha we can't..."
As my cloak, tunic and shirt vanished, Sachi just suddenly frozen mid sentence. "Hey, is something the matter", I asked.
When I turned to look at her, she had her hands covering her mouth. It was almost like she saw something horrific.
"Katzugami, your back...", she mumbled as she gasped at what was on my back. Then I remembered the horrible feature of my body.
"Damn! This game really does a good job on copying our actual bodies. I didn't even know that was there. Sssss, not a pretty sight isn't it."
On my back there was a large scar that want from my left shoulder to my right rib. And on my left rib, there was a bullet hole wound. Both didn't look that recent, and I could tell what was going through Sachi right now. The look on her face I know too well.
"I think it would be much easier to explain what happened if we are in the spring", I suggested. It was the only way to get her to hop in, and would keep her calm enough to listen.
As the steam rose from warm water, I leaned my back against the massive rock. "Doesn't this feel great or what", I sighed as I slowly sank into the water.
Sachi's response to my question wasn't an answer, but another question, "how did you get those scars?"
I rubbed my temples, trying to find the words I needed to not give Sachi a heart attack. But once again I'm at a blank. "Remember your promise, any burden you have I'll carry it too."
I admit defeat as Sachi gets me to talk again about my life. I take a deep breath, taking in the aroma of the hot spring. Letting it all out with a big sigh, I tell Sachi the story of my life.
I was just an ordinary preteen that had a week before I started my first day of middle school. I was walking home with my friend Mykayo, one of the few girls that I actually talked to. She was going to have party at her house with all our friends who were going to the same middle school as us.
Mykayo was a girl of mixed emotions and always had you wondering what was going on in that head of hers. And the mood of the day was happy. She was humming a tune from an old cartoon we use to watch when we were kids. It was about two ducks, one that made crazy ideas, and one that would always have to fix everything that was broken. Our mom's used to say they were just like us.
She had the bag of decorations, while I had the food in two bags. "Are you excited for the first day of middle school", She asked energetically.
Being myself, I pointed out the obvious, "you do know we still have a week left right.'
"You know what I mean. Do you think we're going to be in the same classes again."
"'Well if we do, then that's gonna be pretty amazing. '
"I know right", she exclaimed as she skipped ahead of me.
"Hey, slow down Mykayo. You're going to skip the house at that rate", I yelled, chasing after her.
After I finally caught up to Mykayo, we were already at her house. Her parents were out working as usual, leaving us two to set up the party. We hung streamers in the living room, blew up some balloons for decorations, and put up a banner saying "Happy First Day Of Middle School".
After all that hard work we took a lunch break. After eating some rice balls and shrimp, Mykayo decides to go to her room.
"I just need to get something, be right back", she chimes before going upstairs.
While up there, some one rings her doorbell. "I think that's the pizza. Could you grab the money on the table and pay the delivery man please", Mykayo yells from up stairs.
"Ok", I reply with as I look for the money. Once I grab the 1500 yen from the table and head to the door. I look through the peephole of the door and there was the delivery guy with four pizza boxes.
I open the door, and the guy says our order. "Ok, that's two pepperoni pizzas, one pineapple pizza, and one anchovy pizza."
I listen to the order, "that sounds like ours. Thank you." I take the pizzas and place them on a table near the doorway.
"That will be 1370". I pay him for the pizza, "oh, and don't forget your tip."
He then pulled a gun from his pants and aimed at me, "step back slowly." As I slowly walked back without making a sound, he closed and locked the door behind him.
As we got to the living room, Mykayo was coming down the stairs stuffing something in her skirt pocket before freezing at the sight of the gun.
"Both of you sit down! Now you, Mykayo, where is the safe?", asked the robber as we both sat on the floor.
Mykayo looked confused, "what safe?"
"TELL ME WHERE THE FUCK IT IS!"
He meant business, but it looked like she really didn't know about any safe. The man was looking kinda desperate now, "don't play games with me little girl, just tell me where it is or I I I... I'll hurt your friend here."
He took his left hand into his pocket as he came closer to me. "Lay on your stomach kid."
I slowly laid myself on the floor as he came closer. He pulled out a large pocket knife from his pocket. The click of the blade popping out sent chills down my spine.
Mykayo now in total fear tried to stop the man, "I don't know about any safe, but you can take all the money in the house. Just please don't hurt him". She was practically in tears, begging the guy to leave me alone.
"Then tell me what the combination to the safe is, or your friend will feel a lot of pain. Like this". He lifted the knife and stabbed it into my left shoulder.
The pain was excruciating as I screamed out in agony, the blood already starting to stain my shirt. He pulled the knife halfway out and looked over at Mykayo, "where is it girl!"
She silently started to cry as the blood stain on me grew. The man lost his patience and used the half of the blade that was inside of my back to slash across my back to my right rib. There was so much blood gushing out of my back that shirt became dark red in seconds.
It was unbearable, it was as if millions of needles were puncturing my back all at once. Mykayo was practically masking herself with her hands until her head suddenly jolted up.
The attacker was about to stab my again, "STOP I know where the safe and combination are!"
The man stops his attack but keeps the knife ready, "I'm listening ".
Mykayo takes a deep breath to stop the tears, "it's under the floorboard in my parents room on the first floor. The combination i 5."
He slowly stands up and walks past Mykayo. As he enters the first room down the hall Mykayo hurried to my side. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod please hang in there, everything is going to be ok, everything is go-".
Out of nowhere, a bullet ran right through her head , blood of my own friend was on my face. I looked over at the man as he shot me in the gut with the money stuffed in his pockets. I blacked out.
The ambulance arrived soon after.
After 12 hours in the operation room, they removed the bullet and patched me up. They said I was on the brink of death when they found me in the house. One of the neighbors heard the screaming and gunshots and called the police and paramedics. The bullet hit my stomach, but didn't pierce, and the massive gash on my back scraped some bones and just barely missed my nervous system. As for Mykayo, she died instantly after she was shot.
They found out the guy was a gang member and so was her father. Her father went to jail while her mother used his money to pay for the funeral. She was also allowed to take back all her things, and one was a letter to me. When I opened it, it said...
"hi, can't wait for the first day of middle school. I hope we get seats next to each other like always. And thanks for helping me so much before and I want to make it up to you. In our new school, there is a roof top balcony, meet me there. I want to tell you something really important, but if you want to hear it now to bad because you're gonna have to wait. Hope school starts early. bye!"
Her funeral was held a month after her death, and I put that letter on her grave, and went there every month and just talked about school for an hour or more.
"thats what happened, so please don't bring it up any more", I ask as I wash my face with the spring water.
I heard some splashing from the other side of the massive rock, "are you getting out Sachi?"
But instead of the splashing getting further away, they seemed to be getting closer and closer. "Sachi what are you..."
As I turned my head to the right, I noticed she was going around the corner of the rock, "DON'T LOOK!"
I quickly spun my head in the other direction to keep from seeing Sachi's named body. My face turning red as a tomato, the splashing got closer and closer until I could feel the ripples of water.
"Sachi what are you doing?", I ask as I feel something press against my back. She was pressing her head and hands on my back and started to humming.
"my mother always sang a song to soothe any pains I had when I was a child. Let me help you heal some of your painful past." She then began humming a beautiful melody. It felt so warm and soothing, it felt like I was being purified by an angel.
"thank you Sachi, thank you."
The next morning, Sachi decided to make breakfast while I read the forums. And on the first page there was a review of a battle between the black swordsman and the commander of the knights of the blood othe. The winner was the commander! 'pour Kirito, losing to someone for the first time. i should cheer him up next time get the chance'.
Hope you enjoyed and please review and like this series if you want more. Se-ya!