Soul Ablaze

by Victory3114

Our life can be found in our souls. Our entire consciousness, our thoughts, our feelings. There is a soul in everyone, be it human or Pokemon. And when you fight alongside your partners, your souls will resonate through the link, and burn brighter. They will be set ablaze, and with this power, this bond, this game of death will be cleared. PokeSAO X-over! Multi-POV.

3. Chapter 3: Poetic Twilight

BANG!

The sharp noise caused her to jerk her head up sharply from the book she had been reading and peered over the top of the counter she was sitting behind, just to see a spray of red liquid burst from her mother's co-worker's forehead. Stunned into silence, she, along with the rest of the workers, could only stare as his head thudded, his face permanently frozen in a surprised expression.

Blood and a few fragments of something leaked out of the hole. Her throat went dry.

The screaming started.

Wha...?

"Shut up, all of you!"

The killer raised his weapon to the ceiling and fired another shot, shattering one of the lights embedded there. A psychotic grin appeared on his face as everyone fell silent. Lowering the black gun in his hand back to a normal position, he pointed it at another worker behind a nearby service counter, who raised her arms in fright. With his other hand, he pointed at the main desk.

"The money in the register. Give it all to me, or this woman will have her head splattered over the wall!"

When no one behind the counter responded, he stomped his foot onto the ground, causing everyone to jump. "Hurry up!"

Everyone got to work, frantically rolling out the metal trays and stuffing the contents into a duffel bag still half-full of mail.

Even as everyone rushed around her in a state of panic, she remained frozen as her brain struggled to process the fact that a robbery was happening around her. Her gaze was riveted on the spreading pool of blood from the clearly unnatural hole in the first victim's forehead.

...he's... dead?

Her breathing hitched. She felt unbearably sick.

"Five seconds!" The robber barked, his finger creaking on the trigger for emphasis. The woman he was aiming at choked out a sob.

Finally, a man stumbled over the counter carrying the large bag. He passed it over to the robber with shivering hands, and scrambled away back to the safety of the partisan once the transfer had been completed.

The robber flicked open the bag and peered into it with one eye. Without warning, his muzzle flashed; a red stain appeared on his target's shoulder and she fell to her side with a cry.

"I missed... heh heh, give me more!" The man roared at the cowering workers. "Cough up more! The other register too! Your own pockets! Everything! Hurry up, or this one will be next! I will kill her, you hear me? Kill her! For sure!"

He swung around again, pointing the gun squarely at her mother's face. Her jaw was slack; she didn't look like she was comprehending what was going on.

Kill her...

Suddenly, her body jolted into action, and she stood up abruptly. A textbook slid to the floor, but in the commotion of people trying to find money in drawers and trays, the loud sound went unnoticed. She took a deep breath, and remembering the robber's position she had seen, abrupty dashed out from behind the counter.

He was too occupied with making sure the people behind the main desk were working to notice her approach.

"Give it to me! Give me- Ooof! Aghhh!"

His legs were swept out from under him as she tackled him at knee-level.. With a shout of surprise, he scrambled for balance, arms flailing, but ultimately, his shoes slipped on the smooth tile floor and he hit the ground hard.

"What the-!"

She immediately disentangled herself from the robber, scrambling away from his blind swings. Suddenly, something hard hit her on top of her head and bounced behind her. She recoiled and scooted backwards even further, feeling the floor for something that she could use as a weapon.

The man was already standing back up, looking at her murderously and advancing towards her with thunderous steps.

"Youuuuuu...!"

Her fingers closed perfectly around the grip of his gun. Whipping it out, she held it up at the ready, pointing at the robber's chest.

The man froze. In fact, the entire office froze, watching a young girl hold a gun up to a grown man.

Kill him.

A voice echoed somewhere in her mind.

"I... girl, put down the gun. Don't shoot me." He spoke in an eerily calm tone, slowly inching towards her bit by bit.

She ignored him, and held the gun up higher, this time aiming at his head. Now that she had a chance to study him, she realized something wasn't right with the man. His pupils were incredibly small, the whites of his eyes were a sickly yellow, and his entire body shuddered as if he were being shocked every few seconds.

He stopped moving forward.

"Put it down, girl! You don't have the guts to shoot." His voice sounded like he was trying to convince himself as well as her. "Put it down and no one has to get hurt."

The man tried to smile, though it was a horrible, twisted one, full of malice and ill-gotten delight.

That smile would live with her for the rest of her life.

Lies... kill him! Shoot before he hurts me anymore!

What...?

His hand slowly lowered towards the rear side of his belt. Somehow, she knew he had another gun there.

Her arm trembled, the muzzle wavering. The metal was freezing cold against her palm, slowly sapping the heat and life from her until she felt just as icy as the weapon.

I have to shoot.

She had to stop him.

But... but... to kill someone...

Images of the corpse behind her flooded the forefront of her mind. The surprised, blank expression. The gaping, deadly hole. The blood pooled on the floor around his body.

But if she didn't, he would draw another weapon and then shoot her. The image in her mind suddenly changed to one of herself. The same expression. The same hole. The same blood.

I have to... I have to!

The picture changed to that of the face in front of her. Dead, only a corpse on the ground.

Dead because of her. Her breath rattled.

"You can't shoot, little itty-bitty girl."

The robber was gaining confidence, evident in his tone. His arm crept closer to the back of his belt.

I... he's right. I can't shoot.

She knew how much power the little device in her hand could wreck on someone.

But I have to shoot.

She shook her head stiffly. I can't shoot.

Survival and repulsiveness raged at each other within the confines of her head. Her grip tightened and slackened repeatedly on the handle, slick with sweat. Her teeth clenched so hard she felt they might burst like glass.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

I HAVE to shoot. He'll kill me otherwise!

I CAN'T shoot. That's the worst sin a human can commit!

The two images of her and him beat a rhythmic imprint, one after the other, on the inside of her skull.

I have to. One or the other.

I can't.

His hand finally curled around something behind him and he ripped the gun off of his belt in slow motion. A victorious, crazed grin spread on his face. His words stretched with the glue of time as he shouted, voice slurred, "Stupid brat!"

Her hand tightened around the trigger, but as she did, a deluge of gruesome images were spat into her mind.

Killing is bad. The co-worker died, spilling his life onto the floor below him.

Killing is evil. The robber died, choking as his heart pumped out his own blood.

I HAVE to!

Killing is necessary. She died, bullet driving deep into her skull.

No! No! Killing-

HE'S GOING TO KILL US!

I DON'T WANT TO KILL-

Something tore in her mind with a sharp bolt of pain. She cried out. She didn't cry out.

The gun was almost aimed at her, rising inch by inch. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone running towards them.

STOP INTERFERING! WE HAVE TO KILL HIM-

NO! NO! I CAN'T, I WON'T ALLOW-

The man's gun dropped. His hand went limp like a doll's. Her own hand suddenly felt like it was on fire as the weapon in her hands jumped with enough force to push her back into the counter behind her, knocking the breath out of her lungs.

At the same moment, all of the voices ceased inside her head. Bewildered at the sudden, deafening silence, she looked up just in time to meet the spray of blood splattering against her head.

Through the shower, she could see the man's head jerking back, a perfectly round hole right between his eyes.

What...

Then she felt her hand move again, as if guided by someone else. Despite it being dislocated in several places, it accurately aimed the gun at the bottom of the man's head.

He jerked again as his jaw shattered. Red and bits of white went everywhere, splattering across her hands and face. When she opened her eyes again, she could see things that could only be the stuff of nightmares.

Bile rose in her throat.

No... no...

Ahahah... ahahahah...

Someone else used her mouth let out a tiny giggle as her hands were moved once more, completely disregarding the burning pain she felt. Something else pulled a gruesome smile onto her face.

The same smile the man had been wearing just a few moments ago.

Noo... I... I...

This time, his skull exploded like a ripe melon, drenching her with a rain of the remains of what used to be a human head.

---

Chapter 3: Poetic Twilight

---

With a shout, Asada Shino, known as Sinon in this world, bolted upright in bed, gasping for air. Immediately alerted, her «Eevee» lifted her head from the edge of her bed and looked at her strangely.

That... that dream again...

Are you okay?

Sinon wiped her forehead, slick with perspiration. Although this was not her real body, the system read the state of mind and caused her virtual one to release sweat as well. She placed a hand on her heart and evened out her breathing, forcefully calming herself down.

I... yes. I am.

Liar.

The little furry fox wasted no time in shooting down her feeble answer. Sinon gave a weak giggle in response.

Okay, I'm not. She took a deep breath. But I'll be fine. Don't worry.

A disbelieving, icy cold stare was sent her way. Sinon shivered as the temperature in the room suddenly dropped by a few degrees.

This happens all the time. Sinon waved a weary hand. I'll be alright, Hecate.

Hecate sighed, and the room returned to normal as the oppressive presence disappeared. She settled back down and curled up into a ball, seemingly going back to sleep. Very well.

Sinon closed her eyes and shifted backwards, leaning against the head of the bed. The events of the dream ran through her mind again. Somehow, she could still feel the cool, icy feeling of the gun against her right hand. A feeling of revulsion rose up, but at the same time, something inside of her felt satisfied.

Something felt weird with her hand. She looked down at it and jumped back when she saw it was making a gun shape. She slapped it with her other hand, forcing it out of that position, and glared at it.

Did you... no. She shook her head. Enough.

She pulled back the sleeve of her jacket, exposing her iron gray and ice blue «Pokelink». Sliding a finger down the middle strip, she watched as the interface rolled open around her arm.

November 9th...

Three days since the start of «Pokemon Universe», the game that had turned into a death trap on the first day.

Three days, huh...

For a moment, she wondered how many people had died up till now. The thought sent a paralyzing feeling through her as her overactive imagination showed her numerous anonymous people dying in a variety of ways.

I can die now. Just like before... at that time.

Her arm trembled for a second, causing the display to vibrate, before she held it steady.

No... I'll be able to do it. I'll make it out alive. She exhaled. I'll learn to protect myself and others.

I doubt you will, the way you're going.

Sinon slapped herself a second time on her own head and shook it.

Cut it out.

There was no response apart from Hecate raising her head again. What?

Nothing.

Sinon blearily wiped her eyes and opened up her inventory screen. Rolling out of bed, she slowly walked over to a nearby wall mirror, summoning a hairbrush from thin air along the way before flicking away the menus.

She squinted into the glass. Black hair, casually cut short and spiky at the back. Two thin bangs held together by small ribbons. Large, calm black eyes. Pale, slightly unhealthy-looking skin.

Her real life appearance. The only thing that was missing was her glasses, which she felt slightly nervous about. Her glasses didn't have any prescription and didn't correct eyesight; she had 20/20 vision anyways. They were, however, made from a hardened plastic that could stop the impact of a bullet. To her, those glasses were a comfort thing.

Despite having just woken up, from a nightmare no less, her hair was about as neat as it had always been. Sinon looked down at the hairbrush she held and shrugged, stowing it away in a shower of particles.

When she had first entered the game, she had designated her appearance to look like a buffed up, intimidating policewoman. When Kayaba Akihiko had reverted everyone's appearances, she had walked away from the tutorial just about as panicked as everyone else. It was a little disorienting to go from a taller, muscular punky girl back to her original thin, timid appearance.

Game of death.

Her eye caught something odd in her reflection; while she definitely had a neutral expression on, it seemed like the mirror her had a knowing smile on her face.

Turning away abruptly, Sinon splashed her face with some cold water from a basin nearby. The crisp feeling revitalized her, kick-starting her brain back up to normal speeds. When she stared back at the reflective surface, all she could see was her own face staring blankly back at her.

She sighed.

This is not like in the beta test... I can really die. People I hurt will really die. That is why...

And that was why she had to learn to protect everyone by herself. She couldn't rely on anyone else anymore.

Not even her. Never her.

As had become her daily routine, even in the beta, Sinon curled her hand up. Middle, ring, and pinkie in; index and thumb out.

Her index finger jammed, leaving her with a thumb-up sign. A sickening feeling brewed in the pits of her stomach. Her sight tunneled, and everything went blurry except for her shaking hand.

I could do this in the beta... I could do this before!

Something began to whine, a high-pitched screech audible only to her. She instinctively shrank, shying away from the noise.

Darnit... do it. Do it! I have to. I have to get used to it.

Then get used to it.

Suddenly, her eyesight distorted for a moment. When everything came back into focus, her vision was overlayed with the recollection of a pitch-black pistol, nestled snugly in her hand. Her index was suddenly released from its lock, instantly fitting into the imaginary trigger.

The metal bit into her body heat, draining her energy like a black hole. Everything felt so cold.

She watched in horror as the digit pressed down on the trigger. The muzzle flashed bright.

Something red flew past her eyes. Something wet splattered against her cheek. Something akin to joy stirred in her heart.

Sinon let out a blood-curling scream and flung the imaginary gun away from herself, collapsing to the ground. She landed on painfully on her behind and backed up blindly, back slamming into the wall behind her. Her breath came out in hard, short gasps as she felt her heart pound like a caged animal. Fear and disgust drove every last bit of that strange feeling out of her body.

She stared at the floor in front of her, then felt the side of her face. There definately had been something-

Nothing.

Her hand patted back and forth. Just skin. She lowered her arm and inspected her palm: no gun. She tentatively clenched and unclenched it.

A feeling of despair swamped up within her, and she buried her face in her hands.

Why...

Ever since that day, Sinon had suffered from a multitude of mental disabilities, one of which was a deliberating fear of firearms, or more accurately, any ranged weapon with a trigger. Just looking at one in a picture, a movie, or even a childish handgun, would mentally paralyze her with an overload of fear.

By the end of the beta, Sinon had progressed immensely regarding getting rid of her phobia. She had literally fainted trying to form the shape with her hand to call out her weapon, and when she woke up, fainted again when the weapon materialized. As time wore on and she repeatedly did the actions during the beta, the effects had eventually been reduced to a weakness in her legs and a dull headache. She even hunted alongside her Pokemon without any trouble whatsoever.

She had felt normal. Free.

If I was that much better back then, why am I reacting so badly now!?

Shaking and sweating from head to toe, Sinon stared at the floorboards between her legs. Continued flashes of memory from the nightmare she had just woken up from stabbed into her head as something inside her laughed at her own weakness, taunting her with a sadistic grin.

I don't... ever want to go through this again...

Suddenly, a few soothing memories not of her own intruded upon her thoughts; running freely through the streets of Starting City; munching on a piece of bread with relish, the joy of victory at leveling up the day before; among others. Sinon felt her heart slow down, back to normal. The tormenting memories faded away behind a veil.

...Thank you. Sinon muttered gratefully. Her mental voice sounded slightly gravelly.

Hecate said nothing and simply got up, stretching like a cat.

Food.

Hecate was the «Pokemon» Sinon had received as a starter from the laboratory. The machine had rated her "a darker shade of gray" and listed some uncannily precise things about her that had completely creeped her out. She had left the place in a hurry.

The first thing that had struck her when she called out the Eevee was her apparent cuteness; Fluffy collar, large ears, furry tail. Pure hug-material. Then, when she tried to link with her, the calm, cool, and collected personality had struck a huge contrast between her appearance and her mind. She didn't take nonsense for an answer, and never spoke any words more than what was necessary. Rarely did she ever show emotions at all, and most of the time it was sarcasm and worry.

Despite that, she took orders without complaint, like a perfect soldier. Sometimes, she even referred to Sinon as commander. It felt like she had been born into an army camp. Thus, she was mostly interested in two of the most important things in an army: battle and her next meal.

And although she was slightly rude at times, Sinon could tell that deep down, she had a kind heart and cared for her.

For that, she was thankful. She didn't know what kind of state she'd be in without Hecate's support to help her with her phobia.

She nodded, slowly normalizing her breathing. She wiped the sweat from her brow.

Sure.

Anything to occupy her mind, so it wouldn't wander back to those bad dreams.

---

Sinon stepped out and shielded her eyes against the morning sunlight, blinking back spots as her eyes adjusted to the glare. Purposely not thinking anything about guns or fighting, she hopped down the steps in a slightly childish manner. Hecate slipped out the door of the inn beside her, jumping down the steps in one bound and sauntering ahead, sniffing the air.

«Twinleaf Town» was one of the six beginner's areas, all of which had a few levels difference in difficulty above «Starting City's» surrounding area. Out of the other five, Twinleaf was the one with the most useful quests for long-lasting equipment, so Sinon had decided to travel there after a night of worried thinking in Starting City.

It was a small village. A few residential houses and a «Pokemon Laboratory», centered around a small fountain. Despite that, its residents were kind and willing to help travelers. One could find lodging in any of the houses for a much cheaper price than anywhere else. The accommodations were basic, but the quaint air and friendly community more than made up for that.

As the days wore on and fall began to change into winter, the trees around Twinleaf Town would eventually lose their leaves and a thin blanket of snow would fall. For now though, only a heralding breeze whistled through the trees. Sinon shivered at its touch and slung on her jacket.

Hecate seemed to like the chilly weather, though. She trotted ahead, raising her nose to the sky and enjoying the breeze play about her fur. Her face lost the usual expressionless mask and she actually seemed to be happy, a small smile adorning her cheeks.

You sure like this colder weather, don't you?

Immediately, Hecate donned the usual poker face and turned to face her emotionlessly. Nope. Nope. Definitely not.

The Eevee's obvious lie managed to bring a small smile to her face, dispelling some of the dark clouds that had been hanging over her.

Come on, breakfast.

She set out towards a nearby building with a plaque bearing a cup of broth hanging off of a pole over its front door. Despite being slightly more expensive than the usual 1 «Poke» «Black Bread» sold everywhere, Sinon felt she could use some 5 Poke «Basic Soup» to help her whiff off the cold wind. If she was lucky, she'd get a few small pieces of meat in it too.

Half an hour later, she emerged from the tavern with a figurative bulging belly. Hecate tumbled lazily down the front steps like a «Donphan» down a hillside; she had eaten two servings of food. The «Eevee» was a huge glutton, a fact Sinon found amusing. It seemed that along with a soldier's attitude she had also inherited a soldier's appetite.

Sinon looked down at the steaming bowl of hot soup, a few chunks of meat floating in the savory broth. She had purchased the meal as a take out for her lunch, but the memory of the food dancing on her tongue was still nagging at her mind. Smelling the aromas that arose from the dish, her patience was sorely tested.

Ruefully, she returned the food back to her inventory, watching it disappear into thin air.

Yum. Full. Straightening up, Hecate shook herself down, dislodging several leaves stuck in her fur. Let's go.

Sinon's mood somewhat dampened upon remembering what she was going to have to do today.

Uhn.

She took off at a light jog towards one of the houses on the outskirts of Twinleaf, scrolling out her menu to quickly check the time as she went. Hecate followed her, her gait slightly unsteady with the large quantity of soup in her belly.

A bell tinkled somewhere as Sinon pushed open the wooden door, stepping inside the house. Closing the door after Hecate slipped in, Sinon immediately felt the massive difference in temperature and fanned her face. Glancing over at the roaring fireplace, she grimaced and unzipped her jacket to cool down just a bit more. Hecate just plopped down on the floor and seemed to melt.

Hot.

It was a one-roomed dwelling, though spacious. The place was the same as always; a staircase in the far corner leading to an attic, a few sewing looms on a worktop in the other corner, and a small counter next to the door. The old woman behind the counter nodded to her before returning to her newspaper.

She hurried over to the sewing station, where three young girls were hard at work spinning cloth into clothing. Walking over to the one on the far left, a girl in her mid-twenties with long brown hair, Sinon watched as she painstakingly wove on the end to a fluffy, warm-looking comforter.

When the girl finished her work, she lowered her hands and blew her hair aside. She glanced over to Sinon and smiled. "Hello there, trainer. What brings you here today?"

Sinon waved needlessly and asked, "Is there anything I could do for you?"

The first time someone came in and asked that girl the question, they would be sent on a trip to eliminate some of the nearby low-level «Bellsprout» for consuming the local «Wurmple» population and ruining their evolved cocoon forms with their acidic juices. After they turned in the quest, they'd receive a paltry amount of Poke and EXP, and the woman would only send them on the same mission again if asked. Most would stop and go somewhere else for more rewarding quests.

If they were persistent enough to complete the quest three times, though, the next time they asked if there was anything they could do, they would receive a different mission with far better rewards.

The woman nodded and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You're the trainer that helped us out yesterday, right? I'm really grateful for that."

"No problem."

"If it won't trouble you too much, this time, could you go collect some «Silcoon» silk for us? We would make sure it would be worth your time."

As a weaving, tailoring house, of course they'd need more supplies of material to work with. Sinon nodded in response. "I'd be glad to."

She blinked as a small notice appeared in her vision, informing her that she had accepted the quest «Silk Supply». The window minimized to the side, and an icon pulsed, showing that she had one quest in her quest log.

The weaver smiled. "Thank you. We're always low on supply here. «Professor Birch» always orders new clothes from us. Who knows what he does with all of them? Oh, and make sure it's not «Cascoon» silk! Those are like poison ivy; itchy to the skin. We can't work with them."

Sinon politely excused herself and exited the room, back out into the fresh morning air. Compared to the warmth of the room, the outside was just about as cold as a fridge, which suited Sinon just fine. She stepped down the flight of steps.

The reward for this quest is a wider range of the «Blaster» and «Cannon» type subcategory weapons. Although they don't have any of the other types, with this, I can get the type of weapon I don't react to as much...

Hecate visibly regained her life energy after stepping outside. She romped out and surveyed the area with renewed energy. That's better. I hate hot places.

Sinon had to agree. The cold was endurable, and Sinon felt she operated far better both athletically and academically during the wintertime. During the summer, she would usually be lying on her bed half-asleep and completely unable to function.

Silcoon... Silcoon...

If she remembered correctly, Silcoon were located in the forest west of Littleroot, along with an abundance of their pre-evolved form «Wurmple». The general level range of that area was from three to six, so it should be easy for someone like Sinon, who was at level five. Although it wasn't about as high as people who would have rushed risky quests such as the «Discoloration» quest that Professor Birch gave out, it was still an impressive level.

She drew out her menu again and pulled out a general map of the Pokemon Universe continent, studying her current position.

They should be here... she laid a finger on the floating screen, on a small blue dot somewhere to the right of the large area marked «Starting City». A few ripple effects spread out from the point of contact. Yes. Here. To the east.

Minimizing the map, she stared at the menu and after a moment of hesitation, opened up her Pokemon menu to check Hecate's stat values and attack list for reference. The pokemon in question looked up at her from her sitting position and waited patiently for her to finish.

Ten minutes passed and Hecate looked up at her again, blinking curiously. Sinon?

...

In reality, she didn't need to check the statistics. She had already spent a long time the previous day looking at both Hecate's and her own statistics. By now, she could easily recite them by heart. What she was really doing was looking for an excuse to delay the quest, despite her own wishes to get it over with faster.

I don't want to go through that again...

Disgust and disdain not belonging to her rose from her heart.

...Sinon? Hecate prodded her mentally.

Alright, alright... Sinon sighed and stowed away the interfaces with a wave of her hand. She set her eyes on the large forest to the west a ways away and grimly set her jaw before heading over to a small gap in between buildings.

I have to get over it. I will get over it, again. I can do it.

Leaning up against the side of the weaver's guild house, she looked around to make sure she was alone and then closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for summoning her weapon again.

"Alright, Sinon..." she muttered. "I'll prove it to you."

She took a deep breath, coughing when she inhaled too quickly. A small feeling of worry emanated from Hecate over their link.

I'll be fine.

Sinon brushed aside Hecate's query and, mind concentrating on the random image of the Eevee's nose, "casually" made the gesture. Her entire consciousness focused on that one thought, attempting to ignore what she was doing.

Despite that, she still subconsciously knew what exactly she was doing. Even as she felt the «Cannon» materialize in her hand, her sense of balance suddenly lurched to the side and she knelt down hard in the dirt, leaning on the weapon for support. A deathly numb feeling slowly spread from where her hands made contact with the cool steel.

It's not a gun.

But the handle in her grip could only belong to a gun.

Definitely not a killing machine.

She could feel her finger resting delicately on the trigger as her life slowly flowed from her into the weapon. Her body felt as weak as a skeleton.

Not a gun. I'm learning how to use it... to protect...

Pulling that trigger while the cannon was pointed at someone would mean death.

To kill someone.

Even though her stomach seemed to fall into a void and a nail of pain drove into her forehead, she felt a delighted sensation twitch the corners of her lips up.

Sinon immediately rearranged the expression into a grimace and punched her arm. She squeezed her eyes shut against the pain. Although she would have loved nothing more than to toss the abomination in her hands away and be done with it, she still held on and preservered.

Get a grip! You have to-

She jumped as something bumped into her head.

Silly human. Hecate landed deftly on the ground from where she had headbutted Sinon. She looked up into her eyes, a soothing light in her usually ice-blue irises.

Something mentally boosted her up, giving her muscles their feeling again. The fear and pain drilling into her nerves dulled, reduced to a mere ache. Her breathing slowly evened out.

You can do it, Sinon.

Sinon glanced at the Cannon she held in her hands. Her heart jumped as the light winked off of its silver surface, but she didn't collapse again. Tentatively, she lifted it to a firing position, hand trembling.

The entire pose felt unnatural, the same as the feeling one gets when their arm is twisted behind their back, but her condition didn't get any worse. She slowly stood up: no change. Her body still shivered periodically but it was manageable.

She placed a hand on her face and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Her forehead was slick with sweat.

Where would I be without you...

You would be fine. You're strong, for a human. Come on.

Without waiting for an answer, Hecate jumped off and dashed out of the alleyway.

---

In...

Out...

In...

Out...

Focus...

Line up the target... The eyes.

...

It was always at this point. Something in her always hitched up.

I'm holding a killing machine.

Sinon took a deep, calming breath, but the unrest inside of her refused to go away. She felt slightly nauseous.

This thing can take lives.

A full half minute later, her stomach felt like it had settled down. An inaudible click sounded as she pulled the trigger.

For the slightest moment, a red line shone on the target before vanishing.

A blue particle beam shot out of the mouth of the «Cyber Cannon», quickly traveling the distance between her and the sleeping «Silcoon».

Although the attack technically was fast, it was a lot slower than the speed of a bullet in real life. In order to balance out the power between melee and ranged weapons, the beams from ranged-type weapons chips had a bit of a travel time, allowing enemies to dodge the attacks should they be quick enough.

In addition, all of them bar the «Sniper Rifle» subcategory of Cannons had a targeting beam that lasted an instant before the attack went out. For Sniper Rifles, their first shot had no warning line.

On a side note, what Sinon aimed to collect from this quest was a Sniper Rifle weapon's chip. For now, she was stuck with the beginner's weapon, which had pretty terrible stats, and still had the prediction line.

Against an immobile, unaware enemy, however...

The laser blasted against the hardened shell of the Silcoon, driving it into the dirt and eating burning a large hole into its carapace. The HP bar wrapped around it dropped by about forty percent.

Missed the eyes...

Needless to say, it woke up. The red eye on the side that she could see glared balefully at Sinon, who was hiding in the bushes around ten meters away. With the sound of stretching plastic, the spines on its cocoon angled to point towards her hiding spot as they glowed a dull purple, indicating it was preparing for a «Poison Sting» attack.

Hecate dropped out of the tree above it like a ninja and pummeled the unfortunate Pokemon into the ground with a gravity-enhanced «Tackle», wiping out another chunk of HP. She raised her paw again, and proceeded to attack it, clawing into the cocoon and biting it, slowly depleting the bar even more.

With a final cry, the Pokemon fired three purple spikes randomly. Two of them were neatly dodged by Hecate, while the last one zoomed towards Sinon's hiding spot. Grunting, she rolled out of the way just in time for it to whizz by her cheek.

The Silcoon burst into shards of light like an overloaded water balloon.

Ding!

"«Silcoon Silk» x1 acquired. «Silk Dew» x1 accquired."

Are you okay?

Yes...

Her gaze wandered up to the upper right corner of her vision, where a counter listed the amount of quest items she still needed to complete the quest. After an hour of sluggish farming, she had only chanced upon fourteen Silcoons in total. The weaver's guild requested fifty.

She had also found two Silk Dew. She had no idea what they were for, but she held onto them anyways.

The difficulty was compounded considering the number of Silcoons was not very high. Unless a wild «Wurmple» leveled up to seven and spun their web around themselves, which was highly unlikely, all hunters had to rely on was the base rate. To make them even more rare, their already low spawn rate was split fifty-fifty between them and «Cascoons», which did not drop the right quest item.

This will... take a while. Sinon ruefully thought.

She blinked the sweat out of her eyes and stood up stiffly, as if her joints had rusted over in the short time she had been lying there. A pang laced through her right arm, and she rubbed it. Hecate stealthily navigated between the trees over to her side, trotting ahead and scanning the area with her enhanced senses.

Compared to the population of the target Pokemon, though, Wurmple, «Zigzagoon», and «Poochyena» were in abundance, stalking through the trees. Though individually weak, Wurmples and Poochyenas commonly attacked in swarms/packs to make up for it. That was why Sinon was taking out the Silcoon using her own attacks to snipe the mob and having Hecate finish the job off close range: to cause as little noise and disturbance as possible.

It should have been a relatively straightforward chain. Trek around quietly, find one, take it out quietly. Rinse and repeat.

Sinon leaned against a nearby tree, resting her forehead against the rough bark. The world seemed to be wobbling underneath her feet, back and forth like the deck of a ship in a storm. When she looked up, the trees seemed to be growing sideways.

...

She slid down the side of the side of the trunk, landing heavily on the dry earth below her. Her legs felt as weak as twigs. A dull, painful ache came from her right hand. Belatedly, the realization came to her that she hadn't relaxed her iron grip on that weapon since they had started hunting; her hand was still tightly clenching around it like an iron vise. If this had been the real world, her hand would have been covered with bruises.

Then again, in the real world, she would have been frothing at the mouth a long time ago.

It wasn't just her fear of guns, her PTSD, anymore. It was also her own mental state. She had trouble with hurting things in general. Back in her first year of high school, she had been set upon by a trio of bullies looking for an easy target. Despite being obviously threatened with raised fists, she just couldn't fight back, she couldn't even raise her own fist. She couldn't bear to hurt them.

I've found another one, Sinon. There's a clear shot from the thicket at your two o'clock.

Pushing her discomfort down, Sinon processed the information and shook her head to clear it. As stealthily as she could with her headache, she crept over to the bush that Hecate had pointed out and knelt, pulling her weapon under her shoulder. She clumsily lowered her head to peer through side scope.

The cocoon covered was resting on the side of the a tree. It hung there, seemingly without any support, but Sinon knew that it was simply using its spikes and the gummy kind of silk to stick to the vertical surface. A small depression, made visible by the shadows on its surface, marked where its eye was. Sinon aimed carefully at that area.

Every Pokemon had a certain «Weak Point». Targeting that area resulted in higher damage, or in the event one was trying to capture it, higher success rate. Sometimes the Weak Point was pretty obvious, like an unprotected spot in their armor, but other times it was a spot just like any other. For example, a Silcoon or a Cascoon's eyes were their weak points. A «Clamperl» would be damaged more if the attack landed on the pearl inside the shell. On the other hand, the weak point on a «Victreebel» was the exact center of its eggplant-shaped body, with nothing to actually mark it.

Ready. Hecate was in position to pounce on the mob. Sinon replied with an affirmative and focused on targeting.

A red reticule, visible only to her, appeared on the Silcoon's body. Slowly tilting the angle of the weapon, she aligned the red dot in the middle with its closed eye. Because this weapon was not one focusing on precision, the marker visibly shivered back and forth. In addition, the system sensed Sinon's frantically beating heart and added even more instability, lowering her chance of hitting on target.

Well... it can't be helped...

She inhaled, and-

Am I going to fight to hurt someone again?

-hesitated once again.

Fighting to kill someone, just like that time?

Sinon squared her shoulders and banished the thoughts from her mind. She focused on the Silcoon.

This isn't fighting.

An image appeared in her head: three high school girls lying prone, bloodied and beaten half to death, begging for mercy with broken voices.

It's to protect people like them from you.

"Preeew!"

The mouth of the cannon flashed, spewing a quick ray of light that nearly missed the Poochyena as it dashed by. It missed, drilling into the tree a foot to the right of where the Silcoon had been clinging; the Pokemon had already fallen to the ground in two neat halves. The «Dark» type Pokemon twisted in midair, the laser just barely grilling the tips of the fur on its back.

Sinon watched the pieces hit the ground with a disgusting mushy sound before dissolving away.

...huh?

Hecate's surprise was no less than Sinon's. Startled, the «Eevee» fell right out of the tree she had been hiding in, landing directly on top of the Poochyena. The Pokemon on the bottom was flattened, a loud huff of air forced out of it.

Its entire body flickered. Red accents appeared on the tips of its paws, and a large ruff blinked into existence around its neck. Sinon vaguely registered that its tail was fat and bushy, not at all like the usual long thin tails of a normal Poochyena.

Before she could react to this in any way, however, the hair on the back of her neck rose on an end. Repetitive crunches sounded as footsteps quickly made their way towards her. A warning light flashed in her head and she quickly got up from her lying down position, scrambling backwards.

Without warning, something grabbed her by the leg and rooted her to the ground. Sinon gasped in surprise more than in pain, scrabbling with her free hand at her thighs, but there was nothing there. The invisible force didn't budge no no matter how much she beat at her leg. It was a peculiar feeling, feeling something tight binding her there but unable to see or feel the thing holding her in place.

Out of nowhere, a boot impacted her chest and she fell back, hitting the dry earth with a cry. Winded, she looked up frantically to see a figure cast in shadow from the light filtering through the trees standing on top of her. From what Sinon could tell from his darkened features, he was a boy just about her own age.

Sinon! Hecate shouted before being attacked again by the "Poochyena".

"Who are you!?"

The figure barked out a question with a tone saturated with suspicion. His eyes were narrowed, and his gritted teeth stood out among the shadows of his face. A sword pointed at her face, the tip gleaming a dull silver.

"Wait, no, I-" Sinon stuttered out before being cut off.

"Why did you attack-"

Sinon felt her arm suddenly lash out of its own accord, swinging the broadside of the cannon like a club. With a curse, the boy jumped back to avoid the blow. He landed lightly on the balls of his feet and crouched down in a stance, blade up and at the ready. His eyes watched her carefully, tracking her every action.

Immediately after attacking, Sinon's body rolled up the best sitting position she could make with her leg pinned down. A strange, fiery excitement started brewing in her soul at the same time horror spread out from her core like wildfire.

"W-wait, wait!" Sinon cried out.

Some part of her shouted back, Don't interfere!

No! Stop!

As her arm rose to aim the Cannon at the boy, Sinon clamped down on it with her other hand, blocking it from moving any further. The rogue limb actively resisted, dead-set on raising the weapon high enough to fire. Sinon would have none of it, forcibly regaining control over the rest of her body and slamming her right arm into the ground ferociously.

I will PROTECT others from now on!

The cannon rolled out of her stunned fingers.

Sinon looked up to see the boy staring at her with a bewildered expression, sword still in a position to quickly dice her. She quickly raised both her hands up in a gesture of surrender; her right arm was once again under her control. "Wait! I'm sorry! It was a misunderstanding."

He just stared at her. Sinon slowly lowered her arms and crossed them protectively over her chest.

"Um... um..." She desperately searched for something to say while her heart pounded a tattoo against the inside of her ribcage. Her cheeks were steaming red with embarrassment and tension before she finally blurted out, "I was about to attack that Silcoon and I had no idea you were there too. I didn't intend to fire at your pokemon! I'm not your enemy! I'm sorry!"

The boy slowly lowered his sword, still looking at her with suspicion. "You're not?"

"Yes! Positive." Sinon's right hand twitched, and she grabbed it to keep it from moving. Stop!

Those deep, black eyes followed her movement. "Then why did you attack me with your cannon?"

Sinon hesitated. How could she ever tell anyone about her, for the lack of a better word, condition?

"I... I can't tell you."

"Can't tell me?" The edged weapon came back up to point squarely at her neck. He slowly stepped towards her. "Why should I trust you then!?"

The sight of imminent danger stirred something ominous inside of her. Her limbs suddenly grew numb, and she couldn't feel them anymore.

Wait, stop-

Her eyes caught sight of her fingers reaching out for her cannon, lying a foot away; she immediately jerked back, placing it out of her reach.

No, no, stop! Not like that time-

-"I'm sorry, I won't do it again- Please, mercy...!" the girl croaked, bleeding all over one side of her face. A hand, holding her skull tightly, ignored her words as it continued to mash her head into the wall as a sadistic laugh burst out-

Her throat constricted as the vivid memory played through her mind, and she burst out, "Please! Stop! I-"

Sinon inhaled sharply as the pressure around her leg suddenly vanished. Instinctively, she drew her leg back towards herself protectively, not moving an inch. Likewise, the boy froze, no longer advancing towards her.

The bushes to her left rustled and before she could turn her head, a Zigzagoon was thrown bodily past her vision, dissolving into particles as it went. She looked over to the source of the sound to see a small Pokemon emerge from the undergrowth, arm outstretched and glowing a faint purple. Humanoid and about the size of a small child, with hair shaped like a green bowl cut and large, soulful eyes peeking out from under it. From what Sinon could see, it seemed like its eyes were two different colors. Two red emotion spikes stood out from the front and back of its head.

A «Ralts», she realized. The feeling Pokemon. «Psychic» type; she now knew who had been holding her leg down.

The Pokemon regarded her curiously, then turned to look at the boy, who appeared to be his trainer. Something passed between them, and the boy lowered his weapon.

No longer sensing any danger, the strange feeling inside of Sinon let out a dissatisfied vibe and vanished. She hugged herself tightly, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes.

Almost... again...

A few seconds passed in awkward silence.

"...I'm sorry. Raphael here tells me you weren't lying." He shifted uncomfortably, now knowing that he had nearly attacked a person innocent of the crime he thought she had committed. "So it was... just a mistake?"

Oh. Being able to sense emotions, the Ralts family line were incredibly good at detecting whether a person was lying or not. Sinon swallowed nodded. "I'm sorry. I should have been more aware of my surroundings... and I'm sorry for trying to hit you."

Her voice came out hoarse, like she hadn't drunk any water for a year.

"No, no..." The boy scratched his head, abashed. He let out a deep sigh. "Normally I'm not so high-strung. It's just recently, that-" He hesitated. "-nevermind. But why did you attack back?"

Sinon swallowed. Be as vague as possible. "A condition."

"A condition? What-"

He stopped mid-sentence and looked over to his left. Sinon followed his gaze: a second later, the boy's Poochyena hopped out from behind the leaves and ran over to its trainer.

"Hecate!"

She stood up and ran over to her Eevee as she emerged from the bushes right after the Poochyena did. Emanating worry, she checked over her body; apart from a few light scratches, she was alright. Her HP bar was still at around eighty-five percent as well. The Pokemon squirmed under her examination, her little face scrunched up in a rare expression of embarrassment.

I'm alright. I'm alright. That's enough. She complained. Her tone turned a little somber. I'm sorry I contributed to this mess.

Wait-

I shouldn't have fallen out of the tree to make the situation worse. Hecate looked down, staring at the ground. I could have assisted you when... I knew what was happening to you, over the link, but I couldn't...

No... don't worry. Sinon hugged Hecate lightly. It'll be fine.

That doesn't excuse my bad performance.

You did great. Soothing Hecate helped do the same to herself; the dread squeezing her heart began to unknot. Did that Poochyena hurt-

Hecate denied it. We tumbled in the dirt for a while before I could convince her that I wasn't attacking her... She showed Sinon a wild memory of her scuffle; trying to ward off the attacks of a black fox while trying to bark an explanation. Then when she finally decided to listen a bit, she apparently got some order from her trainer and ran off. I just followed her.

Sinon frowned. The enemy in the memory was definitely not a Poochyena. Poochyena had pure black fur, but this one had red accents.

The Poochyena's an illusion. Hecate glanced over at the boy and his two partners. It fizzled away when I landed on her by accident. It seems the image is solid, but disappears when hit...

Sinon followed her line of sight. Right now at least, it definitely looked like a Poochyena- except for the bushy tail. I've never seen that kind of Pokemon before. It must be really rare.

The boy was leaning over the "Poochyena", carefully making sure she was okay, checking her fur and probably asking if there were any wounds anywhere. He really seemed to be concerned for her well-being.

Sinon hadn't seen any of it herself, but in the first few days of the game, she had overheard some people talking of certain people «PKing», or Player Killing, other players to help themselves to the trainer's Pokemon when they were freed. From what she knew, she guessed that something similar must of happened to this player as well.

The boy coughed, drawing her attention. He stood up from his kneeling position and grabbed his collar with an embarrassed air, biting his lower lip. "Well... my apologies. You're doing the «Silk Supply» quest, right?"

She nodded in response. He nodded back awkwardly, turning to leave. "I'll go now. Sorry for disturbing-"

"Wait!"

He turned around to face her again, a question on his face. Sinon immediately felt blood rush to her cheeks. What was she doing?

Her mouth seemed to move on its own again.

"Um... um..." Clumsily stepping over her words, she finally fumbled out, "You're doing the same quest, right? Would you like to party with me?"

Surprise registered on his face as his Poochyena fell over onto its side. He stared at her.

What are you doing!? She screamed internally. Her internal organs all seemed to roll over and die. Are you... are you... We just had a misunderstanding, why are you...

For some reason though, she knew that she was the one controlling her mouth. It was all her. She could feel a part of herself laughing at her own actions.

What was I thinking!?

The answer was, she didn't hadn't been thinking, Sinon realized as she shrank under the boy's unreadable gaze.

I can still back out, take back what I said-

"You are not my enemy."

Sinon blinked. "Eh?"

The boy repeated his words in a far more serious tone than before. "You are not my enemy, right?"

"Um... no."

"Okay then. I'll party with you."

His expression didn't change as he uttered those words. After Sinon continued to stare at him in surprise, though, he looked away with a tint of pink on his face, gritting his teeth. "What?"

"Uhh..." Sinon's mouth flapped open, but no words came out. She feebly managed an, "Um, thank you."

Wordlessly, the boy flipped open a menu and selected a few options. A notice materialized in front of her.

«Kirito would like to form a party with you!»

Kiri...to? Sinon mentally pronounced the name.

Sinon tapped the «Yes» option, bowing her head. "Sorry."

Kirito frowned at her. "It's fine. It was like you said... a misunderstanding... " His eyes traveled to his HUD, where Sinon's name should have appeared. "...Sinon-san?"

"Just call me Sinon." She gazed down at her hands. "No, for partying with you. For taking up your time..."

Kirito shrugged as he walked away. His earlier awkwardness had mostly vanished, replaced by a bit of a lonely aura. "This coincides with what I have to do anyways. It makes it easier as well; you snipe them from afar while Raphael and your Eevee deal with the rest of its HP. I'll take care of any surrounding mobs. Oh, and you can keep the Silk drops."

"Eh?" Sinon was taken aback. She scrambled to her feet and picked up her cannon, chasing after him. "Don't you need them?"

"No." Kirito opened up a menu and a whole pile of Silcoon Silk dropped out of nowhere in a heap in front of her. Both Sinon and Hecate yipped in surprise, flinching as the mess landed on the ground with a soft thump. "Here. I have no use for it, and it's taking up my inventory space. It's only all worth a few «Poke» if I sell it directly to the store anyways."

Sinon tentatively tapped the pile, and an informational window opened up, detailing the item and the quantity: Silcook Silk x19.

That's a lot. Hecate whispered, impressed despite herself.

"Wow... wait, thank you, but why don't you need these?"

"I'm not doing the same quest as you." Kirito replied with a shrug, raising a hand. "Don't thank me. Though in return, if you find any Silk Dew, can I have them?"

"Silk Dew?" Sinon froze for a bit, thinking, then opened up her inventory. She selected the two that she had and they materialized in her hands; little test-tube shaped containers holding a clear liquid. "Do you mean these?"

He visibly brightened. "Yes! Can I have those?"

After Sinon handed them over, he stowed them away with a happy grin on his face. "Thanks! That saves me a ton of time! And by the way, I'm Kirito."

Sinon had to smile a bit at the childish happiness on his face. "Nice to meet you Kirito-san... please take care of me. And, um... no problem."

"Just Kirito is fine. Alright! Let's get going."

She continued to watch as he ran over to his Ralts, Raphael, and told him to do a scan on the surrounding area. The instantaneous mood change upon receiving the items really lightened the mood in the area. Sinon sighed, a helpless smile on her face.

Perhaps it'll be okay. I'll party with him for a while... it'll be fine, right?

---

"Is there something wrong with your weapon?"

"Huh?"

Sinon looked up into Kirito's face from her steaming hot bowl of soup. The gentle aroma of a succulent combination of herbs and choice meat cuts wafted into her nose, bringing her stomach to a rolling rumble. Her spoon was frozen halfway between her bowl and her mouth.

Now, they were on a lunch break. The whole party was under the shade of a tree sitting in a «Safe Zone», where no wild pokemon would enter. Kirito's mouth was half full of «Black Bread», while both of his Pokemon munched on the same thing with a slightly dissatisfied vibe. Hecate sat in Sinon's lap in the shade of the tree they rested against, lapping up a bit of savory soup from time to time. The «Eevee's» stomach was sort of like a camel's; when she ate, she ate twice as much as everyone else, but she always skipped lunch.

The entire procedure had gone rather smoothly; while Sinon, Hecate, and Kirito's «Ralts», Raphael, quickly took out the Silcoon they chanced upon, Kirito and his "«Poochyena»" went around hunting down all the trash mobs within range. In this fashion, they stormed the forest with hardly a pause, amounting to almost double the amount of farm normally would have done had they adventured alone. After several hours of farming, Sinon had finally nearly completed her quest, with only five more «Silcoon Silk» left to go. Kirito had hoarded every «Silk Dew» they found and said that he only needed one more.

It had been infinitely more fun and eventful than traveling alone. Having someone to talk to and chat with crushed the loneliness in her heart almost immediately and once past her initial antisocialness, she began to really enjoy his company. Kirito was an amiable companion once you got to know him, gently teasing Sinon and Hecate and comically overreacting at the slightest things.

However...

"You take, like, five to ten seconds in between aiming and shooting." Kirito held up his hands and acted out a time lag, nearly dropping his food in the process. Diving down to catch it before it hit the grass underneath them, he scrambled back to his feet and scratched his hair, stuffing the rest of the bread into his mouth. "Is there anything wrong with your weapon? Its durability shouldn't be below ten within three days, so I don't think so... but I can't think of any other explanation."

Sinon still had problems with shooting. The mental support from Hecate helped immensely, calming her nerves and reducing her phobia by a huge amount, but she still hung up every single time she was about to shoot. Hurting other things was like anathema to her.

This is to protect others. To learn to protect others.

Repeating that phrase inside her mind eventually unknotted her unwilling muscles enough for her to shoot, but it was still against her own nature.

She had hoped, though, that he wouldn't notice anything wrong with her. That he would be to preoccupied with the «Wurmple» and «Zigzagoon» mobs attacking them, but her hopes had failed her.

In a modern society where firearms were everywhere, it didn't take long for her fellow students to learn she was deathly afraid of those kinds of weapons. People went from friendly to treating her with disdain and mock sympathy. A few people went further and researched into the incident in her past, spreading degrading rumors about her. They called her a freak, a weirdo, a coward for being scared of guns of all things. Those who knew more called her worse.

About two months into her first year of high school, several older girls, whom had treated her kindly before, had cornered Sinon in a lonely hallway. They tortured her with that knowledge, carrying model guns and using their fingers to make gun imitations, casually insulting her using details from that incident. She had immediately frozen up, and they had taken that opportunity to steal her bag. After that they had spent a minute taunting her, branding her as a murderer and subhuman scum.

Then they had tried to kick her and hurt her.

The outcome of that event had forced her to move far away to another school where the rumors couldn't follow her, and convinced her it was never, ever good for anyone else to learn of her past, nor her phobia. Even in her new school, she had gone out of her way to avoid social contact with almost everyone there.

If Kirito knew... he'd treat her just like everyone else did.

"Ah, um..." Sinon searched for a plausible excuse. Unable to come up with one, she just shrugged and replied lamely, "A habit."

"A habit." Kirito repeated. Hecate looked up at Sinon, and the girl could swear the Eevee's face contained the message, "You couldn't dodge a question to save your life."

"I... sort of don't want to talk about it." Sinon bowed her head. "Sorry."

"So... this habit," Kirito continued, oblivious to Sinon's discomfort. He tossed out a guess: "Are you afraid of bugs?"

"What? No." Sinon shot the notion down immediately. "Bugs are fine. I'm not afraid of bugs."

To tell the truth, they did creep her out a little, but not to the point where it was a phobia. Her skin would crawl and she'd prefer to stay as far away from those types as possible, but she would be fine if she had to interact with them.

Hecate yawned and jumped off her lap as she wandered over to Kirito's pokemon, beginning a small conversation as well.

Kirito, misreading Sinon's instantaneous denial, grinned childishly like a kid finding a new creature to play with. "You sureee? What if I find a Wurmple somewhere... and plop it on your head?"

She knew now that he was just teasing, trying to change the subject from his earlier question. Sinon was grateful for that, playing along for a bit while a small smile broke out on her face. "Please no. Spare me that."

When Sinon had been in elementary and middle school, before the incident, she had had a group of friends who had constantly teased everyone like this. Something restricting lifted from her heart as she began a light, playful banter with Kirito, easing away the pressure from the day.

It felt nice to have someone to talk to normally again, just for fun.

"Let's see how stoic you'll be with three Wurmples crawling all over your head and spewing string all over your face, eh?

A shudder. "Fine, I find them disgusting, but I wouldn't be afraid of them! Well, what about you? How'd you react?"

"Me? I'd cut em up before they even got close!" He chuckled, and, infected by his mirth, Sinon could only join in. "Like this..." Kirito swung his arms randomly in what he probably thought was a cool looking maneuver. "And this, and this! Boom!"

"I doubt it, I'd say you'd run around screaming your head off like a little girl." Sinon countered.

Kirito shrugged, then pointed at her. "Yeah, probably. But you'd do the same!"

"No, I wouldn't."

"Then I wouldn't either." Kirito formed his hands into two finger guns. "I'd be slicing them to pieces, and you'd shoot them all down, like this-" He pantomimed aiming and sniping at an invisible enemy on her head. "-Bang, bang, problem solved, right?"

Sinon froze.

Kirito stopped abruptly. "Sinon?"

The strength in her legs and arms slipped away, sapped out by a deathly cold feeling spreading through her entire body. A loud shattering sound rang out as the bowl of soup, half empty, slipped out of her hands and broke into pieces upon hitting the ground. Despite that, her eyes remained glued to Kirito's hands, still folded in the imitation of a pistol. Color drained out of her vision until the only thing left colored were his hands.

She let out a choked gargle that was supposed to be a weak protest.

No... no, no...

"Sinon!"

Sinon! Hecate cried as she broke off her conversation and ran over.

Kirito's hands suddenly released their form and just like that, the spell that had come over her vanished. Winded as if she had just ran ten miles without pause, she rolled over like a dead animal and clutched her stomach, hyperventilating. Her mind didn't work, as if Kirito had stolen a gear out of her brain and the cogs were spinning uselessly. The five senses were clogged up; her sense of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and even her taste buds felt like they were all veiled by a layer of fog.

I... I, why...

Most of the fear permeating every inch of her body suddenly vanished. Hands were shaking her roughly, and her sight cleared abruptly to see Kirito and Hecate trying to wake her up with worried expressions. Raphael was standing next to them, holding his hands over her head with his eyes closed. As Sinon slowly came to, he opened his large eyes and nodded at her.

Sinon? Hecate immediately blocked off some of the painful feelings in Sinon's mental state, easing the pressure on her heart.

I... I'm fine...

She released a deep breath, sore all over. Part of her lamented over her soup as she looked down to see the remaining fragments of her lunch evaporate into thin air, but most of her was still wrapped up in distress.

"I-I'm sorry, I... I didn't know..." Kirito's voice trailed off. "You..."

There really wasn't any way Kirito couldn't know about her condition now. Indeed, now that he had confirmed that she was okay, he was looking between his hands and her strangely. She shrank, refusing to meet his gaze and turning the other way.

I really am incredibly weak, arent I. Sinon punched the ground. Without Hecate's support...

Half a minute passed.

Sinon flinched when Kirito placed his hand on her shoulder, still refusing to look up. He crouched next to her and asked her hesitatingly, "Are you afraid of guns? A phobia?"

She only nodded in response.

"...even finger guns? Toy guns?"

A nod. Suddenly, she felt compelled to add on, "Fighting in general."

A part of her was surprised at her straightforwardness, but Sinon didn't dwell on it too much. He probably already deducted that anyways. She hugged her legs as Hecate sat next to her protectively.

He knew about her phobia. He knew.

Now he'd think she was insane or something, just like those people from before. Everyone treated her like a monster when they found out. Her former friends, her classmates, even her teachers. No exceptions.

Another awkward silence filled the area.

"I'm sorry."

Kirito broke the quiet with an apology. Sinon grunted. They all said that at first.

"If I may ask..." He shifted and let out a breath. "Um, why are you using a «Cannon» Type weapon? I think I get why you hesitate now... but why would you use one if-?"

In a dead voice, Sinon cut in, "It's the closest thing to a gun without being a gun I can get in this world."

"...I see." Kirito's clothes rustled against the ground. "But for what purpose?"

Sinon held up her left hand and looked at it, watching the equal division of sunlight and shade play across it. Considering the words for a moment, she finally answered with, "I want to learn to protect people. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."

Kirito fell silent for a long while. Sinon's heart grew heavy.

Now he must REALLY think she was weird. Sprouting all that nonsense. Trying to use guns while being afraid of them? Probably crazy. For the purpose of protecting, with a killing machine? Delusional.

He stood up and Sinon gritted her teeth.

"Yes, I'm weird, okay? It's fine, it's fine, I'll leave now." Her hand clenched. "I know you think I'm insane. You all do, and I don't- eep!"

Kirito's left hand suddenly closed around Sinon's raised fist, layering his fingers over hers. His arm wrapped around her own as he crouched down behind her, inciting a surprised yip.

"K-k-Kirito-san?" she spluttered.

He didn't respond immediately. Sinon flushed a deep red, instinctively trying to yank her limb out, but her arm didn't move at all. Her heart thudded like a trapped rat, trying to burrow its way out of her chest.

Wha-wha-wha-whaaa-wait-wait-

Strangely, after a while, her urge to escape Kirito's grasp left her. His hand was warm with the heat of human life, almost exactly opposite Sinon's, which was dead cold. Slowly, her hand began to warm up as a queer defrosting feeling spread throughout her arm.

"Weird? Insane? What are you talking about? To face your fears like this... you're not strange at all. To protect others... you're a much better person than nearly everyone in this world. Better than him... better than me."

Kirito muttered the words as if incredulous. His hand extended its thumb and index finger, forming the handgun imitation again.

"Ah-!"

Sinon recoiled, bumping into Kirito's chest, dread filling her as she expected the spell to fall on her again, but for some strange reason her body didn't react. She felt fine, even while looking at Kirito's extended fingers sticking out from behind her own fist.

Kirito's hand felt so soothingly warm as it encased her own. Sinon couldn't remember the last time someone had held her hand like this.

It was entirely opposite of the feeling of the cold steel of that gun biting into her skin.

"Is this alright...?" He asked hesitatingly.

Sinon swallowed and nodded, her brain unable to keep up with what was happening. All she managed was a tiny "Uhn."

Hesitatingly, her fingers creaked open as she mirrored Kirito's movements. She flinched repeatedly as she expected her phobia to kick in at any second, but nothing happened. Her hand ended up making a finger gun without any repercussions whatsoever.

Although her muscles were still tight and her heart was still rapidly beating, it didn't feel like it was because of her phobia at all. It was the good kind of nervousness, if that made any sense to her brain.

A bit of icy feeling shivered in the core of her hand, but the Kirito's warmth was melting it before it could grow. Eventually, it vanished altogether. Because it was their left hands making the shape, her weapon didn't materialize, but Sinon felt that even if it did, she could bear it.

They sat like that for a while. Hecate flicked her ears.

"I don't know if this will help, but... my grandfather was a kendo master and former policeman."

Kirito quietly began to speak. Sinon strained to listen.

"He used to teach me and my younger sister kendo. Hah, I dropped out after a few years of it... he was a strict teacher." He let out a small chuckle. "I remember he used to tell me... the chief at his station would always tell new recruits the same thing when they received their sidearms after training: This is a weapon that can kill. Do not use it lightly."

Sinon nodded. That she knew all too well.

"But if you have to, remember your community, your family, and your friends, and those you care about. Remember those you have the duty to protect, then pull the trigger with that resolve." Kirito gently flipped their hands up a bit to simulate a shot. "He warned us... that those who did not would lose their purpose and be controlled by that weapon, either in bloodlust... or fear."

When Sinon didn't react for a whole minute, Kirito tacked on, "That's just something I heard. I thought it might help, but-"

Sinon shook her head, breaking him off.

"Thank you."

"Eh-"

"No, no... thank you."

Even if she didn't completely understand them, hearing those words had unlocked something in her. Her muscles loosened and the tense feeling coiled up inside her unknotted. She just didn't want the warmth around her hand to ever go away.

Kirito's face assumed his customary awkward expression. "Um... no problem?"

That was when Sinon finally realized what they were actually doing. She yelped and ripped her hand away from Kritio's, holding it tight to her chest and backing away from him. Kirito stared at her strangely, not realizing the reason for her actions.

"What?" He asked, genuinely confused.

Once again, the air was layered with another large dose of the usual awkwardness. Sinon stayed stock-still while Kirito scratched his cheek mindlessly. Her eyes roamed around, taking in the wonderful scenery; anything but his oblivious face. He on the other hand, was just bewildered.

I... I, he held my hand? And I, I actually wanted to h-hold on more? That evil, he-! What was I thinking? Darn him! He grabbed my hand and- And I- it felt so warm, though...

Something inside of her laughed insanely at her attempts to regain control over her head as her thoughts, spazzing in and out of a working state, cobbled together random beginnings and ends to create a massively incoherent jumble.

Both his Poochyena and Raphael rolled their eyes behind his back to accent the fact that their trainer was a complete dunderhead, the Ralts giving a light cough behind his hand. It was more of a mask of a laugh than a blockage of his throat. Kirito heard the sound and looked over to them, a question on his face.

Three seconds later he jerked like he had touched a bare electric wire. His head slowly rotated around as if his bones were covered in rust to look at Sinon, then his hand as his brain processed what his Pokemon told him.

"Oh. Umm.. sorry? It's just, you act a lot like my younger sister used to act like, and that always helped her get over her fears! So um, yeah. I didn't mean to do that! On purpose! Wahh, sorry? Please forgive me?"

Kirito fumbled with an excuse, looking downright embarrassed.

Finally coming to her senses, Sinon's eye twitched. Part of her wanted to slap him for being so dense, but the majority of her knew he didn't deserve that. She glanced down at her own hand, which could still remember the warmth of his skin against hers.

"Um... alright...?"

Then Sinon felt a gaze upon her and tracked it down to Hecate, who was still by her side. She could swear there was the tiniest sarcastic smirk on the corner of her little mouth. Raising her left hand, she bopped the offending Eevee on the head.

What are you smiling about? She thought accusingly. Hecate banished all emotion from her face assumed a miffled tone, rubbing the side of her head with her paws.

Smiling? She frowned, once again back in her emotionless persona. I'm not smiling. I do, however, admit your interactions are interesting.

Shut it, you.

Very well. Hecate chimed back with an uncharacteristic hint of good humor.

Sinon glared at Hecate to make her point clear. Just that moment, her stomach gave a small pang, indicating it was still hungry, and Sinon remembered that she was supposed to be eating lunch. Then she also remembered her lunch had been destroyed, looking down at the spot where the bowl had vanished.

Kirito followed her gaze and understood after a moment of thought. He straightened up, looking apologetic. "Well, um, do you want to go on? Both of our quests are almost done, and everyone's done eating..." He glanced at her face quickly. "Well, when we get back I'll buy you another soup from that inn. Seeing as it was my fault yours was wasted."

She nodded, trying to shake off the memory of him holding her hand. She couldn't afford to do things like that with anyone. At the same time, however, she also tried to hold on to the memory of the warmth of his fingers against hers.

No one since that incident had ever held her hands with that kind of comforting feeling. The few people she had contact with had ice-cold hands, much like her own. His hands, her hands, their hands; Chilly and devoid of life.

Only her mother had ever held her hand with such warmth.

"Sinon?"

Sinon. Asada Shino.

She jumped as their words brought her back down to earth. Still stuck in her pondering, she had mindlessly followed Kirito's back to the edge of the Safe Zone. In front of her, Kirito had one foot on the shimmering white line marking the boundaries of the area, waving a hand in front of her face. Sinon waved him down and apologized shortly for her inattention.

Five minutes later, they luckily chanced upon another two Silcoons, resting in adjacent trees. Surrounding them was a liberal menagerie of Pokemon; it appeared this was a popular spawn point. Most of them appeared to be asleep, but Zigzagoon had good sensory abilities. They'd sense the Silcoon dying and attack them, and their movements would trigger the rest of the horde.

Sinon squinted and counted out the number of enemies: 2 Zigzagoons on the ground, 4 Poochyena snoozing under the shade of a nearby tree, and 5 little Wurmples lying motionless on random branches. There was even a rare «Shroomish» in the mix, plopped down on the ground with only its top half visible.

While the Silcoon were dangerous due to their slow but deadly «Poison Stings», the Shroomish was a far more lethal target. They specialized in leeching life from the opponent with «Absorb» and «Mega Drain» in addition to being covered with random spores that transferred upon physical contact. Those «Effect Spores» were the Shroomish's natural defensive ability and could inflict anything from «Poison» to «Paralysis».

Thus, the mushroom would be Sinon's first target. She didn't even have to speak to Kirito; they looked at each other at the same time and nodded. Sinon's and Raphael's order of elimination would be the Shroomish to the Silcoons, and then any targets that were good picks. Kirito would defend from the crowd of Pokemon sure to wake up.

Kirito flicked his hand out in a light, easy gesture, and his «Anneal Blade» materialized in his grip. The weapon gleamed chrome wherever the light filtered through the leaves above rebounded off of it. He knelt in the dirt, looking into the eyes of his Poochyena. The dog Pokemon, or at least the Pokemon under that illusion, licked his hand and ran off to get into a good pouncing position.

The sight reminded Sinon that she had to get ready as well.

She fidgeted. Hecate noticed her apprehensive state and reached out to support her over the link, granting her some form of reassurance. Sinon sent back her gratitude in response, and concentrated.

Her hand slowly but firmly folded open into a finger gun. Her thumb twitched, but otherwise it took less than five seconds.

Sinon blinked at the limb even as a cloud of data particles gathered around, forming into her cannon. An icy cold feeling was spreading from her fingertips, but it was being suppressed and eradicated by something else in her hand. At the same time, doubts began to rise in her head again, but they were faint, and not as crippling as before.

Huh...?

They still were persistent though, beating repeatedly into her head harder the longer she stared at the gleaming barrel. Cold started to overpower whatever it was holding it back, numbing the joints in her fingers.

Sinon looked away, taking a deep breath, concentrating on other things than her weapon, and the pressure lessened. Hecate curiously probed her mind while peeking through the undergrowth at the mobs.

You aren't reacting as badly. Hecate noted interestedly. That's good.

I... I know, but I don't know why thou-

Here.

Hecate's mind immediately switched back to combat mode as she mentally pointed out a good location from which Sinon could snipe all three targets. The Eevee's enhanced senses were immensely useful, as they could be called superb even amongst others of the same species.

Hurry up. Hecate nudged Simon's shoulder.

Um... alright.

She glanced at Kirito, then ran over to that spot and knelt, bringing the side scope up to her right eye. Her hand lightly rested on the guard as she swiftly aimed at the target: the little tuft at the top of the Shroomish's head.

The ease at which she aimed the weapon surprised her. Her fingers still trembled against the cold steel surface, but her joints were not frozen over like before; they felt warmer than before, not as crippling. They still, however, felt stiff and uncomfortable, and it still took her three seconds of fumbling to get her index finger under the trigger guard.

Still, it was a big improvement over before where she had to take ten seconds to even muster the strength to aim.

I can do this...

A rush of excitement coursed through her. It wasn't the same as the ones from before; this one carried a sense of hope rather than a dose of battle fever.

Sinon inhaled, then exhaled, bringing her frantically beating heart under some control. The red crosshairs appeared in the scope, slightly smaller than before, but still pretty inaccurate. The dot in the middle trembled with the minute shaking of her arm, slowly calming down.

After several moments, Sinon was sure she had a good enough lock.

Her finger tightened on the trigger-

I will use this to protect.

She focused on that resolve, ignoring the doubt's hammering away at her.

Her hand grew warmer, pushing back the cold.

This is what I want to protect.

She fired, the blue beam piercing neatly into the Shroomish's head. Its HP dropped by half instantly.

---

Raphael stifled a large yawn as he hopped into the heated room. The instantaneous change in temperature immediately induced a large amount of sleepiness in him, causing him to sway back and forth. Kirito's "«Poochyena»", who Sinon now knew was named Zero, just flopped off to the side and began snoozing. Her illusion began to flicker, and Kirito quickly called her back into his «Pokelink».

He shrugged at Sinon's pointed look, muttering a feeble excuse.

Sinon watched Hecate sit down near the entryway, eyes betraying a hint of drowsiness. A thin smile appeared on her face as she let the little «Eevee» rest, heading over to the weaver on the far left machine.

The girl looked up as Sinon approached. "Ah, you're back, young trainer. Did you manage to find the silk?"

Sinon nodded, producing a small cube from her inventory. A stack of certain quest items could be compressed into a single data parcel for easy trading. "Here. Fifty «Silcoon Silk»."

"Thank you!" The girl gushed with unnecessary mirth. She took the cube from Sinon's hand and placed it on her own Pokelink, which glowed and absorbed the items. "This will be very useful for our future orders. Here, I have several leftover «Weapons Chips» from when trainers bartered with us for clothes. Please take one as a token of my thanks."

She reached into a pocket on her jeans and withdrew a small container. Opening it up revealed two rows of weapons chips; one with the red color of «Blaster» type chips, and the other with the violet color of the «Cannon» types. The girl lifted it up to Sinon's hand, offering her a choice.

"Please choose one! Thank you for helping us."

Sinon looked down the cherry-colored icons on the Blaster chips and suppressed a rolling revulsion inside her. Averting her eyes, she reached out and took the «Sniper Rifle» chip.

"You sure you want this one?" The girl asked for a confirmation. Sinon just nodded and turned away, prompting her to say the usual goodbye: "Thank you! Please come again!"

Kirito stepped forward, and Sinon found it amusing when the girl perked up again and acted like she had already forgotten Sinon existed. She stepped back while the weaver repeated, "Hello! You're back, trainer?"

"Yes. I've brought the «Silk Dew» you needed."

"Thank you!" She accepted the vials from Kirito and stood up to move to a back room. "This will help us create much more comfortable silk. Your assistance is really appreciated!"

She vanished into the storage for a few seconds, then came back out holding a small yellow diamond-shaped object. Walking over to Kirito, she placed it in his palm.

"This is all we have, but please take this «Revive». It will help heal your «Fainted» Pokemon. They're very rare around these parts."

Kirito accepted it with a small smile of satisfaction. "Much appreciated."

"We hope to see you again, young trainer!"

The girl bowed gracefully and went back to her usual sewing work.

Kirito turned and walked over to Sinon, tapping the Revive against his Pokelink. The item broke up as it was stored away as data inside the device. In response to Sinon's unspoken question, he said, "It's the mission that comes after the one you just did. Reward is a nice bit of experience and «Poke», but the main thing is that you also get a Revive. It's the only one you can get in these early levels."

"All that for a Revive?" Sinon knew, after partying with him the day, that the drop rate of the dew was pretty low. Added to the already rare chance of finding a «Silcoon» in the first place, made it a really tedious quest to get just one consumable item.

Kirito sighed. "It's better to be prepared. I've had... some close calls already." He brooded uncharacteristically for a second before composing himself. "The experience isn't too shabby either. Zero leveled up."

Sinon nodded in understanding, motioning for both of them to leave. Picking up Hecate as the fox sleepily rubbed her eyes with her paws, Sinon pushed the door open for them both as they reentered the colder weather outside. The breeze had a rejuvenating effect on Hecate, the Eevee jumping out of Sinon's arms as soon as they were outside, moving over and sniffing a leaf rolling by in the wind. Raphael sat down on the front step of the weaver's guild, surveying the area with large, curious eyes.

Both humans stood there, watching their respective Pokemon. Neither wanted to breach the silence.

Sinon suddenly remembered the chip she held in her hand and hastily brought out her Pokelink, slotting the chip into the back slot. It took a few moments for the machine to process the data, and after that, it emitted a cloud of tiny particles. They coalesced over her hands into a long-barreled, gray sniper rifle.

Her heart jumped as she looked at it, but it wasn't crippling at all. Moreover, it felt a lot more soothing to have this weapon in her hands compared to any of the other ranged weapons she tried out in beta. If she had to wield a weapon, this one just felt right for her.

Kirito's cough brought her back down to earth. She dropped the weapon, allowing it to fizzle back into her link.

"Well... I have to go now." Kirito rubbed the back of his head. "There's another quest over in «Twinleaf Town» I want to finish today. I'll need to hurry..."

Sinon just nodded silently. A part of her didn't want him to go; it had been the first time in so many ages that she actually had some fun socializing with others.

"Thanks for partying with me today. It really sped things up."

Kirito slid his finger down the glowing strip on his Pokelink, bringing out the menu. After a bit of fiddling, his HP bar and name disappeared from the HUD in the upper left corner of Sinon's vision, indicating he had left the party. A notification came and went confirming that.

Then he tapped a few icons on the holographic interface, and a friend invite materialized in front of Sinon.

«Kirto would like to be friends with you!»

Sinon stared at the invitation.

Friend...?

A full ten seconds passed, and Kirito started to sweat upon not receiving any reaction from Sinon. "Um... yeah! You seem like a nice person. So I just wondered if we could keep in touch. Eh... is this about when I attacked you? I'm really, really sorry about that."

...

The concept was alien to her. Being a social outcast, no one had ever reached out to her as a friend. No one ever tried to talk to her, and she had never tried to initiate a conversation with them either.

But she truly had enjoyed her time with Kirito. Save the part where he accidentally triggered her phobia, it felt had felt like some heavy burden on her heart had been reduced.

...friends, would be nice.

She reached out-

-and stopped.

That wasn't good. In her small bout of happiness, she nearly forgot about her.

...I wish I could...

She wanted a friend. She hadn't had a friend for four years.

There was a reason why she didn't, though.

It's better to stay away... or else, sooner or later, he'll find out.

"Sinon?" Kirito waved his hand in front of her face.

Sinon's hand shook and after a moment of hesitation, pressed the decline button. The screen disappeared with a small beep.

"I'm sorry."

If he finds out about her and I... and my past... he would hate me for the murderer I am.

"What's wrong?" Kirito blinked. "Sinon? It's fine, but-"

-foot kicked out. Her hand instinctively grasped onto it, using it as a ladder to pull herself off the ground while at the same time tripping her assailant. Something else guided her body as she twirled around the flailing body, putting her behind the older girl, and rammed her head into the wall with her whole weight behind it while her mind screamed at herself to stop-

And it would end up like that all over again.

Outwardly, Sinon bowed her head apologetically. "Sorry... But I can't accept it. I can't be friends with you."

"Ah... Why?" Kirito tried to crack a joke. "Am I not handsome enough...?"

Sinon couldn't laugh at that one, horrible as it was. "No... It's not you. I'm the problem. Sorry."

Raphael looked over, and Sinon was suddenly sure he could sense her distress and, probably, the reason for it. Quickly, she muttered, "I have to go."

"Sinon-"

"Sorry!"

And she took off running, away from him and his bewildered expression. Hecate hesitated, looking back at the boy, but ultimately turned and chased after her.

She had to stay away from others. She knew that. Why she had asked to party with Kirito in the first place was beyond her.

But since she did it, she had to end it. Too much contact with others would only harm them.

Normal people like him didn't mix with monsters like her.

---

Author's Note:

Sinonon chapter!

I suppose you can easily guess what the Eevee's going to evolve into. Anyways, this is the first time I've written something like what she's going through, so I want to know what you all think of it. As you can expect, Kyouji will be here too. Later. In this case, he won't be hating pro players, but a different category similar to a certain cactus-head.

Thank you for all the reviews! Your support drives me to write better. If you can, please include any constructive criticism in your review as well. This is also the first time I tried to write some fluff, so please tell me how I did! Pokemon suggestions are still welcome as well.

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE NEXT CHAPTER DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION.

I'd just like to say that this is not a fic where the SAO characters are depicted as unshakable heroes. They are human, and they are in a DEATH game. People will react in not very favorable ways at times. In the next chapter Asuna acts pretty similar to a friend of mine from a very long time ago who was thrust into a similar situation. Her behavior may be a bit over the top, but I'm aiming for a realistic reaction. For someone who spent their whole life working and slaving to build up to a better future, having their future snatched away just like that and being threatened by imminent death is a very traumatizing situation. No prior notice. Just imagine that for a bit.

It may please you all to know that she has grown some of a spine though. No more hating on her Pokemon; she's essentially beginning cannon Asuna in terms of mindset at the end of the chapter.

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Thanks to my friends in the SAO chat for helping me with the planning and proofreading!

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I do not own Pokemon or Sword Art Online. They belong to Nintendo and Kawahara Reki respectively.