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.

8. Chapter 7: Gentle Sunlight

I will sum up my past two months in exactly two lines:

Me: Mercy?

College: No.

---

«Lavaridge Town» was widely renowned as the location of «Pokemon Universe's» best hot springs. Situated around «Mt Chimney», the naturally heated underground vents running around the dormant volcano's magma sources fed a constant stream of deliciously hot water directly to the springs behind the «Pokemon Center». Thousands upon thousands of visitors visited the area to relax in them each year; the water's rejuvenation abilities were legendary. A normal bath could never compare.

Despite that, Sinon felt the bath in front of her looked just as good, or even better, than the springs at Lavaridge. Granted, she had never seen the famed waters, but she believed this deserved at least equal credit.

Steam bubbled up from the water filling the three white tubs arranged along the side of the room. A light gurgle came from the taps mounted on the wall, pouring more heated water into the containers at a soothing rate. Various soaps and shampoo bottles sat on the edge of the baths, and the walls were decorated with engravings of vines and Pokemon, giving the area a quaint feel. The lightly heated mist clung to everyone's skin, coalescing into tiny drops.

Asuna and Sinon were both standing right beside the doorway, eyes and mouth open, their hands were locked together as if in prayer. If someone looked closely, they might have caught something that looked like hearts were shining in their eyes. Hope stood next to Asuna, her own eyes riveted to several smaller-sized tubs clearly meant for Pokemon.

"Uwahhhhhh~!"

Both girls and the «Eevee» uttered a cry of joy.

Too… hot...! GAH!

Hecate on the other hand, took a mere three seconds to collapse from the humid air. Feebly, she turned tail and evacuated, tripping onto her face on the way due to the slick tiles. Her paws scrambled against the stone for purchase as she dashed right between Kirito's legs and out the door into the noticeably cooler living room.

Sinon paid her no heed, still hypnotized by the sight of the bath. It was calling to her. Everything that had transpired that day was set on the backburner and forgotten. She stepped over to the edge of the tub and, with a trembling hand, reached into it, scared that it might have been an illusion.

Her hand was immersed in the feeling of soothingly hot water. Instantly, the knots in her virtual muscles loosened up and relaxed, giving her the strange sensation of little ice crystals in her skin melting.

Heaven was really there right there. Silently, she uttered a heartfelt thank you to the gods whom had granted her paradise.

"Sooooo, uh, I guess take your time?"

Kirito's voice entered her consciousness, but she paid him no mind, completely focused on paradise. Asuna didn't react either, gazing excitedly at her reflection in the water. Hope immediately jumped into her little tub, splashing hot water everywhere.

"Ah, um, just so you girls know, this door doesn't lock from either side, but I swear I won't come in."

Sinon didn't respond, her gaze glued to the shining waters. At least ten seconds passed before-

Creaaaak-Dnk.

The sound of the door closing behind them finally snapped Sinon and Asuna out of their reveries. They both glanced back at the closed wooden entrance like they were only just hearing Kirito's words. For a while, the only sound was of Hope splashing joyfully in her tub.

Finally, as if they had a telepathic link between each other, both girls turned their attention back to the baths and slid their fingers down their «Pokelinks» to unequip their clothing, turning away from each other in an unspoken agreement to not peek.

---

Chapter 7: Gentle Sunlight

---

Sinon could literally feel the weariness peeling off of her bare skin as the steaming hot water drove away almost all the worries she had accumulated throughout the month. She sighed deeply, marveling at the way her entire body was purged of tension. A subtle tightness that had been present around her heart since the beginning of the game disappeared, leaving her feeling far lighter than usual.

"Heaven…" she whispered.

Sitting in the tub next to her and having a similar blissful expression on her face, Asuna let out a light, cozy "nnn" in agreement. Her «Eevee», Hope, chirped an assent as she splashed around in her own bath, out of sight under the lip of the white rim.

Sinon shivered with delight, feeling the water lap against her chest with the movement.

So warm… so hot… ahhhh~

Stop! Too hot! Hecate's tortured voice yelled in her head. Too much!

There was a sudden mental "bang" as the Pokemon shut down the link between her and Sinon, unable to bear the thoughts and feelings regarding the splendid heat inside the bathroom. The black-haired girl felt a little woeful at her Eevee's discomfort, but even that feeling was wiped away as she lowered herself deeper into the bath, up to her neckline.

She had forgotten how good a bath felt at the end of a stressful day. Without proper facilities in her previous living accommodations, she had never had a chance to take a bath the previous month. Now that she had access to one, Sinon was seriously considering just leaning back into the tub and sitting there, soaking, for the rest of her life.

Synchronized, both she and Asuna moaned loudly, exhaling all of the day's worries and totally surrendering her body to the comfort.

Just with this, today is the best day of my life.

Even though so many things had happened, ranging from apocalypse-level bad to okay, to this girl, the bath solved all the problems. The answer to life, the universe, and everything was not 42, but a nice, hot bath.

She paused.

Still, a bath wasn't omnipotent. Recalling the events of the day, Sinon lowered the bottom half of her head into the water and blew a few bubbles of air out of her mouth, watching the spheres pop as they reached the surface.

Shinkawa Kyouji.

Or, as he was now named, Spiegel.

As expected, to know someone ingame that she knew existed in real life, was indeed a pleasant surprise for her. Being trapped with a whole plethora of strangers, with no one familiar in sight, had given the past month a nightmare-ish tone, a feeling of being unanchored with reality. Kyouji was someone whom she knew existed for sure, which helped dampen some of that lonely vibe and gave her some measure of security.

However, her hand shook as she recalled the feeling of his hand when he had grabbed hers. The memory of his ice cold fingers clashed with the heat of the bath around her, giving it a fuzzy numbing sensation.

She raised her arm out of the water, watching the liquid trickle down her palm in streams.

Cold...

In all honesty, his skin had felt like a zombie's. Cold and clammy, as if they belonged to someone living at the South Pole without fire. Even if he was someone she knew, she couldn't stop the tense feeling she got whenever she thought about him. It was different from the tension she got when she was around Kirito: rather than clamming up and losing her thought processes, her entire body went on full alert, like a squirrel caught in headlights.

Sinon let out the pent-up breath she had been holding in, exhaling and lowering her arm back into the comfort and safety of the holy bath.

Not only that, but his publicly declared hatred of beta testers made Sinon worry as well. The look in his eyes and the stubbornness he had in trying to frame Argo, in addition to his recounted experience in the first few days of the game, showed just how deep his animosity ran. Neither did he seem be considering that some beta testers might be innocent, lumping the entire beta tester population together with the image of the one who nearly killed him: essentially, a stereotype.

If he ever caught wind that she, Asada Shino/Sinon, was a beta tester, Sinon wasn't sure what he would actually do.

He might try to hurt me.

He might. It was always a possibility. One of the few things she knew about Kyouji was that he was very persistent, never changing his mind. Recalling the words he had uttered the previous day, she shuddered. What would happen if he did find out? Sinon couldn't tell, but she was sure it wouldn't be anything good.

Though mere superstition, the fact that the system had granted him an «Absol» of all Pokemon only added to her unease. Absol was more commonly known as the «Disaster Pokemon», able to sense oncoming disasters and appearing at the scene beforehand as a sort of herald. For the «Anima System» to judge him most compatible with a Pokemon that represented calamity…

Just what in the name of «Arceus» did he answer those questions with?

She drew in her legs and hugged them close to her chest, staring at the ripples she created. Her reflection was distorted by the motion, making her appear many years older than before.

What should I do? If that happens, then he might… he might-

I'll just have to stop him first then. Permanently.

No...

To protect our existence.

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head in denial, causing small droplets of water to fly off of the ends of her hair.

No... I can't hurt anyone else. I'm not letting you. I'll protect myself this time.

…such naivety. Do you honestly believe-

Shut up! You were so quiet when I wanted to ask you why, so why are you so talkative NOW!?

Silence in her head, made deafening by the contrast between it and her outburst.

Did she hear a snigger? Or was it her imagination…

"Hwaughhhhhhh..."

Asuna sighed happily, causing a small splash as she shifted into a more comfortable position. When Sinon looked over, the chestnut-haired girl had a silly smile on her face as she stared at the roof above her, looking completely at ease. Idly, Sinon noted that her hair was a similar color to her Eevee's fur.

As she watched, Asuna suddenly freeze for a moment as if she realized something, before shaking her own head in a similar manner to what Sinon had did earlier. Noticeably more subdued, her face grew more emotionless as she continued to be lost in thought.

Despite having her assurance that she wouldn't talk to anyone about what had happened outside of the tower, Sinon still felt worried. It was an irrational worry; Asuna seemed trustworthy, albeit her hopeless attitude, but all the same, she had shown that side to her. Maybe she considered it an uncharacteristic emotional outburst, but if she found out what it really was, then she would probably hate her just as much as those people at her old school who found out about her past.

Not for the first time in her life, Sinon felt incredibly lonely. Any of her previous attempts to reach out to others had only gotten them hurt. Their attitudes towards her always turned 180 degrees, from friendly to suspicious, polite to hate, when they found out.

Just imagining Kirito acting like that to her tightened the restraint on her heart.

…Just for this boss fight. As long as they don't find out…

Speaking of their attitudes, Sinon seriously wondered why Asuna had come to the meeting. When she had saved her, the girl had been completely devoid of hope, the light gone from her eyes. She had completely lost all traces of hope that she might have had before, and was basically fighting on and awaiting her inevitable death.

Which was understandable, now that Sinon had time to think about it. Logically, if the whole population of the game had dwindled a whole fifteen percent before even the first tower had been conquered, proportionally, there would be no way for them to clear even a fourth of the entire map without losing their entire fighting force. Still, near half of those deaths were suicides of people hoping to return to reality, and there was no reason to completely lose hope just yet. Life rarely worked in such a linear fashion.

Still…

"Asuna-san, why did you come to the meeting?"

"Huh?"

Asuna jumped, startled, at the sudden question, splashing a large amount of water out of the bath. Automatically, the faucet above her tub began to refill the lost amount.

Lowering her head against her shoulder, without looking at the one she was addressing, Sinon repeated, "Why did you come to the meeting? After… after, you know…"

She didn't respond for a long while. A few seconds later, the sound of bubbling came from her direction. Sinon waited nervously, fidgeting in her tub after the period of silence reached half a minute. Even Hope had stopped romping around in her little Pokebath; maybe she was talking with Asuna over their link.

Finally, she whispered something unintelligible.

"Uh, what?"

"I said, I don't know." Asuna stared into the water, gazing at her own reflection with a serious expression.

Sinon frowned. "Don't know as in-"

"It just felt right." Asuna tapped the surface of the water, watching the rings spread out from the contact point. "Like a gut instinct... I think? Look, I just, I don't even know what I was doing after you..."

"Please don't talk about that."

"Ah. Right. Um... I just, my feet just carried me over to the town and I asked for directions to the meeting- It was like I was on autopilot." Asuna clutched her head with one hand, squinting at the stream of water that was slowly thinning out from the faucet. "I don't know, I just don't know. It just felt... right at the time."

A few more seconds passed before she tacked on, "...to prove something maybe?"

Sinon nodded lamely, still not completely understanding what she meant. Suddenly embarrassed by the awkward lack of words between them, she tried to fill the space with a feeble "Uhn."

The small sound didn't do anything to improve the atmosphere as they both lapsed into silence. Sinon mulled quietly over Asuna's answer, trying to make some sense of it.

Like a gut instinct, I think? To prove something maybe?

A figment of memory from the early afternoon intruded upon her thoughts.

It's only a matter of time. In the end, we die. So I fight. I'll kill, delete, destroy as many of them as I can... so they know that I exist, and that I hate them.

Sinon stiffened as a thought occurred to her.

Did she come here to die?

Something twisted in her gut, a strange feeling of disgust. Sinon immediately forced it down.

To prove to this world that she existed. A more meaningful death than just endless small fry. Was that why she had come to join in on the boss fight? To just die in a more spectacular manner, for a greater cause, and mean something to everyone else?

To die and perish. Gone.

Just like that man she had killed long ago-

"Don't do it." She blurted out. Her voice echoed strangely in the enclosed room, rebounding off of the slick tile walls with no other sounds to disrupt it.

Asuna turned her head towards Sinon and looked at her strangely.

"Don't do... what?"

"Don't..." Sinon raised her hand to her chest, holding it close. She took a deep breath. "Don't die. Your life isn't, it's the most precious thing a human can have. Taking it away, whether its your own or someone else's..." Her cheek could remember the feeling of blood splattering against it. "Don't throw it away. Don't take it away. Ever."

The chestnut-haired girl's face softened as she considered her words, and quietly looked back down into the water.

"...I don't know. Anymore." She murmured. "What I was trying to do... Sinon-san, why did you tell me that?"

Sinon blinked. "I, uh-"

"From before too... that time." Asuna raised her arm and made a loopy gesture in the air, flinging a few droplets over into Sinon's bathtub. Her voice was flat. "Outside the tower. Why did you tell me those things?"

"Because... because..." Sinon hesitated.

Why did you do that?

"...I don't know either."

It was, really, a lame answer. At least Asuna had backed her "I don't know" up with an excuse. Still, it was the truth: most of the time, Sinon couldn't really understand how that side of her actually thought about things, or even her feelings.

Asuna, though, nodded as if she understood Sinon was thinking about. Continuing to bob her head, slowly, she redirected her gaze back at the water she was lying in, apparently deep in thought.

Why did I do that?

Although the incident outside of the tower was not really as a result of her own wishes, she had still felt the need to warn Asuna against seeking death. Why had she done that? She barely knew the other girl.

Why had she done that? Was it because she had seen her like that?

She thought for so long, before she even knew it, the water had grown cold.

---

In «Pokemon Universe», doors were soundproof. Any sounds inside a room would not pass through a solid door if it was closed, thus giving patrons in a «Pokemon Center» a moderate level of privacy. It was possible to hear past doors with a higher level «Eavesdropping» skill from the «Exploration» skill tree, but not many players opted to go that path, due to its limited combat usefulness.

With that in mind, Kirito wondered why, a few minutes prior, he had heard a collective moan of relief coming from the closed bathroom door.

Nnnh... Maybe that sigh was loud enough to bypass the door's sound limit? But it was never like that before, neither the beta nor this past month...

Idly, he scratched the area behind his left ear as he watched Hecate lie prone on the carpet near the entrance and sightlessly stare at the door. The «Eevee» wasn't asleep, but after sweating through a minute in the steamy bathroom, she was suffering from a form of heat fatigue. Kirito guessed the «Evolution Pokemon» had a high ice or grass affinity.

Across from him in a rocking chair, a certain Pokemon illusioned as a thin, petite girl with long black hair was lying prone, her limbs spread out and a light snore coming from her slightly open mouth.

Before going to the meeting, both of them had agreed to keep Zero in her illusioned form and pretend Raphael was Kirito's sole Pokemon, the reason of which was to avoid incidents like the one with Cooper on their second day. She had been mildly disgruntled, but understood the need for secrecy: it was to protect them both from unwanted attention. In the boss fight, she'd remain in the rear on standby just in case, out of sight.

The reason why they didn't simply just stuff her back into the «Pokelink» was because she simply didn't want to. She hated being stuck in there, and neither did Raphael. Kirito could probably understand why, considering the «Pokeballs» in the original games. Being returned to data form and stored like a program probably didn't sit well with sentient beings.

Next to her, Raphael was crouching in front of the rustic fireplace, watching the flames dance in the coals. The fiery light was reflected in his wide red eyes as he studied the flickering tongues.

In Kirito's hands was the boss edition of «Argo's Strategy Guide». He had bought one on the way back to his lodgings, just to double check on his knowledge of the boss's strategies. However, despite having stared at it for the past twenty minutes straight, he hadn't turned a single page. The words looked completely unreadable to him, the letters appearing scrambled and disoriented.

Which was fine, because he hadn't been able to concentrate on reading at all. The reason of which was probably the fact that two girls were bathing in the room behind him. The door couldn't even lock.

...is a bath that alluring to females? Come to think of it, Zero was just as excited before...

Sinon and Asuna had both followed him home like puppies after (forcibly) acquiring his permission to use the bathing facilities at his residence. It had been an incredibly embarrassing experience for him, when they had passed by Diabel's party on their way home. Diabel had smirked and given him a subtle thumbs-up, but the rest of the men in his party had stared at Kirito with a mix of undisguised hostility, envy, and hatred.

Passing by Kibaou's party had been even more nerve-wracking: the entire host had nailed him with stares rivalling the power of an «Ice Beam». The scariest of them all had, however, had to have been Spiegel. His glare had literally sent chills down his spine.

I didn't ask for this! Kirito had wanted to scream, but that «Sheer Cold» of a stare had 1-hit KO'd Kirito's ability to speak.

And after that he had still attracted attention all the way home. It had probably been a strange sight, a man followed by two eager-looking girls; no doubt some by now evil rumors had begun to be spread about him.

Kirito sighed, eyeing the first sentence on the upper left side of the open pamphlet. For some reason, it appeared to begin with a period.

...It's not even locked.

He had mentioned the fact that the door couldn't lock to the two girls, but he doubted they had heard him. He had even swung around into their field of vision at that time, but their eyes hadn't left the bathtubs to acknowledge him at all. To top it off, he could have sworn their pupils had had anime-esque stars sparkling in them.

Kirito's honor and integrity as a man stopped him from doing the evil thing and peeking, but he still couldn't get the thought of them out of his mind. He was still a teenage boy, after all. No matter how many times he told himself over and over to just forget about it, his imagination wouldn't let him go.

"Guh!"

Kirito groaned, slapping the side of his head to try and banish the evil and impure thoughts. He opened the pamphlet up to a random page and squinted hard, glaring at the illegible words, hoping that he would be able to make some sense of it to distract his mind.

"-˙ɹɐd-qns ǝɹɐ sǝʇnqᴉɹʇʇɐ ɹǝɥʇo sʇᴉ ɟo llɐ ʇnq 'ԀH sʇᴉ uʍop ǝʞɐʇ oʇ pɹɐɥ ʇᴉ ƃuᴉʞɐɯ 'ǝsuǝɟǝp uo sᴉsɐɥdɯǝ ǝƃnɥ ɐ sɐɥ ʇI ˙ssoq ɐ sɐ snʇɐʇs sʇᴉ ƃuᴉʇᴉɟǝuǝq sɐ 'llɐʇ sɹǝʇǝɯ ǝuᴉu ɹǝpun ʇsnɾ sᴉ xᴉuO s'ʞɔoɹq ˙»uoɯǝʞoԀ ǝʞɐuS ʞɔoɹ« ǝɥʇ 'xᴉuO sᴉ uoɯǝʞoԀ ǝɹnʇɐuƃᴉs s'ʞɔoɹq 'sǝɯɐƃ lɐuᴉƃᴉɹo ǝɥʇ ǝʞᴉ˥-"

He couldn't make head or tails of it. Even the diagram on the side looked warped.

What's with this? Is my brain just really that dumb, or is Argo's handwriting really this bad?

You are reading that manual upside-down, Kirito.

In a matter-of-fact kind of tone, Raphael's voice echoed in Kirito's head. Kirito blinked and flipped the book over- yup, the cover was upside down. He checked the inside again after rotating the book around- it was legible now.

"Oh."

Silly human.

Raphael sniggered quietly at Kirito's dumbfoundedness before returning his gaze to the fire. Kirito threw a pained glare back in his direction, unable to find any words to refute Raphael's insult, before flipping back to the first few pages and focusing on the book in earnest.

«Argo the Rat's 1st Tower Boss Strategy Guide».

The name of the boss was «Brock», who was the first gym leader ever in the original Pokemon series. He had specialized in «Rock» type pokemon, using a «Geodude» and an «Onix» in his battle against the player, the Onix being his signature Pokemon.

Tower Bosses in Pokemon Universe all follow one rule. They all have a «Signature Pokemon» who holds an absurd amount of HP compared to their regular counterparts. Victory occurs when either the Boss him or herself or their Signature Pokemon loses all their HP. As the trainer has massively increased defenses when they have Pokemon deployed on the field, almost all combat is directed towards their Signature.

Like the original games, Brock's signature Pokemon is Onix, the «Rock Snake Pokemon». Brock's Onix is just under nine meters tall, as benefiting its status as a boss. It has a huge emphasis on defense, making it hard to take down its HP, but all of its other attributes are sub-par. This boss battle is mostly a battle of attrition...

Kirito knew all this already, but refreshing his memory like this made him feel better, if only just to take his mind off of the girls in the room behind him. Flipping through several pages, he came across a small sketch made by Argo for illustration purposes.

It was barely recognizable as an Onix. Argo's information network may be incredibly organized but her drawings were no more than chicken scratches. Kirito could make out a triangular head and a segmented body, but the "rocks" at the tip of the tail were larger than its head, and the eyes were simple dots.

A giant, live Onix was a monstrously huge creature composed of a chain of grey boulders growing smaller the closer it got to the tail. The head had a large spike on it to help it tunnel through the earth. What Argo's drawing resembled the most was a bloated worm with a giant tumor on its head.

...I guess I won't comment on that.

The paper rustled as he moved on to the next segment.

Brock himself is heavily armored as well. He wields a double-headed «Battle Axe», which is a type of weapon that has most of its weight concentrated on the edges of the head, giving it superior splitting power but less maneuverability. He also carries a «Tomahawk» on his waist, but he has never been seen to use it. His HP is ten bars high, two layers of five bars each. The first layer is colored white while the second is colored green.

Kirito still remembered him: a dark-skinned, well-built man with messy brown hair. His most prominent features were his forever-closed eyes; he literally never opened them. How he managed to sense his surroundings was beyond him.

Here, Argo's drawing was literally the least detailed it could go, only accurately depicting Brock's closed eyes. The rest looked like an «Octillery's» body. Kirito bit his lip at the sight of it and turned the page, swallowing a dry chuckle.

Like most bosses, Brock also commands several adds, or minion, that will respawn whenever one of his or his Onix's HP bars are depleted. They consist of two «Rhyhorn» and two «Graveler». Their combat capabilities are exactly the same as those of the same species on the top floor of the dungeon, but their HP has been increased to a large amount. Like their trainer and boss, they are focused more on defense than speed or offense, though getting hit by one of them is still a pain.

Yawning widely, Kirito rubbed his eyes, skimming through the rest of the booklet. It had been a long day.

Just basically defensive Pokemon, eh... same as beta. Shouldn't be too hard. Everything focuses on «Defense» rather than «Speed», just like before, it should be relatively easy to dodge everything...

Kirito passively recounted his past experiences with slow-moving Pokemon in his head. Even with ranged attacks such as «Rock Throw» and troublesome attacks like «Rollout», they were all pretty easy for him to defeat, if only rather tedious to take down. «Geodude», «Roggenrola», «Shuckle», «Ferroseed», «Bronzor»-

-hrn? Brozor... «Bronzong»? That girl... ah!

The chestnut-haired «Rapier»-user, Asuna. He knew he had seen her before, but it only clicked in his head now that she had been the girl he had saved several weeks ago from the high-level Bronzong in «Turnback Cave».

So that's why she seemed so familiar-

There was a loud knock on the door. Kirito stiffened in surprise, the pamphlet falling from his suddenly frozen fingers. Zero snuffled and smacked her lips in her sleep, probably imagining something tasty.

He hastily knelt down and picked up the papers, placing them back onto the table before hurrying over to the door.

A visitor? At this time... Kirito glanced at his «Pokelink's» time screen before placing his hand around the doorknob. It must be...

"Yo, Ki-bou."

On the front step, Argo, donned in her usual cloak shrouding most of her features, waved a hand at him.

"Argo." Kirito opened the door a little wider, placing one hand on the door and another on the frame, blocking a bit of her view into the house. "What are you doing here? Didn't you have an appointment with a client?"

"Oh, it was nothing too important." Argo checked her fingerless gloves and pulled off a bit of lint. "Just a bit about some quest. He was also pretty desperate to find out where «Mew» is."

"Mew?" Kirito raised an eyebrow. The pink «Legendary Pokemon's» whereabouts were never discovered during the beta. It wasn't even concrete whether or not the Legendary Pokemon from the original games had been incorporated into Pokemon Universe. "We don't even know if it's ingame. What did you answer him with?"

Argo smiled wryly. "I told him it was under the truck."

"Heh." The corners of Kirito's mouth twitched up before he realized something. "Wait, won't that jeopardize your reputation as an information dealer?"

"He didn't pay me for that piece of info." She shrugged and rubbed her cheek, along her signature whiskers. "Hightailed it out of there after I told him, whooping like a kid with his new toy. He can't complain about that."

Kirito considered that fact for a moment. "True. Well... anyways, why are you here? What's wrong?"

"Oh, I was just wondering, are A-chan and Sinonon here?" Argo glanced down and waved. "Hello there, Raphael."

Hello, Argo.

Sometime during their conversation, the «Ralts» had snuck up next to Kirito's leg and was calmly observing their interactions.

"Asuna and Sinon?" Kirito blinked uncertainly. "Um-"

"I met some pretty lonely-looking NEETs on my way back and they told me of a devious lady killer leading two innocent girls home to commit unspeakable acts." Argo returned her gaze to him and raised an eyebrow from under her hood. "They looked so jealous that they would probably lynch you on sight. Did you really have such a lecherous face on?"

Kirito's eye twitched. Behind him, Zero sniggered in her sleep and pawed at the air.

"No way." He flatly responded. "And I most certainly did not."

"They also claimed you had bewitched them with false promises of a bath."

Kirito awkwardly froze.

If he answered truthfully about their whereabouts, some degrading rumors would have spread around about him. Argo had done that to him once in a previous game as a joke, and he still had nightmares about it from time to time.

"Hey, look at that guy..."

"I heard he entices any girl he meets to his room by offering free baths?"

"The worst kind of human... so scary..."

He didn't really want to be known for this kind of thing.

Are humans really that gullible?

Yes, Raph. Humans will believe whatever they hear first. Some things they believe for the dumb reason 'it's so outrageous it must be true'.

Hrm. Raphael placed his hand on his chin and tilted his head, deep in thought.

Turning his attention back to Argo and raising his hands in a gesture of innocence, Kirito quickly denied the accusation. "No, we were together part of the way, but we separated. I think they'd be back at their own lodgings by now."

"Hmm." Argo pursed her lips, not looking all too convinced. "Well, I was just wondering where they had gone..."

"Ahahah." Trying to lighten the mood, Kirito let out a weak laugh.

"Eh, whatever. Since I'm already here..."

Swish!

In one fluid movement, Argo pushed his blocking arm up and out of the way and stepped into the house. Her strength and speed taking him by surprise, Kirito nearly fell over from the action.

"Wah- Hey!"

"I might as well come in. What's with you, Ki-bou, not inviting in a girl who came all this way to see you? I thought you were taught better- Oh, isn't this a spacious house!"

Kirito picked himself off the wall and watched Argo survey the room for a moment before sighing and turning back to close the door.

I can never really keep up with her, can I? Well... as long as she doesn't discover the bathroom, it'll be fine.

It was, after all, a rather unassuming door at the back of the house. Hopefully she wouldn't see it, or if she did, guess it was a closet or something of the like.

"Free milk in this mini-kitchen? As expected of one of the rooms at the «Moo Moo Farm». I thought this place was closed until the fourth tower was cleared, though?" Argo dashed around the room, taking note of every little detail and asking a bunch of questions at the same time, showing her side as an information dealer. To be honest, it was uncannily similar to a kid in a candy store. "This window has a nice view of the landscape. Is there a quest to unlock this? Special conditions?"

...although, she'll still probably discover them if this keeps up... umm...

Kirito's gaze fell on the booklet he had left on the table, and he suddenly remembered what he had realized a minute ago.

"Argo."

"This bed looks comfy as well- ah, what is it?" The «Rat» paused momentarily in her scurrying around to look at him.

"That girl... Asuna-san. She's the one that was in Turnback Cave several weeks ago, wasn't she?" Kirito tapped the palm of his other hand. "The one we saved."

"Ah, so you finally realized? You're so dense I wonder how you even survive sometimes, Ki-bou." She tilted her head and smiled. "I was really surprised to see her at the meeting today, though."

Raphael looked up. Surprised?

"Yeah." Argo gave an uncharacteristic sigh, tapping the side of her head through her hood. "She's a little loopy here, always going on about hating this world and pretty much not caring if she lives or dies."

"What?" Kirito tried to recall her face when they had met earlier that day to form a party. "Her? Really?"

"Mmm. Yup... I've been trying to help get some life back into her, but with the current clearing statistics, she really can't find her hope at all. It's really been quite worrying for me. But anyways, just leave it to me, this «Miltank» portrait looks quite well drawn as well-" Argo's eyes suddenly lit up as she ran over to the bathroom door. "A bathing room?"

Warning sirens went off in Kirito's head.

"This is rare... you don't see many hygienic facilities before the first tower." Argo stroked her imaginary goatee, her eyes already reflecting yen signs. "This information could sell at such a high price, especially to female players-"

"Stop!" Kirito frantically dove in between Argo and the bathroom door, his arms spread wide as he tried to block as much of it from view as possible. "Um, the bathroom is currently off-limits, it's, uh, uh-"

Infested with «Grimer»?

"Infested with Grimer!" He repeated out loud. Mentally, he shouted, Thank you so much Raph! "They're everywhere... in the plumbing, and the faucets, and even the mirror cabinet! It's all broken, they stink worse than a «Trubbish» heap, and the cleaning out quest is pretty annoying, not to mention stinky, so I didn't bother to do it, so it's still full of poison and would probably kill you with the smell alone! Don't go in!"

Argo nailed him with a piercing stare that could be compared to an «Arbok's» «Glare» attack, so powerful that Kirito could feel his muscles seizing up as if he were being «Paralyzed».

Finally, she sighed and put on a dejected expression, her eyes softening. "A pity. I was hoping I could use it. So it's a no go?"

"No. Nope." Kirito relaxed a little, lowering his arms slightly. He shifted away from the door. "Here, let me get you something to drink-"

"Juked!"

"Wah-!?"

In his moment of weakness, Argo immediately ducked under his flailing arms and dashed past him, reaching out for the bathroom door, proclaiming her victory with an evil grin.

"Aagh, hey, you- waghhhh!"

Stretching out a little too far in an attempt to grab her cloak and missing the fluttering cloth, Kirito inadvertently tripped over and swung out with his other hand as a last-ditch effort, but missed Argo's leg as well. Like something out of a school life comedy manga, he hit the ground face-first, his arms and legs splayed out spectacularly.

"Nyehehe, time to uncover the truth-!"

Kirito groaned from his position on the floor and grimaced, looking up just as Argo swung open the door-

-revealing both Sinon and Asuna just as they were halfway done re-equipping the bare minimum of cloth needed to cover the sensitive parts.

All four of them froze. The only sound was the shimmering of the data particles fading away as they finished forming the rest of the girl's underclothes. Kirito's brain had ceased function as well, unable to tear his eyes away from what he was seeing.

Finally, both girls raised their arms in unison with scandalized faces. The «Nemesis» Rifle and the «Iron Rapier» materialized out of thin air.

Both of them aimed at him, as logically, he was the one at fault for what had happened.

"W-wait-" Kirito tried to protest-

Clap! went Argo's hands as she placed them together as if in prayer.

"Godspeed, Ki-bou."

"No, Argo, wait, this is- Asuna, Sinon, I-!"

Raphael watched the excessive violence impassively, scratching his bangs as he calmly observed how humans proved to be surprisingly durable when it came to comical situations.

Zero, on the other hand, quietly muttered "Stupid Kirito-kun" in her sleep and turned over, flicking her tail back and forth. A wolfish smile appeared on her face.

---

With a massively bright flash of light, Asuna hurtled forwards and planted a lightning-fast thrust right between the «Lombre's» eyes. The lilypad-wearing «Pokemon» gave a feeble croak before exploding into the base polygons, leaving behind a few cut-up strips of the lily that were immediately stored into her inventory.

Behind you!

Hope rammed hard into a «Lotad», the pre-evolved version of the one she had just dispatched, that had been trying to sneak up behind her. Enraged, the six-legged amphibian turned around as fast as its stubby supports could take it, spitting a glob of green energy in retaliation.

I'm taking care of this one! Concentrate!

The attack hit Hope on her flank, and although it didn't do much damage, several drops of the attack broke off from the impact point and were quickly absorbed by the enemy, refilling a bit of its HP bar, amounting to about ten percent..

Its paltry advantage was short-lived, however, as the «Eevee» shook off the attack and leaped up, stomping off of the lilypad and squishing the weed into the ground. To seal its defeat, Asuna followed it up with a full powered «Linear», pinning it into the dirt and effectively ending its life.

Even as she did, however, two more of its buddies surfaced from the nearby lake and launched dual jets of shapeless energy before running forward themselves.

Within the space of one second, the attacks flashed and morphed into streams of deadly looking bubbles. One nailed Hope while she was still in midair, sending her tumbling over with a squeak. The other impacted Asuna in the chest, but they didn't feel like bubbles: more like a barrage of rocks.

Her HP decreased by a considerable amount. Culminating with the damage she had incurred in the past several minutes, her health bar beeped and switched to yellow.

"Switch!"

Asuna quickly directed Hope to use «Quick Attack» to strike one of them off-balance and retreat with the same speed boost. She herself dealt a blow to the side of the Lotad's lilypad, knocking it off balance.

They fell back while the enemy was still recovering, passing by Kirito and Raphael as they rushed forwards to take their place in combat, holding off the waves of «Lotad» and «Lombre» as they emerged from the lake.

Argo caught her arm as she retreated behind Kirito, pulling her behind the immediate zone of danger. "Remember to use your potions, A-chan."

Nodding, Asuna flicked her finger down the length of her «Pokelink» and quickly opened up her inventory. It was almost full, stuffed nearly to the brim with «Lilypad Silk» that had been dropping from the mobs like candy. Argo had insisted they hold on to it; as to why, neither Asuna nor Hope had any idea. Sinon looked like she had no clue either.

Ignoring the plethora of Lotad remains, she quickly withdrew two «Potions», applying the first one on Hope's bruised side. The brown fox hissed at the stinging sensation, but held still as the damage visibly began to disappear. Her HP bar slowly rose back to a healthier level as well.

Confirming Hope was no longer in any sort of danger, Asuna sprayed the remaining Potion on the battered portion of her chest, watching the torn cloth heal itself over, sewing back together. The health bar in her «HUD» went back up to seventy percent over the course of a dozen seconds, turning back into a gentle green.

Tseen!

Asuna looked up to see Sinon neatly sniping a Lombre through its upper leg, leaving it to topple over and be instantly bisected by Kirito's sword. Two more of them leaped at Kirito's exposed back, their arms outstretched and the edges of their hands glowing a dim crimson.

Immediately, three long, rod-shaped rocks pierced one of them through its left shoulder, its lower stomach, and through its back, locking it in place as its HP was quickly depleted. A fourth lance finished it off with a thrust to the chest.

Meanwhile, Kirito took the remaining Lombre's attack on the edge of his sword, kneeling under the force, and slipping past its arm and dealing a heavy blow to its abdomen. The thing quacked in anger and drew back for another swing.

Kirito drew back immediately and lowered his weapon, assuming a skill stance. His blade glowed an electrifying blue.

"Heyyaaaa!"

Kirito yelled out and dashed forward under the enemy's swing, just under their guard, and sliced upwards diagonally across its chest. The two halves went flying in either direction before disintegrating.

Several more Lotad emerged from the spawning point, but before they could begin their attack, Raphael swung his arm towards them, his red eyes glowing a bright crimson. Following his command, all four of the controlled rocks jabbed into a separate target, cutting their HP down by about a quarter each. The sticks nailed their targets to the ground, rendering them immobile.

One of them managed to dodge at the last moment, only catching a glancing hit. Whirling around, it returned fire with a quick stream of bubbles. The force of the attack and the number of bubbles effectively pulverized the thin skewer, leaving Raphael with only three to control.

However, by then, Kirito was already among them, dealing heavy blows left and right, surrounded by the rapidly vaporizing remains of his dispatched enemies. Sinon's sniping helped as support fire, disabling or dispatching enemies outside of his range. Hecate, Asuna knew, was taking out any enemies that came near Sinon's concealed position.

He's strong.

Hope watched with wide eyes as Kirito faced down another wave of enemies that spawned from the lake. The black swordsman's partner Pokemon scrounged up a long, pointy stick from the muddy waters of the shore to replace his broken rock, and rejoined the battle with all four of his remotely controlled weapons.

Looking at Kirito, Asuna was reminded of the incident the night before, and narrowed her eyes into a glare.

How dare he try to peek on us-

The boy made a misstep and nearly tripped over, due to his back stiffening suddenly.

Still, she had to admit he was strong. The way he absolutely crushed the opposition in perfect tandem with his partner... it was hard not to admire it. Their movements never collided or intersected and flowed like a professionally rehearsed play.

Like before, she was sure she had seen his face somewhere before, but she still could not place her finger on it.

The quest objective was to clear out the area of Lotad and Lombre, and to secure a special kind of «Berry» from the bushes they guarded. Apparently, feeding that to the farmer's forever-ill cow Pokemon would clean up its sickness temporarily. Getting to the small dell where the bushes resided was tricky due to the Pokemon living here. It was a quick wade from one side to the other, but the water impeded movement, while the Lotads and Lombre had no troubles in mobility. Therefore, it was better to attract the mobs to the shore and dispose of them first, before retrieving the quest item. Or so Argo had said.

They had been there for more than an hour already, cleaning up the mobs over and over again. Apparently the amount of waves increased when more players were present, but Asuna privately felt that this amount was fairly ridiculous, even for four people. Even so, he was still going strong, cutting down enemies with just as much vigor as he had had an hour ago.

On another note, Zero wasn't participating, hunting around deeper in the forest solo. Asuna and Hope already knew Zero was a disguised Pokemon, probably belonging to Kirito, but she didn't really understand the need for secrecy.

"Switch!"

Startled out of her reverie, Asuna remembered that this quest was for her own benefit, to help her get used to the "Switch and Potion" tactic. It was actually relatively simple: All she had to do was rotate the active fighting position with Kirito and heal up while on standby. By now she and Hope had mostly gotten the hang of it.

Asuna stood up, hefting the «Iron Rapier» in her right hand. Argo patted her on the shoulder and gave her a slight push forwards.

Come on, Asuna. Hope fluffed up her fur in anticipation. We'll get them good.

Uhn.

Kirito fell back, holding his hand over three shallow scratches in his side. His HP wasn't even below ninety-five percent, but he still swapped out to give Asuna more experience with the tactic. Raphael hadn't even taken a single hit, fighting at a safe distance and using the random materials controlled by psychokinesis to take the attacks for him if necessary.

This time, the wave consisted of five Lombre, no Lotad in sight. As they rushed towards Asuna and Hope, one of them was taken down by two well-placed beams in its upper thighs, effectively rooting it far away from the point of battle. Another shot through its stationary head depleted the last of its HP.

Asuna drew back her sword, concentrated, and dashed forwards, intercepting the lead enemy. Her rapier flashed brightly, drawing a figurative shooting star in the air as she stabbed the Lombre directly through the chest.

A bright particle effect signified a «Critical Hit», instantly deleting its HP bar. Without preamble, its frame glowed white and the entire body exploded. Its three remaining allies, now with rage visible on their faces, raised their arms and opened their mouths in preparation for an attack.

There was a sickening thud as Hope leaped forward and smacked her head against the nearest target's forehead, the force of the «Tackle» carrying them several meters away. There, they began to grapple, the Lombre attempting to rake its claws against Hope's side and Hope trying to lodge her sharp teeth into somewhere painful.

Keeping track of Hope's situation in the back of her head, Asuna parried the first set of claws coming her way before ducking under the second, lashing out with the edge of the rapier as it was impossible to prepare a Linear at this close of a distance. The attack bit deeply into the enemy's side, revealing the inner red wireframe its body was made up of. In the moment it took to tug the weapon free, the other Lombre took revenge by scoring a hit along her left shoulder, leaving several angry lines in her clothes and skin.

Leaping back to create some breathing room, she checked her HP bar: she had taken around a tenth of her health in damage from the attack. In return, she had laid open the side of one of the enemies, taking away more than half its health.

Asuna snapped to attention when both of them fired twin balls of formless energy at her. Once coming into contact with the air, they formed into a cloud of star-shaped projectiles and zoomed towards her.

Argo had told her about this move: «Nature Power» an attack that changed form depending on the surrounding environment. Before, it had been used over shallow water, therefore turning into the move «Bubblebeam». Over land, the attack turned into a default form known as «Swift», which never missed. The stars were weak, but homed in on their target with impeccable accuracy.

The only way to avoid damage was to deflect the stars. Heavy weapons like wide-bore «Cannons» and «Axes» could use almost any of their skills to deflect all of the attack, but Asuna's weapon was a rapier. To make things worse, she didn't have any area-of-effect skills. She couldn't avoid the damage.

So, the only thing to do was to take the attack and counter.

Gritting her teeth, she lowered her stance and focused on her sword. All her strength, all her mind-

Seeein!

The thrust took her directly through the attack and pierced straight into the center of the damaged one's forehead. Her HP dropped by another fifteen percent, but her target died immediately, momentarily turning into dead weight on the end of her sword before disintegrating.

Before the particles had even dispersed, Hope, having taken care of the one from before, smacked into the remaining one's back, sending him toppling off balance. On que, a laser beam quickly sniped it through the leg, effectively immobilizing it. Asuna recovered from her previous attack and raised her sword, finishing the Pokemon off.

Hope landed clumsily on the floor and whirled around, breathing hard, waiting for the next opponent to come within sight. There was none; the path to the Berries was completely devoid of any wild Pokemon. No more waves spawned.

Asuna's sword lowered slowly, its tip brushing against the gentle lapping of the lake.

"I guess we're done." Argo commented.

There was a rustling in the trees behind them, and Sinon nimbly dropped down, stowing away her rifle back into hammerspace. Hecate trotted out of a nearby bush, a piece of lilypad stuck between her teeth. Immediately, Sinon leaned over to yank the piece out, before straightening up and tugging on the coarse-cloth muffler she wore around her neck.

"We're all dead. There's no hope anymore."

Those words she had uttered to the sniper the day before with such certainty now felt as weak as straw. Even though nothing had changed. Fifteen hundred people were still dead. More were dying by the hour.

Yet something small was refusing to give up at the back of her mind...

Asuna exhaled deeply, watching Kirito march over to the berry bushes to pick up their spoils of war. Wearily, she opened up her inventory: it was nearly filled to the brim, occupied by exactly a hundred lilypad strands. Several other items at the bottom of the list caught her eye, and she materialized them for a closer inspection.

The first was a short, hooded cloak woven from what looked like coarse cloth, but felt rather smooth to the touch, similar to what Argo always wore.

Second was a «Rapier» type sword, just about as long as her current weapon but much thinner. The blade was polished deep blue, with a point and edge far sharper than any other weapon she had seen before. The guard consisted of two blued pieces of metal intertwining with an encircling elegant design. All in all, in Asuna's opinion, it was a beautiful weapon.

The last one was a heavy «Axe» type, so heavy it nearly cut off Hope's head as she dropped it due to its weight. Chipped and worn, its condition paled to the splendor of the weapon before it.

"Oh? A «Wind Fleuret»?"

Asuna looked up to see an item being thrown at her. Reaching up fast, she snatched it out of the air and regarded it: it was the Berry needed to complete the quest. Stowing it in her inventory, she identified the speaker as the black-haired swordsman.

She glared at him, remembering the night before. He blanched, hesitating, but steeled his expression and carried on.

"That's a pretty rare drop." He continued, tossing the other two berries to Argo and Sinon. The one he lobbed to Sinon fell short; Raphael's eyes glowed and forced it to bounce the extra meter into her hands. "It focuses more on «Speed» and «Accuracy» rather than brute strength. It suits your fighting style, and is a weapon of far greater quality than an Iron Rapier from a common weaponsmith."

When she didn't respond, he tacked on, "I recommend it for you. If you want to get stronger."

Finally, she slowly reacted. Donning the cloak, sans the hood, and returning the axe and her old weapon to the bag, she raised the Wind Fleuret and gave it an experimental jab. Indeed, it did feel a lot less unwieldy: more like an extension of her arm, rather than a simple tool to hold and use. Asuna took a liking to it at once, holding it up to the sky and watching the sun reflect off of its angles.

"I guess it does... help. It's... beautiful."

Wow, lucky! Congrats on your new weapon. Hope said with a hint of jealousy. I want one too.

Asuna looked at her in surprise. Could you even hold it?

Uh... I guess not.

"Ahem." Argo coughed into her hand to attract her attention. "A-chan, you should enhance it when we get back to «Pewter City» later."

"Enhancement...?"

"Powering up. Increasing the sharpness, weight, or any of the various other attributes. You would normally farm the local mobs for the materials, but due to your..." She hesitated here, looking for a word to use. "...sojourn in the tower over the past few days, you've gathered the necessary required items to enhance it to +4."

"Oh..." Asuna murmured offhandedly, staring at the weapon. "But where-"

"I'll show you the best «NPC» weaponsmith in town." Argo flipped her hand. "No need to worry about that."

"Oh... thank you. How should I pay-?"

"Don't need it."

Both Asuna and Kirito stared at the usually thrifty Argo at this comment. Sinon, still not aware of the information dealer being incredibly money-hungry, continued to sort through the drops in her inventory.

"Rather, this is my thank you to you." Argo continued in the silence, giving Asuna a grateful smile. "For standing up for me yesterday in the meeting."

Ah... Asuna's gaze softened as she remembered the events of the day before.

"Well, we'll go do that after lunch. In any case, what did you get, Sinon-chan?"

"Oh..." Suddenly at the center of attention, Sinon was struck dumb for a few seconds before she responded. "Some extra Potions. «Energy Packs». Some «Persim Berries». Lots of lilypad strands."

"Mmm. Like I said, hold on to them for a bit." Argo looked over behind Asuna. Following her gaze, Asuna saw Kirito seemingly conversing with Zero, who had just gotten back. "Let's go turn in the quest, then?"

Three hours later, all of them walked out the front door of the «Moo Moo Farm's» barn holding a jar of some unknown substance, still traumatized by how the farmer had snatched the berries from their hands and force-fed his sick livestock in the most inhumane way possible before shoving the containers into their hands.

"He wasn't like that three days ago." Kirito muttered. His eye twitched momentarily. "He was.. a lot nicer back then...?"

Next to him, Zero looked like she was going to be sick, holding her hand up to her mouth. Argo and Sinon both expressionlessly nodded in agreement. Asuna, having no idea what the farmer had been like before, was still nevertheless shocked by her first time seeing such brutality, as the violence that had been inflicted upon Kirito the previous night did not count.

I never want to eat berries ever again. Hope walked with a clumsy gait, accidentally colliding into Hecate. The other Eevee, looking as cool and calm as ever, merely looked at her with a pitying face until Hope forcefully regained her balance. Ow. My eyes. Cannot unsee.

They walked together unsteadily in silence for a while, down the road to Pewter City, their minds striving to forget the atrocity that they had just witnessed.

---

Ding!

"It appears to be a success. Thank you for your patronage!"

The Enhancement Station clerk, a young man with messy hair and grease marks all over his face and hands, took Asuna's «Wind Fleuret» out from under the cover of the forge and handed it back to her. She didn't take it.

"I'd like to try to enhance it one more time."

"Alright. The materials...?"

Asuna retrieved the necessary items from her bag, materializing them into a distorted pile on the desk. Sinon couldn't even tell what things were in there; she could see some «Machop Head Crests» half-buried along the side, but the rest was an unintelligible mess. Even so, the clerk looked it over once and dropped the whole thing into the forge, immediately able to tell the quantity and type of all the items in there.

That power would be unlocked somewhere in the «Exploration & Crafts» skill tree, but since hardly anyone actually specced into that it was quite rare to find a human player with that ability.

Ding!

"It appears to be a success. Thank you for your patronage!"

With the same words as before, the enhancer lifted the newly strengthened weapon from the forge and handed it to her.

Before she could refuse it and ask for another level up, Kirito cut in. "You can't enhance it any further without materials from beyond the first «Tower», or in the... uh, «Turnback Cave»..." Kirito hesitated for some strange reason before mentioning the area. "Anyways, for now, +4 is the highest you can go."

"...is that so."

Maybe Sinon was dreaming, but it felt like Asuna, who supposedly loathed this world and all it stood for, had a tint of disappointment in her voice. The girl reached over and accepted her weapon back from the clerk and hefted it with both hands.

"Well, how does it feel?"

"Ah, a lot lighter." She gave it a quick heave and snatched the handle out of the air experimentally. "I chose to add more to «Accuracy»... so it feels a lot easier to aim. It's a strange feeling."

Asuna lifted the weapon and tried several experimental stabs, using the «NPC» as a practice target and pulling back the blows moments before they hit him.

"It's lighter, but I still swing it at the same speed... except I can direct it more easily-"

The heart, the forehead-

"That's dangerous- That's dangerous-"

"It feels weird-"

The shoulder, the stomach-

"That's dangerous- That's dangerous-"

The NPC continuously repeated the phrase nervously, looking mighty afraid of the sharp blade coming near his vital points. Even so, he had nothing to really fear, as the entire area was within «Pewter City's» limits and therefore was under the «Area Protection Code». At most he'd feel a push, even if the blade stabbed directly into his eye.

However, this was what he had been programmed to do. For "server-side storage reasons", NPCs, although still lifelike, did not support the same AI level as «Pokemon», still having scripted/programmed conversations and actions. He wasn't really afraid; it was just a part of his script. Once the attack ended he would go right back to normal without a hint that he had just been assaulted.

Still, Sinon noticed Kirito's mouth tighten as he protested, "Hey, that's not nice. Stop that."

Sinon sighed and watched as the three of them started having a slight argument about NPCs, shrugging her combat jacket into a more comfortable position, unable to find a way to enter their conversation and feeling rather lonely. The coarse cloth of her muffler itched, so she loosened it and scratched at the irritated skin.

At the end of the day, she just wasn't the same as the rest of them. Even if they were partying together, there was still a rift between them. It wasn't just physical, seeing as she was their only long-ranged attacker and they were all close-ranged combatants, but mental as well. Argo and Kirito seemed to go back a long way, and easily discussed strategies and game mechanics without hesitation. Even Asuna didn't look like she was uncomfortable while asking her questions.

The gist of it was they were all normal. And she was not; not in the least. She wouldn't have even joined this party if Argo hadn't been so pressuring.

Sinon?

It's alright. It's just...

It was just for the boss fight. She reminded herself. Leave them afterwards. If they ever found out and understood what she had done, they would hate her for the monster she was.

A murderer and a psychopath.

Even so, her heart ached at the thought of going solo, alone again for weeks at a time. Being alone. Not being able to rely on anyone. Cold, reserved, isolated-

Sinon.

I know, I know...

Hecate smacked her head against her trainer's leg. Looking up at her with a plain face that hid an emotion that wasn't plain at all, she tightly said, Just think about now.

"Sinon?"

Sinon and Hecate both flinched as Kirito called out her name. Rubbing her eyes, she focused on his figure. It took a moment for his features to stop being blurred, arranged in an expression of concern.

"Uhn? Kirito-kun?"

"Are you okay? You seem... sad. Preoccupied, tense?"

"Ah, no..." Sinon waved a hand clumsily. "No, I'm fine."

Both of them fell silent, not knowing how to support the conversation. Without sustenance it died out, leaving behind an uncomfortably empty space.

"Ahn, well then..." Asuna broke the silence, sliding the Wind Fleuret into an imaginary scabbard on her waist: the blade disappeared into her «Pokelink». Hope stood up next to her and shook herself. "I have some other things to buy..."

Sinon abruptly became fully aware of the scratchy muffler around her neck, recalling she had wanted to purchase a new one recently, and started instinctively raising her hand to ask if she could tag along.

Then she caught herself and let it drop by her side, pretending that that hadn't happened.

I can't mix with them too much...

Unfortunately, it seemed Argo had caught sight of her action, and the infernal girl immediately reached over and dragged Sinon over to Asuna before she even had a chance to react, as if her «Speed» stat had already reached the maximum possible number. With a light nhn, she forced Sinon's hand into Asuna's.

"It seems like Sinon-chan wants to go too, A-chan! Why don't you two go together?"

"Wait-"

"Wah-?" Both of them squeaked in surprise.

"It's perfect! You two could go shopping together!" Argo winked at the two of them and twirled a finger in the air. "You both need to buy... ah, no need to worry about that! I know the perfect place."

Both Asuna and Sinon stared wordlessly, along with their partners, as Argo expertly pulled out her menu and manipulated several of the options. A light beep sounded, and a notice appeared in Sinon's vision.

«Argo has sent you some map data.»

"Just follow the directions to this store." Argo flipped both of them around forcefully and pushed them out of the enhancement station's door unceremoniously. "Everything you'll need is there. Have fun shopping! Let's meet up again tomorrow for the boss fight at the usual time."

Sinon's brain was floundering in confusion. How had things gotten to this so quickly? "But, I-"

"I'll be doing some battle training with Ki-bou here." Argo's face formed a feline smile as she waved goodbye. "You two spend some quality time together! Bye! Use the party chat if you need anything!"

A glimpse of Kirito's face showed he looked just about as lost as Sinon and Asuna were before the door was shut in their faces, leaving Asuna and Sinon staring numbly at the solid oak wall.

Hecate, seemingly unfazed as always but in reality just as confused, scratched behind her ears with her hind leg.

---

«Gardevoir's Boutique».

It was clearly a women's clothing store. Shirts, sweaters, scarves, boots, anything that a girl could need for clothing was arranged neatly in the large show window. Asuna guessed these were probably the establishment's best wares, to be selected to be displayed on the storefront.

But she seriously wondered if it was really necessary to put that on a mannequin smack bang in the middle of it all. Such an example was really pushing the limits on the definition of clothes. Even the NPCs passing by the place were giving it second glances with flushed faces. Asuna reached up with her hand to touch her own face- it was burning hot as well.

I mean... it's literally... nothing.

Glancing over at Sinon, she could see the black-haired sniper's face distorted in a scandalized expression. Her jaw loosely hung open, and a faint blush decorated her cheeks.

"Is this," Sinon slowly said as her fingers twitched, "really something they should be displaying... like that?"

Asuna studied the mannequin again. Its featureless face stared back at her, as if protesting, "You gotta problem with my choice of outfit?"

"No. I don't think so."

Neither Hope nor Hecate saw the problem, both innocently tilting their heads at their trainer's reactions.

It's just string. What's wrong with that?

It's very wrong, for humans. At least, in public.

An electronic bell sounded deep within the store as the door swung open, echoing in the cool air-conditioned space. At least the front of the store wasn't too inappropriate: there was a jewelry section right in front of the main entrance, followed by racks of shirts and pants. However, turning around would cause the shamefully dressed mannequin from the shop window to come into view. Asuna could still see a sign hanging from the ceiling reading "Lingerie" at the back as well.

Surprisingly, there were actually quite a few people shopping in the store, though most of them were «NPCs». There weren't a lot of females who had tried to play «Pokemon Universe» and gotten trapped, so in general female-only areas were empty compared to the ones reserved for males.

Still... I'm surprised Argo knew that I had wanted to buy a new pair of boots. Asuna looked towards Sinon. Is she the same-

Toys!

Eh?

Hope shot off towards a playpen in the corner marked with the iconic «Pokeball» symbol and leaped onto a toy resembling a patched mouse, tossing it into the air and hunting it down.

"A playpen for Pokemon...?" Asuna said uncertainly.

Whee! Go do your shopping! Take your time! Whoa! What's this?

Throwing the mouse into the air, Hope flipped around and scrambled towards a plushie looking like a fairy kind of «Pokemon», ramming into it and throwing it around randomly.

Despite herself, she had to smile at Hope's childishness, having so much fun playing with an immobile object. Sometimes she had to remind herself that the Pokemon was, still, technically only a month old.

Hecate looked up at her trainer for a moment, seemingly conversing through the link, before slowly walking over to the pen as well. Asuna could have imagined it, but she swore the «Eevee» looked infuriatingly mortified.

"«Fluffy Tails» and «Poke Dolls» are made with a type of material that make them irresistibly fun to play with for certain Pokemon." Sinon murmured. Even she looked amused at Hecate's expression. "Like catnip I suppose. Poor Hecate."

"Uhn." Asuna responded, not know what else to say.

"Are you two customers?"

A new voice caused them both to look over to the sales counter next to the jewelry section where a tired-looking employee dressed in a uniform waved at them. Her eyes looked massively bloodshot, and her face haggard. A manga tankobon titled "Pokemon Adventures" lay upside-down on the desk next to the computer she was currently working at.

She stood up and pushed back a sweaty mop of hair out of way of her eyes. "Feel free to browse any of our clothes selections. Tops and bottoms are over there, we have a wide variety of shoes there, and also accessories in that direction. Oh, and our extensive array of lingerie."

The girl pointed at various areas of the store from her seat, speaking in an exhausted-sounding monotone, the kind of attitude that should have gotten her immediately fired. Once done pointing out the directions, she flopped back into her chair with a sigh, tapping her own head. "When you want to purchase something, just tap it twice and select purchase, and I'll be right over. Please enjoy your shopping experience here at Gardevoir's Boutique."

And she with that she squinted back at the screen, muttered "Stupid shipment" under her breath, and pounded the keyboard with one hand angrily before resuming her silent staring contest with the machine. There was no response from her even as Sinon and Asuna watched her for half a minute. The only sound was of the Eevees roughhousing in the playpen.

Not able to stand the silence anymore, Sinon awkwardly rubbed her head. " I guess... I'll go buy what I need, then..?"

She turned and moved over towards the right of the store. Asuna looked over at the footwear section of the store; she had intended to buy a new pair of boots as her current ones were starting to wear out, but not wanting to be left alone, she stepped after Sinon.

The other girl stopped by a large row of hanging scarves and mufflers, fingering the first one hanging on the side. From there, she began browsing through the racks of cloth, looking and feeling the texture of all the light blue, light brown, and white-colored ones. All other colors were promptly ignored.

"Sinon-san?"

"Yes?"

Asuna pointed. "Don't you already have a scarf?"

Indeed the sniper did, a strip of material the color of sackcloth wrapped around her neck. But she shook her head. As she tapped one that she found and studied the stats and price, she responded, "It's made of some kind of scratchy material. It itches. Plus the stats are outdated now."

"Oh..."

"Asuna-san, do you... nevermind."

"Huh?" Asuna blinked.

"Anyways," Sinon shook her head and looked at Asuna, "that Argo really can read our minds, eh. She deduced I wanted to buy a new muffler just from me scratching my chin... what do you need to buy?"

"Oh, um," Asuna knelt over and tapped the side of her feet. "My boots are wearing out... so I need new ones."

Sinon nodded and turned back to continue looking through the wares, checking the statistics of another smooth-looking muffler.

"Don't die. Your life isn't, it's the most precious thing a human can have. Taking it away, whether its your own or someone else's... Don't throw it away. Don't take it away. Ever."

She had told her that last night.

"Someone as soft as you would never be able to understand how painful death is."

"The only way to make a meaning for yourself is to live, little girl."

A quarter of a day before that, she had spat that at Asuna in disgust.

The same concept: don't try to play with death. Two vastly different ways of expressing it, almost like they had been said by two different people. But they hadn't; both were Sinon's words.

And the way she had acted afterwards... she had looked as if she were afraid of herself. She avoided talking about what had happened, and frequently glanced at her own hand as if it had committed some grave unspeakable act of evil.

...why am I even wondering about this?

The girl had nearly choked her just the day before, for heaven's sake. Yet here she was, shopping with her for clothes, wondering about why she had suddenly seemed like a different person at that time. And she didn't even feel the slightest bit of animosity towards her. No fear, no anger.

As if those emotions weren't directed at this timid Sinon she knew...

Asuna blinked, suddenly finding herself several feet farther down the aisle than she had remembered. In her hands was a silvery-blue roll of material, with a simple black line down the middle of the cloth to serve as a pattern. The texture was smooth and cool to the touch.

She didn't even remember picking up the item. After a pause, she tapped the item twice.

«Reinforced Silk Muffler»

Made from a specific combination of artificial fibers and the finest «Silcoon» silk, this muffler is lightweight, smooth to the touch, and waterproof as well. It keeps in the warmth on cold days and the heat out on hot ones! 1500 Poke.

The stats were mighty impressive as well, giving a big boost to «Speed» and a small «HP» and «Accuracy» bonus. She looked over to see Sinon right next to her.

The girl's face was furrowed slightly in concentration as she continued searched the mounds of cloth for a good scarf, not unlike the expressions Asuna's classmates had wore before their final exams.

Still, none of the fear she was supposed to feel when looking at someone who had nearly killed her. Asuna hesitated.

"Sinon-san?"

"Hmm?"

"Here... I think this one is good."

Sinon looked surprised when Asuna placed the muffler in her hands. Gingerly, she poked it twice to look at its stats, feeling the texture of the scarf at the same time before trying it on. Together with her light gray combat jacket and leggings, Asuna felt the muffler really accented her look of a lightweight special-ops soldier.

It was actually quite cute.

"Eh?" Sinon looked at Asuna in shock.

Too late, Asuna realized she must have said the last sentence out loud. She immediately covered her mouth with one hand and looked away, flushed. "Sorry! I just... I wasn't thinking!"

To her surprise, Sinon gave an uncertain smile and shrugged. Some sort of tension seemed to leave her. "It's no problem. It's just..." She jogged over to a nearby mirror and studied her reflection with the muffler wrapped around her neck before glancing back at Asuna. "Does it really look good on me?"

Embarrassed, Asuna nodded.

"I think I'll buy this one then." Sinon patted the muffler, evidently liking it. "Thank you, Asuna-san."

Stunned by Sinon's gratitude, Asuna didn't react for a moment. Then, slowly, she giggled quietly. Something eased inside of her as they both shared a small laugh.

Did you just laugh?

Hope's voice suddenly intruded on her. Asuna abruptly stopped.

Eh?

You just giggled, didn't you? Across the link, Asuna felt Hope shake her head as she played with a slightly dismembered Poke Doll. You haven't ever laughed in the whole time I've met you, but you finally did. I guess what they say about people needing company to be happy is true, eh?

I didn't, I don't-

Were you happy just now? Hope asked seriously. So seriously, she put down the toy that was supposed to be like catnip to Pokemon. Try and answer that.

...am I happy?

She hadn't laughed at all this past month.

Of course. The past month had been a hellish experience for her. Alone except for Hope, fighting for her life, becoming more more pessimistic as the death toll grew ever higher. There had been nothing to give her happiness in this false world.

It was all just a bunch of electrical signals. The bath she had taken last night; the softness of the scarf she had just held; the warmth she had felt from Sinon's hand. All of it was just a bunch of false pulses from a computer into her consciousness..

And yet... have I ever felt this kind of feeling before in the real world?

No. She hadn't. The laugh she had shared with Sinon just a moment ago, even if it was just for a moment, wasn't something she had ever experienced before. The euphoria she had felt when she had taken the bath last night had far outstripped any feeling of satisfaction that she had from a bath in reality.

So I found real joy in a fake world.

She actually had felt happiness, here, in such a hellish false world. With a girl who had almost killed her. Whom she didn't feel any hostility towards at all.

Whom had just made her feel... happiness.

What is wrong with me?

Even though everything around her was fake. And yet... the bath she had taken. The ease she had felt when Sinon had thanked her.

...I can't even laugh at myself. At this feeling where I desire happiness derived from a fake electrical signal.

...eh. Hope shook herself, momentarily causing Asuna to be disoriented too. Hopefully someday you'll realize.

Realize what?

"...suna? Asuna-san?"

Asuna blinked, finding herself standing in the exact same position as before. For moment, she couldn't see clearly, her eyes refocusing blearily on Sinon's face.

"Eh?"

"Asuna-san? Are you okay?" Sinon looked concerned. "You've been standing there for a while."

"Ah-" Asuna moved, letting out a small breath as her muscles protested to being suddenly awakened. Her eyes adjusted to the change in lighting. "I'm fine, I'm fine..."

Am I really...?

"...I was just talking to Hope about something." she finished lamely.

"Is that so..." Sinon skeptically studied her face for a moment. "Well, anyways, you were here to buy some new boots, right?" Letting out a small "mmf" with the effort, held up a pair of simple leather boots. "I took a look around that section and I think these would fit you well..."

Asuna reached out and hesitatingly accepted the boots. They were made out of a supple leather material, soft and firm, with a light padding on the inside. There wasn't any decoration except a black band around the upper stock, but the Asuna immediately liked the simplistic look. It was similar to the boots she has used to wear in real life for casual wear.

She tapped it twice and looked momentarily at the stats, using the preview function to try it on, taking a few experimental steps. The cushioning was enough to make it comfortable, but just enough so it wouldn't get in that way of her footwork during combat.

"Since you picked one out for me..." Sinon offhandedly spoke while gesturing meaninglessly with her hand, "I thought I would help pick one too. I just thought that the look sort of suited you as well."

Something warm lit up inside her chest as Asuna looked down at the boots.

Even though this is a fake world... even though this is such a simple thing...

"I... I like it." Asuna hugged the boots to her chest. "Thank you."

Sinon paused. She opened her mouth to say something, seemed to struggle with herself for a moment, then sighed while lowering her head.

"Sinon?" For a moment Asuna wondered if she had said something wrong.

"...just for the boss battle..."

Asuna couldn't quite make out what Sinon was whispering. "Eh? What did you say?"

"N-nothing." Sinon looked back up and smiled, but even Asuna could tell the expression was forced. "I have to go somewhere now... let's go make the purchases."

"Sinon? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She bowed her head and looked away from Asuna, tapping the muffler she wore twice and selecting the payment option from the menu. "I need to leave... for something right now. Sorry."

It was clear something had suddenly bothered her. Asuna glanced behind her, but saw nothing except for a middle-aged NPC woman wearing an apron browsing through racks of wide-brimmed hats.

Maybe she just realized she's late for something?

"You two already made your decision?"

The same tired shopkeeper from the front of the store walked over, holding a portable checkout device consisting of something that looked like a barcode scanner connected to a small terminal. Her demeanor was just as exhausted as before, with her slouched posture and weary face.

Sinon nodded, oddly tense, seemingly not noticing the clerk's pain.

"Well then."

The NPC raised her hand and swiped the scanner across the muffler wrapped around Sinon's neck, raising the terminal in her other hand as she did so. A window popped up in front of Sinon, most likely asking if she wanted to confirm the purchase, and she did so.

After the girl did the same for Asuna's purchase, Sinon raised her head again and nodded towards the rapier-user. Called by an unseen signal, Hecate trotted over from the playpen, Hope following curiously close behind.

"Well, um, thank you for shopping with-" she began.

"Eh, are you two trainers?"

Both of them looked towards the NPC clerk at the same time. It seemed like she had just caught eye of the «Pokelinks» on their lower arms.

"Yes..?" Sinon responded uncertainly, slightly disgruntled at being cut off.

The clerk waited a moment before bowing her head, causing both girls to flinch at the uncharacteristic action. "I beg of you two, could I ask for a favor?"

"Uh-"

"Some of our wares use «Lilypad Silk» from the lilypads of «Lotad» and «Lombre» in the creation of the fiber, to give it a smooth texture as well as temperature regulation qualities." The girl clasped her hands together and made a begging motion, her eyes looking desperately into Asuna's soul. "Our latest shipment of them has been cancelled due to... some mistakes I made with the order..."

Hope tilted her head as she listened to the clerk shamefully muttered an unintelligible reason and looked up at her trainer.

"if you two don't mind, I'd like to ask you to help us procure some of them... We really need this shipment!"

Isn't your bag full of those?

At the Eevee's prompting, Asuna suddenly remembered the abundance of «Lilypad Silk» in her inventory, hastily opening up her inventory and withdrawing them all at the same time Sinon did. The stack materialized as a compact gray cube.

She reached out with the seemingly small object in the center of her palm.

"Is this-"

CLAP!

All of them, both humans and Pokemon, jumped at the sudden sound as the girl clapped her hands together, her eyes shining at the two cubes in the trainer's hands.

"T-that's it! I'm saved!"

"Eh-"

"Can I have them? Can I have them? Two, two full shipment's worth... uwah, uwahhhhh..."

Hope and Hecate instinctively shied away from the splatter as the stream of drool hit the ground. Hesitantly, the two trainers placed their cube in the shopkeeper's palm, also backing away slightly from the growing puddle.

They squeaked as the clerk suddenly grabbed both of their hands after shoving both cubes into her pocket. Shouting "Thank you!" in joy, she enthusiastically dragged them over to the front desk, repeating "I'm saved thank Arceus I'm saved thank Arceus I'm saved" like a prayer mantra.

Leaning over, she rifled through a box under the counter, not even noticing when her manga tankobon slipped off the table and smacked her on the head.

"Hrm, not this, not this, here!"

She quickly stood up and banged her head on the underside of the desk.

"...here!"

Straightening up as if nothing had happened, save for a massive bump on the back of her skull, the clerk held out two pure-white rolls of cloth with a grateful smile. All traces of her earlier fatigue were completely gone.

"You two saved me... I can't thank you enough. Please take these."

With a light plop, the two bundles were dropped into Asuna and Sinon's still-open hands. The light, smooth fabric was cool against Asuna's hand.

"These are «Silk Scarves». They're not for you two, but for your Pokemon."

Completely disregarding the fact that she had only just dropped the scarf into Asuna's hand just five seconds ago, the clerk snatched it back and knelt. Both sniper and rapier-user could only stare as the girl swiftly and rather skillfully tied the knot of silk around Hope's neck before the Eevee could even react.

Wait- wahwahwah-?

A faint glow emanated from the bolt of fabric when the item was secured before fading. Hope suddenly shivered, shaking herself down as if she had water in her fur.

Huh? My paws feel lighter...

"The power of «Normal» type moves are strengthened when equipped. Perfect for your Eevees!" The girl stared with wide eyes at the now sparkling Hope. "They make wonderful fashion statements too!"

I, uh-

"And you too! Here-!"

Wait! She doesn't like-

"VEE! EEE-VEE!"

As Asuna watched Hecate screech in indignation at being forced into the scarf, struggling with all her might to avoid being captured, she suddenly realized something.

So that's Argo told us to come here. And to hold on to those Lilypad strands...

But why would Argo give out information so freely like that? From what she knew of the Info Dealer, the «Rat» was incredibly stingy about putting price tags on her services.

"VeeeeEEEeeeE-!" Hecate was positively frantic now, scrambling away as fast as her paws could take her.

"Eheheh..."

Asuna looked up in surprise to see Sinon giggling at Hecate's predicament. The black-haired girl looked up to meet Asuna's stare, and for a moment she could see a spark of amusement in her eyes. A half-smile formed on her face.

Then the spark faded, and she looked down at the floor. Her jaw set as she let out a deep sigh, turning her head away from Asuna.

---

Kirito grunted as his overhead blow was parried by two glowing short blades, locked together in a cross shape to neatly absorb the force of his attack.

At the same time, he could see himself fighting against a purple rat-like «Pokemon», grappling and scratching-

Smack his nose with your tail and duck underneath his retaliatory attack-

Argo flashed him an evil smile, cutting off his train of thought to Zero, then using the leverage her short blades gave her, forced him off-balance with a shout. Right afterwards, she lowered her center of gravity and attacked, slashing with both weapons diagonally and aiming for his unprotected stomach.

Momentarily off-guard by the facial gesture, Kirito immediately refocused his mind and flipped over backwards along with the momentum of Argo's push. Using his foot, he accurately judged the distances while facing away and kicked out, hearing a satisfying ping as his boots made contact with the flats of Argo's short swords.

The «Rat's» footwork missed a step as the kick threw her attack off-balance.

Unfortunately, in his current position, he was in no position to take advantage of it. Kirito lightly gritted his teeth as he completed his revolution along the floor, the sharp rocks abrasive against his skin. Using the leftover momentum, he jumped to his feet and whirled around to face the attack that was no doubt to be coming from her-

-no one was there.

Behind you! Zero shouted, momentarily deviating her attention away from her own practice bout.

Kirito instantly bent his legs and ducked, narrowly missing the glowing short blade whistling through the space his neck had just previously occupied. Even as he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck being severed, he could also feel Zero doing the exact same thing to avoid the sharp teeth of her opponent.

In a window of time that could only be measured by the speed of thought, he assessed her situation and ordered, Kick out behind you to create some distance, and use «Dark Pulse»!

At the same time, he watched Argo's arm stretch above him out of the corner of his eye, analyzing her center of weight-

She's overextended!

Seizing the opening and rearing around, he angled his blade close to his body and swung behind him, hoping to catch his assailant off balance-

-and missed, the edge just barely nicking the hem of the Argo's cloak. Despite having executed a move that left the upper body mostly vulnerable, she had still managed to twist her body far enough to avoid the attack.

Even as he drew back into a stance, he accessed the situation with Zero and commanded, As he tries to move away, tag him with «Pursuit»! Follow up with Dark Pulse again! Mind your range and harass him down from a distance.

I know!

With a nimble leap, Argo tumbled forward and jumped to her feet, holding her weapons up at the ready. Her face was mildly flushed with the heat of battle as she breathed hard, eyes watching his every move.

Klang!

His rapidly executed skill was once again parried by Argo's short blades, but this time, his strength was reinforced by the power of the «System Assist». The «Rat» cried out momentarily under the pressure but held, pushing back against the skill.

Her blades glowed a lightened shade of red just as the blue haze around Kirito's sword faded.

A skill straight from a parry.

Immediately, Kirito guessed that she would use the «Driller Thrust» skill, where after successfully parrying an opponent's attack, she would push them backwards to force their weapons into an unfavorable position before using that advantage to land rapid blows onto their unprotected chest. A specialty of the «Claw» type weapons: countering. Most dual-wielded blades fell into that category, despite them having no resemblance to that weapon.

However...

You fell for it.

"Wah?"

Argo yelped in surprise as her counterpush went completely uncontested, throwing her massively off-balance as Kirito's sword nimble slid down her blades in a shower of sparks.

She had read Kirito's attack as the standard «Skill» «Vertical», but in reality, it was the two-part skill «Vertical Feint» where he would act as if he were executing the former skill, but then slip past the expected block or counter and attack from an unprotected angle. In this situation, the hastily executed Driller Thrust would, as expected, create an opening after Kirito twisted his wrist and turned his sword parallel to Argo's parry.

This left Argo's arms outstretched, carried forward by the influence of the System Assist, and Kirito kneeling underneath her, the flat of his weapon pressed against his shoulder, ready to be swung at any time, still glowing a deadly blue.

This is my win!

His eyes picked out the spot on her exposed body that would deal the least amount of damage, and he forced himself up, his blade's aura flaring up. Shouting out with certain victory, he leaped past Argo, the second half of the skill carving a straight groove through the side of her abdomen.

"HAAAAAH!"

A trail of light followed the tip of his sword while her HP slid down to the fifty percent mark.

The skill forced him to revolve once in the air before landing, half-kneeling and his sword digging a few centimeters into the dirt. Behind him, he could hear Argo's disappointed sigh.

"I lost again..."

A notice materialized between them and in front of their faces, all reading «Winner: Kirito».The winner in question let out a pent-up breath he didn't realize he had been holding, straightening up and turning around, walking over to Argo's kneeling form.

The information dealer was already spraying a «Potion» over the wound in her side, watching her HP slowly refill itself.

"I guess I really am more suited to info dealing than battle, aren't I?" Argo shook her hair out of the way of her eyes and looked up at him, smiling a little sheepishly.

"Well, I do have a two level advantage over you..." Kirito scratched the back of his head and glanced at his level in his HUD. "This early in the game, in the single digits, levels really do make a difference. Compared to most people I think you fought really well."

He stretched out a hand and Argo accepted it, pulling herself to her feet. She dusted herself off and her smile turned into a rueful one.

"Even so..."

Hah! I win!

Both of them simultaneously looked over to a spot around ten meters away where Zero stood triumphant over a tired looking «Rattata», both of them covered with scratch and bite marks. Her HP was hovering at around eighty percent, while her foe's yellow health bar was just under half.

Ding!

«Zero has leveled up to 16!»

Congrats Zero. Raphael inclined his head as Zero ran over, watching from the shade of a nearby tree. Two levitating sticks were idly drawing random patterns in the dust around him.

Hehe, I did good, didn't I?

Kirito had to smile at the silly victory dance Zero did. He reached out and scratched Zero behind the ears, inciting a comforted purr from her.

Fwahhh went her little mouth as she yawned. I'm sleepy now.

"Even so," Argo continued, "I couldn't even notice what was going on in Subete's side of the fight while we were fighting, yet you were able to fight me at the same time you were helping Zero fight hers."

Kirito does have lots of battle instinct. Raphael commented before yawning as well, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. One of his drawing sticks sneakily sketched a bed on the ground before smoothing the image over.

Nodding at Raphael's input, Argo kneeled down and lowered left hand to the floor. The Rattata, having followed behind Zero after the fight, scampered onto her arm and suddenly glowed, its purple fur shimmering with a strange sparkle.

It melted into a glob of pink goo momentarily before reshaping itself into a perfect copy of the «Pokelink» on Argo's other arm, complete with the brown coloring and pink accents. The glow behind the central strip flickered twice before settling down.

Kirito spared a glance at the «Ditto's» usual form before scratching the back of his head, unable to think up of a way to refute Argo's statement.

As if reading his mind and intentions, Argo snapped her fingers in front of his face, startling him.

"You don't need to comfort me, Ki-bou. I'm not some whiny, conceited little girl, you know?" Argo straightened back up and did a mock ballerina twirl to emphasize her words. "What do you see me as, hmm?"

"S-sorry." Kirito raised his hands in surrender.

Argo sat down on a log that was behind her, huffing a bit with puffed out cheeks. After a moment of hesitation, Kirito moved over and sat down next to her.

They were in a small park on the outskirts of «Pewter City». It was probably the most "natural" place in the entire town, with uneven ground and moss growing on nearly everything, which made it a nice place to hold duels and practice battles. There were even some wild Pokemon living here, although the «Area Protection Code» made them impossible to catch or harm while they stayed within the city boundaries.

Zero eventually got tired of chasing «Pidove» and trotted over to Kirito, jumping onto his lap and lazily rolled over and exposing her tummy for him to scratch. She stretched expectantly, appearing to wiggle back and forth.

It was a bad habit (and a guilty pleasure) of hers. Kirito felt her behavior always went to extremes: when she was serious, she was completely focused on the task at hand. When she was relaxed... she didn't have a care in the world.

Zero, that's shameful. Raphael said disapprovingly.

I've worked hard all dayyyyy. The Zorua whined, dragging out the words like a six-year-old child. She arched her spine yawned, her little canine teeth glinting in the dying sunlight. Hunting alone while you guys did that mission was a paiiiin. Come onnnn.

Kirito laughed quietly, moving his hand behind her head to scratch at her ears. Alright, alright, but later, okay?

Come onnnnn-

"You guys are too stingy."

Argo suddenly reached in and rubbed her hand against Zero's chest, gently scratching and kneading the midnight-black fur. The Pokemon made a small rumbling noise in the back of her throat.

Mraaaaaw. Comfy. Mmm. Thank yuuu Argooooo~

"She's worked hard, give her what she wants- isn't that right, Ki-bou?"

Kirito opened his mouth awkwardly just as Argo flashed him a raised eyebrow, daring him to say something.

Wisely, he decided against it.

They sat there for a while, simply enjoying the sunlight as it dipped beneath the horizon. Raphael eventually released the telekinesis on the two branches and dropped them in a bush, brushing aside the hair in his eyes and moving over to sit next to Zero.

He rolled his eyes at Zero as she twisted her body to let Argo scratch her other side. Aren't you satisfied.

Mrrrf. she replied offhandedly.

Another minute passed quietly before Argo shook herself over, as if waking up from the stupor she had been in while mindlessly scratching Zero's belly. Looking up at Kirito, she studied his face for a moment.

Kirito broke his gaze away from the scenery and looked back, slightly nonplussed. "What?"

"You've changed."

"Huh?"

"If right now, you were the you from three months ago, you would have been long gone, blowing your own head off about how you couldn't waste time like this." Argo waved a hand towards the tower, shadowed black against the setting sun. "Off somewhere training to raise your level more. You would never have settled for a rest like this."

"Ah..."

Kirito felt a small pang in his heart at her analysis, but he knew it was true, as he always managed his time while grinding in RPGs very seriously. Catching all the daily quests, grinding repeatable missions and farming mobs in high-exp areas had constituted about ninety percent of his time online, with the remaining ten percent being used up during raids. Nothing was allotted to rest: what he used to take a break was his time offline.

His time offline.

The thought sobered him up.

Just how much time did I actually spend with my family?

Next to nothing. The longest single space of time he spent away from his precious electronics on a regular basis was his meals, which he had always wolfed down as fast as possible before running back upstairs.

Not talking to his sister. Not talking with his mother.

Being a stranger.

"Kirito? It's not a bad thing, I was just thinking-"

"What kind of brother..."

What kind of a brother and son had he been?

Kirito raised a hand and clutched his head with it, fingers angled against his skull. His eye twitched underneath his palm.

...I'm sorry.

Kirito?

Kirito.

"...Kirito?"

Zero's and Raphael's queries went unnoticed, but Argo's use of his actual username instead of her pet name for him jolted him back to reality. He blinked, lowering his hand, to see her usually cheerful and carefree face looking at him seriously. Zero and Raphael were also looking at him strangely.

I might not be a «Psychic» type, Zero said, but I can still tell when there's something wrong with you.

Feeling all three pairs of eyes upon him, Kirito waved his hands hastily and scooched sideways on the log to create some distance, which might have made him feel better had Zero not been on his lap. Their gazes followed him like laser sights from a rifle.

"I-it's nothing. It was just something that was bothering me for a while."

Argo nailed him with a stare eerily similar to the one she had given him last night when he had bluffed about the bathroom. Awkwardly, he tacked on a "It's trivial" after a second.

The Rat scrutinized him for another moment, then shrugged. "Well, I suppose thinking about how to spend your Argo points is a pretty intense thing for your brain to do. So is it hugs or kisses?"

Kirito choked as a bit of spittle went down the wrong pipe, then yelped as he scooted right off the side of the log. Zero acrobatically sprang right off his lap from her flipped-over position and landed neatly where he had been sitting just as Kirito's bum hit the ground painfully.

Dusting himself off to the sound of Argo's cat-like laughter and Zero's sniggers echoing endlessly within his head, Kirito sighed and hoisted himself back onto the bench. He understood that Argo had done it to change the subject and cheer him up, and he was grateful for that, but he wished she could have chose some other method.

Why does she always tease me this way...?

Probably because... fwah. Sleepy. Because you have the biggest reaction to that kind of teasing. Raphael muttered. He alone was completely unaffected by Argo's words; whether he was too mature to be affected or too immature to understand, Kirito had no idea.

"Nyaahah, hahah, hah... haaah..."

Argo was finally calming down, looking over at him slyly with a satisfied grin. Reaching out, she stroked Zero's fur, easing the fox's sniggering as well.

"I do hope you're done." Kirito frowned disapprovingly and nailed her with his best stern gaze. Unfazed, she only leaned over and lightly bopped Kirito on the head with a fist.

"Calm down Ki-bou." She rapped her knuckles against his forehead. "Beat this game and go back to them, and then say you're sorry."

He looked up in surprise at Argo, who merely stuck out her tongue at him.

"Are you reading my mind?"

"Ob-viously. You muttering some of your thoughts also helped."

Kirito hesitated, then exhaled and leaned back, feeling his muscles loosen up. He looked up at streaks of gold and pink stretched across the sky.

"...Thank you."

"It's no problem, Ki-bou. You're my best customer, you know?"

Two more minutes passed. Raphael had already fallen asleep before the info dealer stood up and stretched. "Well, it's late now, so I'll see you tomorr-"

Then Argo's hand moved up in a blur and smacked the «View» option on the incoming message notice just as it popped up, cutting off the notification tone before it had even finished emitting the first note.

She took a moment to scan over its contents as Kirito drew out his menu from the Pokelink.

"Yup, they got the scarves. A-chan's curious as to why I gave her the information for 'free', hah!" Argo snorted. "I guess I'm getting a bit too predictable, eh?"

Kirito nodded and stood up as well, tapping a few options on his menu as Zero slipped off the log and padded over towards the exit to the clearing.

A light beep sounded along with a small arrow graphic appearing, pointing towards Argo for a second before vanishing. The Rat looked at the incoming transaction and frowned, turning back to him quizzically.

"Two thousand «Poke»? That's twice the required amount for the information I gave them."

"Just take it."

Giving her that last offhanded response and turning to leave, Kirito followed Zero's footsteps as she ran out of the clearing. Aiming the device on his arm at the lightly snoring Raphael, he recalled the Pokemon in a ray of red light.

"Oi, oi, aren't you going to even ask about what they bought?" Argo called after him.

He waved his hand in a sort of mix of "farewell" and "don't mind it".

---

Author's Note

Happy birthday to mee~ Happy birthday to meeee~ Today's my birthday! I'm 18. I'm an adult now.

I think.

So college happened. Now I realize why all those fics I read so many years ago stopped updating when their writers entered college. It sucks the living imagination out of you: I spent hours every day staring at google docs, just trying to find the inspiration to finish the half-done chapter but always drawing a blank. I'm really really sorry guys.

At least now I can write again! Still really slow, though. College just doesn't let up.

I'll be fixing some of the skills explanations throughout the story to streamline it; I wrote the first chapter a year before the second, so there might be weird differences. That'll be my first priority before the next chapter.

About the dream in the fifth chapter: Take a look at Brock's Pokemon, the snatches of words that interrupt the dream, and Kirito's Pokemon's Pokedex entries. Remember one of his Pokemon isn't done evolving.

Now if you'll excuse me, I still have Calculus homework to do... Do any of you know how to do trigonometric substitution for integrals?

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I wish I owned Pokemon and Sword Art Online, but alas.