December 3, 2022. Floor 1.

Two thousand lives have been taken since the beginning of this damn game.

Either suicide, or foolish beginner mistakes. Some people couldn't handle it, I suppose. But only a month, and the population is already down by twenty percent. That baffles as well as disgusts me.

I heard that the second floor was opened today by a beta-tester. I'm surprised that it took them this long to open the next floor, but since I wasn't exactly looking for it I shouldn't complain.

We're planning on using the teleport area to get to the next floor tomorrow. People are still piling in, so the good training spots are more than likely taken. But Karu says he met someone that's willing to let us into a frontline guild. I think he called it Cygnus. I'm not exactly ecstatic about joining a guild. People are a hassle in this game, with the PKers, the beggers, and the non-players, I'd rather just go my own way.

I decided to walk around the town while Karu and Maru are back at the inn. Oil lamps lit the streets, casting an orange tint on the pavement, and shop lights shined through their windows. Due to the second floor being opened, the town is practically empty. Aside from a few stragglers hanging back to finish off a quest or go on a training marathon. So it's peaceful. "Oi, Lucy-san!" Somewhat.

Across from the bench I'm sitting on is a large fountain that runs throughout the days and nights, passed that is a narrow alleyway illuminated by the dim blue light of the moon, a few dark shadows waddle drunkenly, clinging to eachother while slurring their words. One voice seems to be yelling at someone, "Luuuuccyy-saann!" he sings, "I know it's you, ya dumb bas..tard. Come give me a kiss!"

I look around, wondering who he thinks he's talking to. To the right is a figure that I hadn't noticed before in a dark red cloak with the hood up, he walks towards the drunk men with his head facing the ground.

A friend? I shrug, Doesn't concern me. I turn my attention to the sky, staring up at the virtual stars. These floors must be huge if they're able to hold their own atmosphere.

A loud thud catches my attention, and I look back at the alley. The man who must've been the one talking has the hooded figure up against the wall, his fist around their neck, speaking low enough so I can't hear him, but obviously he was pissed.

I sigh and stand, Might as well do something about it. I begin to walk towards the alley, slow enough so they don't hear me coming, but fast enough so I can be there before he does any real damage to the man against the wall.

As I get closer I hear the drunk man speak, so I stop, "You think you can.. skip out on me like that? Not.. me baby," He pauses to burp, "I'll forgive you on one condition," He pulls the hood off of the figure, revealing an angelic face, far too attractive to be a man, unless I've been wrong about my sexuality my fifteen years of life, "Give Dalo a kiss." He puckers his lips, leaning in.

The girl turns her head away, but manages to bite the hand around her neck.

The large man yelps, dropping the girl, she lands on her butt, struggling to get away.

"She bit me! The slut bit me!" He waves his hand around, shaking off the pain I'm assuming. His friends start to laugh, through their guffaws words try to form, but fail. I had no idea you could get drunk in this game, they thought of everything.

The larger man decides to make an example of her, giving her a strong kick to the stomach. The girl coughs, spitting up a bit.

Jesus.. I think, I walked towards the alley at a faster pace.

The man bends over, his hand reaching for the girls cloak.

I nervously grabbed his wrist, "That's enough." Ohh shit, what am I doing..

I looked at the drunk man's face, his eyes were half way open. His face looked pretty young, not much older than me. But the years definitely weren't too kind to him. He was ugly, and I was scared.

"The hell are," he burped, "you?" his voice seemed to rise and lower with every other word spoken.

"Curfew," Clever! I thought, "Go home."

He pulled his hand away and grunted, "Whatever," He slurred, "I was getting bored anyway."

He motioned to his friends and began to walk back up the alley. I sighed in relief, "Well I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting that to work." The girl was on her feet, the dim light rested on less than half of her face, which made my hopes of seeing it again fade away. Her dark blue eyes showed that she was annoyed. Her hair was curly and a dark blonde, possibly golden, but the light was making it hard to see.

"You okay?" I asked, I tried my best to sound confident, but failed miserably.

She nodded her head, "I didn't need your help. But thanks."

Irritated, I thought, Yeah, 'cause you totally had it under control.

I pretended to ignore her, "Friends of yours?" I asked, nodding down the alley.

"I guess so," she shrugged, "We fought in the same party in the first dungeon. They were drinking a little too much, celebrating the second floor being opened, and the bigger one tried to kiss me. But I pushed him off. He didn't like that."

Yeah, I noticed. "Still celebrating? The floor was opened this morning. They should have gotten all of that out of their systems by now."

She began walking towards the benches where I had sat a few minutes before, "Maybe since it's the first dungeon they see it as a bigger accomplishment."

I followed a few steps behind, "What about you? Didn't you say you fought alongside them?"

"I'm not one for celebrating," she sat down, I sat beside her, "Especially with people I don't like."

I chuckled, "Jeez, you're subtle."

She offered me her hand and smiled at me, "I'm Lucy, by the way."

My cheeks flushed red and I looked at my feet, shaking her hand, "I'm Haru."

"Why aren't you on the second floor, Haru-san?"

I leaned back against the bench, beginning to stare at the stars again, "My brothers were tired when we got back from training today. So we decided to hold off on the second floor until tomorrow," I felt her eyes on me, making me a little uncomfortable, but I liked the attention, "Why aren't you? There isn't very much for us here anymore."

She yawned and began to stretch, "Well when we opened the second floor, my party wanted to let everyone on this floor know about it first. By the time we got back to the second floor, it was packed. All of the restaurants and cafes were full, so we came down here to celebrate."

"For almost a full day?" I smiled, staring off into space. Whoever celebrates for that long must not have believed that this game was really beatable.

We'll prove them wrong, won't we guys? I thought. Karu, Maru and I will get out of here together, and free everyone from this death-trap of a video game.

She looked at me with an irritated look in her eye, "Who are you to judge me for how long I celebrate? I didn't see you at the dungeon."

I began to frantically apologize, she had a point after all, and she's the first girl I've really talked to since this game started, so I shouldn't be rude.

She looked at the fountain ahead of us, "Relax, I'm not offended." She reassured me, I gave a tired sigh of relief.

The oil lamps above us kicked on, lighting our bench and the area around us. In my mind I rejoiced, I was finally able to get a good look at her. Her face was small and innocent looking, she had a rounded chin and small, pale pink lips. Her hair was a golden blonde, curling in the middle to the end, her bangs reached her nose, but parted down the middle. Her eyes were wide, with a dark blue tint. Her cloak restricted my view of her chest, but as she looked up into the night sky, of course I took a peek. In the five years that I have been interested in girls, I've seen larger breasts. But her probable A to B cup chest was perfect for my interests.

Needless to say, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever had the chance to talk to in S.A.O. Beauty was a luxury in the real world, and due to the Nerve Gear, we all took our real life features.

She gave a loud yawn and stood up, "Well it's been nice talking to you, Haru-san." She gave me a wide smile, putting her hands behind her back.

I rubbed the back of my head, managing to squeak out, "Y-yeah.."

She bid me farewell and began to walk back towards the alley. As I watched her go, I wondered if I would ever see her again. I turned around to walk back to the inn when an idea popped into my mind.

"Lucy-san!" I called out. But she was gone.

I sighed, and slapped my forehead in frustration, I should have added her as a friend.

Notes:

Dalo is the name of a paint marker company, or something like that. They make a graffiti marker.

Lucy is the main character in the anime, Elfen Lied.