A/N: Yes! I am still alive and writing. Sorry I'm late guys I had things. Like IRL things, I know, I'm surprised I have a life as well like school, WoW, Skyrim, XCom, Portal2, and anime things. But I'll give y'all a treat and make this an extra-long chapter, and a build to Laughing Coffin (If you haven't guessed what happens when they meet laughing coffin… well you haven't been watching SAO.)
Anyways… REVIEWS:
Kyrito: Thank you, I thought it was a good idea… But it probably sucks since I'm the one writing it. Thanks, but don't be an asshole. I'm sure said writers are trying their best.
Sgtranglin: Ty. Shhh, they don't know that.
AlexCaffri: I am in agreement with you 100% Except I'm mediocre at best.
Guests: Will do.
Furrballnerd: YES! I despise OC's… That being said… I did accidentally write in a few. Yeah I know I probably should've done something, but I felt it would ruin the modish kinda thing. PLOT TWISTS, sorry you guys, after Sinoto, this is my favorite thing to write. I will. ^_^
Salaeren: I would too, I would probably say it doesn't need to exist. I've tried grinding my [LIT] skill but It's just so tedious. I AM A WRITER! Albeit a bad one. I WILL STRIKE YOU ALL WITH WRITING, FOR I AM THOR! I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that, Sinon is already so out of character that I think rushing the relationship anymore would completely alienate her from her character. That being said… Sinoto is coming
Speaking of Sinoto, check out the community page [Sinoto] if you love this pairing and… (a) Think I'm a terrible writer who should kill myself. (b) Like the premise of this story but think I'm a terrible writer who should kill myself. (c) Like the plot and the writing of this story but have finished reading it and are bored because you can't find enough Sinoto to sate your hunger for this marvelous pairing. Or (d) none of the above, in which case, check it out anyways, you are, after all, on the ninth chapter of a Sinoto fic so it's time to come out of the closet and realize your love for this adorable, yet morbid pairing.
Oh man that was a long A/N… ^_^ read on.
The Archery Skill
Chapter 9: The Black Swordsman Part 1
Sinon and Kirito were eating at their favorite restaurant a little cheesecake place on floor fifteen, and there were never more than three other people there. The owner was a nice woman with hair that always seemed to be a different shade of deep blue, and she made the best cheesecake in all of Aincrad, though she would never admit it. It was always quiet there, both inside the restaurant and out, so it was also one of the most peaceful spots in the town. But today was different, through the window they saw a man crying and running around talking frantically to anyone that would listen. "Hey Sinon," He said breaking the very comfortable silence between them, "I'm going to go check out what's happening outside."
"Ok. I'll stay here.
"He started to leave but said, "Don't eat my cheesecake."
A mischievous grin appeared on her face, "Sssuuuuuurrreee Kirito-kun."
He looked back at her annoyed, looking as if he was going to say something and then turned and left.
Sinon looked on as Kirito began talking with the man, he was a teenager, but the fear and panic in his eyes made him look older, and like someone who had just lost a close friend. Something caught her eye, it was large and blue, it looked like a teleport crystal, but it was bigger. She realized what it was, it was a corridor crystal, an incredibly expensive, one time use item that allowed the transportation of large numbers of players at once. Why would some random stranger just give an item like that to Kirito? She looked back to the window, the man was smiling now, but his face was still stained with tears. They shook hands, and the man's eyes took on a tone of justice and revenge rather than the anguish they held just moments ago. Kirito opened the door, there was the sound of a small silver bell tied to the inside of the door to inform all within that it was being opened. She looked over to the source of the sound and smiled warmly, she couldn't help it. Something about that idiot made her heart flutter, and she loved it.
He turned to face her and, noticing her smile, smiled back. He didn't know why she was smiling. He didn't know why he was smiling. He didn't usually smile. He didn't usually interact with people, much less enjoy their company, but she was an exception. It wasn't that he liked her, they had something deeper than that. It wasn't that he loved her, he didn't love anybody. He just liked to be around her. They were similar, they had both been there when the black cats got wiped out, they had both been there when they thought the first boss killed all those people, and both of those times she was what got him through it. Strength was just a number in this death game, and there was no was to be strong enough to save everybody. There was no level that would allow you to be strong enough to overcome the anguish of people you cared for dying in front of you. There were only friends to help with that. Friends were the only way to beat this game. Friends were the only way to reach the end. Friends to depend on, friends to push you, friends to comfort you friends to distract you from this morbid existence, that's what friends were for. That's why she was one of the very few he dared to call his friend.
He shook his head and sat at the table, pulling out the corridor crystal.
"What's that for?" She asked skeptically.
"We're going to catch us some PKers." He replied.
Sinon had always hated PKers. Everyone hated PKers. But she hated them the most. They killed and killed and killed, and all the while they enjoyed it, it was unforgivable. Killing was terrible, everybody knew that, but not everybody has killed someone… she had. It was disgusting, and she hoped never to be in a position where it was necessary. And it disgusted her that there were people who would do such a thing for pleasure. She wished to rid this world and the real world of them, but not through more murder, they deserved worse.
"How?"
"There's a guild called Laughing Coffin…"
"Yeah," She said morosely, "I've heard of them. They're the strongest red guild, right? But none of their members are particularly strong. Still, we should bring a lot of back up."
"There's one problem though, we need to find them. We aren't going after the whole guild, that would be suicide, we're going to find the members of one of their strongest parties, a party that killed that man's entire guild," He gestured out the window, "And we're going to send them to the Army's prison under Blackiron Palace."
She looked out the window, the sun was setting now and they were still a ways from their inn. "Let's go back, we can start this quest tomorrow." She said, finishing his cheesecake.
Kirito wore a confused look for several seconds staring from to the now empty plate in front of the blue haired girl, and the place where his cheesecake used to be. Something in his mind clicked and he exclaimed, "HEY THAT'S MY CHEESECAKE! GIVE IT BACK YOU THIEF!"
She grinned slyly and slid around to Kirito's side of the booth. "I can give you a taste... If you want?" She said mockingly, draping her arms over his shoulders and moving her face mere centimeters from his.
He was stunned, his heart pounded uncomfortably, no it wasn't uncomfortable, it was exciting. He wanted this. But he just sat there spacing out in her beautiful aqua marine eyes. Those eyes. They were wondrous, filled with joy and mischief, and utterly beautiful to behold, yet they contained something else. Some extreme sadness, some terrible secret, something he knew she would never reveal to him. But still, he yearned to know the secret of those eyes, he didn't care what it was she thought she needed to hide, he knew she was a good person at heart, and even if she had killed someone, he would forgive her. She wasn't one to enjoy murder, she was the furthest thing from a sadist he knew. Though wondering at it was all for naught, he would probably never know.
She gave up, she had been kidding but it didn't look like he knew that. He was just staring into her eyes, but it felt like he was somewhere—
"You're eyes are really pretty." He said.
Okay so maybe he was here, but he was probably just trying to decide whether or not he wanted to do that. "I was just kidding you know." She stated blandly.
"I know." He said, "But the frequency of you doing that kind of thing has increased drastically in the past week." He eyed her searchingly. Standing up and extending to her his hand, "I'm sure it doesn't mean anything though, you're just kidding after all." He said, completely convinced of what he was saying.
She wasn't so sure it was true though, she had been messing with him more and more recently, and it almost always seemed to have romantic implications. Maybe she did like him. No, on second thought, she probably just thought that because they had been together almost non-stop since the incident in the dungeon. After all, if she did fall in love with him, she'd have to reveal certain events to him. The picture of a man missing part of his skull, reaching out to her, with the face of one who knew true terror, and the hands of a child, stained with blood, holding the instrument of that man's demise. There was blood everywhere. There was blood on the floor, there was blood on her legs, there was blood on the wall behind the man, and there were also bits of what looked to be skull fragments and brain matter. There was blood on her mother and the rest of the bystanders. She had caused all of this blood. The man dropped his arm and slumped all the way to the floor. Dead.
"-inon! Sinon!" Cried a male voice. It was the voice of panic. She felt two hands on her shoulders and a body pressed against her. She looked around. They were still in the café, but she couldn't move. She had had another panic attack, the first one in several months, and this time it was in public. She finally had the strength to move again, and she wrapped her arms around the figure in front of her.
"Ki-Kirito?" She asked timidly
He pushed away slightly, just enough to gaze into her eyes and confirmed that she was all right. "Yes Sinon." He replied, "Are you al—"
"Promise me something, Kirito." She demanded, trying not to let her panic into her voice.
"Anything." He said.
She looked down at her lap briefly and began to fidget, but then returned to the soft comfort of his gaze. "Never leave me." She stated, "Promise me, that you'll never leave me ev—"
It was his turn to interrupt her this time, "I'd never." He stated , "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried." He joked trying to lighten the mood. He returned to his previous tone of caring and sincerity, "Sinon, I don't care what it is that you think you need to hide from me, you're a good person. And… and I care a lot about you, I don't abandon people I care about.
For the first time in this death game, Sinon was happy. She felt that Kirito was the most important thing in the world at that moment, though she'd never tell him that. He made her feel protected and comforted. She felt like she could depend on him. She felt like she wasn't alone anymore, even though he had been there all along. She felt like she finally had a real friend. She felt like she wanted to kiss him and she did.
It was like the last time, just a quick kiss, if he had blinked he would've missed it, but he didn't. Unlike last time, it was full of joy as opposed to fear, and it was wonderful. "What was that for?" he asked smugly.
"I'm just glad I finally have a friend." She said, burying her head in his chest.
A/N: Ok guys, I've got some important notes in this one.
R&R Please y'all, it means a lot when you give me feedback, it makes me want to write more, it makes me feel like I'm not just tossing a stack of papers onto the Metro tracks that are the internet, only to have them be shredded by the next train to come along.
Updating will be slower: probably Monday or Friday at most once a week.
Chapters will be longer: I will no longer post 1.5k chapters, all chapters from here on out will be at least 2k but usually 2.5k-3k
Romance will be stronger: Sinon and Kirito will be a thing soon also…
Incredibly awkward Girl X ? : Possibly, I haven't really decided let me know if you're ok with this in the comments.
Writing will be more detailed and slower; I will start to suck slightly less.
No more two week breaks in writing, I've gotten school under control, I ran out of my WoW subscription, and I beat all of my games, so unless life decides it hates me I should be able to start a regular posting schedule.
I'm always in need of Beta testers so P.M. me for that and I'll be forever grateful.
If you have ideas for the story that you would rather tell me directly instead of just posting in the comments, P.M. me.
If you don't really have a reason but you think I'm a totally awesome writer, don't P.M. me. See a psychiatrist, you are obviously delusional.
Thank you to my beta readers: Ph1n4I, and Kyrito
Anyways, that's all I have to say
