Heeeeeeeey! Hi people! I'm in a very good mood for no apparent reason. I have random question for anybody who can anwser. Have you ever been typing on something and the spell check popped up saying that you spelled "it's" wrong? Even though every other time you type it, it's correct. Yeah I had a very long argument with my computer about that...

Oh yeah and about updates - reviews fuel the soul. (I didn't come up with that sadly.) My updating secduale is non-existant, seriosly, I'm amazed at my self that I even got this far (it's the reviews).

Sorry about that, on with the story! Hope you like it!

Chapter 4

I felt like I was being squeezed into a box that only had one opening and the world had randomly decided to stare through that opening at me. Though this wasn't random and the back wall is more of a circle than – what am I talking about? Isn't there an interview going on right now? Crap she's looking at me. Did she ask a question?

"Huh?" I said dumbly.

Claudia laughed, "Are you nervous?"

I nodded mutely.

"That's alright," she told me. She slid a note card over to me and I quickly read it over. Just pretend you're only talking to me. I'm the only one here. I looked up at her and she smiled kindly at me.

"Okay since many of our viewers are curious as to what's going on with the SAO problem, I'm going to get started with the questions."

I gave a small smile, "I'll answer as best I can."

Claudia glanced down at the papers in front of her. "It's common knowledge that Akihiko Kayaba disappeared after the opening day of Sword Art Online. Do you have any clues as to what his wear bouts are?"

I shook my head, "No, and that's the reason we have the police, isn't it? To find the bad guy? Plus if I did, I couldn't say anything about it considering most are very angry with him, I could get in huge trouble. I hope you understand." Damn, I sound professional.

"Of course there are some things that can't be released to the public and we understand that. Now, the question has come up several times. Is Kayaba really working alone? Or did he have help from the people he worked with?"

I let out a short laugh, getting more comfortable with talking to Claudia. "You seem fond of asking me questions that I can't really give a legit answer to. The police are investigating all of Kayaba's co-workers, but in my opinion I think Kayaba was working alone. I don't think anybody else knew what he had planned. And for the people who angry I hope that they won't blame any of Kayaba's co-workers for what has happened. They're not bad people; they just ended up in the middle of everything."

Claudia smiled, "Well that certainly was an opinion. Something a lot of people are wondering; what are you doing to help? We already know that you are a prodigy in electronics so how are you using your gift to help the players stuck in SAO?"

I took a minute to consider the question, I couldn't actually say too much without getting my ass handed to me by the Commissioner. "I can't really reveal much regarding what I'm doing, as it might put people in danger. I'm attempting to –ah, how do I put this- I'm attempting to log out the players without harming them."

"I see. Onto a little harder subject, the players themselves. When do you think they'll wake up?" Claudia's fist clenched in her lap and a thought crossed my mind. Was someone that Claudia knew in the game?

I blinked at the idea, well that was new. Claudia wants some hope, just like everyone else watching this newscast. I sat up a little straighter. "There are two possibilities here." Assuming that they actually wake up. No; good thoughts, good thoughts. They will wake up. "Either the players beat the game or I figure a way to successfully log everyone out." That came out wrong. Jezz, I'm basically telling to put a ton of faith in me. Smooth Kauze.

Claudia blinked at me for a moment before a smile grew on her face. "That's good to hear." She cleared her throat and glanced down at the papers in front of her. Her brows pulled together, she looked up at me as if she was apologizing. "Some people have said that you come off as a kid who doesn't know anything and is too overconfident in her abilities. What do you have to say to those people?"

I was a little shocked, people really thought that about me. I frowned slightly and met Claudia's eyes. She felt bad, so I grinned at her. "Honestly they can say what they want, I don't really care. I know what my abilities are and I know how to use them. I'm confident in my abilities and if I'm not then I would second guess my every move and that could get someone killed. Just because I'm younger doesn't mean that I'm not as good as the forty-five year old that lives down the street and can do the same things I can. The only difference between us is that I can learn a little faster." Huh, that came out a lot nicer than I expected.

It took Claudia a moment to adjust to my answer, "Well…" she laughed, "I really don't have a response for that." I smiled. "Okay then, you mentioned something earlier about the players clearing the game. Could you explain that?"

I nodded, "To clear the game – actually lemme explain it this way. There are one hundred floors and just as many dungeons. To clear the floor you have to defeat the boss that's located in every dungeon. Once you do that you can move to the next floor. Once you defeat the boss on floor one hundred the game will be cleared. Does that make any sense?"

Claudia had paled slightly, "Yes. Now my question; how much of a chance do you think the players have in the actual game?"

I smiled, "I believe that they have a high probability of beating the game and returning to us here in this world."

"Thank you, Kauze."

"You're welcome." I said as genuinely as I could muster.

Claudia looked straight at the camera, "Well you heard her; the players in SAO will be coming back to us. I'm Claudia Jentrie, signing off."

"And we're off." I heard the camera man say.

I slumped in my chair and leaned my head back. "I want some food." I moaned. I might've just told a whole ton of people off about me not knowing anything but that doesn't mean I'm not a teenager. My thoughts are mostly consumed by computers and food.

Yuu appeared in my line of vision. "You did better than I expected."

"How so?" I asked absent mindedly.

"Well you didn't throw up."

I jumped up and sat backwards in my chair so I could see her, "Jerk!"

Yuu laughed, "Come on let's go get some food."

I nearly fell out of my chair, fumbling to get my headphones out of my jacket pocket. "Hold on a sec Yuu." I scanned around me looking for Claudia, trying to ignore how many people there were. When I spotted her blonde hair moving away from me I sprinted after her. I heard Yuu yell at me but I was attempting to tune out the sound of people talking. When I caught up to Claudia I grabbed her arm. She turned, startled. "I need to talk to you." I forced out.

Thankfully Claudia noticed my discomfort and moved us to an area with less people. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I know I'm being rude and a little pushy but do you by any chance know someone that's trapped in the game?"

Claudia sucked in a breath. "Y-yes. My husband, Eric."

I nodded, "First; he is going to come back to you. You have to believe it. And second, could I have your cell number?"

She asked me as to why I wanted it and I shook my head, there was no way I could tell her. She wrote her number down a scrap of paper I handed her and returned it to me. I grinned at her, "Thanks."

I took off to wait for Yuu outside who was probably going to kill me as soon as she found me. Oh well.

"I can't believe you did that! Running off! You could've had a panic attack and I wouldn't have been able to find you!" Yuu ranted as we pulled into the parking lot of one of the only restaurants I could actually eat at. I don't know if it was the open space of the place, or if it was just so out of the way that no one really ate there. Yuu and I were good friends with the owner and he had once joked that we were half the reason he kept the place open.

"What if you were kidnapped and tortured?" Wait was Yuu talking that whole time? How did she get from running off to being tortured? Better to stop her here.

I laughed, "Whoa, whoa, Yuu slow down." I said as I walked backwards so I could face her. "How did we get to being tortured?"

Yuu was quite for a moment, "I dunnow! Just…just don't scare me like that again!"

I grinned at her, "I'll try to keep the scares to a minimum." I hope.

Yuu pulled the door open and I ducked under her arm to get inside. Yuu sighed and smiled at me, much better. I walked up to Nagihiko at the desk. "Hello good sir."

Nagi smiled at me, "Hey chief." His eyes trailed up to Yuu. "And hello to Yuu too."

Yuu snorted, "Oh jezz. That was horrible."

"Yeah that one was pretty bad." I commented. "I'm gonna go sit down. You two… talk." I skipped away leaving no room for protest. Everybody here has been playing matchmaker with these two since they met. The whole restaurant is in on it. Those two had been flirting with each other since they met five years ago while they were in school. Then Nagi started working here and Yuu found out this was the only place I felt comfortable actually going to.

Nagi was also one of the few people I actually had contact with, mostly him asking me about Yuu (it's adorable) but its contact none the less. Nagi had Light brown hair and these weird-ish caramel eyes. They're really pretty and I've stated the fact before (the tips of his ears get all red, it's hilarious).

A blonde haired waiter slid into the seat across from me. "Hey chief heard you were on the news this morning."

I snorted at him, "Like I'd be up and dressed at this time if I wasn't."

Laxus shrugged, "Fair point. You two want your usual?"

I shrugged back, "Eh, sure why not. 'Cept I wanna coffee and some toast too. You know with the little jelly packets."

Laxus snorted, "You want to know something funny?" I nodded for him to continue. "You come here so often that all of our cooks have your order memorized. All I have to write is Kauze and they know what to make. Same with your sis, except we write Nagi's love," he snickered.

I almost choked on air as I laughed. Laxus stood with a smug grin, "Gotcha."

"Genius," I giggled.

Laxus dipped into an over-exaggerated bow. "By the master herself, such a compliment is an honor."

I burst into a new fit of giggles. He stood and ruffled my hair (or attempted to since it was up in some painful up do), usually I would flinch but this guy did that so often since I was eleven that it stopped bothering me. Instead I shook my fist at him as he walked away. "Don't touch my hair!" Eh, he was kind of like my older brother that I never had.

Laxus spun around to face me as he walked, "Oh and by the way chief! You look adorable in that dress!"

I lunged out of my seat to give chase to the evil blonde only to be caught by Yuu. "Evil, you're all evil. Thwarting me with your devious plans."

Nagi chuckled, "Well I wouldn't go that far."

I struggled to release myself from Yuu's grip. Was she always this strong? …Probably. Yuu put me down in the booth and I pouted at her. She returned it with a grin and I stuck my tongue out at her.

The rest of our meal consisted of awkward flirting, a hyper me (coffeecoffeecoffee), me trying to stab Laxus with a spoon (that was interesting), some soup, a salad on Laxus' head (courtesy of Yuu), me stealing Laxus' pen to write down some random code on a napkin (I would have to see if it worked later), and twenty-seven odd stares from the people in the booth near us. I kinda pity them, we're really loud.

Nagi waved at us as we left, "Bye chief, later Yuu."

Laxus popped up next to Nagi, "Later chief. See ya' Yuu." He turned and looked back at the kitchen. "Hey, they're leaving!" he yelled.

A collective, "Bye chief!" along with a, "What? Our entertainment's leaving?" came from the kitchen.

I laughed, "Bye guys!"

They always knew how to cheer me up.