As he returned to the realm of consciousness the first thing Kirito felt was pain, his whole body was riddled with it. His body seemed to ache which for a feeling replicated in a game was too accurate for him to care for. Luckily it seemed he was in a very soft bed which he hadn't expected since he had passed out in the field. His eyes snapped open immediately as he jerked straight up as he remembered this.

His heart was beating at an erratic pace as he scanned the room he was in which was empty besides a chair and the bed he was currently in. At seeing this his heart began to slow down but not enough as he tried to figure out where he was. The last thing he remembered was the boss being slain and a girls voice. He quickly rationalized that it must have been because of her that he awoke here. He crawled out of the bed and looked down at himself and quickly blushed which was unlike him. The reason for the brushing was because he currently had no gear on and was in his pajamas meaning that someone had changed him while he was asleep.

He quickly got this thought out of his head as he equipped his gear and felt reassured as the familiar weight of a weapon rested on his back. Now was the tough part as he didn't know whether he should just open the window and run or be just a tiny bit social thank the girl who saved him and get away from here as fast as possible. As he thought about what to do the door opened which quickly eliminated all of his options. Kirito cursed inwardly as a giant of a man walked into the room with an equally giant axe slung across his back. When he entered the room he didn't notice Kirito at first but when the two locked eyes the bigger man was clearly surprised at him being up.

"About time you woke up, I was starting to think we had a coma victim sleeping up here." The man said with a deep laugh as he extended his hand. "The name's Agil." Kirito slowly took the man's hand which he soon regretted as his own was soon crushed in the handshake.

"Kirito." He gasped out as he hoped he would still be able to wield a weapon with that hand again.

"Why don't you come on downstairs? The rest of us are already down there including your friend." Kirito gulped as he realized that meant either Rain or Argo was here. The even scarier thought was that they both were which was the most probable answer. He gave Agil a silent nod and followed the man down a staircase into the tavern of the inn. He quickly spotted a group of four girls in the corner and at seeing the two familiar ones he gave another silent curse. He wanted to back away and run but sadly their seats let them have a view of the tavern while their backs were against the wall making it impossible for that.

Argo was the first one to see him and quickly nudged Rain who was in mid-sentence. She looked at Argo questionable before she followed her gaze and locked eyes with him causing an angry glare to form on her face. The screeching of a chair filled the air as she stood up and started stalking towards him. The glare she had on practically screamed murder and Kirito was too transfixed on it to notice Agil sliding off to the side.

Rain stopped about a foot from Kirito and placed her hands on her hips but didn't say anything. Kirito counted down from three and that was all it took for the girl to explode.

"Do you have any idea how worried I-we were!? You nearly died! When Yukki brought you in your health bar practically didn't even exist! You know the magic pixel of health that ever gamer hates when an enemy has it!? You had that and if I even breathed on you out in the field you probably would have died! Now, what do you have to say for yourself!?" Kirito was surprised she managed to shout all of that out at him in one breath but quickly a little guilt began to set in. He did feel a slightly bit guilty for making her worry but that wasn't what was the main priority in his mind. He was more worried about what she said about his health.

He had nearly died. He, Kirito or otherwise known as Kazuto Kirigaya had nearly died and would have too if it wasn't for the help of a stranger. He struggled with this for a second before he slammed his first into the nearby table. The table didn't break because of the immortal status but that didn't stop Kirito from trying as he sent a few more punches into it. He was pissed that he was so stupid to have nearly died. After a couple more punches he looked back at Rain to see fear in her eyes.

"Sorry, Rain that wasn't about you and sorry for making you worry." He said as he passed her. He walked towards the table where the other three were sitting.

"Quite a little show kid," Argo said with a chuckle as he stopped in front of the table.

"Glad to see you care." He told her before he turned his attention to the other two girls. The one closest to him had bright pink hair that was slightly curly in some areas and reached down to just below her shoulders. Her red eyes showed nothing but amusement that matched her playful smile as she stared at the girl sitting next to her, however, was who caught Kirito's attention. Even though his memories were hazy he knew instantly this was the girl who saved him.

She had long purple hair that fell all the way down to her waist and in the hair was a bright red sash. Like the girl next to her she also had red eyes but they had an analytical look hidden behind a mask of happiness. Even though she was sitting down Kirito could immediately tell by the posture that the girl held that she was no amateur warrior making him even more sure this was the girl who saved him.

After a small moment of silence, Kirito decided to break it, "Thank you for saving me." He said to her as he gave a small bow of his head. A big smile appeared on the girl's face as she stood up.

"It was no problem, but you were incredible! I watched the whole fight since the start and if it hadn't enraged the fight would have been yours." The girls said with praise surprising Kirito. It wasn't the praise that surprised him but the fact that he had not detected the girl watching the fight at all meaning that her hiding skill was higher than his detections which was a scary thought. He was glad however that she hadn't brought up his little rage moment that had happened only a few moments ago.

"I'm Yukki by the way." She said happily as she extended her arm.

"Kirito." He said as he shook hands with the girl. After this was done an awkward silence fell over giving Kirito the perfect excuse to try and make his leave. "Again you have my thanks for saving me but I think I should go." He turned around but before even one step could be taken he felt a tug on the back of his cloak.

"But you just woke up." He turned around to see that the pink haired girl was grasping the edge of the fabric on his coat. He sighed with annoyance as he looked at the pleading glance of the girl and notice that Argo had a look on her face that also told him to stay.

"Fine, I'll stay for breakfast." He said with a sigh as he sat down in one of the many seats. He immediately opened up his inventory and scrolled through it until he found the item he was looking for and soon a rather unappealing piece of bread appeared in his hands. The bread drew questioning looks from the girls but he didn't care as he summoned a small jar of creme and applied it to the bread.

"So...I know I'm new to this whole socializing with people thing but shouldn't there be some kind of chatter?" Kirito asked after his finished. During the whole time he ate not a single word had been said. He didn't mind that and he actually preferred it that way but they had wanted him to stay for some reason so the silence was a little unnerving. The girls looked at him in bewilderment but before they could respond Agil and Rain appeared next to the table with a heap of drinks and food in their arms. They placed the food items down and afterward, sat down themselves filling the remaining empty seats.

Kirito eyed the food curiosity because it looked far too good to have been made by any NPC on such a low floor meaning that Agil had probably made it since he knew for a fact that Rain would burn a house down if she tried cooking.

Apparently, Agil had caught him staring since he said, "You know you can have some right? I made plenty for everyone." Kiritos gaze flickered up to the man for a second before he slowly reached out for a piece of toast and snatched it away. He gave a second to examine it more closely before he took a bite out of it causing his taste buds to buzz with flavor.

"Not bad, it's actually very well made and definitely one of the better meals I've had." He said after the first bite before he devoured the rest of it within seconds.

"You should see the rest of the stuff he can whip up, I swear I almost died from happiness the other night when he brought it a massive plate of pasta." The pink haired girl said excitedly with stars in her eyes as she piled a mountain of food on her plate. He realized he still did not know her name and decided to ask her.

"It's Strea." She told him before she started eating her food almost as fast as he did which was a rather impressive feat. Another moment of silence passed and Kirito started planning his leave since he had stayed until the end of his breakfast, but before he could start to excuse himself Rain asked him a question.

"So mind explaining how a stupid bug almost killed you?" He felt everyone's eyes shift to him meaning they were curious as well.

"That 'stupid bug' had an enrage when I didn't expect it to. Before the fight really began I planned to run if the situation got too hectic but the stupid thing summoned servants and locked me in place with its honey." He said to her still irritated that the stupid wasp had nearly killed him.

"You need to stop relying on past information Kii-bou, this isn't the same game it used to be," Argo said to him.

"I know it's just I thought I could win, apparently I still need to get better." He muttered that last part to himself but everyone still heard him.

"This is why you need to stop going solo, you're eventually gonna fight something that is stronger and you will be all alone." Kirito let out a sigh as the plan was finally revealed. This was all a well-laid trap to try and get him to join their group.

"You know why I'm solo." He said a little harsher than he meant to.

"And yet you still partied with me." Rain interjected.

"I needed a blacksmith and the only one around happened to be a stubborn girl like you." He told her. He saw her breath hitch slightly at his words and then her eyes narrowed.

"Fine go solo and die, see if I cared." She spat at him, her words laced with venom. She stood up from her seat and stomped angrily upstairs.

"And I'll take that as my cue." He said as he stood up and turned to the others.

"Once again I thank you for saving me and I thank you for the food." He told them before he walked to the doors not even hesitating as he opened them and walked out. One he left everyone was just staring at the door wondering what the heck had just happened.

Sorry for not updating for a while. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!