Chapter 2 - Red Sparks

i luv niki4444

"Do you know any other handsome men?" he asked slyly, and Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Only you Diavel. Only you."

Diavel smirked, "I thought so – and to think, you've been deprived of my company for the last month."

"It was horrible." She deadpanned.

"I'm sure." He replied seriously, then held out his arms, "Do you want to try that again?"

She pretended to wince, and exaggerated her hesitance, "Well I don't know. You know what they say about handsome men…" Despite this, she hugged him back when his arms wrapped around her middle.

She really had missed him; not that she would ever say that to his face seriously.

After releasing him, she looked around at the familiar, rundown settings. The floors were a wooden and dusty, the walls grey and splattered with water stains and mold. An NPC with a face in need of scrubbing stood behind a large horizontal reception desk. Behind him, was a shelf full of keys that she knew were for show. The room key would materialize in her inventory after purchase.

There was a small dining area with long, wooden tables not far from the door and a group of around fifteen people sat at three which were pushed together. She recognized a few and wasn't surprised when Diavel waved at them.

Despite that, she teased, "Friends of yours?"

"Diavel, were you in the plaza?" called one.

He dragged her over, his smile disappearing. She stood awkwardly as he sat down, "Yeah I was there." He said, "Where's Trin?"

"Never showed up." The same guy said. He wore royal blue clothing without armor and had long, bright green hair with dark eyes. "We think her mom tried to take off the NerveGear." Diavel flinched, and the dull conversation around the table ceased. All eyes were on him. "It's hard to think of her gone." The leaf head finished.

"We'll just have to operate under the assumption that she is." Stated Diavel firmly, "Listen up everyone, from here on out this isn't a game. It's reality, and if you die here you die for real." He stood and everyone stared at him expectantly, "No more risks. While we level, we work in pairs even if everything points to success. Is that understood?"

Each and every person at the tables nodded, save for Kagome. She smirked and leaned back when he raised a brow at her.

Diavel grinned suddenly, "Well then get out of here – and remember, we've done this before. This is still our territory." Around the tables people were falling into pairs, and Kagome realized she was the odd one out. Oh well, she needed to be going anyway. As nice as seeing her goofy friend was… she should probably be looking for Kirito.

Diavel turned to the brunette seated beside him.

Her long hair hung in a braid that reached her waist, and she blinked innocent grey eyes up at him. "Kimiko want to grab Kagome and go?" he teased.

She nodded and stood, leaving Kagome dumbfounded by her height. She stood at the same height as Diavel –who she knew for a fact was 5'11. Her form hulked over Kagome's 5'1.

Kimiko smiled sweetly, "What's up Ka? You disappeared on us."

"You know how it is, school and all that." Kagome hugged her, "My dad was a little stressed last month and he needed me to… help him with things around the house."

Her friend winced sympathetically, "I get that. My mom's been pressuring me into joining the family business." As mafia as that sentence sounded, Kagome knew that she was talking about dentistry. She'd gotten an internship in Tokyo – because of her mother's insistence- after being basically grandfathered into the program.

She hadn't been happy about it at ALL.

After she brought the situation to Kagome's attention she, along with Diavel had managed to convince her that she should follow her dreams instead of theirs. She wanted to be a doctor, and in the time they'd known each other, turned into a badass one here in SAO.

In SAO there was a fifteen percent chance of catching a cold if a player stood out in the rain, which increased to twenty-three percent if it was windy. Flu's were only possible in the winter, with a ten percent chance if standing outside for more than an hour without a certain level of warmth.

Also, if a player received burning outside of combat, the burn would remain even with a health potion taking ten health for a stage 1 burn, twenty for a stage 2, and thirty for a stage 3 until they had healed naturally.

Kimiko had a photogenic memory, and while other healers were running around trying to discover the secrets to the in-game herbs, she had read about all of them in the manual and online. Even the herbs in the higher levels.

She was definitely someone to keep around; especially when she returned to her former level. A few bandages from her were as good as a potion – and not nearly as expensive because of their friendship status.

Diavel's voice brought her back from her thoughts, "… stop soon hon; they should know you can't be bullied."

He received a fearful grimace that clearly said 'what if I don't see them again?' She loved her parents even if they got on her nerves and the thought truly terrified her.

"We'll get out of here soon." Kagome assured, "In the meantime we don't have time for distractions. We need to level and fast. The EXP awards will be disappearing quickly and you can bet the beta players will get most of it. Just going out to kill boars won't cut it if we want to stay ahead."

"So what are you suggesting?" Kimiko asked, though clearly uncomfortable with assuming the game was a competition for EXP.

She remembered the conversation she had had with Kirito, "I say we grab some health potions and rush out to complete the Breadwinner Quest. There's plenty of level two wolves to try leveling on the way there."

"Are you forgetting the level five Giant Bees?" Diavel asked incredulously, "I'm still level 1 Kagome!"

"So am I." she shrugged, "but think of it. Breadwinner gives some of the most EXP on this level and if we're preparing to fight the boss we need that experience." She insisted, "We can all reach level three on the wolves and go on to the Giant Bees. They're non-aggressive so we won't have to worry about taking on multiple enemies, AND the three of us would be able to take them on relatively easily."

"You're being impulsive!" spat Diavel, his arm clinching around Kimiko's waist protectively. "Being reckless could get us killed. If the wolves don't on the way there."

Kimiko placed a hand on the chest of her quick tempered boyfriend. It was one of the things that Kagome didn't particularly like about Diavel – he got pissy when someone questioned his leadership.

He was a great leader of course, but he seemed to think no one else could make decisions.

"She's right Div." the brunette quietly stated.

"I'm not putting you on the line." He returned.

Kagome folded her arms, "She's already 'on the line'. You want to protect her? Teach her to protect herself." She allowed her concern to show through her harsh exterior as she made eye contact with him.

As brilliant a doctor as Kimiko was, she hadn't really bothered with the combat aspect of SAO during the beta. She'd rush out into the middle of battlefields to heal her party members, and tended to die often.

Diavel seemed to be acknowledge that as well. His arm tightened around her, "I don't want her facing wolves at level 1."

Kagome sighed. Time for plan B. "Right, then why don't we kill boars until we all level? It's in the opposite direction, but there's no chance of having to kill more than one. It won't be too much of a setback." It'll be a huge setback. Please Diavel…

Unfortunately, Diavel wasn't taking any chances. It was commendable, but still. "Let's do that." He nodded, "We can grab health potions on the way back through town."

She heaved another sigh, "Alright; it would be smart to grab a spare sword or two while we're at it. And armor for Kimiko." Hell she wished the other girl was a few levels higher so they could give her some stronger armor than bronze.

"Good idea." Kimiko smiled, patting her shoulder.

The run back to the boars felt a lot different than when she had ran there with Kirito. The atmosphere was tense. When they reached the winding fields, they discovered that it was also a complete contrast to earlier that day. While before a few people had been idly killing boars –or learning to kill them, as it pertained to many- now it was filled with players. It was easy to tell the beta from the newer players; they used sword skills that lit up the night sky.

The field was a frenzy, and the players that didn't know sword skills just hacked at the animals. The sight filled her with dread. She felt like she was watching walking corpses.

"We should help them." Kimiko murmured, "These people… they're all going to die! If they tried that on a wolf…"

Bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed harshly, "All we have is knowledge. The best we can do for them is better ourselves. Try to get the hell out of here so they can return home."

"She's right." Diavel reluctantly said, "We have to look after ourselves first. Maybe after we reach level ten we can come back here and train them."

Kimiko stared, setting her jaw, "Three. The three worst off we can find."

"Excuse me?"

"We know what we're doing right? So why don't we grab onto people that clearly can't and increase our party size?" She crossed her arms, "If they've got friends that are about as clueless as them we can tell them to wait in a safe place or something. Meanwhile, we show these three what to do and help them reach level two – bring them with us on the Breadwinner Quest." Her voice became more confident as she spoke, and Kagome was seeing the advantages of six. "Then, when we've completed the quest we can bring them back here on our way to the next town. They can teach their friends and those friends can teach other friends…"

Kagome bit her lip, hesitating. Leveling themselves would take time, but teaching another… She hung her head and then froze as her head snapped up.

A scream rang through the air and everyone seemed to freeze. The scream cut off as a body glowed not even ten feet away. It shattered into red pieces that disappeared into the air.

Dead… for real. What was that now, 214 – and that was just one death she knew of. This qualified as mass homicide right? And 9,786 to go. Her father was officially the world's most efficient serial killer. Didn't she owe something to these people? "She's right. How many betas do you see teaching the new players? They're like children, and this world was built for adults." I helped create this. Part of this is on me.

In fact, the red shattering had been her idea at five years old. She thought it would be 'pretty' and her father loved to listen to her ideas. That was back when she didn't understand how little time 'daddy' spent with mama.

Now, the color made her cringe.

Diavel seemed to have changed his tune to match her frantic pacing, but he wouldn't go against his girlfriend's earnest wishes. He smiled grimly, "Alright then. So, we split and find people who are struggling and offer our assistance? Fill them in on the plan and if they refuse we can find someone else. We meet up back here in… twenty?"

Both girls nodded their consent and Kagome hurried off. Alright, look for someone struggling. Not difficult, considering most of the field was struggling.

So maybe she should look for someone who was at a disadvantage- oh. That was quick.

A child no more than eight was taking on a boar not far away. His health was red and blinking above his head. The boar was at 75 percent health. She darted in front of him as he collapsed, ducking his head.

Her sword was drawn and she blocked the long tusks of the boar. Her health bar still lowered a few centimeters. Then, her sword lit up with a skill. One hit later, the boar was down for the count and she had another 12 EXP. Only eight more until she leveled.

She turned back to the child and knelt. His head was still in his arms, and his body trembled. She held his shoulder gently and he raised his head to look into her eyes. His were watering at the corners.

She sent him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, "Hello there."

"H-hi." He had the biggest brown eyes she'd ever seen. His face was red.

Her heart fluttered. Is this how Klein and Kirito felt when she had asked them for help? No wonder they said yes. Adorableness won out over survival – somehow. "I'm Kagome, what's your name?"

"Tobi." He muttered, "T-Thanks for… saving me."

"Me? Saving a big strong guy like you – hardly." He brightened a little, "I shouldn't have interfered with your kill huh?"

"It's alright." He grinned toothily, he uncurled a little more.

Kagome released his shoulder and tapped on her inventory and selected 'give item', then touched a health potion. His name appeared and she confirmed her selection.

A second later a window appeared in front of him and he blinked owlishly.
"Well go on." She rested her arm on her knee and her chin on her hand, "You need that from the looks of it."

He tapped the window and scrunched up his nose, "What is it?" he asked in the gruff, innocent way that only children seemed to pull off.

"Health potion, don't you have any?" she tried not to sound disproving, but his face reddened.

He gulped and she was sure he was seeing his health bar in the corner of his vision. "I got some really cool armor and weapons." He admitted, scratching his wrist. "But when I tried to equip them I couldn't until I was level five. So I used the last of my money to buy this sword." Beginners mistake; she couldn't blame him. If she'd been in this game with no prior knowledge, at eight years old, she would have bought the coolest sword ever without checking the level requirement too.

"Don't sound so embarrassed, it happens to the best of us." She patted his head, ruffling the thick, wavy brown hair.

His health bar shot up and he stood, his sword materialized in his hand after a swift click and he hopped a few times experimentally.

"Wait, I've got a proposition for you." His nose scrunched at the word 'proposition', "I mean I want to make a deal with you." It cleared, so she went on. "I was a beta tester and I'm looking for someone to take under my wing…"

She explained the situation quickly, taking careful note of the emotions that passed over the kid's face. Fear, sadness, determination… which gave way to hope, and finally relief.

"My parents are back at one of the inns." Tobi hesitantly replied, "They wanted to start training tomorrow, but I thought getting a head start would be better… so I snuck out." He admitted. That explained why no frantic adults were around to get him out of the boar's range. "There's a big group of us here..." He set his jaw, gripped her hand and squeezed, "Please teach me!"

"Your wish is my command." She was still kneeling, and a boar had respawned three yards away. "First lesson: Sword Skills. Its fine to take random swings at a monster, but it's not the most efficient method. At our level the skills deal three times the damage of a good hit. That's a two hit kill or, if we're lucky, a one-hit-KO."

He grinned at the thought.

"But you need to learn how to use them first."

She spent the next twenty-five minutes teaching Tobi how to use motion input and sword skills. When looking around the field, she couldn't spot Diavel or Kimiko. They had strayed a bit as they trained, and Tobi had nearly reached level two. He'd yet to use a sword skill, and that frustrated him, but he was well on his way.

Kagome ruffled his hair after he returned to her side panting, "How much EXP until you level?" She had another 129 until level three, but felt pretty confident about that number.

"Only Twenty." he replied.

"Two boars to go then. You ready for this?"

"Yeah."

It was amazing to watch the smile on his face when he leveled. For just a second, she was sure that he had forgotten that they were trapped, and instead reacted only as a small child playing a video game in virtual reality.

He grinned at her, wrapping his tiny arms around her middle, "Did you see Ka-"

"Hey! Sorry I'm late; you seen Kimiko around?"

She ignored Diavel for a few seconds, "That was pretty badass little man. It took me two whole hours to use my first sword skill." The kid was a natural once he'd learned how to swing and guard properly. Plus, the rate he'd thrown out that skill –in what thirty minutes- was impressive. He would make something of himself, she was sure. "and not yet Diavel. Who's this?"

She tossed a smile to the uncomfortable teenage boy with him. He was somewhere between rubbing his head and fixing his red hair. Deep brown eyes connected with her blue ones, and he swallowed hard, "I'm Wes."

Diavel patted the other man's arm, "He's pretty good with a sword, and he'll only improve right?" Wes relaxed a little, "Who's the kid?"

She waited for the boy to speak, and looked down to find him burying his face in her stomach, "This is Tobi." She spotted Kimiko walking towards them, a little girl carried in her arms, and hid a smile. The girl had a curious shade of blue hair, nearly the same as Diavel's.

She noticed the blush decorate Diavel's cheeks as he saw them, and heard him mutter about bleeding hearts. "You realize children won't teach as well?" he sighed, "It makes sense though. You didn't kidnap them right?"

She smiled, "The world may never know."

Kimiko reached them, grinning, "I think we're all set. Meet Aiko."

"I'm Tobi." Blurted her small friend.
"Wes."

"We should go back to the Town of Beginnings and stock up on health potions. Maybe check for a level two sword?" Kagome said quietly as Diavel and Kimiko shared a passionate hug.

He made eye contact with her and smiled tersely, "That would be the better idea wouldn't it? Alright everyone, let's move out." They took off, not bothering with pleasantries. Not that their newest group members didn't want to, but there was something serious in the air around them as the two airs of authority took out crystals and teleported.

Kimiko caught the confused expressions on the younger kid's faces, even as Wes readied his crystal. "You know how to home teleport don't you?" she asked gently. They both reluctantly shook their heads. She found herself exasperated, "I'm sorry those two ran off; they get a little over exuberant. You need to select the blue crystal in your inventory."

"I don't have any," Tobi said softly. "I used all my money on weapons." His head bent shamefully as Aiko selected her crystal and it appeared in her hand.

The little girl leaned in close and whispered, "If it helps any, I only have one cause of my mom."

He gave her a teensy smile and Kimiko gifted him a teleportation crystal. Wes had paused in his teleport to watch the interaction, and when everyone had a crystal -and had been instructed on how to use it- the four teleported together.

Kimiko rolled her eyes when she saw Diavel standing alone on the platform despite the many bodies around him. "Where'd she go?"

Her boyfriend smiled uneasily, "She's buying supplies for her and the boy." He nodded to Tobi.

There was something off about his posture; his back was rigid, his hands pressed tightly to his sides. The smile on his face was riddled with something he was trying to hide.
"What's wrong?"

He glanced uneasily at their newcomers. They were distracted with easy conversation. So he leaned in close to his girlfriend's ear, "She won't stay with us. You know that don't you?"

"Did you expect her to?"
"Not really."
"Then stop worrying. We'll keep her safe as long as we can, but we have to let her go."

He tried to relax – she did have a point, but that didn't stop his fear- and beckoned that the rest should follow him.

After a short walk, they found Kagome talking animatedly to a man with pink hair, a few others hanging back. She crossed her arms, laughing at something he said, "- don't count on it Klein. I met up with my old party from beta."

"That's a shame. Aw, well I'm sure we'll be fine on our own. Thanks for helping me out today," he added, "you and Kirito might have saved my life."

"Mostly Kirito," she laughed, "he's a good teacher."
"Yeah."

"Did you see him? The plaza was so abuzz when he ran off that I couldn't push my way to follow him." But you did, she added mentally.

He glanced at his friends uncomfortably, "Yeah, but we went our separate ways. He was worried about you too though; I think he planned on going back to the square to make sure you were alright."

Somehow, she highly doubted it. He was a good guy, there was no questioning that, but from what she knew of him, he was also clever. He would be going after EXP just as vigorously as she would be- if she hadn't of run into Diavel.

"Sorry to interrupt, but did you already get your supplies?

Kagome jumped and turned to find her friend standing not far behind her. She smiled, "And Tobi's; the two of us are good to go."

He seemed tense as he glanced between her and Klein, "I'm set, and Kimiko's gathering a few essentials for her and Aiko. Wes claims he's fine on potions and the like."

"Going on a road trip?"

"A quest actually," was the terse reply.

"A quest?" Klein glanced back at his friends again, "Well if you need an extra hand, all that failing at sword skills earned me a pass to level three." He winked at Kagome.

She started. Of course; he was trying for hours. "I might take you up on that."

"Make that a definitely. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Diavel relaxed and offered his hand.

"It's Klein."

"Diavel. I apologize for any frigidity, it's been a long day, and I imagine the days hereafter will be even longer." He rolled his shoulders back with a resounding pop and grinned, "You're welcome to join us."

I apologize in advance if any of the characters seem out of character. The way I see it, we didn't see any of them until a month after the announcement. They're all taking it in different ways, and they'll have to push past that to be normal again. I honestly feel bad for them, as a gamer myself I've always wanted to play a VR like SAO. But even knowing that I would get trapped I might have been insane enough to purchase the game...

Also, I'm not sure how much herbology was explored in the original game, but I'll be honest and say I've done so much research to stay within the lines of the original plot that I forgot that this is a story and I'm allowed to make small twinges as long as their sensible. I can definitely imagine something like a herbalist in the original SAO, as a skill that anyone can acquire so long as they work at it (like cooking or fishing, ect).

Anyway, thanks so much for reading and I hope you're having a lovely day. ^^ I'd love to hear your opinion in a review or a PM, annndd yeah. I hope you enjoyed it!

Xx Niki