Chapter Four: The Moonlit Black Cats

It means that they've died. Those words echoed in my head. "Diavel…" I muttered. I had been so excited when we met yesterday. He seemed so cool, like he could do anything. I looked back at my friends list, still open. Not knowing what to do, I closed it and ran. I ran back out the door and down the stairs. I ran through the streets, past town square, and back onto the street that housed my tavern. I ran inside and slammed the door behind me. "Diavel… why?" Tears started to stream down my face. At first it was just a few, but it didn't take long for me to start bawling my eyes out. I thought back to the promise we made. The promise that we could now never fulfil. As I sat there crying, I heard the door burst open. Turning around, I saw the party I had just met, the artificial sunlight shining at their backs as if they were some kind of prophets. "Why are you guys here?" I asked them, sniffling.

"Are you kidding? You just ran off outa nowhere! We had to follow you to make sure you were okay!" Ducker said, exasperated.

"Well I'm not so you can just go. I don't want to burden you guys with my problems." I say, angry.

"Hexagon listen…" Keita started, but I cut him off.

"Why do you guys even care? We just met! I'm just some random guy." I snap at them. Why am I acting like this? I wonder. I want them to care about me… so why am I turning them away?

"We may have just met yes, but-"

"You have no reason to worry about me!"

"Hexagon!"

"Just give it up! Just go. You'll be better off without worrying about my problems…" We stand in silence for a moment. Suddenly, a softer voice spoke up.

"Would you please just shut up?" I look up and see Sachi standing right in front of me.

"Sachi?" Keita says, clearly taken aback.

"L-let me do this, Keita." she says, determinedly. She turns back to me. "Hexagon, you're right. We don't know you. But that doesn't mean we don't want to help you! We were all just getting along and chatting, right? Didn't we just add you as a friend?" Sachi has broken her shy character and is talking to me like a mother would her child.

"But…" I trail off. I don't know what to say.

"No buts! No excuses! You need help. We are willing to offer it. If you really don't want help, then we can't force you to accept it, but we don't want to see you suffer." I stand there for a moment, thinking. I don't want to be a burden on my new friends... I think to myself. Shaking my head, I face Sachi.

"You sure you wanna get involved with some random tavern owner like me?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

"Of course we're sure. All of us want to help you, or we wouldn't have chased after you like this!" Sachi replies.

"Damn straight!" Ducker yells. The others give general responses of agreement.

"You guys… thank you. It's been a while since I've had anyone to talk to, even before getting trapped in SAO." I pause for a moment to wipe away my tears. "Come on. I believe we wanted to celebrate the clearing of Floor One. I don't have much yet in the way of drinks, but feel free to try any of the concoctions I've whipped up. I'll make us some nice stew."

"Oh Hexagon, you don't have to do that. Why don't we make the food?" Sachi suggests.

"Nah really, it's alright. Cooking will help clear my mind and help me figure out what I want to talk about with you guys." I reply.

"Okay, just… take it easy. It's clear you've been through a lot."

"Yeah man… don't push yourself too hard." Ducker said. It's the first time I've seen him this serious.

"You're one to talk, Ducker." Tetsuo said, jabbing Ducker.

"Yeah mister 'I'm gonna be the top player within a month's time'! How's that workin' out for ya, by the way?" Sasamasru added, jokingly.

"Come on man, how was I supposed to know the game would be this hard?" Ducker yelled back, clearly embarrassed. As the group bickered, I chuckled and went to the back to prepare the aforementioned stew for the celebration. As I prepared the ingredients, I heard them still bickering and laughing from the other room. Funny. I thought to myself. Kinda reminds me of how me and Tsuda (Yoshiro) used to act. ...Maybe I should see if he's still alive. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the kitchen door.

"Come in!" I shouted. As the door opened, I saw that it was Sachi standing on the other side of the doorway. "Oh, hey Sachi. What's up?" I asked.

"Well Hexagon… I just wanted to check up on you." Sachi replied, back to her quiet nature.

"Check up on me? Isn't that what you all just did?" I laughed.

"Well yeah… but... " she trailed off. "I just thought you could use some company." she finally said after a long pause.

"Oh. Well uh, I… yeah. I'd appreciate that." I respond, surprised.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" she asked.

"Well, I could use some help with preparing the stew if you're up to it." I reply, gesturing to the array of ingredients in front of me.

"I'm not much of a chef, especially in the real world." Sachi joked, still standing just inside the doorway.

"Come over here. I'll teach you a little bit about how you cook, at least as far as SAO is concerned."

"Is it much different from irl cooking?" Sachi asked, walking over to me.

"It's similar but a heck of a lot easier, given that most of it is done by the game for you." I say, retrieving a knife from my inventory. "Here, take this." I say, handing the knife to Sachi. I lay out all of the ingredients we'll need on the table in front of us. "Now here, come cut up these ingredients."

"Okay." Sachi says, moving closer to me. "Like this?" Sachi goes to cut the carrots I've placed normally, only for her knife to be stopped short by an invisible barrier. Within a few seconds, the carrots glow white before transforming into an already cut version of themselves.

"See," I begin, "when you're in cooking mode, the game takes care of the actual 'work' portion. We just have to guide it in the right direction." I say, grabbing a second knife from my inventory and interacting with the remaining vegetables.

"Wow. It really is easier." Sachi says with a light chuckle. "You know, this reminds me of when I would help my mom in the kitchen, back when I was a child." Sachi's warm smile slowly fades into sadness. "Hexagon."

"Y-yes?" I ask, feeling a palpable change in the mood.

"Diavel he…" she paused, briefly. "We're going to make it out of this, Hexagon. All of us." Sachi says confidently. "People like him? They're the reason people like us are gonna make it out alive. I promise you." Sachi fakes a smile. I can see in her eyes something familiar. As much as she wants to, she doesn't truly believe what she is saying. I put down my knife and lay my hand on her shoulder.

"I hope you're right Sachi. And when this is all over, I can show you just how good of a cook I really am?" I say, faking my own smile.

"I'd like that, Hexagon." For a moment, we stare at each other. In an attempt to break the serious tone, I take a step back.

"Well um… I suppose with the veggies all cut, we can prep the meat and spices."

Through the next few hours, Sachi and I go around the kitchen cutting meat, boiling water, and combine all our ingredients to form the perfect stew. As we do we hear the raucous laughter of the others outside the kitchen. After about 3 and a half hours, the stew was finally ready. As the one with the higher cooking stat, I did most of the actual cooking, but much of the prep was handled by Sachi. After taking a second to admire our handiwork, I asked Sachi to go let the others know we were done. As she turned to go, she stopped for a moment.

"Hey Hexagon?" she said.

"Yeah?" I ask. She pauses for a moment before turning to face me.

"Heh, it's nothing. Just um… thanks for teaching me about cooking." she says, smiling.

"Oh um.. Of course." I reply, returning the smile. Before I can react, Sachi runs up and gives me a peck on the cheek. Without giving me a moment to react, she runs out of the kitchen and relays to the group that the stew is ready. All I can do is stand there, flustered.