Chapter 5: Innocent Demon Children And Player Killers

"Hello Again, how are you three? I was wondering if Miss Usagiyama would be willing to go over her accounts where we left off last time. I believe you two are ahead of her on that account and before I move on I would like to get her side of events, since you three were a group." Detective Tsukauchi asked as he looked at Rumi.

"Yeah, sure." Rumi said with a shrug as she started.

Flashback

Rumi was going through the forest at night. Her group was tracking down a group of player killers and since she wasn't really the stealthy type she decided to Patrol the forest instead. It was a good thing too because there was a girl fighting 3 giant Apes with clubs. Compared to her they were low level but for the girl, and her pet dragon (who was just critically hit) it was a near impossible task. Jumping into The Fray, it only took a single kick to the three of the ape monsters for them to be killed. Looking over she could see the little girl crying over a glowing feather. Which, Rumi assumed was the item that was dropped by her pet when it was killed. Not really good with crying girls, (okay anyone crying) Rumi just stood there awkwardly not really knowing what to do. Seeing the girl crying made her kind of uncomfortable so she decided to attempt to leave. Hopefully without sounding too rude.

"Weeelllllll, I can see you got your own thing going on here... Don't wanna intrude... I'll just find myself a spot that isn't full of crying children. Oh, look! There's one now!" Rumi Said As she failed miserably to try to keep herself from sounding rude. The girl stopped crying for a second as she looked at her with sad teary eyes.

" Aren't you gonna ask me what's wrong?" The girl said with Puppy Dog eyes of Doom as she stared at her. But lucky for Rumi she was only Minorly affected. But unfortunately for her, she was affected enough Because her next comment came out a lot Ruder than she meant it to be.

"Yeah, I'm not pulling the pin on that grenade." Rumi said as she internally winced at her words. Her normally flippant attitude was really biting her in the ass today. This is why she usually lets Joke and Dekiru Handle stuff like this.

"You're right. *Sniffs* I'm sorry. *Sniffs* This isn't your fault." The girl said with Puppy Dog eyes of Doom intensified to the point she gave in. Sighing she asked the question that she knew that she would regret later.

"What's the matter." Rumi said with a voice that suggested that she was already done for the day.

"*sighs* Well, I guess it all started when I was born. My mom was a bit of a drinker..." The girl said as she started to go on a tangent. In the back of Rumi's mind, she swore that she could hear the sound of a grenade pin being pulled followed by an explosion.

3 Hours Later

"*Bang* But thankfully, Pina stalled them long enough for you to save me, *Bang* and then, you know the rest. *Bang*" The girl said finally finishing her long 3-hour tangent as Rumi bludgeoned herself with the table that they were sitting at, and in the diner where she was planning on meeting her group.

Rumi was going to respond with the most rude, and Crudest comment that she could come up with. But seeing her friends enter the restaurant she bit down on that urge as the two walked over.

Seeing Rumi's pleading eyes and the digital wound on her forehead, as well as the table. Emi instantly believed that she was not exaggerating when Rumi Sent her a message stating that she found a crying girl in the woods and now she wouldn't stop talking or leave her alone. Taking pity on her party member she approached the table and asked the words that Rumi now truly dreads.

"Hey, little girl I heard from my friend that you were crying so What's Wrong?" Emi said which caused the girl to start from the beginning and for Rumi to go pale before starting to bang her head on the table again.

3 Hours Later

"*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* But thankfully, Pina stalled them long enough for Miss Miruko to save me, *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* Then she brought me here and then, you know the rest. *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*" The girl said finally finishing her long 3-hour tangent as the 3 bludgeoned Themselves with the table.

"Were any of you listening to me, Do I need to start again." The girl said completely innocent and oblivious to the suffering she was causing.

"No!"Rumi practically screamed in Terror.

"But isn't it important for you guys to get the details? Your Heroes right?" the girl says innocently.

"Yes, but we do not need your life story. Like seriously are brain cells could have been put to better use, like I don't know, a genius plan for beating the game." Rumi said so done with life that she just wanted to go up to her room and never come out again.

"But." The girl started to say before being cut off by Emi

"Look instead of you destroying the rest of our brain cells, why don't we just tell you how to get your pet back instead," Emi said in the hopes of preventing another Tangent about her life story. The girl just Shrugged and izuku took the opportunity to explain how, since he could tell that Emi and Rumi were at the moment questioning all their life choices.

"there is a Dungeon on the 47th Floor, called The Hill of Memories, it drops an item that revives pets." Izuku said causing the girl to squeal in excitement. But Izuku cut it off before his party members strangled the poor girl.

"Don't be too rash, that dungeon is dangerous. So you need to find a party to get you through it or somebody high enough level who can just walk you through." Izuku said hoping that the girl wouldn't just run off to that dungeon and get herself killed. This caused the girl to get sad for a second before an idea struck her.

"Then why don't Miss Miruko take me, she took out those Gorilla monsters in one hit. That means she must be strong enough to escort me through it right." The little girl said with the most devastating puppy dog eyes that the group had ever seen.

5 Minutes Later

"Fuck, Why did I agree to that Little demon in disguise request." Rumi said after the group entered the room that they planned on sharing.

"Because we both know no living being with a heart could say no to that look. But I think we could use this for our mission." Emi said as she began in a teasing tone before ending in a serious one.

"And how the fuck would this help our mission?" Rumi said defeated as she sagged into her bed.

"You know the group of player killers that we are hunting." Emi Said but when she got a nod from Rumi she continued.

"We don't know the group's name, but for all we know it could be Laughing Coffin which is most likely. What we do know is that they're a group that robs players of their gear and Valuable items in exchange for their lives. This girl is going after a very rare item from a dangerous dungeon, Which makes her a Target. We know very little about this group besides their previous actions and their body count. So me and Izuku will go out and gather more information. Tomorrow you will take her to the Hill of Memories dungeon, While the two of us follow close behind out of sight. Hopefully, if they only see you they'll take the bait and we can spring our trap." Emi Said Which the two nodded to her plan.

Next Day

It was the next day, when Rumi (not wanting the little girl to die in the dungeon) went with her to get some proper gear as well as some healing potions. It was on this excursion that they ran into a red-haired woman.

"Ah, Silica I see that you're not with your dragon, what happened?" The red-haired woman said concerned, That was obviously fake.

"Pina, died." Silica said completely depressed

"Oh then this must be your new pet, I'm so glad you can get something on your level." The woman said mockingly.

"What did you say you red-haired bitch?" Rumi said with a menacing smile on her face as she stepped in front of her. She hated people like this and it seems even in a death game there were Mutant haters.

"Oh it speaks, you must have found a rare rabbit indeed." The woman said feigning shock and awe.

Rumi knew that even if she wanted to kick her in her stupid face, the safe Zone that they were in wouldn't let her. So instead she grabbed the girl's hand and walked away as she silently fumed. A couple minutes later the two Got what they needed as they made their way to the nearest teleporter. After being teleported to the 47th Floor They made their way to the entrance of the dungeon.

Rumi made sure to go over the girl's items to know what she was working with. It wasn't much, most of her gear was low-level. So Knowing that she would most likely aggro everything in there, she made sure the girl stayed very close to her and didn't run off. It was a good thing too because everything in that dungeon did indeed attack her due to her low level. But luckily she was high enough level to easily dispatch everything in the dungeon. Once they got the flower they went back to the dungeon entrance, it was there where Rumi stopped. It wasn't hard to notice the woman behind the tree due to her skills. So after she made sure the girl had her Teleport Crystal ready she took a step forward and spoke up.

"Yo fucker, I know you're there so come out already." Rumi said loudly as she Called out the woman behind the tree. Stepping away from the tree the red-haired woman revealed herself Before speaking.

"Ah, your Detection Skill must be quite high for you to have known I was here." Rosalia said a little impressed, but that did not remove her cocky demeanor.

"Oh God, Would you cut the crap already, we both know why you're here." Rumi said annoyed.

"Oh, so you saw through me, did you? You're quite a clever rabbit to have figured out that I'm actually the leader of Titan's Hand." Rosalia said As she Twirls the front part of her hair. But her words only made Rumi laugh.

"Titan's Hand, oh my God, I thought you were Somebody more dangerous like Laughing Coffin. I have never even heard of you." Rumi says still chuckling

"You still shouldn't take us lightly, we are the most feared orange guild on the lower floors." Rosalia said A little annoyed but she still maintained her cocky demeanor.

"Oh please, a piss ant like you, doesn't even have a chance against a hero like me." Rumi says With a predatory grin.

"A hero ah? And a confident one that is so quick to dismiss us. Of course, that's all you really have going on, isn't it? A couple of confident boasts to distract everyone from what you really are. A sad, lonely little Woman with no one who loves her. You're just a woman who has boasted that fake confidence of yours so many times that you started to forget how pathetic you really were. After all what kind of hero would use a child as bait to lure us out?" Rosalia said with a confident smile that just made Rumi want to hit her. Especially when she was obviously now mocking her, It didn't help that The shots she was firing actually hurt a bit. But Her thoughts were cut off by The Voice of Silica.

"Miss Miruko would NEVER do something so horrible!" Silica Said, As she looked at Rumi with those innocent puppy dog eyes of hers. In response to those puppy dog eyes, Rumi could not help but let out a sigh.

"Look kid I'm not going to lie, she's kind of right, we did use you as bait. But only because we were looking for the murder Guild responsible for the attacks down here in the first place. And since you were most likely going to be attacked thanks to what you were going to retrieve it seemed to be a win-win scenario." Rumi says With a sad smile. But luckily, Silica the sweet angel she is, or was secretly a demon in disguise, (No one will truly know) understood the situation. But she still looked down in sadness. Not wanting to see her look like a kick puppy, Rumi got her attention again in the hopes of lifting her spirits.

"But don't worry kid I'll beat these jerks in no time." Rumi says As she gives her a confident Smile as well as a thumbs up.

"Oh look, you play the tough Girl pretty well, but we both know you're not some Invincible Warrior and that you're just a girl pretending to be one. It's a front for that little girl who is scared of getting hurt, That same little girl inside of you, Abandoned by society and forced to put up a front So she could hide all her insecurities. But there's one thing that you can never hide, especially in this game. That you are weak, and that you are nothing." Rosalia said

Something broke in Rumi, she did not know what, but whatever it was was important. Especially since she was now letting out an unsettling laugh that was half broken and half manic. She did not know why she was laughing, Was it because the words hurt her and she did not know how to handle it? Her confusion quickly turned into rage at the woman's next words.

"It looks like my job is done. We'll be taking the Pneuma Flower now, if you don't mind. So why don't you be a good broken rabbit and Hand it over." Rosalia said, This only caused Rumi's vicious Grin to go even more vicious almost to the point of manic.

"You and what army." Rumi says menacingly as she tightens the gauntlets on her hands.

"This one." Rosalia said As she snapped her fingers, Her cocky smile only growing.

But her smirk was quickly wiped off her face since none of her colleagues appeared. Instead of them, a green-haired boy wearing a black Trench coat and a mint green-haired woman wearing a black leather Jacket appeared, with her men behind them all knocked out, this made Rumi laugh.

"Oh looky here, it seems like your goons have been taken out by my friends. All I have to do now is beat the living shit out of you and I'm going to take my God... Damn... Time... Doing It." Rumi says, as a terrifying demonic Aura obscured her features.

Rosalia Would Swear that she had seen the devil that day, and would never forget the image of a pissed-off Rumi. Especially when that same pissed-off heroin had beaten her within an inch of her life. Even when she was out of SAO she would have nightmares of that demon and her manic laughter.

30 Minutes Later

"Ahh Rumi, are you okay?" Izuku asked worried.

Rumi did not say a single word after she thoroughly and brutally Beaten Rosalia. And when she got back to the Inn she just sat down at one of the booths and started ordering drinks. She was halfway through her 5th bottle of Ale when he asked his question. He was expecting maybe her to give him an ear-lashing or some nonchalant comment to deflect the question. What he was not expecting was for her to break down crying. Apparently, the words Rosalia said really struck too close to home for her.

Izuku took her to her room so at least she could cry without spectators. When she was there (due to her Drunken state) she ended up opening up. She told him about how she was Kicked out of the house when she was four because of her abusive parents and was forced to live on the streets. She lived on the streets for 3 years before being picked up by child services and was put into an orphanage (which was hell) where she remained until she got into UA. After that, it seemed like the alcohol finally got to her since the rest of her speech was Incoherent due to her crying and unable to form proper words. It was an hour later when she finally fell asleep. Izuku simply tucked her into bed Before pulling up a chair to her bedside and sitting in it. Making himself comfortable he closed his eyes and attempted to fall asleep himself. Normally he would go to his own room and sleep, but there was no way in hell that he was going to leave her alone tonight. So he made himself comfortable in his chair before falling asleep.

Notes:

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