The Apathy of a Gamer

by 3sper

Becoming a pro gamer was like a double-edged sword. He loved the perks, but hated the fame. Now in the world's first VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online, Kirito is sought out by fans once more. Now trapped inside the game with death looming over their shoulders, players need his skills more than ever. There is only one problem though. Kirito is a solo player, and plans to keep it that way.

9. Chapter 9

Hello again. This has been the longest wait time between a chapter. Apologizing won't recover that lost time, so I'll do my best to release more chapters. I don't think it will ever take this long to get another out again. I'm setting up a better schedule, so they should become quicker. My sights are still set on finishing this story.

This chapter is even longer than the last one, which had been the longest I'd written until now. The chapters won't always be this long, but I felt the need to compensate you. They'll still end up around roughly 10k words each.

That's all I have to say here. I'll have more at the end of the chapter.

Please enjoy.

Pa-atreon: 3sper

---

Christmas time. A time where everyone around the world celebrated the holiday. Lights and decorations would be set up in towns and cities. Large Christmas trees erected that people could gather around. Santa clauses appearing to wish people a happy holiday, or hear a child's wishes, and if you were lucky, snow fall that would be strong enough to play in and build snowmen. A joyous time, so of course nearly every country around the world celebrated Christmas.

Apparently, that was true for Sword Art Online, too.

In every town all across SAO, Christmas lights were strewn across nearly every building, inn, and npc home. Blue lights, green, red, every color you could see. Massive Christmas trees with big yellow stars on top and wreaths with little red bows, the whole get up. Even inside a fantasy world that was supposed to be disconnected from everything else still celebrated Christmas. Even the npcs had some new dialogue to fit the occasion.

Vendors had appeared in the largest town of each floor, selling a variety of event items that would only be there for the last couple weeks of December. Christmas hats and outfits, reindeer horns, and of course the most popular items being the Christmas-themed foods. Since five floors had been unlocked, there were more types of foods in the game people had access too, but they still weren't easy to get. The items in the shops were inexpensive at best. Everyone had a chance to enjoy the holiday at a cheap price, even the ones who were too scared to leave town.

And it was working. Players all throughout the game; the ones out in front and the ones remaining at the beginning. They were all enjoying Christmas. In spite of the looming death facing those who were brave, despite the fear each and everyone of them had, it was nice to forget and enjoy the holidays; the only connection they had to the real world. A small slice, but it was one they would make the most of. Anywhere inside a town, both npcs and players alike wore bright smiles. It seemed everyone was happy to indulge in this joyous tradition.

Well... almost everyone...

"My immersion..." A black haired boy muttered, a scowl on his face. Kirito; The Grinch, wasn't all too pleased about celebrating. He didn't have anything against Christmas and actually did in fact enjoy the holiday. However, he did not appreciate SAO's lore getting trampled into the mud. This was supposed to be a medieval world with fantasy powers. The only technology it was supposed to have were antiquated stuff like swords and candles or something akin to magic like the floating castle, Aincrad. Yes, there were sword skills, but they were all apart of the world's lore. Multi-colored Christmas lights that would glitter and shine, as well as glowing stars on trees was NOT medieval. "Don't you guys care about what kind of media you consume?" Kirito sighed. No, probably not. It seemed he was the only one here with any class.

He flicked the snow that had lightly dusted his shoulders off his «Coat of Midnight» and readjusted his collar. He didn't mind the cold and preferred it over warm weather. Some of the floors would experience weather changes and typically lined up with how the real world's weather would be. Some didn't, as those floors had a general theme to abide by. It would be weird for a dry blazing desert to suddenly get rain.

Kirito expected the colder weather change, but not Christmas suddenly becoming a thing. Maybe some people would celebrate on their own, sure, but not the actual game itself. He couldn't accurately predict it because beta experience didn't matter. Obviously, it wasn't Christmas time when they all had played back then. It was a weird decision for sure. If all towns had a Christmas theme to them, that would include the humid desert ones. That just didn't make any sense. Kirito's ire grew at the thought.

That was it. The world and its lore, the npc's and mobs; none of it mattered anymore. Giving credit where it was due, it was certainly something game developers would do. Holiday events were a normal thing in MMORPGS, so it would make since for SAO to have one. He wondered if Kayaba had given the order to program Christmas with the intention of giving the players some real world relief, or if it was just an order from the higher ups funding the project.

He would never know.

With a finger flick, Kirito accessed his menu. "Well, at least there is this," he smiled. Pressing the quest icon, he read it once more. It was a holiday event quest that had players do a scavenger hunt in search of «Reindeer». They were a limited time mob that only spawned throughout the week leading up to Christmas day. Excluding dungeons, they could spawn on any floor at any time at any place, and players had to find and kill them.

«Reindeer» were nonaggressive and would run away if they were alerted of a players presence, so using the «Hiding» skill was recommended. They were surprisingly hard to track too, because despite spawning across all of the floors, they didn't leave hoof prints behind. That's why it was also recommended to use the «Searching» skill to find them more efficiently.

It just so happened that Kirito had both those skills.

It also just so happened that those two skills of his were rather high.

It also just so happened that he finished the quest in just a couple of hours and this was the second time he had accepted it.

On his first time through, he thought the quest would just turn out average, since it only gave xp and he was overleveled, it wasn't much. Since it was a limited time quest though, he had to at least give it a try. That decision would prove to be fruitful, as Kirito learned a hidden secret tied to the quest. The secret was that the quest was a rare mob spawner.

Rare mobs usually spawn on their own randomly and players just had to get lucky to find them. Rare mobs typically dropped a rare item, material, or ingredient that was basically impossible to get your hands on. It was different this time because the quest triggered a direct chance for a rare mob to spawn, rather than just hoping to God you were in the right place at the right time.

The mob was a «Silver Reindeer». Rather than being the normal spawning ones that was brown, these were silver and had prettier horns that were shaped differently. Their mechanics were the same as the normal reindeer and it wasn't harder to kill or track it, either. The only difference was the rare chance it had to spawn and what it dropped.

On one of Kirito's last kills needed for the quest, he found one. His reward for killing it wasn't an item, but a bunch of xp. He was close to leveling up anyway, but it had pushed that small gap needed and he leveled up to 27. That alone was enough incentive for him to keep grinding the quest until it disappeared.

There were a few other quests that had came with the holidays, too. A quest to help a father get enough col to buy gifts, a quest to help a baker get enough ingredients to make treats, and a quest to help fix a broken toy. All relatively simple quests, but one look at them told Kirito all he needed to know.

They were escort quests. Excluding the scavenger hunt, every single quest he found involved escorting some npc. Even with the possibility of those quests having rare rewards, there was no way in winter wonderland he was spending the holidays escorting a bunch of slow ass npcs. He'd had enough escorting when he took on that elf quest with Sinon. Those kinds of quests were way outdated, anyway.

Reindeer hunting was where it was at. Sure, it may be a little cruel to kill them because they were defenseless, but that wasn't going to stop him. Just throw him on the naughty list, or something. At this point, he was used to getting a bunch of col. A little more wouldn't hurt.

The dark haired boy shook his head quickly, ridding another pile up on his head. The white powder was a stark contrast to all the black he wore. He didn't know the spawn rate for the rare reindeer. The quest required the player to kill ten before turning in the quest. He just so happened to kill the silver one on his ninth. It could have a higher rate of spawning than ten. It could be one in a hundred, or even more.

"Oh well." Kirito shrugged his shoulders. You never know until you try.

---

Black

This one was black.

Not brown like the normal reindeer and not silver like the rare type that blended in with the snow, but black. The contrast of its fur was way deeper than the others and a stark difference to the snow on the ground and along the dead trees. Its antlers were nearly pitch black as well, just a little bit lighter than its fur. The name above the mobs head was «Dark Reindeer».

'Then its also gotta be special, right?' Kirito thought, readying his sword. This was now his third time doing the quest. Unlike his first time when he found a silver reindeer, he didn't find anything rare on his second attempt. His hopes were a little crushed and he thought maybe his assessment was wrong, but he didn't give up. He knew that if you could do the quest multiple times and it had spawned once, surely it would happen again. Even if he had found a rare one already, it shouldn't matter. There would be no point in doing the quest again if they were only limited to one per person. His judgment was on point, but not perfect.

A screech filled his ears as he'd split it in two before dissipating out of the world. The reward menu then appeared.

Reward

White Christmas

Kirito originally believed that the quest would only spawn «Silver Reindeer» as the rare monster spawn. What he didn't expect was that other types of rare reindeer could spawn as well. He berated himself as he put his sword away.

'You can do better. Think of every possibility.' It may not be necessary to do so for a quest like this, but other quests in deeper floors would try tripping him up every chance they could. If he wasn't prepared, he could fall for some trick or trap. He had never been afraid playing SAO and never thought he would be, but when the unexpected arrived like it did against Baran on floor two, he needed to be ready for it.

With that thought, he opened his menu to check out «White Christmas».

It was an equippable item. Pulling it out, Kirito held up the choker in his hands. It felt similar to a belt and was snow white. The clasp in the front was a shiny metallic, pretty red square. There were also small vertical rectangles colored the same red on each side of the buckle, giving it more flavor.

"So, it's an accessory." Kirito didn't really dig chokers, but if the stats were good, then he'd wear just about anything. Opening its stat menu...

Nothing.

It was a cosmetic.

"Well that's just great." A rare spawning mob had given him a useless item. It just had to be a cosmetic. There wasn't even a point in having it, especially in a game where the equipment you wore was your lifeline. He was tempted to just drop it, or even break it in half so it wouldn't waste space in his inventory. Not because the item was heavy; it was actually as light as a potion. He just didn't want it.

Kirito held his chin. Although, when he thought about it, there was one use for it. Storing the choker back in his inventory, he continued his quest thinking about how much it would sell for.

Ping

A small yellow message notification blinked in front of him. With his low friend count, it could only be from one of two people. He tapped it.

Message

Sinon:

I want to talk to you about the Christmas event that's been going on. There's a few things I want to talk about, so lets have dinner together. Don't even think about getting any weird ideas.

Kirito checked the time. It would be getting dark in roughly an hour. He hadn't yet talked about the event with her or Asuna. Doing so was a good idea and the possibility for him to learn something from her and not the other way around was actually there for once. Their discussion could lead somewhere interesting.

Message To

Sinon:

Sure, let's meet up in an hour.

He'd meet her in about an hour. He still needed to finish his quest and he wasn't about to waste daylight.

And he definitely wouldn't get the wrong idea.

---

"I'm still not used to the fact that you have blue hair," Kirito said, resting his head in his hand.

Sinon sighed. "I was hoping it wouldn't make me stand out too much." She lifted her hand to play with one of her bangs. "If it's really that distracting then I guess I could change it back."

"No, no, it's cool." Kirito waved her off. "I like it. It looks nice on you."

The girl scoffed back at him, pulling the top of her scarf up over her face. "Whatever."

A small smile crossed Kirito's face. He couldn't even try hiding his shock the first time he had seen her hair. Add the blue eye change and the sword on her waist and he almost didn't recognize her. When she'd seen his confusion, she laughed at him. In fact, she had hoped she would surprise him with her new look. It kind of irked him when she gloated about it, as if she had somehow gotten one over him. It wasn't much of a win, so he let her have it in favor of complimenting her appearance. He knew she was still working through some things from before and put two and two together. She was trying to move on and he wanted to support her.

That, and he really did like her new look. It was... stylish. Outgoing, almost. A lot different to how she appeared before.

Sinon looked back at the boy with a scowl. "And what exactly are you smiling about?"

"Nothing, nothing." He waved her off again. "So, why do you carry your sword on your waist and not your back?"

"Huh?" Sinon gave him a confused look.

"You carried your spear on your back. Why don't you do that for your sword as well?"

"Because you can't carry a spear on your waist." She stated derisively, rolling her eyes. "Why does it even matter to you?"

"It doesn't," Kirito replied, thumbing over his shoulder where his sword rested upon. "Back is the superior way, though."

Sinon stared blankly at him. "...Lean back then."

Kirito raised an eyebrow. He shrugged and obliged her, leaning back.

*Clink*

...

He tried again.

*Clink*

...He couldn't.

"Pfft-" A stifled laugh escaped through Sinon's hand as she tried holding it back. Kirito looked back at her, completely complexed. His expression only increased her giggles further until they freely spilled out. "You can't lean back because your sword is in the way."

Kirito blushed. "Yes, I can," He shot back, reaching for his sword. "If I just take it off-"

"Take it off?" Sinon echoed teasingly. "My sword is still on and I can lean back as much as I want." She demonstrated while crossing her arms. "I thought your way was superior?" She mocked, her condescending smile on full display.

His blush deepened as her laughter filled his ears. "W-Well, it's still superior while traveling and in combat." He grumbled.

This time, it was her who was waving him off. "Yeah, sure thing, guy."

Just as he was going in to reply and save face, he was cut off by the npc delivering them their food. Kirito sighed and lamely took his sword off. Slowly, he set it down next to him, which only sparked more laughter, though Sinon at least did him the courtesy of trying to hide it again. That's twice she had 'gotten' him now. He couldn't keep letting her get away with this injustice. He needed payback and he would get it. When her guard was down, he'd get her.

It was inevitable.

"S-So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Kirito said with a cough, trying to change the subject and put the whole thing behind him. He could still feel his embarassment on his face.

"Hmm..." Sinon smirked, pondering whether or not she should let him off the hook. Eventually, she decided she would go easy. "You read my message, didn't you? You should already know."

"O-Oh right, the Christmas event."

"Mhmm..." Sinon hummed. "What do you know about it?" She asked, as she picked up her silverware.

"What do you mean what do I know about it? It isn't like anything like this was in the beta." He picked up his own fork, taking a bite of his food.

"I already know that. I'm a beta tester too, remember?" She pointed out. "I'm asking because if anyone would have figured anything out, it would be you."

"Yeah, that's true." Kirito said unconsciously, not even denying it as he sipped his drink. "I'm pretty sure I figured something out."

"Like...?" She gestured for him to continue.

He set his drink down, smirking. "Ladies first. What do you got?"

"You can't be serious?" She deadpanned, to which he simply kept eating. A small growl left through her gritted teeth. "Alright, fine. I'll go first." She pointed her fork at him. "But you ARE gonna tell me what you know."

"Yeah, sure," He said a bit muffled.

"And swallow your food before talking to me."

"Yeah, sure," He said again, this time clearly.

The girl's eyebrow scrunched up as she bit back her anger. She couldn't tell if the boy was messing with her, or if he really had no table manners. "Whatever." She wanted that info, so she'd put up with his irritating act. "I don't really have much. I've done escort quests all day hoping that it would lead me somewhere, but it hasn't." A depressed sigh left her as she thought back to those slow, grueling travels. "The quest rewards were decent, but not worth doing all of them. Maybe if I do all of them it'll unlock something?" She mumbled to herself. She wasn't able to speculate for long when she was interrupted by chuckling from across the table. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"You actually did all those escort quests?" He laughed, making her blush.

"No, not all of them. I've only done around half." Her hand slapped the table. "What's so funny about it, anyway? They're quests, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they're quests." Kirito confirmed. "Just not very good ones."

"They aren't that bad. They give a good amount of col and xp."

"Really?" Kirito asked sarcastically. "Tell me how much fun walking those npcs back and forth all day was. From what I'm hearing, you must've had a blast." The girl fell silent at his words. He urged her, "Come on, surely you had a good time doing those escort quests. I would know. After all, we did one together."

"...It sucked." She stated bluntly, giving in to his taunts.

"Hah!" He laughed, earning him a kick in the shin. "Hey, don't be mad. You're already halfway done. You can finish out the rest tomorrow, easy."

A full growl left her as she stomped her foot. "Okay, asshole. I get it. I wasted my time. They aren't worth doing." She grumbled in disappointment.

Kirito thought for a moment, the clattering of porcelain and silverware filling his ears as Sinon ate, silently fuming. "No," He stated, gaining the girl's attention. "They might be worth doing."

"Really?" She asked in disbelief. "You just sat here and laughed at me for doing them and now you want to tell me it's worth it?"

"I said it might be worth it." Kirito replied. The look on her face told him that explanation wouldn't cut it. "I mean, you're probably right when you said there might be a reward when you do all of them."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Unlike with the reindeer hunting quest, you can't repeat those escort quests." He spun his fork in his hand. "If you do all of them, it makes sense that you would get a special reward at the end."

The girl laid back in her chair, closing her eyes. "Yeah, I guess you're right..." Her eyes snapped back open as she realized his intentions. "Wait, you just want me to be your guinea pig so you can find out if they are worth doing or not, don't you?!"

Kirito swiftly looked away. "No, of course not..." He looked away, laughing wryly when he began hearing teeth grind. "A-After all, I'm sure other people are doing those quests. We'll eventually find out from them." He turned back and gave her a sugar coated smile. "But if you do finish it and get something good, feel free to tell me?"

He got kicked in the shin again.

The boy cleared his throat. "A-Anyway, you should just hunt some reindeer."

Sinon scoffed. "That's awfully vague. You find out something about it?" She questioned. She let him take a bite of his food, patiently waiting for him to continue, but was increasingly getting annoyed as he took another bite before then going for a sip of his drink. It was like he was drawing it out on purpose. Her finger irritably tapped the table several times, finally losing her cool once Kirito went back for another bite. She slammed one of her hands down. "Quit eating and tell me!"

"Hey, you're the one who asked me out to dinner. Is it so wrong for me to enjoy it?"

"I knew I'd regret this." Sinon made an exasperated sigh, palming her forehead. "You just have to be as annoying as humanly possible, don't you?"

"No, I'm just hungry," Kirito said purposefully, making her face twist in anger. He had to physically bite back his smile. It was way too easy to mess with her, just as she had messed with him.

Honestly, he really did enjoy talking to her and having her as a friend. It was kind of weird. When he had first logged into SAO, he hadn't intended to make any friends. He deleted all of the ones that he made in the beta because he didn't want or need them. His excuse was that it was his play style and he wanted to be left to his own devices. While that was partially true, that wasn't completely it. The truth was that all of those "friendships" he had made during the beta didn't feel real.

Deep down, he could tell. From the moment he logged into SAO for the first time, he'd felt more alive than he ever had. The amount of fun he had on that first day and exploring the virtual world was an experience like no other. He doubted that he would ever feel that kind of euphoria again. The only thing that had ever come close were continued sessions inside SAO.

So when a bunch of random players started appearing before him asking him for advice, asking to party up, asking to prove his gaming skills, and praising him when he went out of his way to do so. It all just felt so artificial. They didn't really care about him, they just cared about his ability and status as a pro gamer.

The famous solo player Kirito was all they cared about.

It really shouldn't have bothered him. Of course people were going to approach him asking to be friends and ask to team up. It happened to live streamers and other tourney winners all the time. It really, really shouldn't have bothered him.

But it did.

Even if this world wasn't real, it felt real to him. The day SAO was announced as a death game, he'd felt joy. He could finally live in a world where he felt like he belonged. Where he was happy. This was his reality.

And when all of those guys began following his tail everywhere he went, piggybacking off of him and calling it "friendship." All of a sudden, his reality started to feel a whole lot less real.

He hated it.

So he deleted all of them and didn't look back. He wasn't gonna look back, even if he had to lie to himself and ignore the pain in his heart for leaving the people who could have used his help to die. But this was his choice and there wasn't going back on it now. If he ignored that voice in the back of his head and started thinking that everyone he could've helped was equally as fake as those guys in the beta were; who tried taking away his reality, it made him feel better.

That's all they were; just people trying to take his world away from him, including that girl with the mouse whiskers... No, he didn't feel bad about deleting her. Even after the genuine feelings he had in his heart and all the times they had shared information with one another on an equal ground. He didn't feel guilty about reading his name in the paper she wrote, asking him to come out and if she had done anything wrong...

He didn't.

"I should have known you'd pull something like this. Whatever, don't tell me," Sinon spat out, pushing her hands on the table to stand up. "What a waste of time," She muttered under her breath.

"N-No, wait!" Kirito swiftly and unconsciously reached over the table, grabbing one of her wrists in a show of his true feelings leaking out.

"H-Hey, let go!"

"I'll tell you! I was just in my head for a moment!" He hurriedly confessed, trying to soothe her anger.

The girl glared at him for a moment before huffing and sitting back down. "You better not be pulling my leg." She grumbled from under her scarf.

"I'm not." He looked over his shoulders and gazed around the restaurant. "But uh, after we eat dinner and leave?"

"I knew you we-"

"We got eyes on us." He cut her off, half whispering. Their corner seat didn't really matter after making a commotion like they had. More than a few heads turned to look their way.

Sinon looked around and sighed, understanding his concern. "Sorry, guess it's my fault." She apologized, whispering back. They had picked this location because it wasn't very popular compared to others. Now that there were a decent amount of places to get food at in the game, a restaraunt like this that served mediocre food wasn't a big deal anymore. That didn't really matter now. "Wait a sec, no it's not, It's yours," She said after contemplating over it. "You're the one who made me mad because you wouldn't tell me." Her brows furrowed, getting angry again.

"You're right. I shouldn't have been stalling and just told you."

"So you WERE messing with me."

"I'll make it up to you." He sighed after feeling her foot bounce off his shin a third time. Thankfully, they didn't hurt. "Lets finish up and we'll leave."

Within a few minutes, they were paying for their meals and leaving.

---

"That's really all you have to do?"

"Yeah, simple as that."

The blue haired girl hummed, pondering what she learned. "You make it sound way easier than it is. All day I've been hearing about how hard those reindeer are to catch every time I'm in town and you wanna tell me that if you catch a certain amount, a special one will spawn? I don't buy it."

"Hey, I didn't say you had to catch a certain amount. I don't know the exact number, or if you even need to catch any. From what I got, they just randomly appear."

"Yeah, but aren't they harder to find than the normal ones?"

"Of course they are. They're rare, remember?"

"That's not what I meant, smart ass." She shook her head. "The reindeer have a high hiding ability and are easily provoked. Do the rare ones have an even higher hiding skill?" Sinon asked the swordsman in black, leaning closer to him.

Kirito mulled over her words for a moment. His head lightly tilted to the side. "I don't really know."

"Wh- huh?" Sinon's head fell back, befuddled. "You found several of them and more than one rare type. You're telliing me you can't tell?" She exclaimed ludicrously.

He folded his arms. "Well if you're asking me if I searched for them harder, then the answer would be..." He drawed out, making her lean in again. "Maybe...?"

Sinon deflated, throwing her arms in the air. "You're unbelievable, you know that? Why is it so hard for you to give me a straight answer?"

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know. I guess I can say I was trying as hard as I could to find the reindeer from the start, so it wasn't like I could try harder..." His words drew out, making the girl grumble incoherently under her scarf. "If it's any consolation; I didn't think they were too hard to find. I'm pretty sure the only real difference between them other than the loot and color is that the rare ones just have a lower spawn rate."

"So you DON'T think they are harder!" Sinon stomped one of her feet against the powdery snow below. "Why didn't you just say that to begin with, you idiot!" She turned away with a scoff.

The boy scoffed back at her, placing his hands in his coat pockets. "Well, sorry..."

He didn't really know where to go after eating dinner and had a feeling that Sinon would get pissed off at him if he took her to a secluded room inside an inn. Instead, he looked for and found a bench to sit on at an unpopular street in town. It was late, so there weren't any players walking by. He was confident more and more people would stay up longer the closer they got to Christmas day, but today wasn't it.

Stretching his arms above his head, he decided that it was probably time to reel it in for today. "That's all the info I got. The only tip I have is to try your hardest to find them. You'll get to hang of it." He stood up.

"Wait a second," Sinon said, also standing from the bench. "Your story doesn't match what other people have experienced. They are supposed to be difficult to find, but you keep claiming that it's easy."

"What do you want me to say? Either everyone else sucks, or I'm just that good." He yawned.

Sinon's eyes narrowed at him, the tense blue staring deep into his being. There was a hint of a yellow ring inside of them, showing just how unnatural and artificial they were. He liked both her new hair and eyes, but it felt very off-putting when she glared at him like that. He recognized an incredibly similar look in Asuna's eyes as well.

The look of a mean girl.

His body shivered at the thought. He didn't actually think Asuna was that mean. He felt the same with Sinon, although she had a lot more bark in her. Still, the two of them could scare the baddest baddies away with that kind of look.

She took a step toward him, making the boy gulp. "How high is your searching skill anyway?" She questioned, causing his shoulders to tense. His reaction didn't go unnoticed. "Bingo." She confirmed aloud, poking him in the chest. "You can find and catch them easily because you have a high searching skill. You probably don't get noticed by them either because of a high hiding skill too, huh?"

Another gulp, this one more audible than the last. Just because they were friends didn't mean he wanted her to know all his skills. Her deduction skills definitely weren't novice level.

"I guess those skills wooould help with finding them..." Kirito said vaguely, not accepting or denying her claim. "But they certainly won't help you escort all those npc's!"

That earned him a punch to the arm.

"Fine, fine, you can keep your secrets for now. I got enough info out of you today." A satisfied smirk spread across her face. "I'll get some more out of you some other time."

More some other time? He felt like she'd just mugged him, or he'd got his lunch money taken away from a bully. Now she wanted to make this a routine?

"I'll finish the escort quests and see if there is anything special while you find some more reindeer, 'kay pal?" She padded his shoulder firmly, before standing up to leave.

He felt like a victim.

Unlike Asuna, Sinon always did a good job at not saying his name publicly, even if there wasn't anyone around. She was a more guarded person naturally, though Kirito wasn't sure why. He speculated it was because she's a gamer girl, which usually led towards harrassment from a bunch of guys. There was a feeling that made him believe it was more deeply rooted than that, but he couldn't be sure. It wasn't his business to pry into irl stuff, anyway.

What was in fact his business was how much of a doormat she'd made him out to be today. He could be the more mature person and let bygones be bygones. He could let her get away with down-talking him and just ignore it. Pretend it never happened.

But that wasn't happening.

It was payback time.

Kirito leaned down and gathered up some snow from the ground, packing it into a firm, round ball. As he watched her walk away, admiring her bottom for a moment, he called out, "Hey, Sinon!"

She turned around.

SPLAT

The snowball nailed her right in the face.

Hard.

She had to take a couple steps back to catch her fall; the force of the balled up snow nearly taking her off her feet. She stood there frozen solid, clumps of snow falling off her absolutely dumbfounded face. Kirito cupped his hands into a circle. "Thanks for the date! We should do this again sometime!"

Then he took off.

As he ran, the boy heard her voice echo from behind, "Bastard!"

The two of them were both taught a lesson that day.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

---

"What exactly am I looking at?" Kirito mumbled to himself as he held a large paper in his hands. Like the previous few days, he had been reindeer hunting to capitalize on as much loot as he could.

He felt like he was either getting jipped, or that the spawn rate for the rare reindeer was higher than he surmised because he hadn't ran into as many as he thought he would have over the time he'd spent hunting them. He had ran into a few «Silver Reindeer» and got a good amount of xp from killing them like before. He'd even run into another type of reindeer, the «Gold Reindeer» which would drop ten thousand col; a hefty sum at this point of the game.

Unfortunately, his luck appeared to have run out there, as the only rare reindeer that had spawned since then had been a «Dark Reindeer» that had dropped another cosmetic. The item was called «Naughty or Nice» and that's all he'd learned about it before banishing it into the deepest depths of his inventory. Another cosmetic meant another item headed towards an npc shop.

Kirito hadn't sold the other one yet because he kept forgetting to. If they weren't so completely useless, maybe he'd spend more effort remembering he had them in the first place.

Other than that slow spawn, the rate was roughly what he estimated. It didn't seem like there were any conditions to get rare reindeer to spawn. It was just pure RNG.

That had been the case up until now.

Just a few minutes ago, Kirito had come across another new rare reindeer type. Unlike the others that would be a different color and drop a specific thing, be it xp, col, or a shitty cosmetic, this one had been completely different.

It was called a «Crystal Reindeer». Like the other reindeer, it appeared alive and moving. However, it was not of the living. It was made of what looked like glass and was completely see through. It didn't have eyes and it looked like its antlers and limbs could snap off at even the slightest touch. The glass glowed with a multitude of different colored lights, nearly every visible color in the color spectrum reflecting off the impossible creature.

The reindeer was as beautiful as it was unnatural. Kirito could tell in an instant that it was more rare than the other ones.

Despite this, the player hadn't hesitated a second when killing it. When he dashed towards the monster, it nearly got away. Much like the other ones, it hadn't detected him. Instead, it was much faster. If he had missed his swing, he didn't think he could catch it before it despawned, even with his high level and agility.

Thankfully, his skill with a sword hadn't failed him and he shattered the glass animal. Once it burst, the death effect blew past the clearing loud and wide, as if a floor boss had been cleared. The triangular glow effect was way more pronounced than it had usually been on other monsters. Instead of the usual blue coloring the lights took, the effect shared the same rainbow color-wheel the reindeer had glown and each shaped triangle was smaller, totalling way more individual pieces.

It was an incredible sight that had come from such a small creature. A sight Kirito wouldn't soon forget.

Such a mob even existing, special or not, was still strange. Either he wasn't actually suppose to catch it that way, or he wasn't supposed to catch it at all. The «Crystal Reindeer» had to have shared some of its code with floor bosses to explode like it had.

Was it evaluated on the same priority level as a boss?

The whole situation made Kirito reevaluate the event and how the mechanics for the reindeer worked once more. Perhaps, after finding a certain number of reindeer, the final one that would spawn would be the «Crystal Reindeer», or maybe it only spawned once and whoever found it only had one shot before it would disappear forever?

Whatever the case, the super rare item it should have dropped was his. That led to his current predicament.

"Maybe it's a treasure map?" Kirito questioned, holding the item up and looking at it from different angles. It certainly had all the signs of being a treasure map, with drawn in trees and trailing lines that lead to a big X. However, there were a few things that separated it from a traditional one. Namely, the two sets of numbers at the bottom of the paper.

"I'll figure it out once I find the spot," Kirito said, folding it up. It looked like the big X was drawn on top of a pond. That was a big enough lead already. A super rare mob more rare than most which then led the player on a treasure hunt. Kirito felt his excitement bubble up like it were boiling. Whatever it was, wherever it was taking him, it had to be beyond exceptional. All he had to do was start searching.

And searching...

And searching...

It wasn't until nighttime and the artificial moon was up in the sky when Kirito finally found what he believed to be the place. Since they had unlocked the fifth floor and that was where he had killed the «Crystal Reindeer», he initially believed that the spot would naturally be somewhere on that floor.

He was wrong.

After wasting a bunch of time wandering on that floor and realizing it wasn't there, Kirito trekked down towards the fourth floor. Considering that the fourth was no longer a barren canyon and now water themed, he probably should have started there. Still, he remained undeterred and excited as ever.

Searching vigilantly, Kirito did his best to follow the map and eventually ended up in a small clearing. The location was inside the «Bear Forest» with an average sized pond that, much like the rest of the rivers and lakes on the floor, refused to freeze over. He hadn't been entirely sure this was the spot, but after quadruple checking the trail on the map, it washed away his doubts once they appeared to match perfectly.

Kirito had been to the «Bear Forest» many times before, but not in this precise area. Just because he hadn't been here didn't mean other players hadn't. It wasn't like the area was blocked off in any real way. The only real obstacle was that the spot was surrounded by trees and shrubbery on all sides excluding the entrance. Honestly, someone could get to the same spot without even following the trail leading here. It seemed that the only significance of the trail was that it was the easiest way to navigate to the place.

The location would definitely be serene for anyone who loved wandering forests. A small area with a pond that was blocked out from the world on all sides except the pathway and the sky. A place that sounded straight out of a video game and the perfect spot for treasure.

Fully believing the treasure was at the bottom of the lake, Kirito dived straight in without a second thought. After swimming completely down and around the pond a few times, as well as catching a «Freeze» debuff, he stiffly and shamefully swam back up.

His «Freeze» debuff couldn't have been more accurate. He usually didn't mind the cold, but swimming in negative temperature water and getting blasted by piercing winds afterwards was a combo he hadn't prepared himself for. Kirito was freezing his ASS off.

A player wasn't supposed to feel pain in SAO, but he could definitely feel it right now. Experiencing the pain of freezing temperatures was now something Kirito could confirm existed in the game and must've been overlooked by the development team, or more precisely, Kayaba. The reverse could also be true with experiencing extreme heat.

"T-T-This s-s-sucks." Kirito clenched his shivering arms around his body in a vain attempt to keep himself warm. His precious coat felt paper thin right now. Jumping into a pond at the height of winter had to be at least top three dumbest things he had done so far in the game, along with revealing his name, and fighting a couple floor bosses solo. Sinon getting a facial wasn't anything compared to the cold he was feeling now.

A loud sneeze escaped the black haired boy. He could remember blasting white stuff all over her face as much as he wanted, but it wouldn't make him any warmer. Kirito drunk a potion to heal back some health. Unfortunately, the potion didn't cure his effect or warm him up. Though his health bar was near full, he personally felt like he was gonna die if he were out here much longer.

Swiftly pulling out the map, he tried to piece together what the numbers were asking of him. With his mind racing a mile a minute, he figured it out instantly. He would've slapped himself if his arms weren't ice blocks.

They were the date and the time. He didn't understand them at first because the digits were all pushed together and didn't have dashes or colons between them. If he had spent more time thinking about it earlier, he would have been able to figure it out. Since the map was dropped from a limited time mob, then this was likely a map to a limited time event. Said event would only appear in this spot once it was the correct time at the exact time of day.

"T-T-That's just g-g-great," Kirito admonished himself. He jumped in that damn pond for no reason. Now he really wished he didn't jump the gun so quickly. "A-At least I k-k-know where it i-i-is." He forced his stiff arm to reach for his quick-access belt. A rectangular blue crystal with metal adorning the sides was pulled out from it.

The item was a «Teleport Crystal» and is extremely rare at this stage of SAO. In fact, it was his only one, but using it in this situation was worth it. It had the ability to teleport a player to any city in SAO with its teleport gate unlocked. He wasn't sure if he could make the trip back to town in his condition. It wouldn't actually kill him, but he would be even more miserable than he was now.

It was time to get out of here.

"Teleport, Karluin." Kirito kept his stuttering at bay and held the crystal up. It lit up with a pale blue glow which spread across his entire body, warping him out of the area. "Much better." He breathed out a sigh of relief, a refreshed grin on his face as he stood at the teleport gate of the ruin city of «Karluin».

Now that he was in a safe zone, his «Freeze» status effect was removed. The teleport had also dried up his wet body. All negative status effects would immediately be removed from a player the moment they enter a safe zone, even if they were on the brink of death from a deadly poison. This also accounted for the «Missing Limb» effect and whatever limb or limbs the player was missing would instantly reappear. Such was the conveniency of a safe zone.

Now that he could actually feel the clothes he was wearing, Kirito readjusted his coat. He noticed that it and some other parts of his clothes were looking a little worn. He would need to get them repaired at a tailor.

"I'll do that tomorrow." He yawned, walking towards his inn room. "No wait, I might not have the time." He frowned. Today was Christmas Eve. Naturally, tomorrow would be Christmas. Asuna and Sinon had been blowing up his message box all day today, asking him about what his plans were for tomorrow. He quickly told them both that he would be happy to spend the day with them.

Key word.

Both.

He wasn't looking forward to introducing them to each other, but he made his bed and now he'd have to lay in it. If they were going to continue to be friends, then it was bound to happen eventually. He didn't wanna imagine the repercussions of blowing one of them off the entire day for the other and he didn't think he could juggle both of them at once, either. They were bound to get suspicious if he kept excusing himself and running back and forth between them.

Best get it over with now. The sooner the better... probably. Who knows, they might even get along...

...Hopefully.

A chill ran up his spine as he imagined it and he shook his head to rid those negative thoughts.

Let future Kirito deal with it.

All he really needed to do was spare enough time to make it to the event. The map had the event's date set on Christmas day. The time was numbered 2330, or what should translate to 11:30 p.m. He would need to end his day with them around eleven at least, so he could make it back to the location.

Kirito turned the corner, nearing the inn with his hands stuffed in his coat pockets per usual. There weren't too many players roaming around this time of night, especially because tomorrow was a holiday many would be celebrating.

And that's when he saw her.

A small figure not even five feet tall hidden under a brown cloak. The edges of dirty blonde hair just barely visible from under the hood.

Whisker marks on her face.

It was her.

Argo the Rat.

He froze near instantaneously. She was talking to some other person who also wore a brown hooded cloak, although theirs was a few shades darker than hers. The two of them were just a couple houses down from the inn, lightly tucked in a small alley way. She was leaning against the wall facing Kirito's direction and he was only able to visibly make her out because of his high «Searching» skill.

It was definitely her, though.

He didn't know what to do. On one hand, it hadn't looked like she'd noticed him. The conversation she was having currently held most of her attention. Now was the perfect time to run away. On the other, he would have to pass her to get to the inn and he didn't want to get any closer to her. He could retreat down the street and make his way around the other to get there, but his feet wouldn't budge.

There were a few occasions that had come up where he thought she would make an appearance and he had done his best to avoid those situations. The boy meticulously avoided any type of mass player meetings or gatherings for the sole purpose of avoiding Argo. Of course he knew that someday, inevitably, they would come across each other.

His plan was to either avoid confrontation with her or, if worse came to worse and he actually had to talk to her, act like a dick and avoid giving her any sort of leeway. If she asked for his name, he would give her an alias. Even then, there was a chance those diversions wouldn't work. She was a clever girl and could probably squeak something out of him through his guard.

That couldn't be allowed to happen. Especially if she became suspicious and intrigued with him.

He knew she was looking for him more than anyone else was. There was a tremor ringing deep inside his heart when he thought of that. Usually, he excused it as her being greedy and only wanting info on him and his knowledge to sell. Likely, there was some possible truth to that.

However, as Kirito stared down at Argo, looking at her the way she was now, he knew.

The frown on her lips, the clenching of her hands, her head tilted downwards irritably. There was an almost palpable aura of depression that seemed to emanate off of her.

Realistically, it could have been something else that made her like that. Maybe she had gotten into an argument with a few guys earlier. Maybe she got bad RNG, or didn't meet her xp quota. Maybe she had gotten some bad info, or one of the people she was supposed to meet up with bailed on her. Maybe she just simply had a bad day and nothing more. There could be any number of reasons why she was like that...

...But he knew why. He could play around and pretend like he didn't know or make excuses, but he knew. All it took was one look at her for him to know he did that to her.

As much as he wanted to deny it, they had been friends. In the beta, the two of them were around each other every day without fail. He considered her a leech and had even openly said it to her face, but she always stuck around. There were any number of times he had carelessly blown her off so he could do his own thing, but she stuck around. He'd given her the slip multiple times, but she would just track him down through the friend tracker. His finger hovered over the delete option on more than one occasion, but he never deleted her.

It didn't matter if he had decided to delete all of his friends when the real game began. He didn't have to keep her added, even in the beta. He wasn't obligated to be close to her and with all the people who used to surround him, he could easily make an excuse that he didn't have the time and cut their relationship off there.

But he didn't.

He couldn't quite pin point the reason, but there was something different about her than the others. It wasn't because she was a girl. There were many female avatars who approached him and some had definitely tried to flirt or seduce him. Recalling those situations, he was able to recognize that most, if not all of those girls were dudes. Even so, he got the feeling that Argo was a real, genuine girl.

That wasn't what made him more interested in her.

No, it was something else. Maybe the fact that they had more chemistry together than anyone else. She messed with him constantly and he would always bite back. They would bounce jokes and jabs at each other incessantly. If an outsider looked at them, they would probably believe the two of them were enemies.

And they would have been wrong. Somewhere at some point, Kirito began to consider her a real friend. In the beginning, she was a leech who would attempt to suck him dry out of all of his information and milk his fame to get even more info out of others. Then, she was a puppy dog who would just follow him around no matter where he went. Then, she was just a friend.

She had cracked him. Somehow, she was able to get passed his defenses and form a real friendship with him.

Many people have tried and an equal amount have failed. The only true exception had been her. She had managed to make him open up a bit and in return, she opened up to him, too.

Their relationship didn't seem so one sided anymore. She wasn't around just to get something from him and he wasn't acting so coldly towards her anymore. They talked how they would find the time to play the full release of the game together. She'd tease him about how she would find secrets that would blow past him completely. She knew he always kept the best ones to himself. She never managed to figure any of them out.

He remembered that she'd told him that she wouldn't tell anyone if he told her those secrets and there was a part of him that believed her. There were times where he would tell her something and she wouldn't tell anyone. Secrets that they would share between the two of them.

What started out as a give and take relationship had quickly formed into one of true friendship. Unlike other people, she had his back. His heart twisted and torqued through those recollections.

She had his back.

But he didn't have hers.

He ruthlessly deleted her at the start of the game without remorse, severing their friendship forever.

Somewhere inside him, Kirito knew that he should face the consequence of his actions. Own up to what he did and confront her.

However, he didn't want to.

He wasn't going to.

He couldn't.

Once Argo had finished her conversation with the other player and began walking in his direction, he simply stood there in place, his head down and his hair over his eyes. The crunching snow under her footsteps became louder as she walked directly next to him. They were a meter apart, near shoulder to shoulder.

And she continued on past him, as if she hadn't even noticed him.

That was it.

Of course she couldn't recognize him. He was no longer in his beta avatar.

Kirito felt the force holding him in place release its hold slightly. He was left all alone on the street, not a single person in sight. The boy dressed in black had wanted that in the first place and he'd gotten it. He wanted them to go away and they did.

And yet, the weight of the tension was still there, clawing at his innards.

With weak steps, Kirito made his way to the inn, thoughts of the whisker-faced girl spiraling through his mind.

---

"Who's she?"

"Who's she?"

This was not what Kirito wanted to do first thing in the morning.

After reaching his inn room, he had tried and failed to get any sleep after his pseudo encounter with Argo. Despite trying his best to get his mind off her, he couldn't. The depressed look on her face kept him up all night, which then made him feel depressed also. It hadn't helped that he had a big day and really needed the shut eye.

Now here he was, out of the frying pan and into the fire.

The impending doom he had thought about yesterday was now readying its might. The dreaded meet up with both Asuna and Sinon was here and he was already gassing out. It sucked that his exhaustion had stacked on top of his anxiety for a crit.

Kirito sighed and mustered up the low amount of energy he had. The near run in with Argo really did a number of him. Regardless, he had no choice but to push her to the back of his mind. This was happening, no matter how muddled his thoughts were, or how tired he was. Might as well try to snuff the flames before they grow.

"She's a friend." Kirito waved, answering both of their questions. "Anyway, I'm tired. You two up for some coffee?" He asked, walking towards an npc vendor.

"Hold on!"

"Hold on!"

Both of them yelled out, moving to stand in front of him. They each shot each other a small glare before turning back to him.

"You didn't tell me you had another friend!" Sinon voiced sharply.

"Yeah!" Asuna followed. "You didn't say you were friends with..." She paused for a moment, peeking over at Sinon. "...with another girl!"

They both stepped towards him menacingly, their hands tethering to their hips. It took everything he had to stand his ground and not back away.

Kirito swallowed hard. "I know, I-" He hesitated as he began hearing voices from the sidelines. A bunch of dudes were gathering around and talking to one another. Some were covering their mouths whispering, while others were pointing at him angrily or laughing, not an ounce of secrecy.

"See that? He got caught lacking."

"Two-timing, ey? My man."

"Busted."

"This dude has two chicks? Bullshit!"

'Oh, come on. It doesn't look that bad.' Kirito knew he had some explaining to do, but it wasn't like he was dating either of them. They're taking it way out of context. He looked back at the two girls. They looked even more pissed now.

Great, thanks guys.

"Listen, I'll talk, but..." Kirito leaned his head in closer to whisper to them, since they had walked close enough to stand directly in front of him. "It needs to be somewhere else." They both predicted he would say that, as their responses were instant.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Asuna and Sinon both grabbed one of his arms, dragging him away from the growing crowd. He was outright getting booed now, one of the onlookers even yelling, 'Get him!' to the girls.

He didn't know the guy, but he better watch his back outside the safe zone.

"Wait, the coffee shop is in the other direction." Kirito's immobile arms tried to point, not getting very far. Their grip on his arms became tighter.

"You said it needs to be somewhere else, right?!" Asuna began.

"So we're going somewhere else!" Sinon finished.

"Yeah, but... why are we leaving the safe zone?" He inquired, his concern making him hesitate.

"Why do you think!"

"Why do you think!"

They each shot back. They were really good at that. That had to be like, the fifth time they had said the exact same thing at the exact same time. They'd even finished each others sentences at one point.

Kirito would have commented on it, but it wasn't worth the extra trouble. He was in enough heat already. The boy couldn't help but groan. In a way, he was lucky. It was a guy's dream to have two hot women clinging to his arms. When he thought about it like that, it didn't seem all that bad.

Then he realized he'd be missing out on his coffee.

It was a sad morning.

---

"Why isn't your hood up again?" Kirito asked Asuna. It had taken him a solid hour to get her and Sinon to calm down and hear him out. The two of them had both thought that he'd been playing games with them and his secret about keeping his identity wasn't really serious. If someone else knew about him, how many other people would, they questioned.

He quickly cleared that notion up fast and even showed them his friends list to prove they were the only friends he had. Convincing them of that had been the easy part. For some reason, they were still mad at him, even after he explained everything. He couldn't understand why. As far as he was concerned, he had been completely honest with them and hadn't lied about anything.

Asuna flicked her long hair back, the top part braided around the back of her head. "I thought I'd keep it down. Try something new." She huffed grumpily, her cheek jutting out.

"Oh... cool..." Kirito faked a laugh. She huffed again and turned away. She'd probably wanted him to say something more, but he was more concerned with the predicament he was in.

The three of them were situated in a small cave away from the snow outside. It was still cold, but a lantern between them had helped. The two girls each had large rocks to sit on, while Kirito had to make do with the ground, not that he minded. Before Asuna had turned away from him, Sinon had already done the same and had even added her signature arm cross to go along with it.

It was starting to get awkward as hell. Things had cooled down, but they were still clearly upset with him. Though, they were probably even more upset at each other with how they had gotten in each other's faces.

It wasn't pretty.

After they finally stopped interrogating him, Sinon got the bright idea to start interrogating Asuna. Not having any of the blue haired girl's lip, Asuna blew her questions off and instead fired her own. Since neither of them were the type to back down, they swiftly turned on each other and butted heads. Quite literally, as both of their foreheads were pressed against each other, Kirito distinctly hearing each of their teeth grind. He would have admired the sight, as their breasts had unintentionally mashed together during the confrontation. However, he noticed the girl's fists were balled, signaling things were about to get physical.

Well, punching physical. Their chests had definitely touched. Thankfully, Kirito had managed to get between and stop them before hands could fly.

They avoided a cat fight from breaking out, but now they were stuck in this awkward situation. Kirito wished he knew how to salvage it. He raised a gloved hand up to his chin, thinking deeply. There had to be a way to make things better between them.

'Aha!' Kirito palmed a fist as he got an idea. Asuna and Sinon both noticed his expression change and turned their heads back to him.

He smirked.

"Why don't the two of you become friends?" Kirito asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?!"

"What?!"

Uh oh.

"Hmph, no way. Friends with her? Get real." Sinon spat.

"Why would I be friends with someone so mean?" Asuna added, causing Sinon to glare at her. Feeling the blue haired girl's eyes on her, Asuna glared back just as fierce.

Not good. His idea had the opposite effect. They were supposed to agree with him and start getting along, not get even more angry.

It had made since in his mind. Since they were both still mad at him for not telling them he had made a different friend other than them, it was his fault. Rather than be mad at each other, they should instead be friends. That way, they wouldn't need to be concerned about him and his identity.

Sure, they still would have been mad for that extra reason, but it would have cleared the air between the two of them. Since they were both girls, he thought maybe they would jump at the opportunity to have another girl friend. Girl's were a rarity, after all.

'I guess I thought wrong.' Kirito sighed. Such a shame. It wasn't like they didn't have any similarities. He was sure if they had met under different circumstances, they would have been great friends. The reason why they weren't was because of him. He must've messed up somewhere. Maybe if he hadn't been as tired, he would have been able to find the right words to say and a better way to introduce them.

"Okay, bad idea." Kirito admitted, noticing the rising tension between them appearing again. It had been at least worth the shot to ask. If they weren't going to be friends then fine. Things would likely get complicated and most definitely annoying, but he trusted they would still keep his identity concealed. That was all that truly mattered at the end of the day. Even if it irritated them, this little confrontation wouldn't break that promise.

At least they were aware of each other now, which eased one of his concerns. If he ever needed to reveal his name to another person, he would be able to do so without having to worry about another incident like this.

Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that. Kirito still wanted to remain hidden as much as possible. In the first place, he shouldn't even have to worry about meeting and adding others, but such was the life of a pro gamer.

The price he had to pay for having two cute girls on his friend list; Deal with their bitching.

He'd roll with the punches as they come. Kirito really enjoyed their company, enough to where it was worth taking time out of his day to have them around on a semi-consistent basis. However, it could be a bit much. Asuna could be more than just a bit clingy with how much she worried. It was almost like when his mom wouldn't let him play mature rated games when he was younger. Motherly was a good way to describe her, which made it strange. A girl roughly his age babying him was not something he wanted. Kirito didn't believe he was all that attractive, but if that was how she looked at him, then he really screwed that up bad.

With Sinon... well... Sinon was just a bully. Granted, she was fun to be around and the two bounced off each other well. It was nice to have an ex-beta tester to talk with and pick her brain, even if she was usually the one to pick his. Still, there were moments between them where he felt the girl was one word away from opening her menu and challenging him to a duel on the spot. He wondered if the only reason she actually hadn't done so was because she knew she would lose. There were other times when they would talk and it was like she was a different person. A single harsh word would be enough to pierce her body and crumple her soul. Kirito recalled the time the former spear user called him up to her room for comfort... That had been an experience... an emotional roller coaster he'd never forget.

Sinon was a mixed bag. At times, she was the toughest boulder and others, the weakest glass. Bipolar was how he'd describe her.

A chilly wind blew into the cave entrance and Asuna shivered. Out of the three, she was the least dressed for winter. Although she wore a cloak, it wasn't very heavy and did little to keep her warm. Her skirt bared her thighs and though her socks covered most of her legs, they were still scantily thin. Kirito had his trench coat, so he was good. He could even button it up to be warmer, but his hubris prevented him from doing so. His run in with a freezing pond may have sharpened his desicion making by a hair, but it wouldn't stop him from being him. On top of her pants and scarf, Sinon had also bought a coat, expecting the cold weather from her knowledge as a beta tester.

"Ha-choo!" Asuna sneezed, wrapping the cloak tigher around herself in a vain attempt to keep herself warm.

"Why are you still dressed like that?" The boy asked, leaning back against the wall. "You know it's winter, right?"

"I-I thought my cloak would be enough to keep me warm," The longer haired girl replied. She shot him a small glare. "I-Its not like I knew the weather here would get so cold in the first place!" She whined, another chill permeating throughout her body. A small smirk appeared on Sinon's face and she bit back a snicker. Asuna couldn't see it from where she sat, but Kirito could.

'Yep... definitely a bully.' He thought to himself. He was glad Asuna was unaware of her amusement, or else he would be breaking up another fight. At this rate, being the barrier between these two would become a full-time job. He really wished he was sleeping in a bed right now. Better yet, he could be redoing the reindeer quest one last time before it went away for good. It was a stretch, but maybe he could get extremely lucky and get another map to a different location?

Thinking about quests, Kirito suddenly recalled his conversation with Sinon and turned towards her, "Hey, Sinon. Have you finished completing all those escort quests yet?"

That topic instantly killed any sort of joy Sinon had and a nasty glare took its place. "Yeah... I did them all..." She bit out.

The way she said that could only mean one thing.

"So... it was pointless?"

"It was pointless." She confirmed, sighing. Her fingers moved to open her menu. "If I had known any better, I would have kept trying to hunt reindeer. At least then I would have a shot at getting something good." An object landed in Kirito's lap as Sinon tossed him an item.

It was a white santa hat. Further inspection led to the confirmation of it being a cosmetic.

He laughed.

"Hey, it's not funny!" Sinon yelled angrily, her face warming up. "I wasted all that time! You could at least feel bad for me!"

"I do, I do!" He continued to laugh, holding his hands up. "If I were in your place, I'd be mad, too!"

Although he sounded genuine, his laughter only embarrassed Sinon further. She hid herself away behind her scarf. It couldn't bottle her emotions away, but it could at least conceal the frustrated look on her face.

All that time doing those lame escort quests for a cosmetic. To top it all off, it was a santa hat. Kirito couldn't help but comment, "You know you can buy santa hats at the holiday vendor for 100 col, right?"

"S-Shut up!" Sinon's voice came out muffled under her scarf.

"What, is it supposed to be special because it's white and not red? You know there's a place in the Town of Beginnings that lets you recolor items, right?" Kirito's laughter only grew, much to Sinon's ire.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" She buried her head into her knees for a second layer of defense. His laughter was pure torture. Anymore and she would die from embarrassment.

"Wait, I know!" Kirito snapped his fingers. "It's rare because it isn't called a Santa Hat, but a White Santa Hat! Go figure!"

Sinon had reached her breaking point, crumbling from the rock she were perched on and slumping against it. She sat there clutching her knees and hiding her face, too ashamed to look up.

Her HP may not have reached zero, but her soul certainly had.

Asuna looked back and forth between the two, completely clueless to what was going on. "I'm sorry, what exactly are you two talking about?" She cutely tilted her head to the right. "And why is it so funny?" She looked over to Kirito in search of answers.

The boy would have gladly filled her in if Sinon hadn't gotten the courage to peek out from her hiding place to shoot him a one-eyed glare over her arms.

Kirito lightly coughed into his hand, his grin still present. "Ah- it's not important, don't worry about it." Predicting another incoming glare, this time from Asuna, he continued. "But if you find yourself wandering town and come across a few npc's asking you to escort them, don't bother."

Asuna tilted her head again, this time to the left. "I don't follow. Why not?"

An exasperated sigh kept the auburn haired girl from continuing as Sinon lifted her head up, having managed to recollect herself enough to feel comfortable presenting herself. A light dusting of red remained on her cheeks. "Because it's useless. Didn't you hear me earlier?"

Asuna lightly glanced the girl's way. "I'm sorry. I don't believe I was talking to you." Her voice was cold, sharply turning her head away from the blue haired beta tester.

As if she hadn't been embarrassed at all, Sinon immediately turned and peered at her with rage. She'd already had it with this girl. After getting humiliated in front of her by Kirito, and then talked down to, she was more than ready to duke it out.

Kirito could see the storm brewing and wanted to nurse his head. Enough was enough. This couldn't keep happening between them.

"Let's do one." He intervened before Sinon could open her mouth. Since Asuna was too busy snubbing her, the boy was able to send a swift glance her way, silently pleading her not to aggro.

Sinon saw his plea and after a small internal battle, gave in with a brooding puff. Whatever the boy was planning, it better be good.

"Do what?" Asuna asked, turning towards him, She entirely ignored Sinon, as if the other girl wasn't even there at all.

"An escort quest." Kirito replied.

"Wait, what?" Sinon looked at him, perplexed. "I just told you several times th-

"Who cares?" Kirito waved her off. "I'm getting bored of sitting around here and you two look pretty restless. Might as well kill some time with a quest, yeah?" He stood up casually and stretched his arms over his head.

"Count me in!" Asuna stood up to join him. She had no idea what an escort quest was, but if Kirito wanted to do one, then she would happily join.

Sinon stared at him stupified, her mouth wide open. It was a big waste of time and she knew it. He knew it. So why? She tried rejecting the notion, make any sort of effort to refute. But the only thing she could do was stare as the two of them walked right past her.

"Well, you coming?" Kirito asked, looking over his shoulder. Asuna didn't bother, still refusing to acknowledge the other girl's presence.

"B-But it's Christmas?!" She finally managed to get out.

"That's right, so let's spread some holiday joy by helping npc's in need." He turned towards Asuna with a hand raised. "Doesn't that sound great?"

"Yeah!" She said excitedly, high-fiving him.

He turned back towards the confounded girl. "Come on, Sinon. Where's your Christmas spirit?"

Said girl could only stare at him blankly, once again dumbfounded by his proclaimations. He was the last person who would ever wanna waste his time doing some bum quest, so what the hell was this sudden one-eighty?

She watched as Kirito fired through his menu with lightning speed, as the idiotic long haired girl she hated got a pop up screen. Another flick of his menu and she got one, too. She then watched the clown woman accept his party request. Robotically, as if she were watching herself in third person, she begrudingly accepted his request as well.

Sinon thought about his intentions and believed this was some scheme the boy cooked up to try getting her and the buffoon to get along. It probably sucked having two of your friends not like each other. She understood that point-of-view, she did.

'But it's Christmas.' Sinon thought bitterly, a pang in her chest. She really, really wanted to spend the day together with him.

Alone.

She had to bite back the massive frown that threatened to split her face open. Out of everyone it could have been, it just had to be another girl, didn't it?

'And she's pretty.' Sinon's chest felt like it could burst with how twisted it were becoming. This sucked. This really sucked.

...

No, it wasn't over yet. There was still more time in the day. Christmas wasn't ruined yet. She'd let Kirito entertain the stupid bitch for a couple hours and after she buzzed off, the rest of the day could be spent with just the two of them. With her plan set, Sinon took a deep breath and stood up, standing to Kirito's right and away from the bimbo.

"Alright Sinon, lead the way." Kirito looked towards her, expectantly.

"What? Why do I have to?"

"You're the expert here. This is your field. With your knowledge, we'll find the best of the best escort quest."

His mockery would have landed if she hadn't already felt completely defeated.

"Yeah, yeah." She sighed, accepting her role without fuss. Acting as temporary leader, she walked ahead of him, making sure to shove him out her way harshly as she did.

She was still gonna make him pay later.

"The best one is near the center of town."

"Alright, let's go." Kirito followed after her, Asuna staying by his side. The three of them walked in silence for a few minutes before it was eventually broken.

"Ha-choo!"

"Oh, that's right. We'll get you a coat there as well, Asuna."

The girl smiled at him, rubbing her shoulders from under her cloak. "T-That would be n-nice."

Sinon rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

---

'This was a mistake...' Kirito thought as the three of them were walking an old lumberjack npc back home to complete their quest.

After dolling Asuna up in a warmer coat and black stockings that covered up to her thighs, they took on the longest and most rewarding quest. Of course, that meant that it was also the most boring. He didn't mind much at first, as he had wanted to waste as much time as possible. He asked for a boring escort quest and Sinon certainly delivered.

The quest was a bit more than a few hours long and they had to keep walking back and forth out of and into «Karluin». They did this by walking out of town through the east, then back inside to talk to an npc, then out the west, and so on. After doing such a monotonous thing for a long period of time, it had begun wearing the boy thin.

However, despite the quest's awful design, there was an even bigger annoyance.

"So he tries leaning back and realizes he can't because his sword's in the way!" Sinon laughed. "And then his face got so red from embarrassment!"

"No way! Really?" Asuna asked, wonder in her eyes.

"Mhm~" Sinon nodded. "Afterwards, he tried to play it cool by taking his sword off, but his face was so red!" Sinon pressed her hand over her mouth to keep herself from keeling over from laughter.

"Aww! I wish I could have seen it!" Asuna's pouted affectionately. "It would have been so adorable!"

The two girls continued to gossip about him as they lead the party. Their formation had the npc in the middle while he brought up the rear. Even so, given the way they were conversing and how loudly they were laughing, he could hear them loud and clear.

Although they couldn't directly see him from where they were walking, Kirito still felt obligated to lower his head in shame. It took everything he had. Gritting of his teeth, biting of the tongue, and slow, methodical breathing to keep his embarrassment buried inside.

'This was a mistake!' He thought once more. At first, everything had gone as predicted. The first couple hours went off without a hitch. The quest was still lame, but the two girls hadn't made any complaints. They simply walked on each of his sides as he made small talk with them.

Rather than all three of them conversing with each other, they talked to him individually, completely ignoring each other. Not a single incident or snide remark came from either of the two. It remained relatively peaceful up until they got to a certain part of the quest where a problem arose.

They would have to start protecting npc's from monsters.

Normally, this wouldn't have been an issue and the monsters they would need to fight weren't at all strong. The issue was that they needed to make a party formation. The main part of this quest required them to help a lumberjack deliver different types of wood to different people and help him get said wood. After escorting him out of town and letting him chop down a few trees, they would escort him back.

The monsters that would attack the party would target the wood, rather than the npc, or the players. If a monster lands even one solid strike on the wagon full of wood, it would be destroyed and they would have to redo that part of the quest. To defend the wagon, they needed to surround the npc dragging it.

Which had led them to an annoying predicament.

They were an odd numbered party, which meant they needed to alter between two players in front and one in the back. Quests like these were usually better for an even numbered party. If they had four people, they could have two people in front and back, or even have one person on each side in a diamond formation. They didn't need a forth person, as they were all strong enough to play their role and compensate for that missing link. Truthfully, Kirito alone could protect the wagon with how fast he was.

The problem wasn't because they were an odd numbered party. The problem was because two of their party members couldn't stand each other.

Since Asuna and Sinon didn't like each other, Kirito would inevitably be paired with one of them. He suggested a triangular formation instead, but that was shot down in an instant. It was Christmas and they were supposed to be doing the quest together. With so much distance between them, they wouldn't be able to talk to him. It would almost be like doing the quest alone and make it even more boring. That was no good.

Therefore, one of them had to be with him, which was also no good. If one of them were left by themselves, that meant the other girl would get to be alone with Kirito. That pissed them both off, as they both wanted to be paired together with him, which then led to an unfortunate situation that put him in the middle of a "which one of us do you like more," scenario.

Backed into a corner, the genius boy thought up a brilliant solution. Neither girl would give up on who would be where, so he proposed they alternated between the two of them until the quest was finished. That should have been the end of it, but of course, it could never be that easy.

Having done the quest already, Sinon brought up the fact that they would be escorting the lumberjack an odd number of times. That meant one of them would get to walk with him an extra time.

In the wise words of Asuna, "That's not fair!" Sinon didn't think so either, and so Kirito, having used up all of his intellect thinking of the first solution, could only think of one way to make it "fair."

For the final trip, both girls would walk together in front, while he walk alone in back. He thought at most, he would just have to break up a dispute or two if the girls looked like they were gonna get into it. Since they hadn't argued up to that point, Kirito believed he could spare the extra headache.

Boy was he wrong.

Instead of arguing and fighting, somehow someway, the two began getting along. Once he started tuning in to what they were discussing, he realized what had bridged the gap between them.

Him.

Or rather, the things they had to say about him. At first, Kirito wanted to give them some credit and act like this was a good thing. After all, they were finally starting to get along when he'd already lost all hope on that happening. The young man wanted to believe he felt joy knowing that Asuna and Sinon were becoming friends.

However, believing so would be a big fat lie. He no longer thought it was a good thing and rather than joy, he felt ignominy.

"He did what?!" Asuna asked Sinon, disbelieving what she heard. "I can't believe he did that!"

"I know, right!" The blue haired girl replied. "Who the hell gets the random idea to throw a snowball at someone's face in a place like this? I was freezing my ass off afterwards!"

Covering his ears with his hands wasn't enough. No matter what he did, Kirito could still hear them. He considered telling them to shut up, but that would only put more heat on him. Though they were gossiping about him right in his face, they weren't actively focused on the boy himself. He was fine avoiding the line of their crosshairs.

Usually, Kirito did his best to ignore others, but hearing pretty girls essentially mock him right in his face was brutal. Their words cut deeper than every blade in the game.

Damn. Girls were ruthless.

Under almost any circumstance, this kind of development would have made him happy. If the Kirito from an hour ago knew that Asuna and Sinon had found a way to get along, he would have been jumping for joy and praising the lord.

What a fool he was.

Getting slandered and bashed, having to stand there watching it happen. He didn't know the pain, the shame, the endurance and will it took not to fall over dead. The amount of times it felt like his ears were bleeding virtual blood. He just didn't know.

Kirito from an hour ago was a punk. He'd kick his ass.

Another story about how he was acting a fool, another round of giggles, another hit to his pride.

Rinse and repeat.

It was unfortunate Kirito already used his Teleport Crystal yesterday. If he'd still had it, maybe he could have teleported to a graveyard so they could bury him and his shame.

'Just bear with it for now. It'll all be over once the quest is complete.' That's right. That's all he had to do. Finish the damn quest and bounce. Then, he could head towards the spot on the map and wait for the timed event to happen. After that, he would head home to the inn and crash. Yes, that was his battle plan.

It didn't matter if today was a holiday. He was a gamer at heart.

He winced and buried his face behind his collar after Sinon made another comment about another time he had made an ass out of himself.

Honestly, she had no right to talk about his embarrassing moments. Didn't he just mock the hell out of her for being the proud owner of a white santa hat? Kirito might as well have burned her alive with how badly he disgraced her.

Part of the reason why he'd even wanted to do an escort quest was just so he could rub it in further. That backfired almost immediately. Now he was the one being laughed at.

"What a hypocrite." Kirito muttered under his breath. He may have been one too, but he could at least acknowledge that. She seemed completely oblivious. Or maybe she wasn't and this was all payback for decking her with that snowball.

Regardless, she was in for it now. Since she seemed to enjoy telling that snowball story so much, he figured she wanted to go another round. Since Asuna also seemed to enjoy listening to that story, then she must also want in on that action. And since they seemed to both equally enjoy chatting about that story, he wouldn't mind running it back.

After all, Kirito was a giver. He would be more than happy to give them a second story to talk about.

Picking a snowball fight now while he was outnumbered wasn't wise. He would need to find the right time once they were separated. Patience is a virtue and Kirito had plenty. Rather than get in a direct 2v1 now, he'd rather snake them both separately and underhandedly. Get them unexpectingly; like how he did Sinon the first time. Just wait and bide time.

Better have invested in a «Searching» skill because the grinch is gonna steal your ass with a snowball.

---

"Merry Christmas!" Asuna cheered, toasting her eggnog up high.

Sinon smiled and raised her own up, albeit not as enthusiastically and tapped it against Asuna's. "Merry Christmas."

The grinch, known by his in game moniker Kirito, didn't even bother raising his glass. "Happy holidays."

"No!" Asuna quickly rejected. "You're supposed to say Merry Christmas, not happy holidays!" She held her glass out to him.

Kirito lazily clinked them together. "Happy Hanukkah," He replied. A puffy faced glare was all it took to melt his resistance. "Alright, alright. Merry Christmas." He yielded, clinking his glass with Sinon's as well. Asuna smiled smugly at her victory and he couldn't help rolling his eyes.

The three were each seated on top of a pillow around a small table in Asuna's inn room. After completing the escort quest, Asuna said she wanted to spend the rest of the day celebrating. Of course Kirito couldn't refuse. Otherwise, he would never hear the end of it. There was also the fact that he wouldn't be much of a friend if he denied her, either.

They then spent the remaining daylight walking around and doing some shopping. Proper celebration required proper food and drinks. They didn't buy too much, but the amount of col they had each made from the escort quest was now long gone. It was soon dark and after walking some more to admire the nighttime scenery to see the Christmas lights on around houses, the group decided to take the party indoors.

They all had similar inn rooms, so they played rock paper scissors to see whose room they would use. Since Asuna lost, they went to hers.

"I dont understand how you two became friends so fast..." Kirito brought up, mumbling into his glass. "I thought only guys did that."

Another puffy faced glare, this time joined by an icy one.

"Don't underestimate us," Sinon stated, smirking at Asuna who smirked back. Originally, Sinon hadn't been so keen on the day's events turning out the way they had, but she was feeling better now.

She had wanted to spend the holiday alone with Kirito and that hadn't changed. However, after doing the escort quest with Asuna, she knew she wouldn't be able to shake the auburn haired girl away for today. She was just too clingly and persistent.

As much as Sinon didn't want to believe it, she had gotten a small impression that Asuna liked Kirito. She really hoped Asuna didn't also think that about her. Sinon's pride would take a hit if her true feelings were understood so easily. She didn't hate the girl. Not anymore, anyway. They had bonded and became friends. She was happy about that, but there was a part of her that still wished Asuna wasn't around. She had completely gotten in the way of her plans.

Regardless of how bitter she had felt about it, she put on a smile. She knew Asuna wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and so she needed to adapt to that. There was no way in hell she would let Asuna win and leave the two alone. She didn't think anything would happen between the two if she did, but Sinon wasn't about to take that chance.

After spending the day walking around and shopping together, Sinon cheered up. Even though her plans were torn to shreds, Asuna was good company and she was glad they were sitting together here now.

Unbeknowst to Sinon, Asuna had gone through a nearly identical experience as her.

She had plans to spend the whole day with Kirito, which had been swiftly tarnished by the blue haired girl's appearance. She had felt jealous and slightly betrayed by Kirito keeping secrets from her, which had led towards her investigating this new girl around him. It didn't take Asuna long to conclude that Sinon was an atrocious piece of garbage and that she hated her.

Yet, that conclusion was soon swayed once she got to know the short haired girl better during the escort quest. After they began talking about Kirito, she too got the impression that Sinon may have liked him and prayed that she didn't give off that same impression to her.

Of course, it wasn't that she liked Kirito, or anything. She definitely didn't. That much was obvious. She just didn't want the other girl to get that impression. That would be a catastrophic misunderstanding of their relationship. They were just friends and anyone with working eyeballs could see that. Asuna definitely had zero interest in him above anything but friends.

Regardless, none of that mattered at the moment. She may have felt bitter before, but now she was glad that Sinon was here together with them now. She just hoped the girl didn't get the wrong idea about her and Kirito. She definitely didn't like him like that.

Definitely.

Kirito looked between the two smiling girls. They appeared to be on the same wavelength, as if they were sharing their thoughts. If he didn't know any better, he would think they could read each others minds.

Whatever they were thinking about, it surely wasn't anything good. He shivered at the thought of getting verbally victimized by them again.

They may have gotten away with it before, but not this time. If they thought they could start gossiping about him directly in his face, then they better think again. He already witnessed what kind of damage they could do when they believed he couldn't hear them. He had been on the ropes before. There was no way in hell he would entertain a second round of that.

It would be way worse if he let that sort of outcome happen now. Kirito couldn't be entirely sure they would even gossip, but he had to assume the worst.

Better safe than sorry.

Before any funny business could brew, Kirito deployed his trump card. If there was ever a time to use it, it was now.

A yawn left his mouth as he stretched his arms above his head, "It's getting pretty late. Guess I should go..."

"Hey, wait just a moment!"

"Oh no you don't!"

The two girls briefly looked at each other. Sinon gestured for Asuna to go ahead, which she nodded. "We're not done, so you can't leave yet!"

Damn.

That didn't work.

He turned towards the long haired whiner. "We celebrated Christmas. Is there anything else?" He yawned again, keeping up his charade. His yawns were half genuine, as he really was tired. But honestly, he just wanted to get the hell up outta there.

"Of course there is! How could you forget?"

Kirito tilted his head to think for a moment. He then deadpanned. "You know, I wasn't serious about celebrating Hanukkah."

"Huh? Wha- no!" Asuna stumbled with her words, perplexed at what she just heard. "That's not what I meant at all!"

Sinon suddenly laughed loudly, "Oh my God! You didn't just say that, right?"

Asuna turned towards the blue haired girl, surprised at her outburst, before she too busted out laughing. Kirito blinked at their reactions, not understanding what was so funny.

It took him a moment, but realization struck him and embarrassment quickly filled the boy as their mellifluous laughter filled the room. Of course, he just had to go and make one of his corny jokes.

It was exactly the kind of outcome he was trying to avoid. Immediately, he proceeded to shoot himself in the foot. Now, they were laughing at him and he had to try with all his might to avoid turning red.

Damn, damn.

Better stop it before it gets worse. The boy coughed loud enough so that he could get their attention. "S-So, what was it you were saying, A-Asuna?" Kirito stuttered out, turning away so they couldn't see his face.

Asuna perked up. "Oh, right!" The girl proceeded to open her menu and fumble her way through it. She was way, way slower at using the interface than he was. It took her a second, but she eventually found what she was looking for. "I wanted to give you a gift!" She said as it appeared on the table. Both Kirito and Sinon leaned over to see what she pulled out.

It was a boxed container, similar to what a bento would be.

"Food?" Kirito questioned.

"H-How did you know?!" Asuna asked, shocked by his prediction.

"...I like food."

...

The two girls burst out laughing again. Once more, Kirito felt like dying.

Was it really that funny?

It was a fair assessment. She was the one who had brought the bento box looking thing. Add to the fact that Asuna knew he was a foodie and it just made since that it would be. He didn't get why they would laugh about it.

"Come on, open it!" Asuna snapped him out of his thoughts after her laughter faded. A little sour after getting laughed at twice in a row, Kirito opened up the small box. Sinon had scooted near him and leaned over the table, curious to see what was inside.

"Cookies?" He asked, staring at the small two-colored squares inside.

"Yep!" She smiled sweetly. "We don't have milk like last time, but I suppose eggnog is a good substitute."

"Last time?" Sinon asked, catching Asuna's wording.

"Uh-huh." Asuna turned towards her new friend. "Remember how I was telling you earlier about how Kirito and I met? We ended up sharing milk and cookies together."

"You did, huh?" Sinon raised an eyebrow, before a devilish smirk graced her face. She turned towards the boy in black, as he flinched under her gaze. "I see... so you were trying to pick up a chick by feeding her good food?" She accused.

"W-What? No I wasn't..." Kirito rejected, hesitating a moment. His intentions were pure that day, it just took him a moment to remember from how drowzy he was getting. "Why would I do that?"

"Why not?" Sinon proposed. That wasn't a good counter argument, but he didn't get the opportunity to call her out on it. "Swooping in and giving a pretty girl food, all the while knowing there wasn't anything good to eat on floor one." She shook her head in disappointment.

"Really?" Asuna cut in, shocked at what she was hearing. "That's why you came up to me that day?" Pain leaked out onto her face as she looked at the boy. The revelation hurting her deeply.

"N-No, of course not!" Kirito held his hands up in defense. "You know I wouldn't do something like that!"

"I don't know..." Sinon folded her arms. "Now that I think about it, you did the same thing to me too..."

'What?! No I didn't! She's lying! Why the hell is she lying!?' He scanned through his memories of the day they met and knew her words were deceitful. That blue haired witch was playing a prank on him and it was working!

Quick, he needed to intervene and call her out! But as his eyes landed on Asuna, his words got caught in his throat.

"Kirito... no..." Asuna's voice was low, barely above a whisper. Her saddened eyes struck every cord inside him as panic began to arise. At this rate, she would hate him.

He couldn't let this continue. "Come on, Sinon. Don't give her that idea. You know it's not true." He said, glaring at the girl.

Sinon slowly gave Asuna a look and the rapier user slowly returned her gaze. A few seconds passed and another volley of giggles proceeded to assault his eardrums.

'Huh?' Was all Kirito could think as he looked between the two of them laughing for what was now the third time. An unpleasant thought crossed his mind and he swallowed. 'Wait... don't tell me...'

"Did you see his face?!"

"I know! He was so serious!"

They got him again. Third time in a row.

And they were both in on it.

The first two times were his fault; once because of his own joke and the other because his normal every day personality was somehow hilarious to them. He didn't know what exactly had gotten into them. Maybe it was because they had twice the manpower at their disposal, or maybe because it was a holiday, but the two girls were much more eager to tease him today. If he were playing baseball, he would've just struck out.

Kirito slumped over in defeat.

Unfortunately, his fears had been realized and they were jumping him in a 2v1.

"You got me," Kirito sighed, letting them have their win. They continued giggling and a small smile of his own slipped out. Even if it was at his expense, it was a good prank. Though, he still kicked himself for not catching on sooner.

It was kind of impressive, in a way. They hadn't even planned out that little stunt. Sinon just started spouting some nonsense and Asuna had played along with her perfectly.

They were going to be great friends.

Kirito unconsciously reached for a cookie. The sugary sweets had cost him the rest of his pride, after all.

His eyes instantly lit up. "Woah, these are good. Really good." He swallowed the treat, the doughy goodness practically melting in his mouth. Asuna gleamed at his praise, doing a small jig of accomplishment.

"Really? Thanks!" Her voice was filled with mirth. "I originally only planned giving these to Kirito. But you can have some too, Sinon." She turned towards the tomboy and gestured for her to take some.

Sinon, whose focus had honed in on the confections, lit up at her words. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten something sweet. Like a racoon looking for food, she swiftly snatched a cookie and nibbled on it.

Just like Kirito, her eyes instantly lit up. "Oh wow, these are amazing." She gushed, unable to help a smile that broke through her composure. A cozy feeling washed over, the sugary goodness making her feel relaxed.

Watching Sinon's reaction, Asuna did a second jig, her hard work paying off twofold. She lightly bounced up and down on her cushion and giggled to herself, looking between them feasting on her creations.

The cookie monsters, now starving for intel, wanted to know where she had gotten them. On closer inspection, the cookies were made of chocolate. The reason they were two different colors was because of the natural beige color of the base she used and the dark brown color was the chocolate.

Both Kirito and Sinon ate a few more. Of course, with the sole purpose to determine if the taste had been a mere fluke and not because their greedy bellies wanted more. It hadn't been and they began to question how Asuna even managed to get her hands on something so valuable. There was a larger variety of food now that five floors were unlocked. But nothing could hold a candle to the sweetness these had. These cookies were far beyond the one's Kirito received on floor one. They were a delicacy far beyond anything the two had here, including the beta.

They needed to know. They needed more!

"Where did you get these?" Kirito demanded, making the first move. "They're not in any shop in the game. I would know." He pretentiously added. "Which monster? Which quest? Where?" He pressed on.

Meanwhile, Sinon sneakily snatched another cookie while he was distracted. Now was her chance to swipe more!

"I made them." Asuna replied eagerly, straight to the point. That response made both betas do a double take.

"You-"

"-made them?" They both questioned, looking at her in surprise.

"Yep, yep, yep." She smirked. "It took me all of my ingredients, but I was able to make two different batches." A light red blush graced her face. "I couldn't help myself and ate the first one." She confessed, softly scratching one of her cheeks.

"But where did you get the cookware?" Sinon questioned her, casually taking another one, and hoping no one would notice. "Wouldn't you have to buy and keep them on you at all times? An inn wouldn't let you keep it there. They don't let you use the kitchen, either."

"That's true, buuuuuut~" Asuna sung, pride filling her chest. "After I finished a quest, an npc let me use theirs." She smiled smugly, nose tilting upward.

"An npc? From which quest?" Sinon asked.

"Hmm..." Asuna tapped the side of her chin in thought. "...I don't remember what it was called. To be honest, the quest was kind of boring." She shoulders shrugged from underneath her cloak. "All I had to do was take a mother into the market and help her shop. Then I took her back home." Asuna looked back at the blue eyed girl to find her staring at her blandly. Feeling another set of eyes on her, she turned and saw that Kirito was doing the same thing.

"..."

"..."

Their gazes unsettled her. She didn't think she said anything weird.

"Um... is something wrong?" Asuna asked, feeling a little concern. She felt even more when she didn't receive a response. "...Guys?"

Sinon folded her hands under her chin, leaning against the table. She looked at Asuna with something akin to suspicion in her eyes. "I thought you said you didn't know what an escort quest was?"

"Eh?" Asuna tilted her head. "I do...?" She hestitated, feeling a sudden pressure on her shoulders as the two stared her down. "The quest the three of us did together was one... right...?"

"Wrong."

"E-Eh?" Asuna's head panned towards Kirito after he shot her down. "B-But earlier... I thought you said we were all going to do an escort quest together?"

"I did."

"Then-"

"Do you know what escort means, Asuna?" Sinon asked the befuddled newbie.

"Of course I do." She replied, turning back towards her. "To escort is to guide, or accompany someone, or something." Neither of them responded to her as she continued looking back and forth between them.

Asuna suddenly got the urge to pull her hair out. The way they were being so cryptic and eerie made her confusion intensify every second. She felt like she could go crazy!

"You know..." Kirito said dryly, picking up a cookie to stare at it. "These cookies aren't the only thing that remind me of our first encounter..."

"Huh? Why are you suddenly bringing that up now?" Asuna asked. The braided haired girl just couldn't keep up. She hadn't even grasped what they were trying to say and now the boy wanted to change the subject.

Just what exactly was she missing?!

Kirito appeared to doze off into space, as if recollecting a fond memory of the past. "I didn't just give you milk and cookies that day..." He spoke with a small nostalgic smile spreading on his face. "I also said you should change your hair color to blonde for how stupid you sound."

The words took a moment to travel into the girl's ear canals and for her brain to process them. Once she had, her body looked as if it had turn to stone. She looked comparable to a statue, or maybe a cartoon with how far her jaw dropped. Asuna's pretty amber eyes went wide with her eyebrows shooting up. Her head had reeled back so far that it was like she had been physically punched with a «Martial Arts» skill.

"Hey!" Sinon retorted before Asuna could even manage to begin regaining her barings. "That was uncalled for! You didn't have to say that!" She defended the stunned girl, as the boy popped the cookie into his mouth.

"True..." Kirito agreed, munching on the yummy snack. "...but come on. Don't tell me you don't think so, either."

"Well..." Her tone started off strong, but slowly died down, causing Asuna to reel back again, as if hit by a second skill.

'Et tu, Sinon?' Was what crossed Asuna's mind, as all she could do was stare at the other woman. This gave Sinon another urge to say something in defense of the poor girl.

"We- Ah- Eh- D-Don't call her blonde!" Sinon stuttered out, trying to think of something to say. She coughed and folded her arms, doing her best to appear assertive. "Thinking blonde people are stupid just by their hair color IS stupid." She stated, calling out the sterotype, and completely missing the point.

"Yeah, I know." Kirito agreed with her once more. "That doesn't mean I can't tease her. Don't tell me it's okay for you two to do it and not me." He turned the tables, bringing up the fact that they had both mercilessly teased him just a few short moments ago.

"T-Tease?" Asuna questioned, finally regaining her voice. "B-But why?"

"Because you already did an escort quest." Sinon answered in Kirito's place. She scooted near the pouty girl and rubbed her shoulder. "Remember that quest you did to take that lady to town and back to her home? Yeah, that's an escort quest." Sinon consoled her.

From Kirito's viewpoint, it almost looked as if Sinon were patronizing her. He thought maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him until Asuna lowered her head and Sinon shot him a small smirk, winking at him.

Wait.

'She IS patronizing her!' Kirito thought, feeling a rush of wonder and excitement. Sinon was just being more clever about it than he was. Rather than tease her directly, she was doing so in a way that Asuna wouldn't understand. The blue haired vixen was way too sneaky. Still, now it was Asuna's turn to be on the receiving end of the 2v1. 'I stole your partner! How do you like getting jumped!?' Kirito smirked back at Sinon, who slyly stuck her tongue out at him behind Asuna's back, making his heart race.

For some reason, Sinon was looking even hotter than normal.

"Oh!" Asuna popped her head up, surprising them both. "Before we did that escort quest together, I already did one!" She clapped her hands together and giggled. "I had already completed one and I never knew!"

"That's right." Sinon smiled at the girl, taking her hand off her shoulder. "I've already done all the escort quests, so I know which one you are talking about. I don't recall the npc letting you use their kitchen..."

'Wait... the jumping is over?' Kirito questioned as he continued listening.

That's disappointing.

"You don't?" Asuna looked surprised to hear that from her. "After I finished the quest and talked to her a second time, she said I could use it."

"Really?" Sinon raised an eyebrow. "Why would you ever talk to an npc again after their quest is completed?"

"I always do. You can never be too sure." Her friend replied. "At least, that's what Kirito says."

'Yeah, jumping is over.' The boy confirmed as his shoulders slumped, fighting back a frown. Just when he had gotten his turn at it.

"Kirito, huh?" Sinon's gaze slowly turned towards the swordsman.

"Yeah... Kirito." Asuna repeated, her own gaze shifting to look him dead in his eyes. "Ki-ri-to." She emphasized each syllable of his name maliciously. The recognized her hostility and instantly became on guard, forcing a smile.

"What's up?" He questioned, doing his best to remain casual. His smile was contested with a glare, which made it waver. It was quite the challenge to keep up under her soul-piercing stare.

"Your punishment is..." Asuna began, making him feel cautious, a pit forming in his stomach. She slowly began reaching for the box on the table. "...no more cookies!"

"NoOoOoO!" Kirito's composure broke completely, as he blocked her hand with his own. "Y-You can't do that!"

"Oh, yeah?" Asuna stood on her knees, reaching over the table to take them. She slapped his hand away and used her other to snake by his. Her assault failed, as he was able to catch it with his alternate hand.

Their hands began battling each other. Asuna stretched further across the table until her entire torso was leaning over it. Her skirt had unknowingly ridden up and had it not been for her cloak, she would have given Sinon a view men would kill for.

Having been in a more disadvantageous position, Asuna's hands soon succumbed to Kirito's grasp.

His foe was quick, but he was quicker.

Their fingers interlocked and Asuna's face scrunched, grunting as she tried to break free from Kirito's grip. Despite all of her effort, she couldn't, and her arms were pinned to the table.

Not just quicker, but he was stronger, too.

A cocky smirk flashed across his face. "What's wrong, Asuna? I thought you were going to punish me?"

She became flustered and tried wiggling out of his hold. Even if she was weaker, she may be able to slip her smaller hands out of his grasp. Asuna tried to do so with all of her might to no avail. No matter how much she struggled, her lithe hands couldn't escape their prison.

Realizing she was stuck, Asuna's cheeks began to redden. She was too prideful to ask for Sinon's help and it would be embarrassing to ask for it now that she were trapped. She was the one who had declared the punishment to begin with and now she was in too deep to back out.

In one last effort to get free, she began to use her knees to pull back for extra strength. It was useless, as Kirito cancelled her efforts out by doing the same. She struggled in vain for some time before going limp, her body sprawled across the table.

"Come on, Asuna. You can break free, can't you?" Kirito continued to mock her. "Don't tell me you're trapped." His tauntings made her blush deepen further, as her lips began to quiver.

"Y-Yeah? Well, so are you!" Asuna retorted, trying to disguise her embarrassment by pointing out that Kirito also couldn't do anything in this situation. If he wanted to reach for the cookies, he'd have to let go of her first.

"I don't think so." He slowly moved both of their hands closer together, her eyes widening. She watched on helplessly as his much greater avatar strength forced both of her hands into his left one. She instinctively began pulling again and gasped when he still refused to budge. "I'm not as helpless as you are." He jived, his right hand now free.

Asuna yelped as her hands were slammed onto the table. The tremor shot up through her arms, down her body, and into her legs, turning them into jelly. She couldn't believe the difference in strength they had and how badly Kirito overpowered her. He had completely dominated her and as he said, she was helpless.

A humilated tremor sprung up inside her. She knew her strength stat was low because she put almost every point she had into speed. But this was ridiculous!

Just how strong was he?

Kirito yawned into his open hand. "Man, after all this work, I could really go for a cookie." He grinned, trying his absolute hardest to get on her every nerve. He used his free hand to reach for the opened box of cookies.

And proceeded to be cut off by another.

"Don't tell me you thought it'd be that easy." Sinon voiced out with a smirk, her open palm smacking his away.

"I thought it would turn out like this..." Kirito sighed as he flexed his right hand, opening and closing it a few times. Then, he held it out in front of him. "Your turn."

With his declaration, the second hand way proceeded to commence. The blue demon against the black tyrant.

However, it wasn't going the way Kirito had thought. Not only did he have to fend off Sinon's trickery with a single hand without affording her a chance to get to the prize. He also had to hold Asuna down, who continuously tugged and pulled against his grip.

"Grk-!" Kirito grunted, as he struggled to maintain his ground. Asuna had moved her body off and around the table to sit directly next to him, where she could now try to pull herself in the opposite direction of his and Sinon's battle. She still couldn't get loose, but she had made it incredibly difficult for him to fight Sinon off.

Said girl shot him a devious smirk, before reaching for the box with both hands at the same time.

'Now!' Kirito saw his chance and reached to grab both of her wrists at once. With her pinned, he could throw both the girls away from the table, grab the box, and run off with them. He reached out, only for his eyes to widen.

The blue demon's smirk grew, baring her fangs as she anticipated his move. Pulling one of her arms back at the last moment, she let Kirito grab one of her wrists, leaving the other one free.

Realizing his mistake, the tyrant let go of her arm and reached for the other in one last ditch effort to catch her.

It was all for naught. His hand was only met with air.

"Gotcha!" Sinon used both hand to hold the box up high. "They're all mine." She boasted.

"Damn..." Kirito muttered snapping his fingers and releasing his grip on Asuna.

Now free, Asuna began rubbing her aching wrists. Sao blocked her from feeling real pain, so they didn't realistically hurt. However, the Cardinal System implemented as many sensations as it could. Several of them had feelings akin to lingering pain, such as the short ache of being grabbed harshly, hunger pains, or jumping into a freezing cold pond in the dead ass of winter.

"All right! Good job, Sinonon!" Asuna praised her, shuffling her way back towards her cushion.

"Sinonon?" The other girl questioned.

Asuna smiled bashfully. "I thought it would be a cute nickname for you. Unless... you don't like it?"

"No, no, it's fine." Sinon rejected. "I... don't really mind..." She said quietly. Feeling a little embarrassed by such a thing, she shielded herself with her scarf.

Seeing another opportunity, Kirito tried sneaking up and snatching the cookies away from her. Sinon predicted his maneuver and jerked the box away from his prying hands.

"Oh no you don't. You lost this fight." She stuck her tongue back out at him. Only then did the boy finally understand her intentions.

'She planned for all this?!' He couldn't help noticing earlier that she had snuck more than a few of HIS cookies from HIS Christmas present for herself. Kirito didn't mind sharing with her, as that was what Asuna wanted.

That didn't apparently matter, as that wasn't what Sinon wanted. She wanted them all to herself and led him to believe she was on both his and Asuna's sides when really, she was on her own.

'That conniving little...' He knew those cookies were damn good, but to think she would find a way to sneak them all for herself. What made it even worse was that Asuna willingly took Sinon's side, unknowingly playing right into her hands.

With a bittersweet smile, Kirito conceded. He was sure if he made a big enough fuss about it that both of them would give the box back. He didn't really feel like degrading himself even further today. Plus, it wouldn't be very cool for a guy to whine over a box of cookies. Knowing Asuna, she may end up making more, anyway.

Kirito blinked. "Hey, wait a second. How did you even make those cookies, anyway?"

Asuna looked at him a bit rhetorically. "What do you mean? I said an npc let me use their kitchen." She glared at him, crossing her arms. "Have you even been listening to us?" She pouted. Sinon also looked confused why he would ask.

"No, I mean, you need the cooking skill to even make stuff like that, don't you?"

"Oh... that's what you meant." Asuna's glare shifted to become prideful once more. "Yeah, I used one of my skill slots to get the cooking skill. Neat, huh?" The girl praised herself proudly.

Kirito and Sinon each shared a glance between each other. The ladder had opened her mouth to say something, but slowly closed it.

Smart move. Whatever she was going to say likely would have started the third hand war.

Kirito, with no longer anything left to lose, decided to sum up both of their thoughts with a single word, "Noob."

"E-Eh?" Asuna tilted her head in confusion.

Deja vu.

"Whatever..." Kirito sighed. He would let it go for now. Todays antics had been enough for one night. Now was time for him to begin heading towards the special event. The boy stood up and waved his hand. "Its been fun guys, but I think it's time for me to turn in for the day."

"Wait a second!" Asuna stopped him.

Damn, damn, damn.

Not this again.

"Hm?" He turned back around, silently pleading she wouldn't take too long. Whatever it was, he begged for it not to be important.

"I-Its just..." Asuna paused shyly. "...I gave you a present... are you going to give me one?" She looked at him expectantly.

Oh...

...sssssSSSSSHIT!

Just like Asuna had before, Kirito had turned into a statue. "U-U-Uh... I u-uh..." He stammered like crazy, having zero idea how to get out of this catastrophic situation. If there was anything he could have done worse today other than looking like a fool, it would be forgetting the MOST basic Christmas tradition.

On this one specific day out of every one of them in the year, all you had to do was buy a gift. It could have been something cheap, expensive, dumb, whatever. It didn't matter what it was. It was the thought that counted.

Even if he had done the bare minimum, he would still be safe. Even in a game of death, it was still Christmas. Getting them a present was just common sense.

He had one job.

And he blew it sky high.

In all fairness, he couldn't be blamed too much. He was a self-centered kid who never had to think of his friends because he didn't have any. He also wasn't at the age where it was expected of him to buy other people gifts.

There had been that one time a couple years back where he'd saved some of his birthday money to buy Sugu a cute hairclip, but that was an exception. He didn't even wrap it. Instead, he just awkwardly handed it to her while wishing her a 'Merry Christmas.'

It should've been fine if he came out and said he'd forgotten to do such a thing. If he explained why, surely they would understand.

The way Asuna's beautiful face twisted downwards shut that option down.

"You... didn't?" Asuna voice fluctuated. This time, it didn't seem like she was faking it.

Kirito couldn't even bring himself to look in the downtrodden girl's direction and he found himself looking at Sinon instead. The blue haired cookie thief, while not appearing to be as offended or disappointed as Asuna, did seem interested in his response and watched him curiously.

Looking back at her, he remembered that she hadn't actually given him a present yet, either. The whole cookie debacle had been from Asuna's gift. He then got a wicked idea.

"Yeah, that's right..." Kirito scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I nearly forgot with all the excitement earlier..."

Anyone with eyes and ears could tell he was fibbing and Sinon certainly had, but it would work on the unfocused Asuna. Said girl proceeded to perk back up, happy that he hadn't forgotten.

Hopefully, this stunt would buy him some time to figure something out.

"I was going to, but I wanted to wait until after Sinon went," Kirito said, almost accusingly. The cookie goblin's eyes went wide upon hearing his words and the boy felt some relief wash over him.

Looks like she also forgot.

"That's cool. Right, Sinon?" He asked hurriedly. It wouldn't look bad on her for not getting Asuna a gift because they just met, but it would if she didn't get him one. If she could admit she also forgot, he wouldn't look as bad for not getting Asuna a present. Afterwards, they could both make it up to her some other time.

"Y-Yeah, sure..." Sinon said awkwardly, opening her menu. She took her sweet time going through it, greedily placing the remaining few cookies inside.

To Kirito, it looked like she were just prolonging the inevitable. While others would have loved to be getting a present from such a feisty ice queen, this outcome was for the best. This way, they could both take the heat and get chewed out together.

"Here." Sinon tossed something at Kirito and he instinctively reacted to catch it.

'Wait... she had something?!' He didn't understand. Her demeanor was bashful and she looked apologetic. Why would she look like that if she actually had something?!

Kirito barely kept himself from freaking out. He swallowed dryly, stalling out what would now be his solo demise by inspecting Sinon's gift.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." What he was holding in his hands was none other than that «White Santa Hat» from before. The dumb ass item he had clowned Sinon for obtaining was now his.

The blue demon had struck again.

A sound of muffled laughter drew his eyes back up from the cosmetic to find Asuna clamping her hands over her mouth, barely restraining herself. "You're so mean, Sinonon!"

"How do you mean?" Sinon pretended to be clueless, the slight upward turn of her lips giving her away. "Since he liked it so much from before, I figured I'd let him have it." Her response broke what little remained of Asuna's composure and she laughed freely. Sinon turned over and winked at him again.

"Y-You can't just come up with a gift on the spot!" Kirito tried denying her present, looking over to Asuna to back him up.

Coming up with a random present right on the spot like that goes entirely against Christmas spirit, didn't it? Kirito waited for her to stop laughing and tell Sinon to be serious, but she never did. In fact, she didn't really seem to care.

'Really? Just because it's funny?' He grimaced, looking over at Sinon who had become smug upon seeing the way Asuna reacted.

How cruel.

This chick had to of crawled out of one of the nine circles of hell. He hated to admit it, but she was very cute when she wore a look like that.

Actually, both Sinon and Asuna could make smugness look pretty good, though Asuna was usually way less demonic. Her amber eyes lit up as she stared at his gift. She looked like she really wanted to say something. He bet she wanted to ask him to- "Wear it, Kirito!"

Rolling his eyes, the swordsman lamely placed the hat on his head. Hoping that was enough, he shrugged his arms, letting them witness how stupid he looked.

Ironically, this was the first helmet he had ever equipped since the beta and it technically wasn't even a helmet. Players could equip things just by picking them up and wearing them. That is, if they didn't already have something equipped in that slot.

"Aww!" Asuna gushed over him, clasping her hands together. Sinon lightly snickered at him. At this point, he was over getting worked up about it. Since he couldn't avoid it, he resigned himself to it. If there was a way for him to act a fool, he'd find it.

Kirito would find a way...

The boy unequipped the cosmetic and tossed it inside his inventory, much to Asuna's disappointment. Thankfully, it didn't weigh much, so he wouldn't have to worry about it taking his precious weight limit space. He couldn't afford getting the «Extended Weight Limit» skill yet. Though, it would take up an inventory slot. Maybe he could sell it at a-

Wait.

Cosmetic...sell...hadn't he thought something like that recently? As early as yesterday, as a matter of fact.

Scrolling further down into the depths of his item box, Kirito began to look for two separate items. His heart thumped in his chest, praying he hadn't already thrown them out or sold them. The gamer scrolled further down, growing more anxious.

Right at the very bottom of his item list, he found them. Two specific cosmetics he had gotten from reindeer that he had banished to the back of his inventory. All of his worries vanished in an instant.

Two different presents in the form of two cosmetic items. They were the choker and that other one he couldn't seem to recall. Regardless of how it happened, he managed to find a present to give each of them. If Sinon could just hand over a random item and say it was a present, then so could he. It was perfect.

He was safe.

"Guess it's my turn." An alleviating smile showed on his face, as he pressed the trade icon next to one of the items. He wanted to avoid giving it to them directly and instead trade it over. That way, he could avoid the possibility of them complaining about also getting a cosmetic item. Asuna likely wouldn't mind, but Sinon would almost definitely have mocking words, despite the fact she had also given him one. "I want it to be a surprise, so don't look at it until later."

Kirito sent a trade request to Sinon first and pressed on the «White Christmas» item. He was sure that one was the choker and thought it was perfect for her. He definitely didn't think so because he wanted to choke her sometimes. She accepted it with a subtle smirk that he could barely see over her scarf.

It appears she'd figured him out, seemingly letting him get away with dodging a bullet by copying her.

Funny. A demon attempting to act like an angel.

Ignoring her, Kirito pulled up another trade menu for Asuna and pressed on the «Naughty or Nice» item. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't remember what it was. Then he remembered that he never actually pulled the item out to look at it. He had no clue what piece of equipment it was supposed to be, but it didn't matter.

A present was a present. Nothing he could do about it now. It was just a cosmetic. No big deal.

Asuna accepted her gift, furrowing her eyebrows and clicking her tongue. She really wanted to open it now. But he said not to, so she'd have to wait. Kirito didn't understand this and looked at her in confusion.

"Uh... alright then. Since we all celebrated and traded gifts, I guess that's a wrap." Kirito announced, standing up and heading for the door with a wave. "Merry Christmas."

"I'll go with you." Sinon followed, stretching her arms over her head as she also stood. "It's about time for me to head out as well."

"Wait just a moment!" Asuna halted them.

Are you serious?

"This again, Asuna?" Kirito asked exasperatedly. At this rate, she'd never let him leave.

"Hmph!" Like a mother scolding children, she frowned and pointed at the messy table. "Since we celebrated in my room, it's only fair if you help me clean up." She commanded them.

Kirito and Sinon looked at each other in astoundment. Once again, Asuna had proven to them that she has no idea how to play this game.

With great stride, the pro marched up to the small table and kicked it over. Asuna gasped in horror, holding her head in shock as all the cups and containers they had used spilled onto the wooden floor. Before she could even comment, they each shattered into thousands of light particles, liquids and all.

Asuna stared at the now trashless table as Kirito used his foot to tilt it back upright. "Oh..."

"Noob..." Kirito muttered under his breath, turning to leave.

"Hey, hold on!" Asuna crossed her arms. "That was still a waste! We could have saved some of it for later!"

"Nope." The boy waved her off lackadasically. "Food expires and vanishes after a certain time limit, even if its in your inventory. You need a preservative if you want to save and keep food for long periods of time."

"Mhm." Sinon nodded in agreement.

She looked at the two and faltered. Her shoulders slumped as she failed to come up with anything else to mention. "Okay, I guess you can leave..." Asuna sulked.

Christmas only comes around once a year. Even if they were living in a game, she wanted to celebrate it as best she could. Not everyday would be like this. She just wished it could have lasted a little longer.

"Don't worry. We'll have more fun together, soon," Sinon consoled the girl, as if she could read her mind. She walked up to Asuna and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It was nice meeting you, Asuna," She said with a friendly smile. Asuna stared back at her in awe, before jumping into her with a hug, causing Sinon to grunt in surprise.

"It was nice to meet you too, Sinonon." Asuna returned, wrapping her arms around Sinon's neck, and pulling her close. Sinon stood startled for a moment, eventually embracing the other girl by also wrapping her arms around her back, albeit a bit awkwardly.

Kirito watched them hug, almost feeling like a third wheel. He couldn't help but notice how girly Asuna hugged compared to Sinon.

Actually, that wasn't entirely true. Sinon had been incredibly girly when she had hugged him that one night...

The two let go of each other and Sinon walked back next to him. "Merry Christmas, Asuna." She waved.

"Merry Christmas." Asuna waved back. "And Merry Christmas to you too, Kirito." He returned her goodbye and what felt like forever, finally left the room alongside Sinon.

A surge of energy reentered the boy, as he was relieved of his obligations and finally set free back out into the world.

"She's nice..." Sinon quietly voiced her opinions, as they began walking down the stairs into the lobby.

"Really now?" He asked, disbelievingly. Now that he wasn't outnumbered, he felt he could be a bit more assertive. "That's not the impression I got when you first met her."

"Shut up." She shoved his arm. "You know what I mean."

"I'm serious. She was like that with me when I first met her, too."

"...Deserved likely."

"Not really..."

Sinon grinned at him as they made their way outside. "I didn't know you were quite the pick up artist. Milk and cookies, huh?" Sinon mocked him, recalling when Asuna brought up how the two had met each other.

"I wasn't trying to pick her up. I was just being nice."

"Sure, bud," Sinon said, unconvinced. "I just wanna know why you didn't try that when you first met me."

"I'm pretty sure I tried avoiding you when we first met." He glanced her way as they began walking down the street. "I recall how you forced me into a party with you quite clearly."

She twirled her hair nonchalantly. "Oh, yeah. I guess I did..."

Kirito rolled his eyes. He knew she didn't forget. "Right, well in that scenario, you should have been the one to bring me cookies. Not the other way around."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that." She snarked.

"Sure, open up your menu and pass them over."

"That's not happening." She rejected instantly. "I'm just saying. Maybe I wouldn't have been so harsh if you had."

"Hmm... harsh on the first meeting... who does that remind me of?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sinon's eyes narrowed, understanding the implication.

"Nothing. Strange coincidence, though." He shrugged, receiving a light punch that made him chuckle. "You keep bringing that milk and cookie thing up." He raised an eyebrow. "If I had done so, you're saying it would have worked on you?"

"N-Not even!" She swiftly denied, getting flustered. "I-I just thought the cookies Asuna made were so good that I wanted to mention it. That's all."

"Well, you certainly robbed me of them pretty good back there."

"I did. Sucks to suck." She giggled, openly admitting to it now. At least that was some form of vindication. Though, he couldn't help feeling a little bitter.

"...I hope they perish in your inventory before you get the chance to eat them."

"Nope!" She eagerly shot down. "I checked its life before I put them in my inventory and they got a couple more hours before they expire."

Her words made him feel even more sour. "And here I was walking you home..."

"How do you know I'm not rooming back there?"

"You followed me outside... I just assumed you were staying at the other inn in town."

"Hmm... Maybe I'm the one who decided to walk you home, instead."

"Yeah, right." Kirito sighed, pocketing his hands. "Come on, let's go." He said, walking a bit faster. Sinon was going to catch up, stopping after she noticed his back.

His weaponless back.

"Hey, wait a sec." She called out, making him stop and glance backwards. "Where's your sword?" The swordsman immediately reached for the handle on his back, feeling nothing but air. Now that he's focused on it, his back felt a lot lighter than usual.

"I left it." Kirito remembered.

"You left it?" A look of confusion appeared on her before she also remembered. "That's right. You left it by the door didn't you?"

"Yeah..." He facepalmed. Asuna was the traditional type so when they walked into her room, she asked them to take off their gloves and weapons. It was improper to eat with gloves on, apparently. The two of them were still walking without them on, actually. That rule obviously included having a weapon on your person, as well.

"Why didn't you just place it in your inventory like I did?"

Kirito groaned. "I thought it would be easier to just take it off and put it back on when I left..." Hearing Sinon's bell-like giggle only made him groan more. He'd been so dead set on leaving that place after being trapped for so long that he gained tunnel vision, completely missing the weapon on his way out.

What she said next made it infinitely worse. She looked up at him wiith the sweetest, most sickening smile of the night.

"Noob." It felt life a knife plunging into his chest. He couldn't even say anything witty back to her because she was right. He stood there like an idiot, before turning around back towards the inn they left. "Aren't you supposed to be escorting me home?" She added, much to his chagrin.

"I'll be right back! Just hold on!" He snapped, practically running back to get his sword.

Sinon then pretended to be affected by his actions, exaggerating about how he was abandoning her and leaving her for the wolves out on the cold street. It only added more salt to his already open wound. He bet that she was also swooning around and holding herself as if she'd faint without a man to escort her. Really doing her best to play it up.

He couldn't bare looking back and witnessing such humiliation.

Damn, damn, damn, damn!

Making the walk of shame back inside the inn, Kirito tried to think up more ways to pay her back. The gossip, the tag teaming, the cookies, the bullying, it was all injustice!

If he were a judge, he'd convict her ass for life for all the transgressions she made against him today. Asuna wasn't off the hook, either. Her sentence may not be as bad because of her cookie box, but she'd practically allowed Sinon to steal them away. Maybe he'd pardon her if she made him more.

Then he thought about Sinon jacking them again, which further irritated him.

Ignoring the few amount of players in the lobby, he marched up the stairs without a care if he was being a disturbance. It was the only way he could vent. If he acted pissy in front of Sinon, she would just laugh at him again. He didn't wanna ruin Asuna's night either. He'd be quick. Quickly get in, say hi, grab his sword, say bye.

Kirito casually opened the door to her room. "Hey, Asuna. I forgot my swo-" His eyes proceeded to bulge out of his head.

Holy shi-

"-hit..." The word slipped out as he stared at what was in front of him. The image would be forever ingrained inside of his brain.

It was Asuna, of course. Except she wasn't wearing her normal gear and instead standing in her underwear next to her bed. It was no normal underwear, either. She was wearing something he could never imagine her wearing in a million years, yet here she was.

Lacy white stockings connected to equally lacy garterbelts strapped over her legs and over her hips. A tight white corset that exposed her belly button with a diamond outline, covering her torso up to her breasts, leaving little to the imagination. Her cleavage and above were exposed, her shoulders completely bare. The dirtiest part of the outfit, though, were the panties. They were white, lacy and sexy like the other parts. However, a small mistletoe rimmed the top of them.

One could imagine what such a thing was implying.

Kirito just stared.

Stared, stared, and stared some more.

His eyes roamed over Asuna's body many times, somehow finding their way to her face. The girl was performing her turn-to-stone act, her body unmoving and her expression frozen in one of pure shock. He stared at her and she stared back blankly.

Robotically, Asuna's lips began twitching. Her slow intake of breath was his cue to begin moving. He swiftly grabbed his sword, still leaning on the wall next to the door and retreated just as Asuna's lungs reached their full capacity.

"A-" The start to a scream so loud, it could ring across all of Aincrad.

Fortunately, no one heard it, as Kirito had shut the door. Without a high level «Listening» skill, a player couldn't hear inside inn rooms. It would take a solid twenty to thirty floors before anyone could start pulling shenanigans like that.

'She should probably lock her door.' Kirito thought, now walking down the stairs instead of stomping up them. That experience had done a complete one-eighty to his mood. He really needed a pick me up and who better than Asuna to give it to him.

Of course he felt bad. He wouldn't even dream of walking in on her changing like that intentionally. It really had been an accident. Still, he couldn't deny what he saw and to be honest, he didn't want to. She was absolutely breathtaking and he loved every moment of that.

He couldn't lie. If someone asked him if he would take it back if he could. Deep down, he knew he wouldn't.

There was still the mystery why she was even dressed like that in the first place. For a split second, he considered the possibility that she always dressed like that under her usual garb and she was secretly a slut. However, the stockings she currently wore were black and they definitely didn't have any garter belts attached to them. They would have been visible if she had been wearing them before.

He felt something move inside his pants. For some reason, SAO had those type of functions. Even with the ethics code turned on, he could still feel the sensation. It was embarrassing to admit, but seeing Asuna like that had given him a physical reaction.

"Kirito?"

"Gwahhh!" The boy yelled in surprise.

"Gyah!" Sinon yelled back, not expecting his reaction. "W-What the hell was that about?"

The two looked at each other incredulously for a second, Kirito eventually speaking, "N-Nothing. You just surprised me is all."

"Surprised you? You surprised me!" She glared at the boy. "How could I even surprise you? I was standing in the middle of the street."

"I was just lost in thought. That's all."

"Lost in thought? What exactly could make you of all people zone out like that?"

"Oh, uh..." Kirito gave a half-hearted laugh. That's not good. Definitely couldn't tell her why. If she looked down though, she might be able to figure it out. "I'm just thinking about how stupid it really would have been if I actually lost my sword." He nervously scratched his cheek. "I didn't get much sleep before, so I guess I'm just really tired."

"Hmm..." The girl hummed in her signature pose, hands on her hips. "Even so, how could you forget? It's so big."

'It's so big.' Kirito swallowed deeply, feeling another twitch down there. Now was not the time for unintended innuendos like that. If she wasn't directly looking at his face, he would have thought she knew about his second sword and was teasing him flirtatiously. He couldn't even look her in the eyes right now.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sinon asked, taking a step closer to him. A small look of concern appeared on her.

Too close for comfort.

Something was indeed wrong and he didn't want to imagine her reaction if she found out. Not wanting to risk it, Kirito grabbed her hand and dragged her alongside him in the direction of the other inn.

"W-What are you doing?!" She shouted in surprise, her feet stumbling to match his pace.

"Escorting you home, of course."

"Y-Yeah, but you don't gotta hold my hand!" She angrily glared. "I'm not a little kid!" She tried pulling free from his grip, but just like Asuna, she couldn't.

"I don't know..." Kirito's voice trailed off. "Weren't you the one going on about how helpless and lost you were? You need a man to get you home, don't you?" He questioned, turning her own practical joke against her. Sinon blushed and stuttered in denial. He simply squeezed her hand tighter and pulled her to walk alongside him. He puffed his chest out, miming some tough guy. "Don't worry little girl. I got you."

Sinon's cheeks reddened even more, a harsh contrast to her pretty blue hair and the light snowfall around them. She stuttered a bunch more before dipping her rosy nose into her scarf. "Y-You didn't have to say it like that..." She quietly muttered.

"Hm?"

"Nothing..." Sinon said a bit louder for him to hear. She hid her face deeper into the cloth and bit down on it, fighting her growing blush.

This boy was such an idiot. She couldn't believe he actually decided to double down on her joke. They were really holding hands for the stupidest reason possible. Still, she couldn't find it within herself to be upset. She had started this day wanting to get closer to the boy and now they were locking hands.

It may not have been for the right reason, but it was something. She felt the boy adjust their hold for a better grip and their fingers interlace. She stepped a little closer to him, her hand squeezing back.

They were a good distance down the road, so no one was around. If anyone had been, they certainly would believe them to be a couple.

Kirito nearly jumped when he felt her squeeze back and he almost let go. He thought she would fight him over it the entire way, but it appeared she was fine with this.

It felt a bit awkward. He only wanted to distract her from possibly finding out his issue and it was a great opportunity for some payback. Now, he was stuck holding her hand and feeling more weird with each and every step.

'Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.' Kirito told himself, trying to keep his dual blade from perpetually raging. His mind drifted back towards to the almost nude girl he walked in on. How tight her clothes were, pure white skin barely being kept from spilling out. The mistleto- 'Woah! Okay, bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!'

He tried every method in the book, thinking of weird, gross things, and counting backwards from one hundred. It started to work and he began to calm down...

...Until Sinon completely leaned into him, shoulder to shoulder. Her other arm had even snaked its way up to clutch onto his. He thought he could feel what felt like her head resting on his shoulder, but he didn't dare look. It did feel nice, but it also felt so wrong in his current predicament.

The walk was slow and painful for him. Despite the cold, he was feeling extremely hot. He continuously tried and failed to get his mind away from dirty thoughts. The image of Asuna about to bust out of her top, along with Sinon rubbing up against him made it impossible.

Sinon, however, was having a great time. She too couldn't feel the cold weather because she too was feeling hot. Rather than from lust, it was from the warmth she could feel from Kirito, as well as her embarrassment from being so close. It may be just a game, but it felt so real to her. Maybe she was just out of touch with reality, but being so close to him like this filled her with a sense of warmth she hadn't felt before.

After what felt like forever to them both for separate reasons, the two finally arrived at the other inn. Sinon reluctantly let him go and stepped back, feeling a sudden chill run through her now that she wasn't holding onto him. She wrapped her own arms around herself, a weak attempt to retain his warmth.

Kirito coughed, relieved it was over. "We're here."

"You're not coming in?" Sinon questioned. "Aren't you staying here as well?"

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Nah, I rented an npc home."

On every floor, there were certain areas where a player could rent out a place from an npc rather than at an inn. Some had requirements like completing a quest before the npc would let you rent it, or it could be as simple as going out of your way and finding them. They were often bigger and had more commodities than an inn and were usually cheaper as well. The downside was that there were very few of them on each floor, making them harder to rent out. The players who got to them first usually kept them until the next floor was available. The only exception was if they were headed to a different town and it was too far away to make the trip back.

However, Kirito was lying. He was actually staying at the same inn Sinon was. He didn't confess because he still had business to do.

Admitting he was staying here would be incredibly awkward. To show up here and immediately leave would arouse her suspicion. He could always tell her the truth about the even more special reindeer he'd found. But if he got something really good from it, something that she could have potentially gotten, she would hate herself even more for taking on those escort quests. Especially after wasting even more time on them today.

He wouldn't tell her and couldn't turn in until he had completed it.

"I see..." The girl replied softly, rubbing her shoulders. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but held herself back from doing so.

"Well, I don't wanna keep you." Kirito held a hand up in goodbye, turning around to leave. Even though Sinon's scarf had been draped over half her face and over her nose, he could still tell that it was extremely red. The weather had gotten even colder at this time of night and though she dressed warm, it may not have been warm enough. She must be really cold. "Good night... and Merry Christmas."

She gave a low nod in return. "Good night..."

Walking away, Kirito felt his face break into a smile. Today had been a lot. A nerdy shut-in like him wasn't used to these kind of get togethers. Spending all day with his friends who had bullied him mercilessly may have done a number on his pride, ego, self-esteem, patience, and even his manhood. Yet after everything was said and done, he couldn't help acknowledging that he had fun.

Exhausting as it may have been, Kirito was happy things had played out the way they had. Things had started out rough and ended positively. He was thankful that he wouldn't have to juggle his time between them anymore. Things had also ended on a high note, albeit for more personal reasons. The boy would never forget the image he saw of Asuna, or the feeling of Sinon wrapped around him.

...

It was still there. A part of him somewhere deep inside that continuously gnawed at the decisions he had made. A feeling that told him he shouldn't be their friend. Kick them to the curb and never turn back.

No, it was more than that. It wanted him to completely silence them, removing any chance that they had at exposing his privacy to others.

Every second he spend away from them, he would feel it commanding him to take action. Distrust, ire, and spite would bubble up inside, followed by a fleeting urge to hurt them.

Once he met up with one of them, he felt the urge to ask what they had been up to, and where they had been. If he could trust them, if he should be worried.

If he should kill them.

'...No, that won't happen.' Kirito shook the feeling down. It may never fully go away, but he was used to ignoring it. He turned around to look at Sinon one last time as she was heading inside the inn.

He smirked, getting a wicked idea. He knelt down and began packing snow into a ball.

Not capitalizing on such an opportunity would be criminal.

"Hey, Sinon!" Kirito shouted.

She turned around.

SPLAT

With the force of a freight train, the snowball spun rapidly through the air, cutting the wind, and slamming right into the girl's face.

Unlike last time where Sinon managed to catch herself, the ball had thrown her back, and completely throwing her off her feet. The snow crashed into her face, snapping her head back, and sending her entire body reeling from the power. She landed hard on her back, stars dancing in her vision as she wondered what exactly just happened.

Kirito couldn't help but burst out laughing as he watched her fall. This was comeuppance for those cookies she robbed. She had better watch her back for the remainder of winter because this was just the start. This wasn't just a snowball fight. It was a snowball war.

"Thanks for today! We should do this again!" Kirito yelled, turning around to book it. Sinon heard his call, but her ringing ears couldn't make anything out.

With her arms feeling like spagetti, she managed to push herself upright in a sitting position. As her vision cleared, she could piece out what looked to be a tiny black blur growing smaller. She looked down at herself, seeing nothing but snow covering her. Her chest, her back, her legs, and even face as the white powder fell onto her stomach.

Suddenly, a fierce chill spread throughout Sinon's body and she shrieked. She tried standing up, slipping after trying too fast. Finally getting her jelly legs standing, she held her trembling body tight as she realized what happened. Rage surged throughout her entirely and she screamed at the boy with all her might.

"BASTARD!"

---

A spiraling snow storm, one that towered up high over the forest. Snowflakes shimmered around in a torrent of never-ending frost. The hazy mist created from the sheer cold made it so that a person wouldn't be able to see their own hand stretched out in front of them. Wind howled cries of rage, whipping around to create a vicious vacuum. A vast pile up of snow gathered up, creating masses large enough to reach a person's waist.

It was the only storm of its kind. No other place on the five unlocked floors of Aincrad did such a thing unfold. It could be found in the «Bear Forest» on floor four. Before the mighty snowstorm appeared, it had originally been unassuming. Even when the floor was new, it had been a relatively average forest, housing a mediocre amount of quests, and moderate rewards.

Essentially, there was never a reason for any frontliners to come back here. Not even the few lower level players that would choose the forest for training would travel here at the dead end of night. That was all before counting the freezing death it currently contained.

Walking through such an unforgiving blizzard was suicide. One could wonder why a person would ever dare try such a thing. Any onlookers from outside the storm would immediately turn tail as soon as their eyes feasted upon it.

Had anyone tried, they would find themselves buried in a snowy grave. It hard to see, breathe, move, and was well beyond freezing.

Yet despite how foolish it would be, and the insurmountable odds one would need to overcome, there was still a player who dared to do so.

A player dressed in black.

He had begun regretting it.

Trekking through the snow was tough. In terms of endurance, it was easily the hardest thing the player had done inside the game. Perhaps, it was the hardest thing he had ever done period. It was so cold he believed he could drop dead at any moment. It wasn't just his thoughts, as a sound effect alerted him of his decreasing life.

Glancing up at his yellow healthbar, the player looked at the status effect under it. He had never seen this one before today. It was called «Deep Freeze» and was a greater debuff version of the «Freezing» status.

Clearly. He didn't need a status telling him he was cold when he felt it for himself. The pain was incredible. He wanted to give up and just teleport out.

But he couldn't. Not if he wanted the reward.

The boy's teeth chattered faster than he could consciously move them. Trying his best to ignore it, he made his way deeper through the forest from memory alone. He had the map to the location inside of his inventory, but he couldn't look at it anymore. The snow blowing every which way had made it impossible to read. He could barely see his hand after he'd placed in on his face, much less try reading a map. If he did try, it would likely just get blown away, or destroyed from the damage it would take.

Considering this possibility before he entered the blizzard, he did his best to commit everything on the map to memory. He also tried as hard as he could to recall the path he had used to travel through the forest the day before.

Easier said than done. Not only was it difficult to scale the drawn route in person, the pile up had covered the pathway he had taken completely. The only way he could use the map now was to try judging the distance himself. He did his best to measure his steps, as well as the distance he walked, giving his best estimates before making a turn.

Things appeared to be going fine, until all of a sudden they weren't. The freezing pain was starting to get to him and mess up his calculations. It was clear he was making mistakes when he began walking into multiple trees. Then he slipped and fell because of some weaker powder snow, disorienting him further.

There wasn't anything else he could do at this point. Kirito would either make it, or he wouldn't. He just prayed the mistakes he made were minor and he could course correct them after adjusting a bit.

The swordsman sneezed harshly, pulling his knee out of a cluster of snow, and nearly losing his boot in the process. He was alerted of his health dropping again, this time to red. The potions on his belt were all used up, Now, he needed to resort to the ones inside his menu.

Flicking it open, he was impressed he could still see it through the massive brume. The unnatural lighting it radiated was visible. Not even a disastrous blizzard could get around this game mechanic. The only exception to this rule was the «Blinded» status.

A potion later and his health was back to green. Honestly, he didn't even need to see the menu. The boy had explored the interfaces so many times that it was all muscle memory by this point. Then he returned a few more potions to his belt to avoid the hassle.

He couldn't imagine a world where he would be attacked by a monster spawning through this type of weather. Just like him, they would be affected by the hazardous area as well.

Noticing the absent light of the dismissed window, the boy pulled the menu back up. As subtle as it was, he realized the light it gave off made it slightly easier to see through the haze. The menu was tethered to follow his head movements at a certain distance. If he moved his head, the menu would move as well. It was still difficult to see with the menu directly in his face, but if he tilted his head to the side a bit, and turned his eyes to look from the side, he could effectively use the light to navigate better.

Ironically, the snow burned like fire. The sensation would only permeate further the longer he continued. At least he was making better progress now. The menu lighting was helping more than he thought it would. Untraditional as the idea may be, it worked.

Modern problems require modern solutions.

His feet began picking up their pace. With better visibility, and a newfound energy, he was motivated to move faster. The agonizingly slow crunch of the snow had changed into light taps. The speed he was moving at was too quick for the snow to break from under him. His mind was focused and he felt like he could measure his distance better between turns. Another turn, another potion, another sprint forward.

Faster.

Faster.

Faster.

Silence...

Suddenly, his vision was clear. The boom of the storm was gone, a tranquil calm in its stead. Snow no longer fell from above, the pile up under him now flat and smooth. The scalding winds now whistled quietly, as if they were putting a baby to sleep. The weather felt warmer and he was no longer afflicted with the «Deep Freeze» debuff. The boy looked around, recognizing exactly where he was.

It was over.

Kirito had made it.

A wave of exhaustion swept him off his feet and he fell back onto the ground. After everything he went through today, this was certainly crowned his most exhausting. Kirito had never been so tired in his life and he had done plenty of weekend gaming sessions without rest.

"It better be worth it," Kirito said as he drunk another health potion. He wanted to safe up to full hp in the chance that he had to fight a monster or a boss. The trip had used up most of them and he was running low.

Restocking his belt, he then proceeded to pull out the map. There wasn't really a point now that he was here, but maybe it would trigger something.

Looking it over a few times and failing to activate anything, he rolled it up, stashing it inside his coat pocket. The map read 0:00 which would mean midnight. His in-game clock read 23:55. Only five minutes left until it happened. He had really cut it close there.

Still, the circumstances around the event were strange. Kirito knew timed quests were a thing, having already done the one that involved catching the «Midnight Butterfly». However, catching a little bug was completely different to an event that was all the way out in the middle of nowhere at midnight, on christmas, with a winter storm guarding whatever it is that's here.

Having completed all the trials up to this point, Kirito could feel himself swell with excitement. To even get to this point, he had to catch the «Crystal Reindeer» which had been even more special and harder to catch than the others, decode and find the location on the map, trek through an incredibly deadly blizzard, suffer through immense pain, and then finally arrive on time.

If the reward for all of that was something stupid or average, he might feel obligated to blow his brains out.

No chance in hell it was a cosmetic.

Behind a layer of snowy trees, Kirito could make out the thick layer of mist spinning around the clearing. Like how a hurricane would be, this area was the center of the storm where it was most calm. It wasn't that far from him, yet he couldn't hear a single peep from it.

Moments like these was what made him think video games were amazing.

He rested his arms on his knees, sitting patiently while watching the peaceful ambiance. He could almost fall asleep like this. In another scenario, he certainly would have. But whatever was going to happen would happen.

He needed to be ready.

Kirito stood up, taking a breath as he watched the clock tick over.

December 26, 2022

...

...

...

Ching.

A light ringing, barely audible to the lone listener.

Ching Ching.

There it was again. The sound was akin to bells jingling. He still couldn't make out where they were.

Ching Ching Ching.

Louder, loud enough to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from.

Kirito's eyes shot upward towards the jingling. High above the sky flew a shadowy figure obscured by the moonlight. There appeared to be something large being dragged by several animals out in front. Though the figure couldn't be discerned in its entirety, even a little child would recognize them.

Santa Clause.

Finally reaching the eye of the storm, it happened.

A pink star seemingly falling off the sleigh. It sung a song equally as beautiful as the chiming bells, lighting up the night sky as glittering sparkles followed it downwards to the ground below. Kirito watched the captivating light in fascination as it fell with a giant splash into the pond that he'd foolishly jumped into previously.

Steam began pumping up from the water, followed by loud searing sounds as the pond began to evaporate. Heat permeated the air, melting the light dusting of snow out from under Kirito's boots, freeing the green grass trapped from underneath.

Shielding his eyes, Kirito inched his way closer to the now vacant pond, a massive empty hole in its place. Feeling cathartic after witnessing the evil pond's demise, the boy leaned over to look down inside it.

After the steam faded away, a shining, pink rectangular object could be seen laying at the center. A low hum rang off from it, glowing just as bright as it had when it was falling. Not seeing why he shouldn't, Kirito hopped down the hole and picked up the item.

Reward

Starlight Ingot

A small shattering sound came out from his coat and Kirito looked down to see the telltale signs of an item breaking. He reached inside his pocket where he had put the map, finding that it was no longer there.

Claiming the item had destroyed it, or at least that's what he assumed. There wasn't even a quest complete screen, possibly due to the fact that the event wasn't a quest. He considered it may have been a secret one, but if he didn't get a quest screen, it couldn't be. All he did was kill a monster that dropped the item which led him here, nothing more.

Kirito looked back up to the sky, watching the shadowy figure of Santa Clause drift away, the sounds of the bells growing quieter.

He understood now.

Once the clock had ticked over, Christmas had officially ended. It was time for Santa to go home.

Of course, not without handing out one last present.

The last gift of Christmas.

A fitting event for the game world. Sure, it killed the lore, but he was over it by now. He quickly pulled out the ingot that had automatically placed itself inside his inventory for examination.

It was smooth and heavy. The bar weighed so much that he needed to use both hands to keep it steady. It was incredibly hot to the touch, right on the cusp of feeling unpleasant. Instead, it gave him a soothing warmth that spread throughout him, similar to the feeling he would get after drinking a glass of hot chocolate. It was also the hottest color of pink he had seen. He didn't even know the game could render such a deep, eye-catching color.

The bar thrummed in his hands to the point where he could physically feel the energy inside it. He could even see a powerful glow underneath the bar's surface. It was dense enough to feel like metal, yet completely different to metals he recognized. It felt more like a crystal, translucent and ephemeral. Like it would break if he squeezed it. He read over the name again.

"Perhaps this is what it would feel like to hold a star," Kirito said as he held it closer to his chest, feeling the heat rush through him again. Stars weren't a tangible object someone could hold, but if they were, he imagined it would be something like this.

He tried looking at its stats, but ores and ingots didn't have any. The way to judge their strength was by looking at the rarity and how high a blacksmith's skill level needed to be able to smith it. He read the description and his jaw dropped.

"S-Rank?!" Kirito sputtered. He couldn't believe it.

S-Rank items were only thought to be a rumor. Even his Defiance equipment set he obtained in the secret dungeon was only A-Rank. To have such a rare item like this so early in the game was unfounded. He almost jumped for joy until he realized the conundrum he was now in.

There was no way he could use it. To craft it into a weapon, he would need a player blacksmith. An npc couldn't take custom orders like smithing a weapon from scratch. They could only enhance one.

If he searched out a player blacksmith, not only would they learn he had an S-Rank material, but that he was the infamous Kirito!

There was no way he could give a third person his identity. He was lucky enough to have two people he could trust already. Any more was pushing it.

Kirito looked down at the skill level required and sighed deeply. Even if he found a blacksmith he could trust, they needed at least a five hundred skill level. That was just the bare minimum required to attempt it.

Trying to make an S-Rank item with the lowest required stat was just asking for it to break. That didn't even include the equipment the blacksmith used. If they didn't have good tools to craft with, it would only hinder the process. No chance he could risk something so precious on some bum smith.

Now he didn't know what to do with it. He couldn't have it crafted and he wasn't gonna sell something so rare for cheap at an npc shop. He couldn't sell it to a person either, nor did he really want to.

Unfortunately, it would just have to take up inventory space. The boy begrudgingly placed the ingot back in his inventory. It was heavier than most materials, so it took up more room than he wished.

It couldn't be helped.

He wanted to complain, but he really couldn't. The item was worth getting, he just wished he could actually do something with it. Maybe he could get Sinon to take it and have it smithed one day...

Nah, she would probably get jealous and ask too many questions. Maybe Asuna could do it, but no, definitely no. She would probably mess the ordeal up somehow.

Beginning his trip back home, he nearly stepped out of the clearing before coming to a quick stop. He nearly forgot about the storm that was outside the area. If he stepped out, he would get blasted by the cold once again. This time, he would likely die...

...But after Kirito had claimed his item, the event was over and the storm completely disappeared. He was easily able to make his way back to the inn on «Karluin» without any trouble at all.

---

"I can't believe him!" Sinon huffed as she collapsed onto her bed. "Who exactly does he thinks he is, pelting me with snow not once, but twice?!" She clutched her head in frustration.

Sinon climbed further up her bed and planted her face into her pillow. She hated knowing that black haired punk had gotten her twice with that. How annoying! Next time they meet, he'd be laughing it up at her expense!

To top it all off, he was probably going to do it again and again until he couldn't anymore!

This couldn't be allowed to stand. She had to fight back, but the amount of power in her arm didn't come close to rivaling his cannon. What exactly was she supposed to do, run away? Avoid him for the rest of winter?

Beg?

No, anything but that last one. She may have been weaker than him, but she wasn't that weak.

"Whatever, I'll play your game..." She breathed into her pillow. If he wanted to pelt her again, he would have to continuously seek her out before all the snow disappeared. At least then they would be spending more time together.

She didn't need anyone to tell her how red her face was.

Sinon groaned, biting down into the pillow. She just had to go and cling to him like some damsel. And he just had to take her joke and run with it.

Why didn't she just back out of it? Wouldn't it have been less embarrassing?

But then she wouldn't have been able to hold onto him...

Those kinds of thoughts weren't helping her at all, only making her feel more fuzzy. Sinon shook her head, feeling her heart thump as she thought about how intimate they had gotten.

It couldn't have been love. At least, it wasn't so yet. She looked around her room, making sure the coast was clear. No one else was inside, so she could find some safety and comfort knowing that she could be honest to herself. It may not be love, but it was definitely a like.

A big, big like. She was crushing hard.

"Damn him!" Sinon yelled into her pillow as she picked it up, rolling around, and kicking her legs on the bed. She'd never had a crush on a boy before. Out of everyone it could have been, it just had to be him, didn't it?!

She sat up and threw her pillow at the wall. It bounced off and slid to the floor lamely, a purple text denoting Immortal Object floating above. She felt breathless, despite hardly exerting herself. The girl's hair was tangled and messy. She glared at the pillow as if it were the perp himself. Sadly, her death glare couldn't kill what was unkillable and she released another sigh.

"It just had to be him, huh..." Sinon stated, slowly coming to an acceptance. She didn't know what would come of it, or how things would turn out between them, but she could at least admit it to herself.

She liked him... and since she wasn't gonna lie to herself, she could admit that she wanted to be with him.

Kirito was an arrogant, idiotic asshole. Those were the first words that came to her mind when thinking of his name. Yet somehow, her heart would also beat faster. There was just something about him that made her interested.

He was a looker, though in a girly way, funny enough. Being handsome wasn't what made him attractive, however.

The two of them got along... somewhat.

Even if they butted heads a bunch, it was all in good fun. It was a nice change of pace. She felt less guarded and could act more genuine with him. It was a nice change compared to other players, whom she didn't believe she could trust because of ulterior motives they may have. Kirito didn't have any at all. In a death game where she always had her guard up, it felt nice letting it down for a moment.

Still, that wasn't quite it, either. He was the legendary Kirito; the professional gamer. She considered how that affected her opinion of him, before throwing it out the window. Truthfully, his identity had only gotten in the way of their relationship, not help it. She had been a fan of his before, but knowing such a geeky guy was behind the legendary name had disillusioned her greatly. Really, she could only look back at it and laugh.

Was it... his strength?

No, while he was unquestionably strong, his stats were just a bunch of numbers.

Then maybe... his true strength? His mentality?

He was beyond brave and courageous. The boy didn't seem to be afraid of anything in this world. Like he couldn't even imagine himself dying. Normally, she would chalk it up as some fool thinking he was hot shit. While Kirito did fit that description to some degree, it wasn't anywhere near the same. In the face of danger, he never faltered.

Yes... that must be it. His real, true strength was unrivaled by anyone. The mindset he had that backed up his actions. Whatever he was up against, no matter the situation, he could stand up against it. That was his power...

...power she wished she possessed.

But then why? Why did that also not feel right? There was something else that made her like him, something else that should be obvious. Yet for some reason, she couldn't think of it. She felt stupid not being able to. Whatever it was, it drew her to him.

That, and the other things, of course.

As she stood up to pick her pillow back up, she noticed herself walking past her reflection in the small mirror on the bedside dresser. She tossed her pillow on the bed and picked up the small mirror to look at herself.

"Already? That's all it took to mess it up?" Sinon grumbled as she combed a hand through her hair. Her bangs were both tied down so they were fine, but the rest of her hair was all jumbled up. She'd only rolled around for a few minutes and here she was with a full night's worth of bed head. "I wish it was more like Asuna's."

Her hair was so beautiful, it made her wonder how she even got it like that. There were shampoo's and soaps in the game, but they only made you smell better for a short period of time. You never truly needed to bathe in the game because the system couldn't replicate grime or body odor. As a girl, she still felt the desire to bath anyway and did when she could. Most male players probably don't bother. Equipment would deteriorate and get damaged, but that was it.

Asuna's auburn hair appeared so silky smooth that she had to be using a product to keep it that way, yet that should be impossible. There wasn't any item like that, or at least not one she knew of. Her hair never truly got dirty, so it wasn't difficult to fix. But if it wasn't perfect, it was annoying. Asuna's hair was just unnaturally straight, even if it couldn't get dirty.

Thinking of the girl who possessed such beautiful hair, Sinon couldn't help but frown. She was a good girl and a sweetheart after she had gotten to know her. She'd even created a nickname for her.

It was great getting to know another girl in a world full of men... which was why it sucked knowing that she also liked Kirito.

Sinon couldn't be one hundred percent positive, but she was still confident. What gave it away was how her new friend acted. Sure, it was Christmas and Asuna had a right to feel jovial around him. That was innocent enough. The problem was that Sinon herself had acted similarly.

And of course, Sinon had a crush on him.

If Asuna didn't like him like she did, would she really act the same way around him?

That fact alone had been telling. If both of them acted similarly, and Sinon had feelings for him, then it was safe to conclude that Asuna probably had them as well.

It sucked... it really sucked... She didn't want to compete with her new friend, especially over something as trivial as a boy. Still, her heart pulsed with hurt at the thought of simply giving up.

If she had the opportunity, with enough bravery, at the right moment, she would like to go out with him. Give dating a shot and see if her feelings were real. Be Kirito's girlfriend and he be her boyfriend. She imagined the two of them standing next to each other and holding hands.

Waves of jealously struck her once she thought of Asuna in her place.

...This sucks.

"...Now that I think about it, he gave both of us a present, didn't he?" She set the mirror down and pulled her menu open. It took her a moment to find it, not quite remembering the name. He said he wanted it to be a surprise and traded it through the menu, rather than handing it over directly.

Sneaky, but Sinon thought he was just trying to squeak out of getting them an actual gift and handing whatever junk he had over to them. She couldn't blame him. She did the exact same thing to him.

Finding what looked to be it, she pressed on the icon to pull it out.

White Christmas

What appeared in her hands was a pretty white belt, or at least something akin to one. The material felt close to leather, although she wasn't sure. It had red squared gems embedded on its sides and a red square buckle that would snap the front together. It looked and felt high quality, the gems almost breathtaking to look at.

"It looks a bit small to be a belt." Sinon held it up to her eye level. Her waist was thin, but even she wouldn't be able to squeeze herself into this. On closer inspection, namely checking what type of item it was, she learned that it was a choker. "Annnd it's a cosmetic." The girl slumped.

Of course it was. Something this pretty on floor five? What else could it be but a cosmetic?

That and the name should have been a dead giveaway. She'd given him a santa hat and he'd given her a christmas-themed choker.

"I guess I can at least try it on." Foregoing the menu, Sinon instead snapped the choker closed around her neck to equip it. Her scarf was an item that actually fit in the helmet slot. Taking it off to wear the choker in the necklace slot wasn't necessary.

It was tight, noticeably so. It felt like with every movement of her head, she could feel the item squeeze on her throat tighter. Though there was a constant sensation of strangulation, it wasn't exactly uncomfortable. It wasn't like being choked, as much as it was being conscious of it. There was also a strange warmness that resonated from the item.

"What the-" Sinon looked over the choker's description again. Wasn't it just labled a cosmetic? Why had that now changed to an accessory that had a heating effect?

Looking up to where her username was at the top left of her vision, she saw a small orange icon under her healthbar.

There it was. The «Heating» effect.

"What in the world..." Had she just been hallucinating? Today had been more taxing than she would have thought and it was around midnight now. Perhaps she had simply misread it.

Oh well, its effect was basically useless anyway. It would only be useful around winter time and cold areas. Now that she was adjusting to the sensation, it was starting to feel cozy. A little awkward to breathe, but cozy.

Picking up the mirror, Sinon looked over herself once more. The choker stood out in contrast to the darker colors of the rest of her outfit. It was pretty, nonetheless. If it was a bit much, her scarf could be used as concealment.

She liked it. Even if her neck felt like it was in a perpetual bear hug, it was nice. It was perfect for the season, might as well wear it while she could.

A small cute smile appeared on Sinon's face, along with a red tinge. "Thank you, Kirito."

---

"I can't believe him!" Asuna huffed as she collapsed into her bed. "Who exactly does he think he is, walking in on me like that?!" The braided haired girl had never felt so embarrassed in her life. She held up a fist, clutching it tightly. "I won't let him get away with this!" Asuna grit her teeth as her cheeks flared.

Before the boy had walked in on her, she had been trying to look at the present he'd given her. She waited for him to leave, just as he said. And as soon as he did, her menu flew open in her eagerness to see it. She quickly found the item that had a strange name.

Naughty or Nice

Asuna easily remembered its peculiar name from the trade. She could tell from the icon that it was a clothing item and simply decided to wear it through the menu. Once she had it on, she mentally kicked herself. She couldn't see what it looked like because she still had all of her other equipment on.

What a rookie mistake!

A vestige of the cocky boy appeared in her mind and began laughing at her. She mentally kicked herself again. The boy wasn't even here and she imagined him making fun of her.

Didn't that mean she was making fun of herself?!

Oh no, he had her doing it now!

Pushing those thoughts aside, the girl moved to her equipment tab, and took off what she needed to. Now that she were more focused on what she was wearing, Asuna could feel how tight the clothing Kirito gave her was.

At first, she thought it was because of all the stuff she had worn at once made it feel like that. Actually, the girl could recall in one of Kirito's explanations how if you equipped an item in a slot that was already in use, it would instantly replace the item you were wearing.

None of her equipment had disappeared when she put on the gift. She could feel it not only covering her legs, but also her torso. Items were only supposed to cover one part of the body because they were categorized into different slots. However, the item she just wore covered more than one area.

What exactly had she just put on?

One by one, her armor had come off until she was down to her underwear.

Her brand new underwear.

Asuna looked down towards her body in shock. "T-This... this is-"

And that's when it happened.

Kirito walked in on her, said something stupid, and left.

She proceeded to scream so loud and for so long that it became muted, the cardinal system unable to register her vocal cords strain. Once it finally died out, her lightheadedness caused her to fall back onto her bed. She'd nearly passed out from the exertion, panting heavily.

It took her a moment to catch her breath. When she did, she ran to the door and locked it. The next thing she did was take off the stupid gift and put her other underwear back on, as well as her armor.

Asuna kicked her feet on the bed as she recalled those untimely events. They replayed over and over in her mind, making her feel worse and worse.

She felt so humilitated. Not just at the fact that Kirito had walked in on her in such a disgustingly perverted outfit, but that she had even worn something like that in the first place.

It made her feel like a slut.

"Wait..." She paused, thinking it over. Kirito had been the one to give her that depraved outfit. Didn't that mean... "...He thinks I'm a slut?!" Asuna yelled out, shooting up from her bed.

She could remember a few occasions where Kirito had called her a "popular" girl. While she didn't want to brag, it was true. However, she didn't think he meant it like that!

He didn't believe she went around doing adult stuff, did he?! What kind of degenerate even thinks like that?!

It was so... it's so...

"Humiliating..." Asuna mumbled as she fell back down on her bed, tears welling up in her eyes. She thought of him as a friend and he thought of her like this? Like some kind of object? It wounded her deeply just thinking about it. "Maybe... we're not friends..." The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

That couldn't be true. Not just today, where they along with Sinon spent the whole day together. But every other day they were with each other, too. How Kirito playfully teased her while giving her advice that helped her immensely. Fighting the boss together on floor four, where he helped her give out commands. The day they first met, where he led her away from danger and gave her treats. The same day he entrusted her with his name, something he didn't want others to know.

Yes, that's right. Kirito trusted her. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have told her that, or helped her out as he had. If he had faith in her, she could have faith in him. Her body relaxed into her bed.

Maybe it was a mistake, or a misunderstanding of some sort. The item clearly listed that it was for female players and she didn't think he was the type of guy who would put something like that on.

Picturing such an image, she vehemently shook her head to rid those thoughts.

Bad, bad, bad!

If she knew him well enough, and she believed she did, then she knew he likely hadn't even looked at it. If he had gotten it as a monster drop, then he wouldn't have known what it was until he took it out. The clothing item was listed specifically for women. He wouldn't have bothered.

As a matter of fact, Asuna speculated it was very likely the boy had decided to gift her the item because of that very reason. Asuna wanted to feel offended that he hadn't put much effort into his gift, but she couldn't help giggling to herself. A soft smile rested on her face. "That's so like him..."

Everything could be explained in some way. When Kirito had given it to her, he looked clueless, not perverted. He was more relieved than anything else. Like he had forgotten to get a present and then remembered he had something to give away.

"You're such a dork." She giggled into her blanket, pulling it up to her face. He probably did the same thing with Sinon-

Her eyes shot open.

"Did he give her sexy underwear, too!?" Asuna panicked. If he had, then he was in for it. Even if Sinon came to the same conclusion as she did, Asuna didn't believe the blue haired girl would be as merciful. She briefly considered messaging the two of them, before deciding against it. "This is what you get for being so inconsiderate." Asuna huffed.

Maybe she wasn't as merciful as she believed.

Regardless, the rapier user would be having her own personal conversation with Kirito. She needed to hear him clarify it from his own mouth first. After that, he was in for the most thorough chastising of his life. Not just for brainlessly handing her something so atrocious, but walking into her room without knocking.

By the end of it, he would be a new man. Even her extremely strict mother would think she went too far.

Feeling better about the situation and how she would respond to it, she opened her menu to once again take her equipment off. She no longer had that sickly pit in her stomach that instinctively told her to cover up. Back in her underwear, her index finger hovered over the perverted item.

Naughty or Nice

Asuna felt her finger slowly inch toward the icon.

Closer... closer...

Right before she pressed it, her hand swiftly retracted itself. "No, no, no! Bad idea!" She scolded herself. Asuna didn't know why she even considered it after wearing it had made her feel so awful. She closed her menu with a huff.

Wearing such abominable underwear was beneath her...

...

...

...

Five minutes later, her finger was once again hovering over the item. Just a few inches away from the equip icon was the trash icon.

That's all she had to do. Trash it and get it out of her thoughts completely. At least then she would have some peace of mind.

She wanted to... but she couldn't. As ridiculous as it was, it was a present Kirito had given her. She would feel even more awful for throwing it away.

That, and she needed evidence for when she confronted him.

Her finger twitched above the equip option. This was so dumb, so stupid! This shouldn't be such a difficult decision!

The girl full-heartedly believed the item was disgusting and whoever put it in the game was equally so. She truly did think that. However, something in the back of her mind kept gnawing at her to look at it again.

She hadn't gotten a good look at it the first time. It had been so quick that she couldn't even recall its features. Her curiousity was getting the better of her.

Asuna's eyes glanced towards to door. It was locked. She already knew that, but now she felt the need to double check.

She rolled her eyes. Why did it even matter? She wasn't going to put it on.

...

...

...

Ping

Asuna's eyes slammed closed after she pressed it.

Just this once.

This was the only time she would wear it. She just had to know what it looked like on her. What it felt like... to wear an adult's underwear.

The girl slowly stood up, looking down at her body. She didn't have a mirror in her room, so she had to move around a bunch to get a decent view. The longer she checked herself out, the more flustered she became. She hated how the underwear looked and how perverted it was, but even she could admit.

She looked good.

Her legs, her belly, her breasts, and her bottom. The outfit accentuated them all. Asuna's hand fell towards her exposed belly button, then slowly down to her pelvis. Her fingers poked at the mistletoe that was attached to the top of the panties. She didn't understand what that was for. She understood the underwear was Christmas themed. Even so, that wasn't a good reason to put a mistletoe on it. Mistletoes were supposed to be a signal for couples to kiss.

What good would that do on a pair of panties?

"Okay, that's enough." Asuna told herself, putting her other underwear back on. As she did, an invisible weight she didn't know was there evaporated. She breathed a sigh of relief. She definitely wasn't ready to wear stuff like that yet, nor did she want to.

Laying back down, Asuna used her menu to turn the lamp to her room off. Her mind was at ease now, a heavy sleepiness overtaking her. As she was falling asleep, Asuna couldn't help but mutter, "Pervert Kirito."

What she dreamed of that day would remain unspoken to the outside world for all of eternity.

---

The final bit was a bit more perverted than normal. Maybe it was a bit much, but I figure some decent fanservice here and there doesn't hurt much.

Let me know what you thought about the chapter. Again, I know its been awhile and I didn't used to write that frequently. I'm doing better now and I'm always trying to improve my skills. I know the first few chapters are a lot rougher than the later ones. Maybe I'll try fixing them up a bit eventually, but I don't want to change them too much and mess anything up.

The blizzard guarding the Christmas timed event wasn't housing a boss. Remember, this is the first Christmas SAO had, not the second one we see in canon. Rather than a boss, I believed the blizzard itself was a good enough obstacle. It can be considered a hazardous zone where instead of a battle, the challenge is actually getting through it.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day.

Pa-atreon: 3sper