Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン 1. The Lonely Boy

Silica would never have expected her knight in shining armour to be such a dark figure with an orange name. Yet here she was burying her face into the scary boy's chest as he explained a way to restore her beloved Pina to life. His arms were surprisingly warm as they gently hugged her back and his eyes seemed too soft for a murderer. She could only assume he wasn't and hope for the best. Anything else meant abandoning Pina.

"You'd really be happy for me to take you on a quest?" The boy (she couldn't see what his name was from this angle) asked sounding uncertain but hopeful.

Other players probably wouldn't go on quests with orange players as they were supposed to be bad though Silica could just tell this boy was nice. He was probably all alone until he saved her, how sad. Usually Silica had to beg other players to go on quests with her, as they all treated her like a kid even if she was twelve years old and that was a little annoying. This boy was already different from anyone else she'd ever met.

So she looked up at him with a bright smile on her face. "Of course, I don't think I'm strong enough on my own," the smile melted off her face, replaced with a frown. "Not without Pina."

"We will be able to resurrect your friend, I'm sure of it," the boy said reassuringly, letting go of her to stand at his full height.

He wasn't really that much taller than her and with such a soft expression on his face it was strange she'd even thought he was scary a minute ago. The orange cursor hovering over him was a little disconcerting though, and she wondered how he could have gotten it. "What's your name?" She asked instead however, knowing it was probably not right to ask about it when they'd only just met.

"I'm Kirito, and I will escort you to the 47th floor," he replied, holding out his hand.

She took his hand without any hesitation. "I'm Silica, thanks so much for this!"

Then he used a teleport crystal and the two of them disappeared in a flash of blue light.

"Wow this place is covered in flowers!" Silica looked around at the new floor in awe.

It was like one huge garden with trees and flowers of all colours in every direction. A bright sun made everything look exciting and vibrant, a huge contrast to the gloomy forest back on the 35th floor. She could see players just lazing about, enjoying the nice weather and such a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. Many of the players seemed to be couples strangely, and Silica realised that she was still holding onto Kirito's hand.

"Yeah, this is one of the more popular floors, and many clearers like to come here when they want a day off," Kirito replied, not noticing her sudden discomfort. "But we need to get going before anyone notices us, I hope you're good at running," he added in a more serious tone.

Silica wondered what other players would do if they saw them. Nothing good, most likely. So she nodded, as she thought she had quite a good agility, which determined running speed. She really hoped they'd be fast enough to save Pina.

She wasn't prepared for her arm to be practically yanked off as Kirito put on a burst of speed; she couldn't even guess what his agility level might be! She ran as fast as she could though and Kirito must have slowed down enough so that he matched her speed. He still hadn't let go of her hand yet.

Ten minutes later they were standing (well she was sitting down) at the bottom of what Kirito called the Hill of memories. Silica took some deep breaths, exhausted by the run. Infuriatingly, Kirito didn't look particularly tired as he hadn't had to run at full speed like her! He seemed more comfortable now that he was away from the gardens filled with players; they were completely alone here.

"Well, ready to go and save Pina?" Kirito asked cheerfully.

Silica looked up, wishing the item could've been in a valley which required them to walk downhill rather than uphill but nevertheless nodded in determination. She missed her beautiful feathered dragon and didn't want to waste much time. So she slowly got up, taking a step forward.

"Yes! I'm sure that you'll be get me there," she said, following him up the side of the enormous grassy hill.

Kirito was silent for a moment but it was a peaceful sort of silence. Then he spoke up hesitantly: "why are you trusting me so much?"

Silica giggled, because with such a genuine and honest tone, it was probably impossible not to immediately trust him. "You saved my life earlier and now you're going out of your way to take me up this hill just to save my friend Pina, how could I not trust you?"

"Most people either run away from me or attack me on sight, I'm dangerous to be around," Kirito stated bluntly, as if in warning.

"I trust you to keep me safe," she said firmly though inwardly she did wonder why she trusted him after only a couple of hours.

She couldn't see his face whilst walking behind him but she thought he was smiling. "It'd be silly of me to try to persuade you otherwise then."

Before she could reply, the ground started to shake. Massive green vines erupted out of the ground and shot towards them like a whip. Silica gasped in surprise, bringing out a short sword, wondering how high level it was. Before she could do anything however, Kirito gracefully slashed them with his fearsome black sword, cutting the vines in half.

They continued to move around, like snakes but already Kirito was performing some sort of combo attack, cutting the vines into four then eight, then twenty before they abruptly shattered into a hundred blue polygons. His attacks had been both precise and quick. The encounter was over in less than minute.

"Wow, you're really good, are you a clearer?" She asked, thinking that maybe it was possible for the game to be beaten if people like him were on the front lines.

Kirito continued forward after briefly examining the ground for any item drops. "I'm a solo player and I'd probably be imprisoned if I showed my face at the front lines," he said gruffly, maybe a bit annoyed.

Maybe she had underestimated the amount of hatred orange players got but that was a surprise. Imprisoned just for appearing? No wonder he was so lonely. Silica decided that she could not abandon him no matter what, maybe if he was with her people wouldn't be so afraid of him? She wished she knew about red players; her current knowledge was evidently lacking.

"What do solo players do?" Silica then asked cautiously, worried she was upsetting him with all of her questions.

He didn't seem offended. "Anything. I fight monsters and dungeons on the top floors, so I suppose I'm trying to clear the game too," he said with a shrug.

Hadn't he just said he wasn't a clearer? Oh well, the finer distinctions were apparently lost on her, at least he didn't sound too unhappy. Kirito sounded pretty cool really, clearing the hardest dungeons by himself and Silica was starting to wonder if she could ever be that strong.

It took several hours for them to finally get to the top of the hill of memories and their journey had been surprisingly smooth, Silica had ended up fighting some fierce mobs alongside Kirito which proved to be a good learning experience as he had a lot of advice to give. She really liked the strange player though she remained really curious about his orange cursor.

She didn't ask about his past but began to notice how his eyes sometimes had a rather haunted expression when he looked at her though he tried to cover it up with smiles and laughter. Still it didn't go away, nor did the orange cursor, stuck permanently above his head and Silica realised she didn't know if there was any way to ever remove them. Maybe he had been stuck with the cursor for months?

At the top of the hill she saw a mound of dirt. A glowing mound of dirt actually. Before they could examine it more closely, for it was clearly what they'd come here for, another plant monster materialised right in front of them. Silica screamed in surprise, not used to things just appearing out of nowhere – usually it was only powerful mini-bosses and bosses who did that, at least on the middle floors.

Kirito chuckled beside her, apparently not very intimidated by a creature that was like triple his height and covered in thorns and vines. Its head was like a giant Venus fly trap that could easily swallow them whole though at least it didn't appear to have any eyes. Most worrying, to her anyway, was its big stocky legs that meant it wasn't rooted to the ground like many of the lesser monsters they'd fought today.

"You don't have to be shocked by every single encounter you know? You're strong enough to at least put up a fight," he said, taking an experimental swipe at one of its vines that had tried to subtly sneak around him. It quickly retreated but a dozen more vines were headed their way.

"I know but it appeared right in front of me! How was I supposed to act?" Silica retorted defensively. She jabbed at anything that came near her, waiting for Kirito to tell her the plan of attack.

"You distract it and then I'll switch in to attack, got it?" Kirito put on the serious voice he only seemed to use for fighting, or so Silica had observed on the climb up.

Silica nodded and ran forward, swinging her sword in wild arcs, being enough of a nuisance to the monster for it to completely ignore Kirito, a fatal error. It seemed particularly enraged when she somehow grazed its leg and it roared in her face, spitting out ugly purple seeds. She managed to deflect a couple with her sword but one got past her guard and hit her hard in the face, knocking her to the ground.

Vines immediately surrounded her and Silica wasn't sure how she would've recovered when the monster abruptly shattered into blue polygons. Looking up, it seemed Kirito had easily destroyed it as soon as she'd made an opportunity for him. The battle felt a little anticlimactic really, she had expected a bit more from a boss but they'd defeated it in a minute. Not that she was complaining!

Kirito's looked at her with an intense gaze. Silica felt herself blushing as those dark eyes examined her just lying on the ground and she hurriedly got up, adjusting her skirt self-consciously. "You're poisoned," he stated in a somewhat detached tone.

Silica looked at her status and frowned as she saw he was right, that seed must have been poisonous; she hadn't even thought to check something like that, with the amount of health she had most monsters understood that straight attacks would be all it took to defeat her. It was rather distressing to see her health being steadily whittled away by the status effect.

Apprehensively, she found an antidote in her inventory and drank it, hoping it would work though she didn't think she'd ever used one before. Still every experienced player recommended to carry around at least one antidote as a precaution and she was glad she'd listened to the advice as her status returned to normal. It was strange, battling so seriously; usually she was just playing the role of mascot and everyone she partied with would be extremely protective of her.

"The flower should bloom just over here, I think you'll just need to stand in front of it," Kirito said, gesturing over to the glowing mound of dirt. He didn't see any need to ask if she was alright like her fans and admirers would, but then he wasn't exactly the social type .

"Wow…" Silica gasped as in front of her a glowing sphere of light grew into the shape of a beautiful white flower that seemed to be sparkling in the evening sunlight.

She glanced over to Kirito who also looked impressed by the display. "Well go on and pick it then, we will revive Pina as soon as we get to the bottom of the hill," he said encouragingly.

Silica delicately picked the lovely item which then went into her inventory, they had done it! She sighed in relief for they still had more than a day to revive her friend. The two of them descended the mountain together, both in high spirits from such a great success.

No monsters intercepted them on the way and it was a pleasant walk, surrounded by flowers as they were. Silica had rarely felt content as she did whilst walking down in silence; this day had been wonderful. Kirito seemed to be enjoying himself as well, used to silences from working alone.

"Hey Kirito?" She asked him after a while. "Why did you take me on this quest as I know you didn't have to?" The question had been buzzing in her head for a while.

Kirito's response only came after a thoughtful pause. "You were thankful after I'd helped and you didn't immediately begin to hate me, it's nice."

Silica smiled, though a little bitterly; she couldn't begin to imagine what he had to go through to be this way. He genuinely seemed to be happy today but that didn't mean she hadn't noticed those haunted looks which crossed his face when he was brooding. Silica desperately wanted to help him; she hadn't helped anyone very much even after a year. The people who wanted her to join them only after her superficial image. He appreciated her and she hadn't known how much she'd wanted that until now.

As she was lost in her thoughts, Kirito suddenly yelled at the trees ahead of them. "Show yourselves! I know you're there!" Silica didn't seen anything but stopped, looking around cautiously.

A great laughter erupted from the trees in front of them. Out of the trees walked none other than Rosalia whom had first gotten her into the position where she needed rescuing. If it hadn't been for her, Silica wondered if she would've met Kirito. The attractive red-haired girl walked forward with a smirk on her face.

"Very impressive boy, it seems you've somehow succeeded in getting her to trust you," Rosalia said, looking directly at Silica. "You can drop the charade now however, we'd appreciate a share in the spoils if you wouldn't mind."

"Stay right here," Kirito murmured to her comfortingly, walking forward with an unreadable posture. Were they his friends?

"You're Rosalia, leader of the Titan's hand – a red guild?" Kirito asked in a tone that indicated he already knew the answer.

Sneering at him she answered rather disparagingly: "Were you looking to join? Hand the girl over and I'll definitely consider though you don't look like much." Around her, other members of her guild appeared from their hiding spots behind trees and she couldn't help but notice that they all had orange cursors.

"I'm going to send you all to prison so I suggest you surrender quietly," Kirito announced bluntly, taking out his black long sword.

There was a momentary pause as the players didn't know how to react to what they perceived as a very foolhardy statement. After all, there were seven of them against just him and Silica, who was staying back as asked. Then they all starting laughing at his serious statement.

"Is that so boy? Well then, we'll just have to kill you – and the girl!" Rosalia ordered her men forward and they all surrounded Kirito, slashing at him with their swords.

Oddly, Kirito just stood there, letting them attack without even a token effort of defence as he slowly died. Silica watched him in horror, wishing she could do something to help him, it was her fault he was here in the first place. But then Silica noticed his health was still high and it seemed to be regenerating even as they attacked him. How was he doing that?

"What the…?" One of the men grunted, looking at his full health bar in confusion.

"I regenerate 400hp every ten seconds and you do 42 damage per second on average. We could stand here all day and you'd never get anywhere," Kirito said, looking in amusement at each of the players in turn.

Rosalia stared at him in horror. "That can't be possible!"

"I think you'll find that games with levelling systems can be very unfair once you're high enough level. Now there's a bounty on your head so I suggest you surrender right now," Kirito threatened again, only this time the players backed down, he seemed intimidating now.

"I'm a green player, unlike you! Why should I have to go to prison?" Rosalia spat, venomously.

Kirito's form blurred when he moved at an astonishing speed and suddenly his sword was at her neck and she was completely defenceless; Kirito completely outclassed the entire guild. "Ten days ago, you and you're guild slaughtered an entire party, save for the leader. Once I heard about it I came to track you down so I could send you to prison myself."

"And how many have you killed you hypocrite? Surely you see that this is just a game, we can't really die," she roared at him, fearfully. Silica didn't think she believed her own words.

Killed? Had Kirito really killed anyone? Silica didn't know what the requirements were for an orange name but she knew they couldn't be good; yet Kirito was a good person, of that she had to be certain.

"Before Kayaba made his announcement I'd already killed five players… I thought it was a game until then and I couldn't take back what I had done," he admitted solemnly.

Silica listened in horror, wondering why he was even sharing such a tale to these cruel players who were here to steal and hurt them just because they could. Or was he saying it for her benefit, so she could understand why he had an orange name? Silica hadn't needed to know, she trusted him without knowing anything about his past but now that she did, she just felt sad. He'd hurt some people in a game and then they'd been killed in real life. What a tragic thing and one he wouldn't be able to forget if a reminder was constantly hovering over his head for everyone to see.

* * *

The members of the Titan's guild were all sent to prison. The two of them were alone once again until two magical objects met. A dazzling light and her beloved Pina materialised in front of her, completely whole. The quest had been a complete success.

Despite hugging the beautiful feathered dragon, stroking the soft feathers delicately, Silica didn't feel completely happy. Pina was many things, and he was a creature she dearly loved but he would never be a person. Today a person had made a very deep impression on her, in some ways it was more important than even Pina. Now, seeing Kirito staring into space she could see how he was very close to breaking. He appeared very strong on the surface but inside, it was like he couldn't hold himself together.

So even as she hugged dearest Pina to her chest, she was looking at Kirito. "You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened because it's not your fault," she said, determined. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

His dark eyes focused on her. "I may have done it unknowingly but it doesn't change the outcome, does it?" He replied, and Silica could tell he'd thought long and hard over it.

It was distressing to see him revealing the pain he'd seemingly buried. "But it's all Kayaba's fault, he must know what he's doing and yet he's still keeping us all trapped here," Silica protested, her thoughts drifting to the family she'd left behind over a year ago.

"Thanks Silica but I know I'm at least partially responsible, if it wasn't for me then they may still be alive, Kayaba was fair like that," Kirito looked away from her.

This wasn't right, he was her knight in shining armour who had saved her life and helped to revive Pina before saving her again. Silica leaned over to him, Pina immediately climbing onto her head, and she grabbed his hand. "If it wasn't for you, me and Pina wouldn't be here! I still need to thank you for saving us!"

Kirito looked down at the hand she'd just grabbed, looking thoughtful. "There's no need to thank me," he said though he did sound slightly pleased by her words. "It's probably best if we never see each other again really but I'm glad I helped you."

"No!" Silica protested loudly. "I want to stay with you, I don't want you to leave." Her voice sounded weak suddenly, as she thought about never seeing him again.

Kirito leaned forward and hugged her gently. "Silica, you seem like a really popular player and I would ruin all that, I am a solo player who is feared by everyone," he said bluntly. Was he trying to say goodbye?

"I don't care about my fans, they've never treated me seriously, and I would be so much happier travelling with you, so please let me and Pina come with you!" Her tone had taken on a desperate edge but the alternative was Kirito leaving forever.

And Kirito was hesitating because he didn't know how to deny her and he didn't really want to deny her. "But I might not be able to protect you, wouldn't you be safer-?"

"I nearly died until you saved me! I trust you to protect me, you already have," Silica cut in sharply, breaking apart his protest before it could fully form.

"But won't you miss living in town? I live in the wilderness and it's not very luxurious," Kirito argued instead.

"If you can bear it than so can I, besides if I really did hate it then I could always just leave," Silica said confident that Kirito would have to concede the point.

Kirito paused for just a few moments, silently stroking her hair, for he was still holding her and Silica was still holding onto to his hand. "You're only level 45, I'm 30 levels higher than you, you'll need to make up that difference," he said, his voice now had a pragmatic, practical tone that couldn't be ignored.

That was certainly a lot of levels but she had to try right? Kirito couldn't possibly have any obligations to the front lines if he was a solo player so he wouldn't mind being slowed down too much, would he? His advice when they'd been fighting monsters earlier had been extremely useful and she thought he'd be a great teacher.

"If I get stronger, maybe you could talk to the other players in the front lines," Silica suddenly suggested as a flash of information came to her.

"Eh?"

"Maybe if I'm with you they won't try to attack you and then you'll be able to help them?" She explained nervously, for it had sounded better in her head.

He finally let go of her and absently stroked Pina instead. "I'd love to participate in boss battles again, I actually fought the fifth floor boss before everyone realised what orange cursors meant and were no longer able to tolerate me," Kirito said, surprisingly agreeable to her odd suggestion.

"So, may I come with you then?"

"I'd really like that."

* * *

**Just a one-shot idea I had though I wouldn't mind expanding on it a little if there's any interest, I rather like Silica. The main motivation of this story was the idea of being stuck as a red player for the entire game. I'd like to think that Silica would be open-minded enough to get to know him, even if no other character would.**

**Thanks for reading anyway, and please do leave a review as I'm not sure if I put in enough detail or got the characterization right. Tell me if you'd interested in reading a continuation or an expansion of this premise.**


	2. The Relentless Rain

**Hey there, I've come up with a second chapter! Actually like the third time trying to write a continuation and I'm still debating on whether or not I like my first angle better. I enjoy writing Silica as she can be child-like. **

* * *

"What are you doing?" They'd teleported to a quiet level, the 34th apparently and Silica was staring at Kirito in confusion.

She didn't understand why they'd come here seeing as this level was thoroughly unpleasant, with marshy ground and a constant unending downpour of rain. Within a minute of arriving she was already soaked and couldn't help but feel a little miserable especially seeing as Kirito hadn't explained anything to her at all.

"This level is deserted, no one wants to live here so it's good for me," he replied a little bitterly.

Maybe she hadn't completely thought through the idea of living in the wilderness and she couldn't help but consider going back to the warm inn that she regularly stayed at. That would be abandoning Kirito though and she'd promised herself she wouldn't do something like that, not after he'd saved her life and had been so thankful just for her presence. Pina was shivering in her arms though and she decided that she had to persuade him to stay somewhere else, at least for one night.

"There's this tiny village here that doesn't count as a safe zone, either a glitch or because it's so small," he elaborated, sensing her discomfort. "I kind of lied about living in the wilderness as I actually managed to purchase a house from one of the NPCs. It's a little out of the way in case a player did come down here."

"Wait, you can't enter towns?" Silica asked in surprised horror. "At all?" But that would be so dangerous; it no wonder he was constantly on guard.

Kirito's expression was grim. "Another delightful feature created to punish red players for existing."

"But… BUT THAT'S SO UNFAIR!" Silica screamed, the sheer number of horrible things Kirito had to endure was too much. "You made one mistake, and had no way of knowing the results, why do they have to keep punishing you? Doesn't it ever fade?"

Kirito jumped a little at her outburst, surprised that she'd had such a big reaction for his sake. "Once you've killed too many, it's permanent, that's just the way things are. But I'm used to it, you don't have to do anything," he replied, reminding her of the promise she'd made an hour ago.

Silica grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He shifted uncomfortably at the sudden gesture but quickly relaxed. "You saved my life and that makes up for the people who died accidentally," she said firmly, wondering how he didn't seem to understand such a simple concept without her stating it outright. He didn't seem to be aware that he'd already redeemed himself.

Kirito chuckled at her odd phrasing and lightly pulled his arm out of her grip but seemed slightly brighter. Silica glanced around at the bleak rain. This was a rather miserable floor that no ordinary player would ever choose to live on but with a roof over her head the rain wouldn't be too much of a problem. "Why'd you teleport us so far away from it?" She complained however; he didn't have to act so strange about everything.

Kirito let out a little chuckle. "I can't exactly go into a town to get a teleport crystal that would lead right to my front door. I'm just lucky to be this close as it is."

Oh, that made sense. Silica seriously couldn't imagine not being able to visit towns at all, so it was logical that he'd live in the most depressing location he could find if it had access to NPCs. Still, this couldn't possibly be a happy existence in the game. But being alone was preferable to constant fear and hatred.

They entered a modest looking home after a few more minutes of walking through the mud and rain. Instantly, Silica felt a comfortable warmth as she stepped through the doorway. As she looked around it seemed that everything was supposed to give off a comfortable and relaxed air. There was a thick sofa in the middle of the room, covered in soft-looking red blankets. The floor was covered by a thick carpet and the windows were kept hidden by long drapes. A few tables were scattered throughout the room and on them were candles, as well as the occasional novel.

Kirito collapsed on the sofa, picking up a blanket and wrapping himself in it and he looked strangely fragile and endearing, bundled up like that. It looked like such a good way to get dry though that Silica sat next to him, grabbing another blanket and burying her head into the soft fabric. A familiar weight settled on her lap as her dear Pina sat down too. Silica sighed contently, feeling like the walk had been more than worth it.

"This house must have cost a fortune, I thought most things in this game were coarse not warm and soft," Silica commented, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders so that she could see Kirito next to her.

"There is literally nothing else to spend my money on and the price was fairly low anyway due to the location; I think it was worth it," Kirito answered.

"You can't go shopping at all? Then where do you get food and weapons from?"

"I had to use some skill slots for both smithing to repair and upgrade weapons, and hunting, which allows me to gather meat from monsters I kill and cook it, a little annoying but they're both really useful," Kirito explained with a shrug. It struck Silica just how self-sufficient he had to be.

"It's quite cool though, how you can take care of yourself. You're really good at this game!" Silica replied. It went unspoken how she wished she could be strong like he was.

He shifted a little in discomfort. "Just high level, that's all I have," he murmured.

"You have admirers and can befriend everyone you meet; that's what's important when a game is like your life," he added.

Now Silica shifted in discomfort, inwardly pleased at the compliment. "No, most people just love Pina and think I'm too young to play for real," she protested half-heartedly. She did enjoy having fans and the other people made the game fun to play even if it did keep her from her home and her old life. Being modest was cool too.

He shrugged, like he was agreeing with what she'd just said but otherwise gave no reply. Kirito really seemed to like these long silences and Silica couldn't think of anything important enough to break the silence even if she did have several more questions to ask. Most of them were questions about his life in the game and what it was like being a red player so she didn't know how to ask about it. Asking just how much col he had would probably be considered impolite so that one was also out. Instead she sat in silence though her mind was buzzing.

A few minutes later and Silica was still trying to come up with a good way to talk to him but she didn't know how. Kirito then decided to get up, now that he was warm and dry, even his hair looked dry but then the game had never been that good at simulating anything wet. Silica got up too, picking up Pina in her arms and followed Kirito into a very basic kitchen.

"Can you cook?" She asked as she examined the room. Such an easy question to ask! The only thing that looked particularly valuable in here were several large, shiny knives.

Kirito picked one of these up from the rack they were arranged on, handling it deftly. "Haven't wasted any skill points in cooking but hunting allows me to make meat taste okay," he replied, grabbing a cutting board.

Silica was a little envious of those with the cooking skill, she'd seen a few at work and it looked incredibly cool while the results were usually tasty. There was something subtly different about the way this hunting skill worked, maybe the knife glowed a different colour or something but the food still basically fell apart into even sized cubes when Kirito lightly swung the knife down. He then poured them into a frying pan and it took just seconds for the meat to become fully cooked.

"Real cooks could probably make a meal out of some food, all I can really do is make sure the meat is well-cooked and a little flavoured," Kirito added, looking down at his product a little sourly.

"I'm sure it's fine! You can't hate it if you have it every day, right?" Silica replied, eager to try some for it had been a while since her last meal, and longer since she'd had anything cooked; usually it was bread, maybe sandwiches.

"Well, it hasn't killed me yet," Kirito shrugged, eating some of his own portion, while passing a plate to Silica.

She quickly pressed the conversation forward to her plan that he'd taken an interest in earlier. "Anyway, I think all the other players will think the same as me when they hear your story. If I explain it then you won't be like an outcast anymore," she explained.

"I doubt they'll believe you, I'm a red player and people will think I tricked you if you try and help like that," Kirito said sceptically, taking another bite of meat.

"Come on! Most players can be really friendly and they'll know you're not a red player," Silica replied hoping he wasn't being as dismissive of her idea as he appeared to be.

"I am a red player and getting one person to believe your story won't change that."

She sighed and focused on the food in front of her. It couldn't be called anything special but Silica thought her food was quite tasty, and she wondered what sort of monster it could have come from. Seeing as it seemed rather spicy, maybe a fiery monster that was even now trying to burn her virtual taste buds. Maybe something lazy that spent all day eating spicy peppers?

"What skills have you invested in?" Kirito asked, a rather abrupt change in the conversation, but he was not making idle conversation as that wasn't something he was good at but because he seriously wished to know.

Silica started a little at the sudden and blunt question. "Beast taming, one handed swords, searching, support, acrobatics and music," she listed off, feeling a bit self-conscious.

Kirito actually groaned at the last one. "Music? What possessed you to waste a point on something like that?" He said in disbelief. Then he just shook his head, quickly calming himself down.

"Music is lots of fun and I think Pina loves it when I play. Plus it can sometimes confuse monsters if I try it in battle," Silica interjected defensively.

"I can see why…" he muttered, focusing on his meal once again.

Kirito was obviously not used to company, possibly because he'd likely spoken to very few people in a year. He didn't bother to try and be polite and engage her in a conversation but spoke only when he had something of meaning to say and otherwise mostly ignored her, focusing on his own thoughts. Silica tried not to be offended but she secretly wished that he gave her more attention.

"So when do think you should try and make peace with the clearers?" Silica brought up the reason she'd come here for again.

Kirito's head shot up and he gave her his full attention. "Still think it's possible? I would love to compete in boss battles again if it were possible..." he said thoughtfully. "Not until you've gained at least twenty levels or else they won't respect you," he added but at least didn't completely try and dismiss the idea.

Silica stared at him in alarm. "But that could take months! Should I just live here for all that time?" And twenty levels was still below clearing level; Kirito was thirty levels above her.

Silica had never wanted to be a clearer and had previously enjoyed her life as a minor celebrity, or at least this game's equivalent on the middle levels. Doing all that training sounded like a lot of work for a goal that only had a small chance of succeeding. What were the chances of normal players ever accepting red players? And what difference was a few levels going to make?

"Maybe they'll listen to me at my current strength! I have fans that can vouch for me and everything!" Silica protested even if Kirito looked absolutely serious and unlikely to change his mind.

Kirito sighed slowly. "You need them to take you seriously and in this game level and skill are all that matters – it's the way out," he explained.

Silica glared at him grumpily trying to think of a possible shortcut to all that boring training. This was his fault, if he hadn't been so nice then she wouldn't have had any obligation to help him and she could've had merry times on the 35th floor. Even if everyone there did treat her like a little girl.

"Can't you just defeat one really strong thing so I go up like twenty levels in one night?" Silica moaned, imagining the relentless fighting she'd have to do when fighting really wasn't much fun after the hundredth identical battle. Clearers probably liked boss battles because they were really unique.

He just rolled his eyes. "If you want to endanger your life for a stupid shortcut then I'll be more than happy to take you to the highest floor where just about any monster we defeat will level you up," Kirito replied dryly.

Silica immediately brightened up at the thought. "Great! I'm sure you're strong enough to protect me! I want to help you out!"

Kirito had been incredibly quick in battle and he would probably be capable of killing everything in one hit, before it got anywhere near her. To train she'd have to be near him and in his party while he killed things but it wasn't that hard to stay alive; the casualties would have been way higher otherwise.

"You are incredibly idiotic," he stated bluntly.

"…Don't be mean."

Soon after that Silica decided she'd rather go to sleep then try to converse with Kirito anymore. He took everything a little too seriously in her opinion and she was under the impression that he thought she was really silly and idiotic. That wasn't true at all, everyone told her that she was really cool and intelligent for her age. What did his opinion matter anyway? She would just have to prove him wrong.

It turned out that there was only one bed in Kirito's house so Silica ended up sleeping on the couch in the main room. It didn't matter, not really anyway, as her game body was very good at going to sleep for a few hours. Still, that relentless rain was a little distracting. It was obvious why no player with a choice would ever choose to live on this miserable floor.

To her surprise, when it came to training, Kirito did actually end up taking her way higher than she'd ever been before – to the 61st floor. While she didn't dare point it out, lest he start thinking she was made of glass of something, it was pretty funny. Maybe Kirito thought training was really boring too. She had to wonder why he bothered being so high level in the first place when he couldn't use it for anything other than self-defence.

"Follow me closely and don't make a sound," he instructed her upon arrival and she'd listened to him, noting the wariness that had appeared in his posture.

The 61st floor was really busy with markets flourishing as all the monster drops for the floor were high in demand and there was still plenty of exploration to be done… that was what she had been told anyway. But currently it was still just him and her hiding out of sight in the woods, not a soul nearby. Kirito knew how to avoid people, without any need of a hiding or searching skill.

Silica followed him anxiously wondering if suggesting fighting really strong monsters was a horrible idea after all. What if five monsters attacked at once while they were in some hidden dungeon? She didn't voice her concerns as Kirito had said she was supposed to be quiet but she wanted a larger party than this.

She stroked Pina, whom was sitting on her head looking alert, with anxiety and took comfort in the fact that he was with her. Pina would not let her die and she wouldn't allow Pina to get hurt either. Surely Kirito would be careful.

Eventually they encountered a group of trolls and Silica felt ridiculously useless while Kirito ran about destroying things. That soon turned to shock however when he pulled out a second long sword as if it were no big deal. He had a sword in each hand! She had been told that it wasn't possible but he could do it anyway. Did Kirito follow any of the game rules at all? She had to wonder this, thinking of the not-safe zone village, and the red name which was a result of breaking one of the most serious rules.

Oh well. Kirito swung each sword almost independently, swinging them with a deadly rhythm as he dealt out devastating blows to the trolls which were far too slow to stop him from destroying them. Silica promptly went up a level when they all died without getting too near her. Just witnessing such awesome swordplay was clearly worth lots of experience.

After a week of training in hidden areas on the 61st floor, deftly avoiding any contact with other players and barely avoiding get killed by fearsome beasts, Silica had gained ten levels even if the last few had taken quite a number of kills as she grew stronger. She couldn't deny that it was really rewarding to train with a strong player like Kirito but the lack of contact began to bother her and she didn't think that she could just do the same until she'd gained another ten levels. Kirito wasn't really the chatty type so the whole experience was incredibly lonely and she really couldn't be too annoyed with him about being so blunt and antisocial if he was forced to be alone and had likely very little contact in a year.

Still, even if he could endure it well, Silica wanted to be around others some more. And she wanted Kirito to be around others more so moving the plan forward was a necessity.

So Silica was alone on the fiftieth floor to arrange a meeting with Heathcliff, in the hopes of persuading him to trust a red player.

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**That's what I have written so far but I have ideas for a third chapter - I'm not sure if this is focused enough but I enjoyed writing it anyway. Please do leave a review with your comments as I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for reading!**


	3. The Difficult Request

**Hello there, I've succeeded in writing another chapter and now it may even appear to have some sort of plot! You****r**** reviews have been lovely and very encouraging so far so thank you! Sorry about such long waits between updates, maybe I can speed them up or at least keep them consistent. Anyway hope you like it and I hope everyone sounds vagu****ely in character**

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Silica thought about her week, pondering what she would say to Heathcliff if she was indeed able to get a meeting with him. Her chances were admittedly small but asking couldn't really do any harm and Kirito was busy on a solo mission anyway. He didn't actually know she had come to the fiftieth floor.

This was the third solo mission he'd been on since she'd met him and as far as she could tell he was taking on strong bonus dungeons out single-handedly on the top floor in an effort to help the clearers. It was also possible he was providing some personal aid like he'd done by imprisoning those other red players, whilst simultaneously saving her. Kirito didn't much like other red players, claiming that all their cruelness made people hate him on sight even more; it was sort of ironic for him to be defeating them though.

Anyway, she'd just knocked on the large gates to possibly the largest guild hall in the game. The Knights of the Blood had only recently secured the funds to buy such a structure and loads of people were still talking about it in the middle floors. Clearers were incredible players and none were quite so striking as Heathcliff and his second-in-command Asuna. Getting an audience with either of them would be really lucky.

The wide oak doors swung open smoothly revealing a dark-haired boy a little older than her who looked at her with interest. He was wearing the red and white uniform of his guild like many clearers she'd briefly met before. She noted how his gaze lingered on her dear Pina, sitting on her head like normal.

"You managed to tame a dragon? There's not many beast tamers among the clearers but even so that's quite impressive," the boy commented in an intelligent-sounding voice.

Silica smiled, stroking Pina. It would be far easier to chat about beast-taming than nervously stammering about a meeting with their leader. Meeting Pina was something she could take pride in; one of her few great accomplishments in the game and hopefully it was something that clearers could respect as well.

"Thanks! He's called Pina and he's been with me since the twelfth floor," she explained.

He nodded. "Pretty cool, and surviving like fifty levels is not bad at all."

She hadn't expected to pick up another admirer today but clearly she was still as charming as ever. "Well, I've been mostly on the middle floors so I don't exactly risk my life on a daily basis though I'm planning to change that soon – it's why I'm here," she replied, keeping any nervousness out of her voice.

He nodded again in understanding. "Ah. So you're looking to join the Knights of the Blood? Great, there's often complaints about lack of female players," he said, looking pleased at the idea.

Silica's eyes widened in surprise at what was almost an invitation to one of the most prestigious guilds in the game. As a bit of a Guild hopper she had to consider joining. She'd get loads of respect just from wearing a well-recognised red and white uniform. Not that they'd actually invited her yet. And she was forgetting about Kirito again, how careless!

"That sounds cool!" She replied with genuine interest though joining was impossible at this point. "Do you think I'd be able to meet with your guild leader then? I-It's not just about maybe joining though."

What if he thought she sounded too shy and nervous to be taken seriously? Silica was wishing she'd taken Kirito's advice and trained a bit more even if it would take forever now that she wasn't so underlevelled. That way they'd be forced to take her seriously and getting in wouldn't be pure luck. At least Pina was looking tough, having grown some from all the experience they'd gained.

"What is the purpose of your meeting?" The guard asked coolly.

"Information about a really high level red player," she managed to adopt a serious tone; made easier by the fact that she was being completely honest if a little deceptive.

He tilted his head looking intrigued; clearly red players were more interesting than feathered dragons to these high level types. "What do you mean by 'really high level'?"

"He was alone but level 76," Silica replied. Kirito had explained a bit about clearing and the unofficial rule was that to be safe you had to be ten levels higher than the current floor. There had been no news of a raid in the last few days so they were almost certainly still on the 65th floor. It was alarming for anyone to have achieved such a high level without any support.

The guard just stared at her in shock for a moment, before blinking rapidly as he realised what he was doing. "You saw the cursed swordsman?" He asked faintly.

Was the cursed swordsman a title Kirito hadn't mentioned to her? Why couldn't he mention things like this instead of being quiet and mysterious all the time? Was he unaware that she was really interested in him? Heh. She was only interested in how he'd survived – that was all!

The young guard was still waiting for a reply. "Maybe. I don't know if that's what he was called," she said. Then a thought struck her. "There isn't more than one high level solo red player is there?"

He chuckled nervously, fingering a knife as if to calm himself. "I sure hope not – let's go find Heathcliff," he replied and he opened the door for her.

Silica smiled to herself as she followed the young clearer. Kirito seemed to have quite a reputation, enough to get the meeting she wanted. Now all she would have to do is persuade this Heathcliff that Kirito wasn't evil and then no one would stop him from helping to beat the game. Some might call that an optimistic approach but you didn't survive a death game by being negative! Well Kirito seemed to have managed that but he was odd.

The hallways in the headquarters turned out be very wide and aesthetically pleasing to the eye though that was not exactly surprising inside such an elaborate game. Really, all the grim locations were more impressive; why deliberately design something to be ugly and depressing? The 34th floor was always stormy! Still it did make these marble floors stand out in comparison, Silica supposed as she walked through them, her footsteps echoing a little.

Soon they arrived in front of a regal wooden pair of doors and he casually knocked, presumably to call Heathcliff. They did not have long to wait as she heard a deep voice invite them to come in. They quickly opened the door and walked through. Silica saw an adult player observing them from behind a massive desk.

"Hello." Heathcliff had a strong, even voice.

Silica wasn't sure what she should say now but fortunately her companion simply lead her forward into a chair whilst he took the one next to her. "This girl apparently has information regarding a certain red player and I thought it best to bring her straight to you," he explained calmly and it struck Silica just how good he was acting as a guard, guide and messenger.

Just for that she decided to actually look at his name, which she hadn't thought of learn earlier. Batonium? Well, she'd seen weirder choices. "Thanks, red players are one of our biggest worries these days," Heathcliff was replying.

No going back now. "Umm that's the thing. I don't believe he's a threat," she said loudly in order to hide her nerves.

Batonium (was such a stupid name, she was just going to stick with guard), he turned to her in surprise. Heathcliff had his intent gaze on her and merely gestured for her to continue speaking, apparently not one to make hasty judgements.

"Well, I mean he's really powerful but he's not actually an enemy. He's not a killer," Silica quickly elaborated.

Heathcliff raised an eyebrow. "You are aware that to become a red player permanently, you must actively kill five green players?"

Silica nodded. "Yeah, but he became a red player like a year ago and hasn't killed anyone since." She was feeling uncomfortable discussing killing so casually.

"So, you have talked with him then? What's his name and level?" There was scepticism in his tone but he was being patient with her.

"Yeah! His name is Kirito and he's really lonely as he's a solo player who doesn't even have the support of other red players – or anyone!"

Heathcliff sighed. "He's certainly killed before, I think it's likely that he tricked you into believing his story probably to gain a loyal accomplice," he said slowly.

Silica clenched her fists angrily, glancing at the guard for support but he averted his eyes. "Kirito is both hard-working and self-sacrificing! He risks his life constantly on the upper floors taking down all those bonus dungeons alone – it's where he is right now!" Silica had practically screamed those last words out.

Her loud volume seemed to have attracted some attention as through an open door to the right that Silica hadn't taken much notice of before, came a tall female player. She had long strawberry-blonde hair down to her waist, light almost regal-looking armour, including a long sharp rapier clutched in her right hand. Most strikingly, she had this harsh expression on her otherwise lovely face, as she glared at each of the room's occupants. This had to be Asuna.

"Hello." That was all she said as she observed them. Except the tone of voice, the posture, it all suggested a slight superiority as if she was talking down to her only it was really subtle somehow. It was impossible to complain if there was the slightest bit of disdain in her strong voice for Asuna was elite.

"Asuna, this is Silica and she's been delighting us with stories of a noble red player," Heathcliff said by way of a humorous introduction.

Silica felt like frowning at him, not liking the way he was suggesting this was all some sort of elaborate joke. Why was it so hard to believe that others weren't pure evil even if it did seem like it? Surely the fact that she was vouching for him meant at least something?

"A PKer causing trouble?" Asuna queried almost casually as if player killers were absolutely normal, even slipping into that gamer vocab.

Heathcliff nodded. "Young Silica is under the impression that he's really a good guy though she's also certain that he's red, solo and clearer level."

Silica was getting pretty annoyed at the subtle jabs against her – she was not being tricked! "That's what you're focusing on? The whole system is completely messed up!" She roared, standing up from her seat for extra emphasis.

Neither of the infuriatingly stoic figures were impressed by her outburst. "Did he not cause five or more players to perish in a brutal fashion?" Asuna asked in a deceptively light tone only it was carefully worded.

Because her words were impossible to deny.

Sure they didn't understand how Kirito had committed the deed over a year ago before he'd been aware of the consequences. How he still felt guilty and reckless even now (if going into the strongest dungeons alone was any indicator of his recklessness). How he actively worked to stop other red players and helped to save lives where he could despite his unfortunate decision. But they were focusing on his appearance, something he couldn't fix.

Maybe she just hadn't explained enough yet! "Kirito said he became a red player before he knew it was a death game, before the tutorial ended," she replied trying to sound calm.

Everyone paused at those words, to contemplate the possibility. It was an odd idea and one she had no real way of proving, seeing as she didn't even have proper proof herself. But Kirito had saved her life and for that he at least deserved some measure of trust. It would be incredible if she could find some more open-minded individuals.

"This player… his name was Kirito?" The regal Asuna spoke in a surprisingly soft and tentative voice as she considered her words.

Silica wondered what the conflicted expression could mean. Well Kirito had been adventuring on the upper floors for a long time; maybe they could have bumped into each other at some point? "That's him. Has a red name. Wears a long black cloak, has black hair and dark eyes." Silica provided a description a little warily.

Silica slumped back into her sleep as the atmosphere seemed to become more relaxed. A glance at Heathcliff and the guard showed they both had their attention on Asuna now, and not her.

"I think I ran into a Kirito on the first floor, once," Asuna revealed. "I don't remember if he was a red player but back then I was still getting used to the game and wouldn't have understood all the mechanics." Her voice was a little defensive, Silica wasn't sure what to make of her.

"Silica?" the guard (Batonium) spoke up suddenly. "I was wondering what you wanted? Like what you wanted to achieve in coming here?" He asked cautiously, perhaps due to being in the presence of his guild leader.

It was a good question and the occupants of the room waited for a response. Silica stroked her dear Pina to give herself something to do while she thought up a good response. All of the requests she'd dreamed up sounded a little ridiculous now. They were all so suspicious of red players…

"I was hoping you could meet him - without attacking him on sight," she said, injecting energy into that request. She was serious!

"Meet him?" Heathcliff raised a single eyebrow (which was sort of cool, Silica didn't know how he did it).

"Yeah, then you can judge him for yourself because you don't trust me."

Her bluntness seemed to surprise them, as if she hadn't been blunt with her requests throughout this conversation. It was true though. And what was the point of being super-cute if people wouldn't trust you when it mattered though? She subtly tried to exaggerate all her cutest features anyway, giving them a wide-eyed look, complete with a feathery blue dragon. Maybe she could try charming them with her music skills?

No one seemed to notice her charm unfortunately. Heathcliff did swiftly answer in his even tone though. "While that is an interesting suggestion, how do I know you won't lead us into a trap?"

"Because you're like the strongest player in the game and I'm not an idiot?"

Heathcliff's eyes narrowed at her attempt at a light-hearted response. "Please be serious, girl," he instructed.

Silica scowled. "Listen, I won't be able to do anything to you even if I did want to and if you pack a teleport crystal each and some potions and we go to some open forest or something then there's no chance of anyone accidentally dying!" Killing clearers would be almost impossible, not to mention wrong.

"I'd like to meet him," Asuna said suddenly, looking serious.

Did that make this meeting a success then? Wow. Heathcliff looked slightly surprised that Asuna had made such a decision. Silica couldn't help but grin brightly, deciding that persuading the second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood meant she was awesome.

Heathcliff sighed. "Well why not? Can't leave him unchecked now…" he muttered. "How about we meet in the Darkovia grove on the 26th floor in two days at 6pm? I'm sure it'll be deserted," he then suggested in his practical tone.

Silica continued to grin, feeling proud. "That sounds great!" She turned to the guard. "You can come to if you like! You're invited anyway," she said, because she inexplicably rather liked his easy-going attitude.

And with that she left the grand headquarters.

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Silica waited with great impatience for a few hours at Kirito's home before he finally arrived from what was presumably a gruelling training session. After the big meeting she'd gone shopping for a while but has been a little too excited about delivering her good news to actually get anything done. Kirito would be shocked that she'd managed it and impressing him was hard!

"Hello! Hello!" She said as he walked in, rubbing rain off his person. Two hellos were better than one, right?

Kirito started a bit in surprise, not having expected her to be standing so close to the entrance waiting. "Hello Silica," he replied nonchalantly.

He walked passed her, collapsing on his comfortable couch like he was exhausted. Silica frowned a bit, having hoped for a little more attention when she had been waiting so eagerly. Maybe he was just antisocial as a result of enduring the stigma of being a red player, that orange cursor did look sinister, floating above his head.

"I've got great news!" She announced in her loudest grand voice to get his attention.

He looked at her. "Did you find a way to convert all your music skill to sword skill?" Kirito asked casually, seeming to enjoy getting her irritated.

"Oh be quiet! Music is actually pretty cool, you know?"

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is! Anyway I have some news that you'll love," Silica didn't let his not quite disinterest distract her.

Kirito just looked at her and waited for her to get to the point.

Now how to word this? "I spoke to Heathcliff today," she began and felt like smirking in victory when he let out a gasp of surprise.

"You mean- you mean you spoke to him about me?" He asked, looking absolutely stunned to hear she'd actually managed such a goal so soon.

Silica wanted to jokingly berate him about being self-centred until she remembered that he was indeed all she had spoken about. "Yes… And he says he wants to meet you!" She announced, pausing for dramatic effect.

Kirito smiled, for it was the first step into achieving something he really wanted. Until he momentarily frowned. "He's not going to attempt to capture me on sight, right?" He checked nervously.

Silica shook her head. "Probably not. We'll meet him in two days – know where the darkovia grove is?" Her words weren't exactly that comforting but maybe he would attempt to capture them; hopefully he wouldn't.

Kirito sighed in exasperation, growing used to her attitude from a week's exposure. "I really hope this works," he replied sincerely.

Silica decided to go and sit next to him on the couch; he acted so much older than her, and he was about two years older, but he definitely had a lot of worries and was probably still feeling bitter. She could try her best to ease those concerns, if she wasn't the best well there wasn't anyone else willing to help him. Some people would probably still distrust even if he save their lives like he'd saved hers though that had been admittedly easy for such a strong player.

"They didn't seem very mean, just a bit wary so I'm sure it'll be okay!" Silica replied, using her light not-too-serious tone. Silica didn't like taking everything too seriously, not when you could just relax and roll with it.

"If you say so."

"It'll be awesome!" That got a chuckle out of him.

"Well then thanks Silica! You've been wonderful you know? I think I can finally envision this as a game for a moment and not a terrible death trap." His words were really sincere but they somehow managed to ruin the mood.

It was a little sad really, how he had been stuck on his desperate survival mode. He'd come out of it really strong stat wise but on the other hand most middle players like her (or like she had been) were getting used to their life inside the virtual world. In all honesty deaths were becoming a rarity, most casualties were clearers who inevitably risked their lives and inside towns it was almost impossible to die; red players were few and far between. Kirito hadn't experienced all the pleasantness to be had in the virtual reality due to such cruel rules that practically prohibited contact between other players. People would probably run away if they saw him.

"Thanks, you definitely deserve this – I'm just doing it for all the expensive presents you'll get me," Silica said cheekily, giggling to show she wasn't serious.

"Presents eh? Is the armour and weapons I gave you not enough?" Kirito played along. He didn't seem to mind joking around even if he was a very solitary and dangerous figure on first appearance.

Training with him had been hard work the first day, with her standing around, throwing knives (not a skill she was proficient at, only recently spending her latest skill point in it), at targets before Kirito viciously destroyed them. It had been a quiet and serious affair for they both knew that Silica had been in a risky situation. Sure Kirito was doing an impressive job of fending off monsters single-handedly, even making opportunities for Silica to try and hit them, but it wouldn't have taken a lot of hits for her to be killed.

By the end of that first training day when she'd already gained a few levels due to how rewarding just supporting Kirito was, Silica was feeling more confident and felt far safer once she understood how their training worked. So on the second day, she'd merrily chattered with him while he slayed monsters and soon the atmosphere was way more relaxed. Kirito began conversing with her and they both learned a bit about each other too.

"I want custom-made armour! Your stuff is all second-hand," Silica complained for fun.

Kirito rolled his eyes but manipulated his inventory to bring out his blacksmith's hammer anyway. "I could make some," he mused. "But surely a proper blacksmith would be far better than me?"

Kirito actually had a pretty high skill in blacksmithing as apparently he repaired all his own equipment frequently and often had spare monster parts which he used to make more weapons for fun when he was bored. Not being able to sell the drops he collected meant he had a surplus to practice with, also collecting ingredients for new weapons gave him short-term targets to focus on, though it was rare that he managed to make a weapon good enough to replace his normal gear.

"I don't mind – you're probably way cheaper anyway!" Silica replied, finding the exasperated look he sent her hilarious.

Then he just shrugged. "It'd be ridiculous to charge you, I don't really want any physical things. I could get most things myself pretty easily."

His self-sufficiency was kind of ridiculous, as was his knowledge on almost anything game related. There were gaps though, when training with him he hadn't used the standard words for communication at all – because he didn't use teamwork or fight alongside others at all. He'd been oddly impressed with the benefits her support skill gave him and had been really pleased whenever Pina decided to heal him if he began to get low on health. Silica's battle style had always been completely focused on aiding others in a team so it was a weird transition.

"Yeah, you still need to tell me the story of how you found that dual-wielding skill. I've talked to other players and none of them have heard of anything like it," Silica replied, changing the subject. Hard-to-get-skills were something loads of players searched long and hard for. As far as she knew, most clearers practiced at least one rare skill.

"Wait, that's rare?" He said in surprise. "I just found it available one day and immediately spent a skill point in it," he explained somewhat sheepishly.

Silica nodded. "You kept it a secret in front of those other red players so I'd assumed you knew it was really rare."

Kirito smiled a bit. "I was just getting them to underestimate me, you know?" he said. "Anyway I think I'll make some dinner," he added, getting up off the couch.

Silica watched him go and then stared outside at the constant downpour. In two short days, Kirito would be meeting Heathcliff and Asuna. Would he be able to befriend them? Would it cause him to move out of his rainy home to a better floor, Silica wondered. She rather liked it here and it was comfortable with just the two of them Kirito had seemed really happy and impressed at her for getting a meeting with them but if it messed up then he'd be in trouble. Silica wondered if perhaps she had been too hasty.

Oh well, it would probably be fine! Most players weren't mean so surely they'd accept him, right?

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**So what did you think? I have to say that I really enjoy writing Silica (did I say that last chapter?), she's supposed to be a bit silly and childlike in contrast to Kirito's serious nature. Asuna was harder to write but she's stricter than she was in canon without Kirito's influence. So please do leave a review as they've been really encouraging so far, especially if you have any suggestions or interesting insights.**

**Note that music isn't really a terrible skill; Kirito just think it's ridiculous. **


	4. The Dangerous Meeting

**Hey there, thanks for all the reviews once again, I'm amazed at the amount of feedback I've been getting and wasn't about to disappoint you by not updating. This is the meeting between them and the Knights of the blood. Hopefully it's not too rushed, the characters feel realistic and you like it! Oh yeah this is totally Kirito/Silica by the way. Not a threesome or Harem just so you're clear. And the plot takes precedence anyway.**

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"This is definitely going to be an ambush."

Kirito and Silica were standing in Darkovia forest, more than an hour early for the meeting. Silica frowned at his negative observation.

"No it won't! Why would they want to ambush us?" Silica immediately protested, a little self-conscious about the arrangement she had made. What if it did go badly?

Kirito rolled his eyes, whilst finding a decorative fallen log to sit down on. "They distrust me – and you by association," he explained.

Silica made a show out of sitting down beside him angrily. It was the best way to show dramatic disagreement, right? "That's not true at all!"

When Kirito didn't say anything in reply as if that made his point better or something, Silica decided just to drop the subject for the moment. Sort of. "Can you tell me about your fairytale meeting with Asuna again?" She requested instead.

After Silica had returned from the fiftieth floor, feeling rather chuffed, Kirito had obviously asked for more details about how Silica had managed to arrange such a meeting. She had quite eagerly explained about her going there and that it all worked out because of the second-in-command Asuna's interest in a meeting. Kirito then revealed that they'd helped defeat the very first boss together and he'd helped teach her more about MMOs before going off on his own once the boss was defeated. Silica wondered how Asuna felt when she learned what red players were.

"It wasn't like that at all," he grumbled in protest. He was fun to tease! "That was all I ever saw of her – and that was a long time ago."

"What if she actually does care about you though?" Silica prodded at such a firm denial, not liking the idea that Kirito wasn't willing to trust others.

He just shrugged. "Then that'll be really nice," he responded. "It's you I'd be thanking for it though Silica."

The seemingly casual comment thrown onto the end made her blush. And it gave her the momentary courage to idiotically smile and reach out to gently grasp Kirito's hand. He only shied away a little which was practically approval in Silica's mind. She really was awesome, wasn't she?

"I'm sure that this'll go great!" Silica declared, injecting confidence into her voice.

If it did go badly though then would Kirito end up blaming her for it? He'd said that it was because of her that it went well, but then surely it was her fault if it went wrong too? It had to go well, Silica realised feeling a little alarmed. Or else Kirito would end up hating her forever whilst trapped in a dungeon. The images that went through her mind seemed scary.

Asuna did seem quite cold and aloof and it was probably easy for someone like her to casually throw someone into a dark prison. Or maybe she'd keep him in a nearby prison just so that she could talk to Kirito and make him dependent upon her, because she cared in an evil, twisted way? And never ever let Silica visit! Maybe that had been the plot all along and she hadn't noticed…

"This is the perfect spot for them to ambush us though," Kirito couldn't help but point out, oblivious to her worried thoughts.

Silica giggled nervously, trying not to think the worst. "Maybe we should stand somewhere else then?" She found herself standing up, letting go of Kirito's hand. She didn't move though, detached from her surroundings.

"Are you nervous?" Kirito asked incredulously, his voice full of humour. "You – the most ridiculously upbeat and cheerful girl in this game who learned music and beast-taming?"

She focused back on him, her worries momentarily forgotten in the face of teasing. "It's not funny!" Silica complained, petting Pina, curled up on her head as usual. "Music is super-awesome and so is Pina!"

Kirito smiled. "Pina is quite cool, I admit."

Silica scowled, noting the omission of her music skill.

Surprisingly his voiced turned a little more serious. "And he's grown quite a bit too, I think he's benefitting from all the levels you've been earning recently," he continued.

In the two days before the meeting, the two of them had spent yet more time training and Silica had gained about a level and a half putting her at the respectable level 56. All her levels caused her dear feathered dragon to become stronger too and as a result he was growing quickly. Maybe, soon he wouldn't be able to curl up on her head whenever he was tired. That'd be a shame.

Her skills were looking uncomfortably low in comparison though thanks to the fact that she had been levelling in such a rapid way with a stronger player doing the majority of the fighting for her. Only the new skill she'd picked up at Kirito's request – throwing, had improved significantly. And that was because it was the easiest way to get partial experience for defeating a monster. If the weapon hit then you got some experience for it if the monster was killed. Still she did like it, as it allowed her to stay back a bit and not get too overwhelmed.

"Training with you is lots of fun," Silica replied with her biggest grin. Kirito merely rolled his eyes.

* * *

It was not long before a group of Knights seemed to melt out of the woods. That's what it looked like from Silica's perspective at least but Kirito had tensed a moment before due to his high level searching skill allowing him to see them when she couldn't. A whole band of knights meeting them? That was scary.

But those red and white uniforms were unmistakeable, as was the prominent figures of Asuna and Heathcliff at the front of the group. Silica and Kirito both stood up, tensed whilst the group stopped, barely two metres away from them. Asuna took another step forward, her eyes gazing intently at Kirito.

"It seems you were telling the truth Silica," Asuna stated, not moving her eyes away from Kirito.

Silica shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah!" She failed to hide her nervousness with an attempt at confidence. "Umm… we're not enemies?"

Heathcliff gave her an unfeeling smile. "Was that a question? Currently I see a red player and his accomplice so how can I see the two of you as anything other than enemies?" He asked unpleasantly. Well his voice was fairly serene but Silica could feel the threat behind it.

Kirito quietly spoke up. "Silica is an innocent girl who never murdered anyone indirectly or otherwise, please don't suggest anything else." His words were quiet but firm, far firmer than she could have managed.

Silica shot him a grateful smile. The Knights of the blood didn't seem to otherwise react to the statement but it was good to hear Kirito defend her. Currently the knights were waiting it seemed, content to wait for their leaders to come to a decision. Perhaps they did have a chance after all? And they hadn't been ambushed like Kirito had predicted.

"But you're not denying that you're a murderer," Heathcliff surmised, looking at them with suspicion. Well he had a negative way of viewing things.

"He's not a killer! He saved my life you know? He's been stuck with a terrible orange cursor for over a year but he hasn't killed anyone like everyone expects him to!" Silica said all this in a furious tone, inwardly frightened but able to hide it. She could not let them believe anything else.

"The girl's probably a liar," one of the knights harshly suggested, unimpressed by her anger.

"Be quiet Kuradeel, she's apparently renowned for innocence and shouldn't be messed up in all this," Asuna ordered sharply. "We should keep her away from him if possible though, it's probable she was tricked."

Kirito's face settled into a stony expression at that – maybe she had overestimated their bond. It had sounded wonderful, him teaching her how to play and even suggesting she join a great guild. Here she was now, as suspicious as everyone else. But it had been a year ago since the two met and Asuna simply didn't like red players. Though she had wanted to meet him, right? They hadn't been ambushed at least.

"Renowned for innocence?" One of the men asked quizzically.

She really was unknown to the clearers, wasn't she? "I'm a bit like an idol in here you know? I'm a cute female player and though I'm not thirteen yet, I'm an active player and the first player to successful tame a dragon!" Silica explained, well bragged, putting on a cute face and showing off Pina who also preened at the attention.

Heathcliff coughed, drawing attention back towards him. "Yes, I don't believe she has wilfully committed any crime whilst in here though there is a distinct possibility that she has been tricked," he said in his measured tone.

"Furthermore we're here to discuss whether or not to accept Kirito as a new clearer in light of the fact that he claims not to be a killer and intends to help of despite the fact that he is a red player," he continued keeping the conversation from getting too off the rails.

There were quite a few protests at his words interestingly. (Hadn't they been informed of anything?) The Knights didn't like the idea one bit and made sure their leader knew it. Kirito kept a calm expression, shooting her a small reassuring smile throughout the accusations. Asuna also kept quiet, as if she was unsure of what to think. Listening to the knights, Silica at least noted that they didn't seem to have a problem with Kirito personally more just the principle of having a red player associated with them. It would look bad to the other guilds.

"Silence," Heathcliff said after a few moments and his men immediately quietened down. "Let us first judge Kirito's claim of innocence before we make any decisions."

Silica nodded eagerly, glad they were doing the meeting properly – Heathcliff was surprisingly awesome. "So Kirito, how did you acquire a red name?" He asked.

Silica looked back at Kirito as he hesitated, trying to find the right words to properly explain everything. Undoubtedly he had a teleport crystal ready at a moment's notice in case anything went wrong and Silica had one too. If they decided not to trust Kirito then Silica would continue to stand by him anyway. Perhaps in secret though.

"I was a beta-tester for Sword Art online and I particularly enjoyed the multiplayer aspect of the game, fighting others was always so much more exciting than just fighting monsters," he began in the most roundabout way possible. Why couldn't he just get to the point? Being a beta-tester was not a good thing and wouldn't gain him any trust.

No one interrupted him at least. "So when the game finally launched I thought it would be fun to try playing as one of the villainous characters – more exciting and difficult as I wanted a challenge."

He paused thinking through his next words carefully and Silica made sure to glare at anyone who looked like they were about to interject with some unhelpful comment. They didn't interrupt; the small group was willing to at least hear the tale fully as their leader obviously wanted. He obviously had a lot of respect for them to be so ordered. Maybe the small group wasn't such a bad size after all.

"To make sure I wouldn't back out of my self-imposed challenge I decided to get a permanent red name immediately through defeating the first five players I met outside the starting town. It was after this that the announcement from Kayaba came informing me that everyone I'd killed was dead for real, five of the 283 people dead in the tutorial," he explained with such a terrible bitterness in his voice it made Silica's mood drop.

"I had a permanent red name but I never killed another player once I realised that this was a death game thought up by a cruel, cruel apathetic game-maker Kayaba," Kirito finished off glaring into space at the injustice of it all.

Silica reached out an arm and squeezed his hand comfortingly. "You saved my life and probably others too, you know?"

Everyone digested his story, questioning the validity of it. Asuna in particularly had a sad and sympathetic expression. Most of the other knights looked at least a little uncertain or sympathetic though that Kuradeel was a notable exception – scowling at the ground for whatever reason. It had been a hard thing for her to believe but terrifying if it was true.

"We could talk to Shasta, the memorial stone on the first floor states the names and dates of a player's death, right? We could use that to confirm your story," Asuna suggested with a sudden spark of determination.

Silica had heard of Shasta once or twice before. He was known as the Coroner and made it his job to find out how and why a death occurred and then tried to prevent these future occurrences. His suggestions had possibly saved hundreds of players and he managed to work out where some of the most dangerous spots were in the game. It was probably a depressing job but many were grateful for his efforts.

Heathcliff nodded. "If you can tell us the names of the players then we will check the date on which they died and see if your story matches up," he said. "You do remember the names don't you? He added sternly.

Kirito gulped. "Yes… I couldn't forget them. I can't come to any towns though, red players aren't allowed for some stupid reason."

Heathcliff raised his eyebrows, as if Kirito was being naive. "We don't have to go there, we just have to communicate with Shasta who is almost certainly already there. And what do you mean stupid reason? Obviously there is a very good reason not to allow red players there."

Silica smiled slightly, Kirito was usually very well-informed about game mechanics but simple things like communication eluded him due to lack of anyone to talk to, it probably hadn't even crossed his mind. He'd been like that fighting too, on their training sessions. He didn't seem to remember all the cues and gestures or the shortened language players used to communicate during fights. It was a drawback of fighting solo and it made Silica feel uneasy to be fighting alongside him at times due to how independent it could sometimes feel.

"It's stupid because safezones are the place it is impossible to hurt other players, surely it would make more sense for them to be trapped in them rather than restricted to them?" He explained in his usual tone for speaking about the drawbacks of the game. Kirito absolutely loved pointing out how messed up it was and seemed to love finding stupid flaws and contrivances such as that.

"You know, you have a point there," Asuna agreed tentatively. Kirito nodded and gave her a somewhat chilly smile in return.

Heathcliff seemed to flinch oddly. "Well Kayaba probably didn't want to design a fair game, did he?" He suggested grimly. Kayaba sure was twisted, that much was certain.

"Still he implemented the whole red player thing in the first place as if to discourage player killings and yet allowed PVP to be possible in the first place beyond friendly duels. And if you were saying he was trying to make it more realistic or something then he would've allowed them in safe zones too, otherwise the restriction seems really arbitrary." Kirito seemed to relish in the change to rant in front of an audience.

Then there's the fact that you don't become a red player even if you kill a red player – he's sending really mixed signals about killing, isn't he?" He added grimly.

"Yes… however we can't exactly do anything about it, can we?" Heathcliff asked, looking oddly put out. Maybe he was feeling sympathy for Kirito's situation after all – that would be just wonderful. "So could you tell us those names?" He continued solemnly.

Silica sighed, wishing it wasn't necessary but at the same time glad that Kirito was able to prove his story. With this evidence they would have to believe Kirito, wouldn't they? And then he could fulfil his dream of defeating all the bosses and he'd be really thankful to her for making it all possible. Then in the real world they could go on a date…

"The names, yes," Kirito agreed slowly. "There was two friends Engarde and Deshavi…" he began, deep in thought.

"Then there was Sherbet and Meryl and…" he broke off, looking haunted. "And finally Klein."

* * *

Roughly ten minutes later in which everyone sat around awkwardly, a reply came from Shasta the coroner. He had replied in the affirmative of course. All of the people Kirito had claimed to kill had died on the very first day. Furthermore the immense amount of guilt practically radiating out of him was proof enough that he had been telling the truth and was not, in fact, a murderer.

It was everything Silica could've hoped for when she'd made this meeting and yet she felt a little hollow after hearing the names and seeing him suffer. She could only hope that he would get better and they could move away from this – no use being sad all the time, right? Silica didn't like thinking about the fact that this was a death game at all.

"Kirito, I think we are all convinced that you are what you say you are but what now?" Heathcliff's strong words cut into the somewhat heavy silence.

"I just want to help the clearers to get out of this death game as fast as possible. I want to fight in the boss fights," Kirito replied firmly.

No Knights dismissed the idea offhand this time, they were definitely feeling sympathetic to him now. Heathcliff considered the proposal carefully.

"You want the Knights of the Blood to vouch for you?" he checked.

"That would be absolutely wonderful! Thanks Heathcliff, you're the best!" Silica exclaimed giving him her brightest smile. He was actually granting Kirito's request! They were never going to have any problems anymore! She was going to go back to the real world, and it was going to be soon!

Everyone looked at her incredulously and she looked down sheepishly, realising she may have spoken out of line. Still, it was fun being happy, even if the clearers didn't seem to understand it.

"Silica, I haven't said we will yet and you're too weak to be a clearer anyway." Heathcliff chuckled at her exaggerated emotions,

"…Oh." Silica's face grew red in embarrassment.

Pina decided to flutter down into her arms in response and leaned up to lick her face in order to make her feel better. It worked; Silica immediately began giggling at her wonderful pet dragon.

"But I will have to consider this. At any rate we won't throw you into prison or take some other drastic action currently," Heathcliff finally announced.

That was definitely good news! Silica would have to act even happier to outdo her previous response! So she hugged the armoured man in gratitude (which turned out to be a bad idea as armour could be really uncomfortable), before hugging Kirito too, which was far nicer(only wearing his dark coat). She had one them over through her awesome powers of charm and cuteness! And through Kirito's lack of evilness too, she supposed. Now Kirito would be really grateful!

"Strange girl," Heathcliff muttered but Silica didn't really care. "Why don't I add you as a contact so that I can contact you once we've come to a decision?" He asked her.

Asuna stood up from where she'd be sitting on the ground then. "May I have your contact too, Kirito?" She asked. "It would mean a lot to me."

Currently, Silica wasn't sure how she felt about Asuna. The second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood could be a bit scary but then she was also surprisingly thoughtful and had been fairly open-minded about Kirito even if she hadn't immediately trusted him. Which was only an intelligent thing to do really.

"Eh? Not while we're not being protected by the Knights of the Blood; it's better I'm on my own until then," Kirito replied, looking uncertain himself.

Silica wasn't quite sure if that made sense or not, but Kirito did seriously look unsure about it so maybe it was just due to his lack of use of the contact function. Either way, keeping a little distance from the Knights of the Blood if they were reluctant to vouch for them made at least some sense.

So they ended up returning to the depressing house on the 34th floor where the rain was relentless as always. They hadn't been sent to prison or anything else and there was still a chance of getting into the Boss fights but overall only a little had changed. That was okay though, at least it was still just the two of them. Even the rain was beginning to feel welcome, like a constant.

* * *

**That's it for now, what did you think? I hope it didn't seem too rushed and I may edit it later. Yeah, a few of you reviewers asked about Klein and he's simply not alive in this fic. I had that idea from the beginning and only kow mentioned it. **

**On a lighter topic, I just wanted to say that I honestly really like the second series of the anime. A lot of people seem to hate the Alfheim arc and they do have a point but I preferred it. The pacing was so much better, taking place over just a few days with a consistent party throughout whereas Aincrad showed over two years in thirteen episodes and just felt really rushed to me.**

**Suguha's feelings for Kazuto were a little creepy but also felt more real to me than Asuna's as it had a better focus, Suguha was generally great at comforting him and showing she cared and the scene when they were fighting was intriguing, their story felt far more real possibly because it was in the real world. Also she helped him save Asuna, unrequited love is something that really encourages me to ship, I have to say. **

**Also the Villain was better, he was a little stupid and such but at least he had a motive that made some sort of sense. I'm still not sure what Kayaba's reason for the death game was or why he was sort of but not really redeemed. He killed far more people and at the end he just sort of shrugged. The ending didn't really disappoint me either, I think that's because the ending of the first series was so nonsensical and confusing (Kirito died and then didn't died and then killed Heathcliff and then died again? With Asuna killing herself for him?) that the ending of the second series seemed fine by comparison. It's not perfect but I found it generally more entertaining. And I know the fights were overdramatic and such but from Kirito's point of view he had a very real deadline.**

**I know a lot of people didn't like it but I did. What are your thoughts on the second series? **

**And what are your thoughts on this chapter? I've really appreciated your reviews so far and I like all your suggestions. They're very encouraging and I'm glad you've taken an interest in the idea as much as I have. Thanks for reading!**


	5. The Horrible News

**Hey there, apologies for updating a few weeks late but rest assured I do in fact have another chapter to post. Thanks for all the reviews and I'm glad you guys appreciated that twist. I don't believe I'll elaborate on Klein any more in this story but I may write a one-shot companion piece which simply features Kirito's first day and how he kills each of the five players.**

**Thanks for the interesting comments regarding Alfheim and Aincrad, I found them quite interesting.**

**Oh and this is definitely a Kirito/Silica fic. No other pairings planned. No multi-pairings, they're not really to my tastes.**

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews by the way, some of you provide some excellent discussion or excellent criticism. I like to rate a story's popularity by how many critical comments and I sort of don't like them because they highlight my flaws but then again I kind of need them too! I don't want to just ignore everything wrong with this story. Your reviews really do encourage me to write more! **

* * *

There had been a sense of cautious optimism about the future just a day ago, Silica reflected with a frown.

The Knights of the Blood had been busy with a boss battle and had put contacting two lone players to the back of their minds to deal with their next challenge. It was slightly annoying, given how they'd both like to be involved, but it was something they'd been fine with enduring. Well, it wasn't easy to tell what Kirito was thinking but he acted patient anyway.

She clutched the brief newsletter she'd collected in town and read the spiteful words again hoping she'd somehow completely misread everything it said. No luck. Maybe it was an incredibly elaborate joke on everyone in the game? Was there even someone so devious as to write a fictional story about the strongest guild in Aincrad erupting into chaos and post it as news?

Indeed the Aincrad tales newsletter, which was published whenever there was an interesting piece of news or whenever the writer felt like it (some players were annoyingly lazy with their jobs), it was claiming that the Knights of the Blood had collapsed or hopefully were only divided. The details were a little hazy still. What was deemed certain was that the cause of this very serious fracture was sympathy for red players.

Basically it had been leaked to the guild as a whole that Heathcliff had been seen negotiating with red players and that he didn't think that they were guilty as player killers. Many members had taken offense to that and, in order to avoid the stigma of being attached to a guild who sympathised with red players, they had left to form their own unit. It wasn't clear how the rest of the members were doing or how successfully this new guild would operate. Even the leader wasn't yet known.

Silica was curled up in a little ball, on a quieter side of the town, reluctant to move. To move would mean to go back to the house on the 34th floor. To go back to Kirito. He was already so very wracked with guilt and Silica didn't want him to know that his presence had inadvertently caused what could be described as a calamity. The major fighting force had broken up and they were only on the 66th floor.

It was her fault too. Kirito hadn't thought it a good idea and would never have gone along with the persuasion plan if she hadn't encouraged him. Maybe he'd blame her for ruining everything? Maybe he'd already found about the news and now hated her? A wave of emotion pulsed through her at the thought. She blinked a few times, willing herself not to cry, but it was no use. The tears felt natural, despite the virtual reality.

Pina, her wonderful friend, began licking her face affectionately. She attempted a smile for him, which didn't really work, and stroked his feathery body. He couldn't understand what was going on or how she'd just messed up. Even so, he wanted to cheer her up any way he could.

"S-sorry Pina," she managed. "I think I caused the strongest guild to break apart and now I don't know if I'll ever get out."

Pina blinked at her quizzically. He couldn't know what she meant. It probably didn't mean a lot if he didn't hate her like all the other players would if they realised that she'd caused this. Still she was thankful for him all the same.

Silica hugged Pina. There wasn't really anything to say so she just sat there, wondering if she'd ever be able to recollect herself and move forward. She couldn't sit her forever after all.

Before she'd drummed up the courage to do something, a rare ping emitted loudly down the narrow and empty street. Someone had messaged her. Automatically, she found herself opening the menu to read and was disappointed by the reply.

'Helping you has become unwise. The Knights will no longer support you and Kirito so I wish the two of you luck.'

It was from Heathcliff, he'd finally found an opportunity to properly cut off any chance for support. Silica had expected this but it was still depressing. She shook a little, trying to hold in another sob, upon realising that the last thing she'd been holding out for had been nothing. They'd accomplished absolutely nothing and ruined the game for everyone.

Not that she could blame Heathcliff for distancing himself – she'd expected it and had no right to be this disappointed.

* * *

Silica wasn't sure how long she sat in that alley for, lost in her own dark thoughts but eventually she left, carefully brushing away any tears from her face as she walked away. Despite still feeling absolutely horrible, she wasn't really the type to mope about feeling sorry for herself. No, she wanted to fix everything and help Kirito and Asuna and Heathcliff save the day.

Sure, messing up was terrible and she wasn't ready to face Kirito just yet but giving up would be even worse! She still had Pina, right? It was her responsibility to fix everything after ruining everything and she wasn't going to back down!

Silica summoned up all the confidence and swagger she possessed (and even right after the disaster she still had quite a bit), and she marched straight through a portal to what was currently the top floor. If any had watched her closely then hopefully they'd see her looking really determined and awesome; hopefully not all broken and messed up like she most certainly was on the inside.

* * *

The top floor was loud, busy and filled with energy; it was sort of distracting really. Not that she minded, any distractions were a good thing for the moment. The more active merchants tended to practically follow the clearers up to the highest floor as soon as the boss was defeated and set up temporary shops and stalls to provide them swift service. Usually they were also great at giving the clearers kindness to encourage them. Today though, their words weren't being wasted on simple compliments.

"The knights are gone!" One exclaimed to an exhausted looking customer.

"Is it true? What's happening?" Another was asking his partner in a panicked tone.

Silica frowned, realising that the merchants weren't going to provide such a great distraction as she hoped. Why couldn't they be discussing the bitingly cold and fierce winds of the new floor? At least the customer looked a little irritated by the question too, he was probably a tired clearer. He'd probably been crushed by the news like and knew all about it and wanted to forget about it.

He knew all about it! Silica could just ask him for the details! After smiling and giving herself a mental cheer for thinking of a good plan, she chased after the tall man, who'd swiftly left the stall after grabbing a warm bagel. Silica needed to know just how badly the frontlines were doing.

"Hello!" she said in her usual bright tone, waving her arms wildly in front of him to get his attention.

He frowned down at her. "What do you want girl?" He asked impatiently. The man actually didn't look that old and probably wasn't even an adult yet, with a youthful face, no facial hair and healthy looking brown hair. He was annoyingly tall though.

"I'm Silica, I need to know…" she began, before pausing as she wondered what exactly to say.

"I'm not going to explain what happened to the Knights," he interrupted, look irritated.

"But, they broke apart right?" At his admittedly reluctant nod, she continued: "then what are the clearers going to do?"

"What do you mean?" He replied, he'd relaxed into a more neutral stance now, apparently deciding to be patient with her. She hadn't really noticed but he'd been standing in a rather aggressive pose a second before.

"Like, are they still going to be able to clear floors without the Knights?" She elaborated, waving her arms for emphasis.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're don't understand much, you know that right? Guilds don't matter much in boss fights and all the players are still in the front lines. We're not going to stop clearing floors or anything ridiculous."

Silica breathed a sigh of relief. She'd been imagining that they'd suddenly lost all of their drive without a proper leader. "That's wonderful, I thought I'd really ruined everything, it's good to know it's not that bad," she babbled, smiling at him. Of course all the clearers weren't just going to stop clearing! There were probably over a hundred of them and they weren't all in one guild.

"Why would you think you'd ruined anything, girl?" The boy was still standing in front of her and he looked more suspicious than curious and Silica realised she'd probably said too much. At least he wasn't talking very loudly and attracting anymore attention.

She tried laughing awkwardly to make the boy lose interest in her. "Oh, you know, I kind of… just a silly little thing. Don't worry about it!" As she said this, she took a step back, hoping a crowd would magically appear so she'd vanish in it.

He effortlessly leant forward and grabbed her sleeve. "Wait." He said, his voice guarded and hard to read. What was he going to do?

His next words were spoken in a frustratingly even tone – why couldn't he show more emotion? It was making her feel rather unnerved. "You seem rather worried about the front lines and I suppose I could update you on any news I find if it makes you feel better."

Silica gave him a genuinely happy smile. He just wanted to help her and he was on the front lines! And she'd guessed the worst and thought he'd demand to know everything. Who would've thought such a tired boy would still be caring enough to look out for her after seeing that she was so distressed? Within seconds a friend request box appeared before her.

'Keita would like to be your friend.'

Silica immediately tapped the Yes button and the boxed morphed to tell her that she was now friends with Keita! A glance at his guild status showed it was currently empty meaning he wasn't even in a guild and had to be a frontline solo clearer. So she could ask him a hundred questions without even having to worry about any annoying guild politics.

"You're surprisingly high level girl," he noted, examining her profile. "Err, Silica, I suppose I should call you," he thoughtfully corrected. She knew it would have begun to get grating if he continued to just call her 'girl'.

She nodded, vigorously enough to unsettle Pina on her head. "I'm hoping to join the frontlines soon so I have to be really strong for it!"

"Yes… Well I should get going, have a nice day I suppose," Keita said, turning to walk away, though not without giving her a small wave. "I'd return home for the day if I were you," she just barely heard him add as the noise of the marketplace muffled his voice.

Silica looked down at the reminder. She still had to talk to Kirito who was probably either training, hunting or just relaxing at home in a carefree sort of manner; oblivious to the turmoil they'd caused. Still, she had to face him eventually right? Even if it sounded kind of simple, Silica really didn't want to face that crushing guilt and disappoint she's hid during her conversation with Keita. Maybe it was still too soon.

But as she aimlessly walked past a colourful collection of stalls, she remembered that she didn't really have anything else to do her either. Keita had already agreed to fill her in on news and talking to anymore exhausted clearers would be almost as scary itself. If they were upset about what'd she had helped cause then she'd just feel even guiltier. What else was there to do other than go back? Kirito would probably expect her soon anyway and making him wait and (it seemed rather ironic) worry about her wouldn't do any good.

"You know Pina, that boy didn't give you one single compliment," Silica murmured to her long-time friend when he nipped at her ear affectionately after seeing her freeze, lost in thought.

* * *

Not long after, Silica did finally make her way to the 34th floor. She was brave! As she opened the door she was met with the sight of Kirito holding a long sharp knife with which he was unskinning an animal over the wooden floor.

Driven to distraction by the ugly mixture of dark red and murky brown mixed with a ruthlessly stable silver knife, Silica forgot everything that had transpired over the course of the day. "Why are you unskinning an animal in the living room? She demanded with confusion and fury.

Kirito looked up at her, like he'd only just noticed her. "Oh hey Silica, it's too valuable for me to try in the wilderness where I can't focus completely on it," he explained lightly, unaffected by her anger.

She walked further into the room, keeping her distance from the monster corpse in the centre. "But couldn't you at least try the kitchen or something?" She asked.

He shrugged, examining his work intently. "It's a mechanic of the game, there's not any lasting trace of it once I'm done" he said unapologetically.

"But still- WAIT! Is that a dragon?" She suddenly roared, noticing the creature's long, silky, purple tale and what might have once been a pair of wings. She loved Pina and killing dragons was just unacceptable! They were majestic creatures.

He was silent for an unforgivingly long time, confirming his guilt in her eyes. "Well, technically it's a Wyvern?" He tried unconvincingly.

"Why would you slay a dragon? You'll offend Pina!" Silica demanded.

Kirito sighed, standing up and giving her his full attention. "Please relax, Silica. This creature kidnapped an NPC girl on the 63rd floor and it's a very precious find. It is nothing like Pina," he explained seriously.

Well… that wasn't the point! "But you still didn't have to take it home, you don't need much money!" she replied, refusing to let the matter drop.

He shrugged. "I thought you might like some dragon leather, you'd fit your theme of dragontamer even better. It wasn't for money," he said, attempting a gentle look.

Silica was about to reply, explaining how she didn't want to wear dragon armour but Kirito had more to add. "It would show that you don't like evil dragons but you're friends with nice dragons?" He suggested.

This was too much. It had to be the most messed up kind gesture ever. Her thoughts went back to the bad news she had to deliver and she decided that being nice and accepting the badly-thought-out gift would be for the best. Then he wouldn't have any right to get really angry with her after she'd acted so graciously? Dragon armour though?

"Thank you then," she replied meekly, in a supreme effort to hide her annoyance.

His face lit up into a slightly bewildered smile. "Great! Would you be able to take it to one of those player tanners? After I'm done skinning obviously."

Silica collapsed into a couch. "You expect me to carry that skin over to a market now?" She asked faintly.

"Well I don't have the skill to do it myself and I can't make it into armour until after it's been treated. Usually I just go to the NPC in the village but a real player has a better success rate…" he explained awkwardly.

He'd had to have chosen such an annoying task that she felt obliged to do, didn't he? "Fine, I'll do it then," she said trying to hide the resentment she felt. She was never going to mess up again if it meant doing stupid things to be nice!

He gave a cheerful response and she just curled up on the comfy couch while he continued to work. The sound of the rain was rather soothing today, what with all the problems that seemed to have accumulated and the fact that it was actually quite light rainfall. The sun was even out! If she looked hard, then there was a good chance of a beautiful virtual rainbow. So she watched the rainfall, carefully ignoring the quick slices that cut far too well through what had once been a Wyvern.

A couple minutes later, she felt slightly calmer and was mentally preparing herself for announcing the news. "I've finished!" Kirito was announcing, his fingers dancing across his menu to make the remains of the corpse vanish from view, thankfully (it was a good thing the game was atrocious at imitating smell).

He handed her a stack of course material which was labelled in her inventory as venomous wyvern skin. "Hey it says it's venomous," she cried out immediately.

"The creature was but that just means the skill will have some great immunity and resistance on it once we turn it into armour." He reassured her. "Well it probably provides some resistance even without tanning it but you'd look stupid just wearing skin," he added in afterthought.

Silica just shook her head, storing it away for the moment. She had to focus now!

"Kirito?" She began shyly.

He sat next to her on the couch, giving her his full attention once again. "Yes?"

"You know the Knights of the Blood, the guild that Heathcliff is – was in charge of?" She said, not meeting his eyes but staring into space.

"Yeah, you got some news then?" He replied eagerly, probably imagining good news, like being allowed in the front lines.

She nodded hesitantly. "Heathcliff broke ties with us and won't give us any support," she started with, deciding it was best if she didn't get his hopes up by drawing her revelation out.

Predictably his face fell. "He doesn't want to help anymore? But why? He seemed to really believe you!" Kirito sounded pretty angry now, holding the arm of the couch in a rather hard grip.

"His guild has split apart because- because…" she didn't know how to say it.

Kirito looked at her anxiously, worried for her, or possibly just the story. "Yes?" He prodded, leaning closer to her to hear her now faint voice.

"Because they heard he had sympathies for red players and now don't want to associate with us!" She said in a suddenly loud voice, closing her eyes so she couldn't his reaction and he wouldn't see any trace of tears.

Silence. He didn't know what to say.

"Because of us?" He murmured, regret evident.

"I believe so."

"That's a shame, we'll have to find someone else to help I suppose?" He said his thoughts aloud.

Silica opened her eyes in disbelief. He didn't realise the consequences? How could he not understand how important the Knights were to the clearers?

"This is bad, Kirito! It'll disrupt the whole of the frontline because they were the leading guild! Their entire organisation was focussed around the efficient clearing of each floor!" She explained, confused herself now. Keita had said it wasn't as bad as she'd feared but it still had to be really bad! He'd looked exhausted as had many other players on the top floor.

Kirito's rely came slowly. "Are you alright, Silica?" He asked her softly. She realised he could see her teary eyed face though she'd tried to will it away.

"It's just… it's our fault, you know? We really messed up." There was no point hiding just how distraught she was now.

Kirito leant forward and tentatively gave her a quick hug. "You did nothing wrong, how did the guild break up exactly?"

She sighed, attempting to calm herself. He wasn't angry but caring! "It got out that Heathcliff was meeting and making dealings with red players and so the players left, not wanting to be associated with a guild that was sympathetic to red players," she gave about the same explanation that the newspaper had given.

"But who exactly caused it? I wouldn't think they'd break apart unless they at least wanted to somewhat," he asked thoughtfully. "It wasn't just us that made them collapse, right?"

Kirito seemed oddly detached about the whole incident but his words were reassuring nonetheless. Maybe she could've stayed to try and find out more as she really didn't know everything yet. She hadn't heard that great an account really. The newspaper had been vague and Keita had only really provided what she'd wanted to hear. Why had this to happen at all?

"I don't know – maybe they really don't trust red players not to kill others?" Silica replied sadly.

"Indeed, the idea of one being accepted is a foolish hope," he said in a similarly sad tone.

Silica blinked, realising he was getting really moody after all. He was happy to give up! "No Kirito! It's a foolish thought to say a foolish hope," she quickly said. They had to move forward after this!

Kirito smiled slightly. "I thought you thought we were just going to ruin everything?"

"Well I never give up!" She stated resolutely, standing up and crossing her arms to prove her point.

"I think we'll have to be patient either way if all that really happened," he replied, not really agreeing but not disagreeing either.

Silica hated the idea of not giving up leading to waiting but she nodded. Being hasty hadn't really worked out, had it? Kirito slowly stood up to, walking almost reluctantly to the kitchen.

"I'll get started on some food, I need to eat and…" he trailed off. He probably wanted to get his mind off their problems though. "Hope you like broiled wyvern?" He added giving a cheeky smile that had little feeling in it. He wasn't in the mood for teasing her anymore.

Silica groaned, grabbing Pina protectively. She wasn't about to start an argument anytime soon though. She just wouldn't think about it and hope it didn't taste terrible. Or too nice.

Maybe all her problems would just work themselves out if she ignored them. With that thought she laid down on the couch hoping that she'd find some soothing rest if she lied there for long enough.

* * *

**That's it for this chapter, I hope you liked it. If you're curious that Keita was the leader of the Black cats of the full moon. You'll see a little more of him and find out what's happened later. And yes, The Knights of the Blood did break apart and Heathcliff has lost a bit of his commanding power. This is what happens when you send a whole bad of players to meet a red player. Rumours spreading were pretty much inevitable. Silica is far too optimistic as always but now she's using it as a shield too. Kirito hasn't quite grasped the magnitude of the situation, he knows rather little about guilds doing to being detached.**

**I wrote another SAO story too, it's just a one-shot currently as I don't want to distract myself from this though! It's called Reality and it's completely unrelated.**

**Oh yeah, you probably noticed I altered the summary to this fic, as the original wasn't very accurate beyond the first chapter, I'm not sure if this new one sounds any better though.**

**Anyway, please do leave a review, you guys have been great so far and I really appreciate your kind words!**


	6. The Silly Plans

**Hey there, I've written another chapter, believe it or not. It's been about a month since the last update so I'm keeping this updating schedule so far. Thanks for all the reviews once again; they've been nice and I appreciate them. I'm stunned that this story has gotten as much a response as it has. Well I hope you like it? **

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"So, you going to check for news again?" Kirito asked a little suddenly, after being silent for too long.

Silica didn't answer immediately though, and delicately sipped her tea. She didn't really like the strange drink but adults did and Kirito had made some so here she was drinking it anyway. Maybe this would prove that she was really mature and awesome!

Kirito had been asking her to check the news every two minutes (well more like every twenty but still), and she was heartily tired of walking into the rain followed by sweetly asking all the newspeople if there was anything new. It seemed that Kirito really did care about what was happening to the clearers if he was so anxious to hear something but this was getting really annoying!

"There's not any news yet, see I got Clopsy to agree to send me messages if there were any updates," Silica replied. So far as she could tell, there were loads of arguments erupting on the front lines and the top Guilds were all attempting to declare themselves the very best. Heathcliff was remaining calm and collected but merely his presence was succeeding in sparking up arguments, she'd been informed.

"Clopsy was a name someone chose?" Kirito said, faintly amused. "Nevermind, he's not a clearer is he?"

Silica felt like sighing. Couldn't they just forget about it? It's not like they could do anything even it was partly their fault for all the chaos. Still Kirito had been consuming any news as if he was starving for information. He'd probably been quite sparse on the stuff when he had stayed far away from any player. This was at least slightly justified though that didn't stop it being annoying.

"He's not a clearer, more of a merchant who also gathers information. But he's really nice so I don't want to talk to anyone else! He knows loads, you know?" Silica protested. He really was nice to her and when she'd first got her dragon he'd been the one to draw loads of cute pictures of Pina and helped to make her well-known.

Kirito paused, taking a sip of his tea. Silica couldn't help but wonder if he actually liked the strange drink or if all people just drunk to be mature or something. "You ever met anyone called Argo?" He asked, staring into space.

Silica frowned. He knew Argo? Apparently she was nicknamed The Rat so she'd never understood why anyone wanted information from her. Why would she want to go talk to someone that made everyone think Rats? Besides, apparently her prices were high and she'd been told to always look for the best prices.

"I've heard of her, yeah. An information broker. Where'd you hear of her though?" Silica gave him her fullest attention now. Wow, he knew exactly what to say to get her interested again.

Kirito smiled awkwardly. "I told you I was a Beta tester right?" She nodded eagerly (though she honestly couldn't recall whether he'd mentioned it). "Well she was my friend in the beta and she was fun, you know?"

So Argo was a fun friend? Silica couldn't help but feel an immediate dislike for the rat-girl. Kirito probably didn't realise that she charged evil prices for everything! Or that she looked like a rat!

"Cool!" Oh no, she sounded insincere didn't she?

"Yeah, could you go find her then? …Maybe mention me?" Kirito asked her looking oddly wistful.

Silica couldn't possibly refuse. Why'd she say that she knew who Argo was? "Yeah, I'll go look for her then." She got out of her chair, a little stiffly. She instructed Pina to stay inside as she would simply attract too much attention whilst outside though he was nice to have around.

"Thanks Silica, I appreciate it."

The top floor was simmering. Not the uproar from when the news had been just spreading but there were short tempers and an uneasy atmosphere. Merchants were too keen to play on the stronger players fears by encouraging them to buy the best weaponry and the stronger players were all splitting into more divisions. Silica suspected that such a divisive issue was causing players to ignore each other or get into arguments. She could definitely see a few fed up faces and a few raised voices which she didn't bother to listen to.

Silica really didn't care what side they chose so long as it was all the same side. If they didn't want Heathcliff to be their leader figure then couldn't they all just choose another and agree? Surely anyone was better than this horrible divided front line. They all just wanted to clear the game, right? In the fastest time and with the fewest number of deaths, though both counts were already really high.

Silica shook her head vigorously. She wasn't supposed to think about the outside world! It would just make everybody upset all over again.

She wandered through the streets of the rather misty town, looking for some stylistic looking 'A's that were apparently supposed to lead to the annoying rat-girl. It would probably be a cool idea if she didn't write the secret solution to finding her in her guidebook so everyone knew it. What was the point of that? It was way too much effort to look around for spindly letters in this chilly mist!

Still she soon spotted the trail of fancy letters and tried to amuse herself with thoughts of the Rat-girl surreptitiously running through the streets and trying to draw her funny letters on random signs. Or maybe she persuaded someone else to do it for her? Silica had no idea how this was any easier than a nice stall in the centre though.

"Greetings, you must be Silica!" Silica jumped in surprise. "What brings you to my humble abode?" A stocky girl with whiskers painted on her cheeks and wearing a brown cloak was standing in front of her, grinning far too brightly. Had she been waiting around the corner to ambush her or something?

Silica tried out an awkward chuckle as she took a small step away from the infamous Argo. She hadn't been frightened by her! "Oh… you know," she mumbled.

"Come in, come in then!" Argo replied merrily gesturing widely to a well-furnished green tent with the cloth at the entrance pulled way back. It was tucked in at the end of a street but managed to take up the entire width of it. Argo was walking in and Silica quickly followed.

Argo sat downy in a comfy chair with a cushion and gestured for her to sit in one opposite her across a desk. She took the offered chair. There was a pause as Argo waited for her to initiate a conversation.

"I trust you know what I do?" Argo said, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, you sell information to people for money," Silica answered, gathering herself so she could come up with the right question to ask.

Argo somehow succeeded in distracting her with a single sentence. "Well technically I trade information," she corrected, smirking slightly.

Silica pouted. Trade meant exactly the same thing as selling, why was she attempting to correct her? Was she trying to act smart or something?

"That's exactly what I said!" Silica protested loudly.

"Technically I don't just sell information, I also buy it and not just for money either," Argo replied smoothly, looking far too amused at getting an angry reaction. There was this almost vindictive glint in her eyes.

"Then you're just misinterpreting what I meant, now please give me some info!"

Argo took several seconds to respond (and Silica knew she did it just to annoy her too). "For the right price, I can tell you anything, what would you like to know?"

Anything? That was a challenge, it had to be! "Tell me if we'll get out of this game alive," Silica said, confidently.

Then she frowned. She wasn't supposed to mention the fact that they were in a game and were potentially trapped here forever. Argo had lost that annoying grin now too but it didn't feel like an accomplishment. Stupid Argo, challenging her like that.

"Anything within reason," Argo amended softly, her face rather solemn even as her eyes remained rather calculating.

"Yeah, so can you give any details about what's happening in the front lines right now? Silica moved the conversation forward rapidly.

"Ah, so you're seeking a bit of order in the disorder in coming to me," Argo said, a knowing glint in her eyes.

Silica nodded hesitantly, wondering if she would in fact have some fresh news. It felt like a bit of a long-shot to her though, given that there was only so much to say until the clearers came to an agreement which they clearly hadn't yet. Still she was here for Kirito!

"Well for me to divulge everything I know on the subject my price will be pretty steep, I hope you can afford it," Argo explained a bit sharply. Fortunately, Silica had plenty of money from all the monster-slaying she'd been doing recently.

"I don't need to know everything, I already know a lot of it! Heathcliff was seen, well, assorting with this red player and so the Knights got a really bad reputation and they split apart and now the clearers need a new leader but everyone wants to be in charge so it's really chaotic!" Silica listed off most everything she could think of on the situation.

Argo nodded slowly. She had an unreadable expression on her face. "You know Silica, I was hoping I'd get a chance to run into you and so far you seem surprisingly genuine. You're refreshingly straightforward." Silica didn't know what to say to her seemingly going off on a tangent.

Argo focussed on her with a bit more intent. Silica couldn't help but notice that she'd lifted her hands above the desk and that they were in fact covered by a pair of shiny, dangerous-looking claws. A shiver of fear ran down her spine. She was within arms' reach.

"I have a few contacts in the Knights of the Blood guild you know and I got one of them to talk to me yesterday," Argo continued, speaking in a slow, measured tone. Why was she taking so long to get to her point and why did she suddenly seem so menacing?

"You see, he revealed that you were attending that meeting with the red player and shortly before, you were seen on the fiftieth floor going into the Knights' headquarters." Argo revealed, smiling rather viciously now.

"Oh, well I wanted to make friends with Heathcliff! I… wanted to join the front lines!" Silica deflected, with an alarmed expression.

Argo laughed. "You brought the red player to Heathcliff, don't you dare deny it! You should know that all red players are killers. No exceptions."

Silica wished that there was a way she could surreptitiously grab a knife from her inventory just so she wasn't empty-handed. Argo had somehow found out about the meeting and had chosen a viewpoint already. The obvious one.

"You look like a sweet girl, coming here wanting to know all about the troubles everyone is having when secretly you're probably the one responsible! Your whole image is a lie!" Argo's words cut into her.

Silica felt her eyes heating up a bit, she blinked. It didn't prevent tears welling up; she had just been trying to do what was right, to be nice. And now Argo, the rat-girl, was going to tell everyone all about her and probably get paid for it too!

"You know I only came here because Kirito asked me to! He said you were a f-friend, but you're not!" Silica stated, her voice cracking a little. She stood up.

Argo froze, sitting back in her chair, her dangerous aura, vanishing replaced by a stunned silence. Silica got up to leave, wanting to get out of the hostile environment.

"Wait." Argo spoke in an oddly calm tone and Silica paused, looking back at Argo.

"I was under the impression that Kirito was dead, I haven't seen him in a year, you know, not since the Beta ended," she said, maybe a little frustrated.

"Yeah well, he's the red player but it was all an accident," Silica revealed, keeping her voice steady but very, very uncertain on what to say. Kirito hadn't been lying when he'd said he knew her.

"How can you kill five or more players by accident?" Argo demanded, slamming a clawed fist down on the table for emphasis.

"He didn't know that they'd die as it was all before the announcement apparently. He really is innocent and that's why I was trying to help him!" Silica said, rubbing her eyes. The mark from tears didn't last long in a virtual world, thankfully.

"Well you're not so much mean as an idiot then. Why would you think talking to the strongest clearer Guild would help anyone?" Argo said, her mind abruptly moving to the present. Maybe she wasn't really good at dwelling on the past.

"I don't have to explain myself to you!"

Argo paused and relaxed slightly. Silica realised she was breathing heavily. "It seems that my confronting you was premature and I need to do some more digging but I assure you that what a broker doesn't know she can find out in no time," Argo was returning to her previous, rather mischievous personality and it was actually a welcome change.

"I'm not going to tell you anything!" Silica snapped, waving her arms for extra emphasis.

But Argo merely smiled. "I don't need you to tell me. But you need me not to tell others, I think."

Silica became wary. Well more wary than she already was – Argo's cheerful personality was way worse than shocked or menacing.

"What do you mean?" She asked though.

"I'm afraid that I am obliged to tell anyone information if they name the right price. It is my job as an information broker. If you wish for me to keep it secret then I'd recommend a serious payment to ensure the utmost secrecy," Argo explained, now positively grinning.

"You're going to charge me for this?" Silica asked incredulously. "But what about Kirito, I thought you cared!"

Argo sighed. "I think you'd agree that Kirito owes me quite a lot for not ever revealing his presence to me. I think I've honoured his friendship enough by deciding to give you the benefit of the doubt in this case."

Gosh, she was so business-like. No wonder she had a reputation for mean prices. "Fine whatever! How much do you want then?" Silica was heartily tired of trying to deal with this horrible rat-girl.

"How much are you willing to pay?" Argo returned.

Silica clenched her fists, she had to be trying to be a bother. "I asked you first," she replied grumpily.

"Yes, but you want to make this deal more than I do," Argo replied with far too much cheer.

"Fine then! 10,000 Col?" Silica normally enjoyed trying to haggle with the shopkeepers but she wasn't in the mood today.

Argo paused to consider. "I think this is worth more like 40,000 you know?"

"I'm not paying you that much for nothing! I'm not paying you anymore than 20,000 okay!" Silica had always been told to be very firm when haggling.

"20,000 and some fine silk?" Argo suggested; she was loving the mind games.

Silica found she did have some silk in her inventory and just accepted the deal.

"Don't look so cocky Rat-girl! I am a pretty well-known middle player and I will let my fans know how harsh you've been to me!" Silica declared not willing to let Argo get the last word.

Argo just rolled her eyes. "You know if you try anything then I'll just share all this information?"

"Well then you'll have failed to keep your word which is the only reason you said you needed to be bribed in the first place," Silica retorted, though feeling a bit alarmed at the idea.

"You really don't want to antagonise me, girl," Argo warned her, waving a hand in dismissal.

* * *

Interestingly, as Silica was leaving the town, going down the narrow alleyway, she ran into a certain clearer. The solo player, Keita. He gave her a guarded expression but as far as she could tell he was just really cautious and a little sombre.

"Miss Silica, you were looking for some of Argo's service too I presume?" He asked politely, gesturing to a nearby stylised 'A'.

Silica nodded. "Yeah but she' just a stupid rat-girl. I'm not asking for her services ever again!"

Keita raised an eyebrow. It was cool how he managed to only do one and not the other. "While she can be her handful, she's credited as a great source for a reason. I don't think you should be too hasty to judge her," Keita advised, but not with much disapproval.

Keita was so much simpler to talk with compared to Argo. None of that maniacal laughter or weird word games or harsh prices. He was blunt and didn't mess around with his words. All in all a rather solemn character and one she appreciated. Especially if he didn't treat her too much like a little child – which she was not.

"Trust me when I say that she was being downright unfair. I don't like her at all," Silica said seriously. She was a terrible friend to Kirito just as Silica had suspected!

"Well if you say so," Keita said with a shrug. "Have a nice day, I guess."

* * *

Kirito was absently grooming Pina on the couch when Silica returned. He sat up and gave her a tiny wave as she walked in through the door, shaking the wet out.

Silica returned that wave with a smile. "Hello! I thought you would be working on that armour," she said by way of a greeting.

Kirito had been crafting an impressive set of dragon (well wyvern technically) mail armour for her after she'd gotten the skin tanned at a shop. She was ambivalent towards the gift because it was a bit freaky, being given dragon armour when she loved her dear feathered dragon, Pina, but on the other hand it was supposed to look great and be really strong. Besides dragons was sort of her theme.

He beamed, gesturing to the other side of the room where a completed chestplate and a metallic skirt and a helmet sat gleaming as if they'd been recently polished. The scales were a gorgeous lavender and purple colour and the design looked intricate. She could see it was lined thickly with what had to be the dragon leather. She approached the set in delight.

"It's done?" She asked for confirmation as Kirito came with her to help her put it on.

Not that it was hard to put on, the game made it simply automatically appear. "It is indeed complete so I hope you like it," he replied.

She tried it on and the armour turned out to be surprisingly comfortable and it really made her look like a veteran player when she glanced in the mirror. It fit well, as game creations usually did but managed to look good too and was somehow in proportion on her admittedly small body. Frequently the armours could get a little distorted, she'd noticed.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it!" Silica said and was surprised by how genuine that feeling was. Sure it was dragon armour but it was also a really nice present and it had been made just for her.

Kirito gave her one of his small smiles. "Tell me how your meeting went then. Did you find out anything new?"

Silica couldn't return that smile now. "I… met Argo. She thought it was my fault for the trouble on the lines and she knew that I was supporting a red player."

"Wait, so Argo already knew about me and was giving you a hard time?" Kirito asked, look interested but beyond that his face was unreadable.

"She didn't know the red player was you until I told her," Silica quickly corrected him.

His face relaxed. "Oh, that's a relief to hear I suppose."

Silica nodded half-heartedly. "She said she was going to find out more and made me pay her so she wouldn't say anything to anyone."

Kirito shrugged but did look a bit perturbed. He grabbed her hand comfortingly. "That does sound like her though I wish she had been a bit nicer. She's more fun when she's not really working if I remember right," he replied.

Silica found herself blushing. It was great that he was being sympathetic though he clearly still cared about what Argo thought. "If you say so," she murmured.

Kirito didn't give any audible reply and instead began fiddling with his inventory. Probably trying to practice his blacksmithing skill or maybe hunting if he had some skinning to do. Kirito hadn't exactly listened when she'd asked him not to skin things inside as if her request wasn't perfectly reasonable or something.

Kirito's lifestyle really was fairly simple. He either went out to do some questing in secret on the top few floors, usually looking for short out-of-the-way dungeons or hard-to-reach areas. He had a rather good agility so he could access many of them. Honestly, quite a lot of players had a high enough agility but in a party you had to go to areas everyone could access or risk splitting up so even one person with low agility might restrict a group from exploring these areas. Optionally, he relaxed on this deserted floor, maybe crafting weapons or talking to the NPC's if he was feeling particularly lonely.

Sword Art Online really was a social game, and it was amazing how limited you were if you didn't interact with others. No going to most towns and having fun with others and finding good deals with NPC's was almost impossible. Not to mention how much more dangerous it was.

Silica herself had previously enjoyed getting temporarily involved with Guilds to help them have a good time. Most people didn't really approve of her fighting loads of dangerous monsters for some reason so they often discouraged her from trying longer expeditions with them. Still, socialising had been loads of fun even if she didn't stay with any group for very long. It had helped her become pretty well-known on the middle floors though Pina had helped too.

"Hey Kirito?" Silica asked after some time had passed. She had taken up grooming Pina on the couch to pass the time.

"Yeah?" He was working on some sort of axe, though the reason why was beyond her seeing as he didn't even fight with axes. It looked to be pretty dangerous though.

"How long do you think it'll be until the clearers sort themselves out?" The question was the one she'd been hoping Argo would answer though in the end she'd never got round to answering it.

Kirito paused in his work, turning to look at her quizzically. "You probably have a better idea than me, soon hopefully."

She nodded. "I don't know why it has to take so long! Aren't we all friends who just want to get home?" She said, flinching as she'd realised she'd mentioned the real world for like the third time today. Normally she tried not to worry about it.

"Yeah, but it's all about tactics right? They want the best person for the job so they will win with fewer casualties and it needs to be someone they trust," Kirito explained, turning to face her in anticipation of a longer conversation.

Silica just looked at him in incomprehension. Obviously that was good but everyone wanted the best person so why did they have to argue?

Kirito sighed. "There's a reason you're not in charge of everything. The game's just been going long enough that they need something closer and more pressing to unite against if you expect even the majority to be in agreement about anything," he tried to elaborate.

"Like what?" She asked.

"I don't know! If it was simple then they'd already be united, you know?" Kirito replied, looking mildly irritated. "It was Beta testers on the first few floors but now something like red players I guess," he suggested.

Silica grinned. She could totally persuade all the red players to somehow unite all the clearers, it's not like they were doing anything else. Surely red players were interested in clearing the game too, right?

"Perfect, do you know where I can find all the red players then?"

Kirito ran his fingers through his hair, looking less than pleased with her awesome idea. "That is a horrible suggestion – they could kill you! How have you survived this long anyway?" Wow, he sounded almost incredulous.

"Well you've been protecting me – it's not any different from fighting really high level monsters at a low level, is it? Come on, I wouldn't, like, upset them or anything! Just make a few friends!" Silica put on her most endearing expression for maximum persuasion power.

Kirito just sighed again.

* * *

**So what did you think? Sorry if I made Argo's personality a bit harsh. Let's just say that she distrusted Silica and Silica distrusted her. They weren't about to get along and so instead they clashed a bit. Maybe Argo could've been a bit more in the know but I like to think that info can be a challenge to find and Argo won't simply know everything even if she does know a fair bit.**

**Silica is as always a real joy to write but I hope I haven't made her seem too unbelievable. She's a little eager and mostly trusting so don't expect her to think everything through before she says something.**

**Anyway, please do leave a review, I'd really appreciate them - they're a pleasure to read and very encouraging. Thanks for reading! (Sorry if you think events are moving a bit slowly, do tell me if you think it's the case and I'll try to move things along.)**

**Oh and has anyone watched SAO 2 with Sinon? It's enjoyable, I think. Follows the Light novels very closely.**


	7. The Tricky Relations

****Happy Halloween everyone! It's not that huge here in Britain so we don't do anything for it (though shops have made it into a big thing over the years so it is actually becoming more of a thing).****

**Anyway, I've written another chapter, once again thanks for all the reviews. One noted that in the premise players should still be able to resurrect prior to Kayaba's announcement. Personally that's very much up to interpretation so I hope it's not too annoying that I decided on this way. I apologise that my updating speed isn't faster but this pace is one I'm comfortable with. I'm glad you like this story though! I'm going to try and conclude it fairly soon - I fear if I don't it would drag on forever. Hope you like this chapter anyway!**

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"This is the first floor," Kirito hissed, crouching in some concealing muddy bushes.

Silica nodded, standing next to him, perfectly aware of where she was. It was understandable that Kirito didn't like it though given that it was one of the more popular floors. He probably didn't have a lot of reason to come here despite how fun and awesome the city was, especially on weekends. Not that he could visit the city, she reminded herself.

"Silica, we are far too close to the town, I don't want to be seen so can we leave already?" He hissed again, with more impatience. The city was indeed very close, and men chatting by one of the many entrances were mostly visible to hear though the bushes were hopefully effective at hiding Kirito from view. That and his allegedly very good hiding skill.

"Don't worry! It's not like anyone is going to walk over here and then throw you in prison or something." Silica tried to reassure him with a smile. He worried too much, no wonder no one ever really saw him unless he deliberately revealed himself.

"Can't we just leave? I thought you were going to try and manipulate red players! As ridiculous as that is, couldn't you at least be consistent?" He replied, clenching his fists in frustration.

Silica frowned, hoping he wasn't really as angry as he sounded – she had good ideas really! "The only red players I know are all in prison so of course we had to come here!" She explained earnestly.

Kirito sighed – he'd been doing that a lot recently. "You can't release already captured red players back into the game. The rest of the players would hate you and your best skill is probably the fact that everyone likes you," he said, slowly and clearly.

"Do you like me?" Silica couldn't help but ask at such a perfect opening. Then she felt herself blushing furiously. What was she thinking, asking something like that? Maybe he'd say she was annoying or that she was a great friend or something? What if it ruined everything?

Kirito just looked at her oddly. "Of course I like you," he replied as if the question was strange.

Oh no! He didn't get it, he only liked her as much everyone liked her because she was superbly-charming, Silica thought feeling horrified. He was supposed to like her more than everyone else, or say that she was special or something. She tried to remind herself that maybe it was herself who was such an idiot, asking questions like that when Kirito had far greater concerns.

"Silica?" He was looking at her in concern and she realised she had a hand leaning against his shoulder, for support. No use hiding her worries then.

She removed it and quickly jumped back a few places, out of the somewhat concealing bushes. "Sorry Kirito, I just thought or was hoping that you maybe, possibly, liked me or something!" Silica was giving him an awkward, confused smile as she backed away further. Putting distance between him when things were quickly getting awkward was a sound strategy. She could probably dash right into the city from here. Maybe they'd just forget about this when she returned? That would be more than fine.

"Hey, Silica! Don't run away now!" Kirito called out, actually standing up and getting out of the bushes, entering the open valley that she was backing into. His sudden lack of caution made her freeze though. She hadn't imagined he'd come forward if he was vulnerable here – wasn't he obsessed with not being seen? What should she do?

"Kirito?" Silica couldn't meet his eyes and instead stared intently at the ground. It had to have something interesting on it that she could feign an interest on, right? Nothing was popping out, unfortunately.

"I said that I do like you," he said softly, and Silica had to look up at his worried expression though he still didn't get it.

"But you don't like, um well really like me in that sort of way though? You just sort of… like me?" She babbled, flailing her arms around a bit, looking for the right words. She was feeling remarkably tongue-tied.

"Oh wait… you like me?" Finally some comprehension was appearing on his cute, idiotic face. This was the worst confession ever!

Silica felt herself blushing more. This was supposed to be simple so why was it so complicated? "Well, I mean, you are really nice and uh… yeah I like you!" She quickly, but unbearably awkwardly, finally managed to say.

Kirito had a very forced smile on his face as he took in her statement, that's what it looked like to her anyway. After a far too long pause he gave a reply. "You're awesome Silica, really awesome but I just can't imagine you liking someone boring like me." His statement felt almost empty and very awkward.

No, he couldn't say something like that! It wasn't fair! Her mind was feeling a little clearer now and she furiously stomped towards him until they were within an arm's width. "Don't you dare dismiss me like that! If you like me then say so and if you- if you don't like me then you have to say so as well!" She told him, letting her frustration show.

Kirito looked shocked by her angry words and she went ahead and added: "that's only fair, you know?" He was still just standing there, not sure how to respond. And Silica felt far too flustered to wait.

Soon, Silica couldn't stand it anymore, the terrible tension that was building. She ran away.

Silica turned and ran to the city, half-hoping he wouldn't respond as she knew that she'd have to stop and listen but half-hoping he would call her back and maybe, possibly tell her something nice.

"Silica!" She finally heard behind her faintly, when she'd already run too far. She wanted to turn around but then she also found she also wanted to keep going as it was so much easier. She suddenly wasn't feeling ready to stop and face him, not after she'd been such an idiot and had an angry outburst. Maybe he'd wait.

When Silica entered the boundaries of the city her face was damp with tears but who cared? Certainly no one here knew her well enough to ask if she was alright. It'd be nice though, to say she was feeling terrible and to have a kind person speak soothing words to her. People were far too busy to pay so much attention to the little crying girl with a dragon on her head and wearing exquisite clearing-level armour. Oh, she must look a sight.

Looking around, she tried to remember what she was here for. Oh yes, prison. She'd always wanted to go prison. Even in her mind the joke fell flat.

Still she sighed, trying to look lively and headed off with purpose. She had a responsibility and it was more important than any stupid relationship. Had he really never considered her? Never taken her seriously? Well, whatever.

Fortunately a distraction came zooming around the corner as she shuffled through the streets. A tall, but not really old boy approached her with this fire in his eyes. He had probably noticed her teary face and was being a gentlemen. Maybe her wishes did come true?

"Hey there, you're Silica, who upset you?" He inquired loudly, drawing more attention to her. It was Arinn, a proud Guild second from a guild she'd been a part of for a few weeks before leaving. They'd seemed alright at first but for some reason hadn't been interested in training her to become a competent member on level with all the other members and she hadn't been allowed to participate in their exciting missions. If they had such high standards then they shouldn't have invited her!

"I'm fine," she replied shortly. If she proclaimed it with enough sincerity, would people stop looking at her?

His face softened at her words, for it was far too much effort to hide the fact that she wasn't exactly feeling alright. "It's okay, I can offer you some help, if you need it? I don't suppose you're in a Guild who can look after you?" Arinn said, more gently.

Usually if someone suggested that she was just a kid who needed protection, she'd form some kind of protest but her heart wasn't really into it currently. She didn't really know what she felt like though. Maybe a nice diversion with his friends would be nice? Maybe she could get some help for her prison plan? Either way, leaving the street where she was now garnering too much attention would be nice.

"Are you going somewhere now?" She asked shyly.

Arinn looked around distractedly. "I was going to try and get some charts, actually," he admitted. "But it's not everyday I see you around, especially uh- alone." Silica found herself trying to avoid a giggle, Arinn had always been very conscious and polite, and was avoiding saying she was looking really terrible and gloomy.

"I guess I could come with you then?" She said, finding herself brightening up at the idea of such a simple and ordinary task that she hadn't done in ages.

'Arinn was a bit silly with what he deemed proper', she thought as he hesitated, darting his head around warily. Anything Guild related, like buying maps, was apparently not supposed to be done with other acquaintances for some reason.

"I suppose you can, but you'd better open up a bit," he did agree however. Silica managed a pleased smile, even if inwardly she felt anything but content.

She was soon following him through the windy streets and to be polite she made a very good attempt at trying to remember something about him and his Guild. She knew it was fairly large with maybe twenty members and that it had an annoyingly long name. Sadly that was about it.

"Now Silica, you're already looking more cheerful, but I must admit to being curious about what could possibly have succeeded in upsetting you," Arinn said, turning towards her as he walked.

Silica wondered if he was too nosy to be a gentleman like he obviously wanted to be but then she wasn't sure exactly what the requirements for being a gentleman was in the first place. Maybe it was really about being tall but not aggressive all the time?

Anyway, what could she say about Kirito being so frustrating that she couldn't handle it anymore? He hadn't been really terrible deliberately but he didn't take her seriously like she'd really hoped. Maybe he thought of her like a little girl whom he went along with for her sake.

"Oh there's this person, who is really difficult, you know?" She cautiously revealed.

"It's someone you care about, isn't it?" Arinn realised with a strangely wistful look. Well. He was incredibly quick.

It was rather nice to hear someone state it so plainly. She really did care about Kirito and was confident enough to believe that he cared about her too – he had saved her life and still listened to her. Silica nodded softly, an easy smile gracing her features.

"I can only offer my advice then, if you'd like to hear it. You need to find this person and focus on how they feel," he replied cautiously, too cautious to be giving the advice forcefully.

Silica looked down at the ground, trying to replay the scene in her mind. Kirito had been trying to explain his feelings (well possibly) and they hadn't been what she'd wanted to hear so she'd run away. Looking back, it seemed like a really silly thing to do especially when she'd been trying to be the opposite of silly then. No wonder people had trouble realising when she was being super-serious.

"Don't look so worried," he added kindly. "When there's someone you care about you should learn to put them first – think of it like a sacrifice. If they also care about you then they'll learn to put you first and that's the basis of a strong relationship."

His words felt incredibly reassuring, the idea of a pretty harmonious relationship that would be filled with trust and care. Silica found herself relaxing, both outwardly and inwardly. She had to achieve something like that somehow.

"Putting the other person first means being able to apologise and lower your pride when necessary but if you put your effort into a relationship then you'll be rewarded."

Silica frowned. "But I don't want people to walk all over me! That sounds like being really submissive or something. What about girl-power?" Some of her friends in school forever ago had talked about that sort of thing. That was a lot of what she knew about relationships actually.

Arinn looked kind of off-put or conflicted by her question. "Yes, but sacrifice your pride and you show that you care and this prevents a relationship from being spoiled. Remember that the other person should do similar. You basically need to forgive each other, it doesn't matter who's right in the end."

Silica nodded, for his words made sense. "But what if the other person didn't put you first?" She asked. Not that Kirito was anything like that but it was a rather worrying thought.

Arinn's face fell even more. "That's an unhealthy relationship, maybe even the abusive kind. I like to think it doesn't happen too often because people are naturally caring, especially when someone acts caring towards them."

Silica nodded again, she decided that she didn't want to ask anymore though. That last one sounded a bit scary. "You've been really great Arinn, I think I do feel a little better after talking to you so thank you for paying attention to my problems," Silica said, as graciously as she could manage, for she really was grateful.

"It's not a problem Silica, I'm glad I was able to help you," he replied softly, squeezing her hand.

Silica was struck with a thought; it was the way he'd been so patient and had sat down to offer her advice, putting her above his Guild all because he wanted to help her feel better. "Umm… you don't think of… me like that, right?" she asked urgently, anxiously. What if he said yes? It'd be the end of the world!

Arinn almost casually threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a light hug. She wasn't sure what to think, her mind felt oddly blank. "You're not entirely naïve then," he said, almost teasingly. "But you remind me of this girl. She was sharp and intelligent and well I see her in you. That's why I couldn't possibly ignore you when you were so down. I'm glad you have someone to care about," he replied seriously.

Arinn had slid away slightly to a more acceptable distance. "What happened to this girl?" Silica asked. Maybe they were like friends now, who listened to each other's problems? It was a nice thought.

His face darkened. "She's dead, died nearly a month into the game."

Silica could only nod.

* * *

She ended up tagging along with him for an hour even if she was really supposed to be doing something else. It's not like she was feeling intimidated at the thought of meeting up with Kirito again, really! It was just easier to be here, in a city with a ton of distractions that Silica made full use of. Arinn was also really good company, surprisingly.

They didn't discuss relationships again fortunately – that subject made her feel kind of weird for some reason. But they did end up buying some maps for some dungeon his Guild was visiting. And she gave him advice about getting new weaponry (which he didn't really listen to and went with his own ideas). And they ended up buying some food. And they made fun of his guild leader, for fun while said leader wasn't around (it made her feel partly terrible but partly wickedly clever and awesome). Overall it was a really comfortable diversion.

Just as he was preparing to return to his guild once more (or maybe delay, it was hard to tell), Arinn received a message. Sitting beside him, Silica couldn't help but notice that the message sender was none other than Argo, the scary information broker. Being reminded of the arrogant rat-girl would be upsetting enough, especially knowing that she was probably looking for information on her and Kirito but information brokers rarely shared good news anyway.

Indeed Arinn's previously calm expression morphed into a grimace as he read the message no doubt containing bad news. In fact, he stood up, dropping the remains of a sandwich on the ground, which promptly disintegrated into little blue polygons. The pleasant mood was gone, replaced by this terrible tension.

"I should be going," he said grimly, shooting her an apologetic glance.

"What is it? What's happening?" She immediately asked, standing up as well.

There was a considering gaze, like he was deciding if he wanted to tell her or not but soon he did respond. "On the top floor. A duel seems to be starting between Keita, the solo player, and this red player who Argo believes caused this latest catastrophe. I need to inform the others." Silica couldn't form a response and Arinn was already walking away.

A sense of despair seemed to cloud her thoughts. What could she do? Was this her fault as well, for running away? She couldn't quite see an easy solution, and she really, really needed one now. She took a deep breath, reminding herself to be strong and confident, like a role model. But she didn't know what was going on and going to the top floor sounded dangerous.

She opened up her menu and looked down her contacts list. Keita was listed right above Kirito and some small part of her mind briefly wondered if he'd completely forgotten about it. Trying to send a message to either person didn't sound very smart but higher up there was Heathcliff's name who was surely in the thick of things as always. Deciding that there was no time to waste, she quickly sent him a message.

"Please! What is going on? What's happening?" – Silica.

Whilst she waited for a response, she hurried over to the nearest teleporter – there was no reason to delay going to the top floor where all the action was taking place and she couldn't panic now. Was Kirito in trouble? Maybe he was being thrown into prison? Or worse, they'd let him die. Die. The very thought was chilling.

Oddly the atmosphere around the first floor was as relaxed as it had always been, they didn't know or care about the terrible crisis taking place so near or was it far away? Her desperate run through the reasonably busy streets was met with a few curious glances. How crazy did she look, running as fast as her speed allowed? (Which was pretty fast by now, given her close to clearer level).

As she approached the portal, Heathcliff's reply came through. She didn't hesitate to open it.

"Keita has a great deal of influence as one of the best clearers and is using it to prevent anyone else from attacking your friend Kirito, who he seems to have tracked down himself. It's unclear what his intentions are at present but both players seem fairly rattled for whatever the reason. People are suspecting a duel but currently they're just attracting a crowd. Kirito has been identified as the player to cause the recent friction in the front lines however so I do not believe that a fight will be avoided today." –Heathcliff

Silica hurriedly teleported to the top floor.

* * *

The portal led to the first town within the top floor and from there she followed other players hurrying outside the town, presumably to the big event. News had travelled quickly, probably thanks to the annoying rat-girl information broker. She was probably making money out of this affair and making everything worse.

There was an open clearing, near to the town where all the crowds flocked to. In the centre Keita was easily recognisable, swinging around a heavy sword and yelling at the growing audience. Keita appeared to be the only thing preventing clearers on all sides from attacking the lone red player in the centre of it all. Kirito was trapped, but in a strange bubble of safety for the second. Silica couldn't work out what either of them were trying to accomplish.

Still she hurried in, and really there was probably only 50 players here, though that number was growing. Players were wary of the top floor and this stand-off could not have been going on for very long. What to do now?

"-away! Back away!" Keita was yelling at the crowd. "This is a personal matter, and interfering could make things dangerous! Back away!" He was spinning that sword around too, creating the little bubble of space.

Kirito looked almost unimpressive, holding his black sword in a deceptively casual pose and waiting. Silica had made it to the front of the crowd but hesitated over what to next. She wanted to support Kirito, definitely but she didn't want to accidentally start a battle by running in – what if everyone else ran in? Waiting wasn't helping either though.

Well she was good at drawing attention to herself right? Showing support for Kirito as a young and popular player had to help! "Pina," She said, to her dear dragon somehow snoozing on her head despite the drama around her. He quickly became alert at her call. "Fly over to Kirito please? Land on his shoulder to draw his attention," she quietly instructed.

Keita was looking at Kirito now, possibly to get to whatever point he wanted to make over how it was 'personal' – did Keita already know Kirito somehow? But Pina soon attracted attention, with his shiny blue scales and feathers right in the centre of the circle. Kirito immediately became alert, animated at the sight of her companion, looking around frantically as he allowed Pina to land awkwardly on his shoulder, his head would've been easier to land on really.

But then Kirito caught sight of her, his face was a mixture of confusing emotions that she wasn't able to read very well. Worry, relief, pain, surprise, pleasure? The crowd was pretty loud around her but she ignored it and went ahead and walked into the circle, towards Kirito. Eyes were on her now but no one was acting rash and attacking yet.

He came forward and wrapped his arms around her, in a tight hug. She almost felt like giggling, strangely happy but then everything had become really bizarre. In any other circumstance, she'd be overjoyed to return like this but she couldn't forget the very dangerous crowd, she still didn't understand what was happening really.

"I'm sorry, Silica. And I'm so glad you've come back. I was being careless and now we're in this mess together so I'm really sorry. About everything." He was saying to her. She hugged him back, hoping that he understood how sorry she also was.

A cackling laugh made her break off the reunion. There was Keita, his sword held in two hands, pointing directly at them. "Miss Silica, so glad you could join us. It was through following you, as a friend, that I was able to locate him, you know?"

She opened her arms out wide, like a barrier, glaring at him. Inwardly she wondered if this was all her fault after all. Friends were able to track other friends in this game. Still she could ponder that later! "I'm not moving! If you try to attack Kirito then you'll have to go through me first!" She declared defiantly.

* * *

**That's it for now. So yeah, I tackled the relationship a bit and I admit that sort of thing isn't my strong suit (any advice for writing relationships by the way?) but I hope it came off reasonably realistically. So Silica has succeeded in causing more trouble but she's not backing down. She is ton of fun to write as a developing character by the way, as I've mentioned before.**

**Oh yeah, might as well advertise my other story Reality has a second chapter and I'll hopefully write a third in the next few days.**

**So what did you think? Your reviews have been amazing so far and I really appreciate them for their opinions and criticism and motivation. Also any opinions on how to deal with romantic relationships would be lovely - do you want less or more of an emphasis on them? Thanks!**


	8. The Desperate Flight

**Hey there, it's been a full 3 months since I last updated, I need to start by really apologising for it. I guess I lost interest for a while but I still want to finish writing this. Apologies if this feels a bit rushed but I felt a need to publish it anyway. This story has 100 favourites now and that's wonderful! All the reviews have been good too, they're why I feel obliged to finish this!**

**Anyway here's the story.**

* * *

"I'd really appreciate it if you got out of danger, you know," Kirito muttered in her ear.

"I don't think I can at this point." Silica subtly gestured to the players either side of them, standing back but glaring angrily. There was no chance of merrily skipping back over to them now that'd she made her allegiance clear. She kept her eyes on Keita, as he stared right back with a calculating look on his face.

Kirito sighed quietly. "Just don't leave again, okay?"

Silica had no intention of doing anything of the sort given how mortifying the whole affair had been earlier. She certainly couldn't leave while they were in danger, it'd simply be wrong. She gripped the handle of one of her throwing knives , trying to be ready.

Their quiet exchange had lasted only seconds and neither of them had taken their eyes off Keita. He seemed to be getting psyched up himself, it was probably troublesome to initiate a fight like this and Silica had given him pause, as she'd hoped. Still he drew closer to them, advancing smoothly to avoid any of the sudden aggressive movements which demanded a retaliation. The crowd hushed too, waiting in anticipation but somehow none of them seemed to want to participate.

"Move girl, I have no interest in fighting you," he addressed her.

Silica wasn't sure it was even possible she could move - she couldn't just become a spectator or something! "Yes you do, because I'm fighting with Kirito and you have some problem with him!" She retorted. And he did remember her name, right?

Then came the sudden aggressive move. Silica processed Keita lunging forward with his sword but found herself falling to the ground in an instant anyway. His feet had somehow swung into her legs, sweeping her off her feet before she could do anything about it.

She heard a clang of steel above her as she hit the muddy ground, Kirito had obviously met the attack without trouble - he was very quick. More clangs of steel and the sounds of dodging and quick steps. Looking up, she could see them engaged in a vicious duel practically on top of her.

She squirmed but they hardly seemed to notice, making slight adjustments like she was just some obstacle as they focused on their fight. Silica had hoped she'd have been more of a help but they were both clearly so much more advanced than her that she couldn't keep up. She didn't even want to risk getting up when she might mess up Kirito, assuming a sword didn't just skewer her for her trouble - they were too close to her.

Fortunately she was not without her tricks. "Pina, help Kirito!" She yelled knowing that he had a better view than her and could make the difference. Next she took a second to identify Keita's boots before grabbing them in a tight hold to prevent him from moving. She could feel him struggle but her presence was too substantial for him to just shake off and Kirito was surely providing him too much challenge for him to suddenly stab her or something.

"Are you done?" Kirito's voice said above her.

Silica carefully stood up, turning to face the clearly defeated Keita . The fight had lasted no more than a minute but both had taken a substantial amount of damage, with Keita now in the yellow. Pina landed on her head, also having taken a small amount of damage but looking healthy fortunately.

"You're a red player! My friends are all dead because red players killed them," Keita replied venomously, he shot her a particularly heated glare.

"He hasn't killed anyone in over two years, he's not like them so you're obviously really bad at getting revenge," Silica immediately argued, knowing that she had to get the other side to the argument stated. People would always hear her, even if they didn't listen. Inwardly she did sort of sympathise with Keita though, he hadn't been that bad.

"What do you know? You're a naïve child who thinks she knows things but clearly knows nothing!"

"What's that supposed to mean? Kirito is a nice person and if you can't see it then you're blind in both eyes!" Silica roared back, getting incensed. Maybe Keita was actually just crazy.

"He's a red player and you're denying it because you are hopelessly deluded," Keita retorted in a surprisingly even and sinister voice.

"Maybe we could help you track down and imprison the red players responsible for the destruction of your friends?" Kirito broke in mildly, though lacking any actual conviction.

"Nobody wants your help," Keita sneered before turning and entering the ring of spectators. Silica had been blocking out their angry voices but still they were unmoved by her words. At least he hadn't attacked again.

The crowd jeered at him and it was suddenly obvious that they couldn't just escape as sooner or later someone else was going to actually initiate another fight. Even if no one did, if either of them tried to move then they could be swarmed. Silica was suddenly feeling rather small.

"Seriously! We don't want to hurt anyone, we're not true red players who can be really cruel, we want to clear the game like you! Silica cried out desperately, flailing her arms around. She needed them to understand but they found the bright orange cursor too incriminating. It told everyone that Kirito had to have killed people and that was unacceptable.

Her arm was grabbed in an iron grip. "We've lost," Kirito said quietly.

"What? Keita was clearly beaten and everyone knows it," Silica protested, turning her eyes from the crowd to look straight at him. For a second his eyes met her own.

But Kirito didn't make an effort to argue. With one hand he fiddled with his menu at lightning speed, while the other hand kept hold of her so she didn't do anything, putting himself into dual-wield mode. "Follow me closely," he ordered, letting go of her arm as his favourite pair of swords materialised. What sort of stunt was he planning?

She heard gasps from the players around her. There was feelings of surprise and confusion. Then Kirito was dashing forward, with all the speed he possessed straight towards the people ahead of him. She followed as closely as she could, worried about the fight breaking out like Heathcliff had said.

He held the two longswords out as he ran, and she suddenly realised the reason why - he was trying to intimidate all the players around him. Maybe even intimidate them so much that they would forget that they felt obliged to attack him. He was also forcing all the people to get out of the way if they didn't want to get cut in half (technically they also just block or something but often dodging felt more natural). Clearly, they weren't going to trust him anytime soon, he wasn't even bothering to get them to like him. Was everything a waste?

As Silica fled behind him, she spotted Asuna the knight girl. Asuna's blank face seemed almost eerily tranquil, amongst all the wild expressions and loud yells. Asuna was someone who had believed in them and she was not the only one. Silica turned away from her, deftly avoiding a sudden lunge from one of the other players without stopping. She ducked a few thrown weapons too but hurried forward to get out of range. Kirito wasn't heading in the direction of the nearby settlement unsurprisingly but into the wilderness. The wilderness of the very top floor in the game currently.

* * *

A couple hundred metres of running and it was becoming apparent that the three boys chasing her were too fast to let her escape. At least no monsters had been attracted so far. Not many players had decided give chase, but then she wasn't exactly the fastest player and she didn't have a good way to get rid of them. Ahead, Kirito was frequently glancing back but he didn't seem to have a magical solution either. She just wanted to get away, then she'd get to properly apologise for running off earlier, it seemed a while ago now.

She was beginning breathe more heavily. She glanced skywards wondering if there was anything Pina could do to distract her pursuers. She'd never seen them before but obviously they didn't approve of red players and weren't interested in letting either of them just run away. Why did they have to care? What did they even hope to achieve?

Kirito slowed down until Silica was running beside him. "You should really invest in more stamina points," he observed, as if they weren't in a tricky situation. He himself hardly had a problem with running.

"It's your brilliant escape plan," Silica grumbled, not particularly interested in trying to talk and run.

Kirito ignored her comment. "I'm going to hide and disappear, you'll be able to talk your way out of danger if I'm not here - meet back at the house." He put on a burst of speed, turning violently to the left, ducking down and did indeed disappear in some undergrowth.

Ah, he'd led her into a bit of woodland, which was full of hiding places! Sadly, she didn't have any skill in hiding, making it useless for her. She glanced behind her, even as she continued forward as fast she could. Those following had noticed Kirito vanish from view and two of the boys had lost interest in chasing her but the last one hadn't stopped and was gradually getting closer. He was grinning with determination and he was way older and taller than her.

She continued to run a bit further but trying to sprint was really tiring and she could now hear how close he was. Instead, she realised that running away was pretty much useless at this point so she stopped abruptly and he nearly crashed into her, before carefully regaining balance. The man (and he really was more of an adult than a teenager) had a rather stocky build which spoke of a lot of power even though he didn't have a weapon out. He was smiling slightly, proud to have caught her maybe, though he hadn't really caught her because she'd stopped voluntarily but then he would have caught her anyway.

She faced him, breathing deeply and thinking even harder. She was pretty sure that Kirito's hiding skill was more than strong enough to get away undetected but why did he think she'd easily get out of trouble if he wasn't with her? Just because she wasn't a red player didn't mean that they wouldn't imprison her; maybe he didn't realise? But maybe he just didn't really care about her, not enough to get her out of danger? He'd never managed to tell her how he really felt about her.

But Kirito had told her to talk her way out of this! He was trusting her and perhaps she was disappointing him if she didn't at least try. She began by putting on her super-cute and charming expression as she looked up at the man. "Hello! My name's Silica and-" she paused stretching out an arm for her darling dragon to perch on. "And this is my dragon-friend Pina!"

"Don't act innocent girl, you have information about the red player and you're going to share it," he replied brusquely. He smoothly summoned up a long thick rope from his pack.

Silica tried to ignore it and answered confidently. "The last place I saw him was in that valley, surrounded by other players. You should have caught him there if you had a problem with him."

"The situation was a little too volatile and we don't want people to die, do we?" He answered coolly.

"I doubt anything like that was gonna happen, Kirito isn't actually a killer you know, it's dreadfully unfair how the system's marked him because it's completely permanent!" Silica explained wondering if there was much chance of him listening.

Her words didn't appear to have a huge effect, though he hadn't tied her up or anything yet. "He's a red player because he's killed, now are you going to give us information or not?" There was a touch of impatience in his voice.

"I am providing information, you just don't care! Why do you have to be so mean?" Silica demanded.

He hesitated, looking at her closely, not sure how to respond. "It seems that you have been deceived," he eventually decided. "If you were to join a guild and tell us all you know and not go off on your own then there will be no reason for you to go to prison."

If he was treating her like a little girl then she'd be safer (though inwardly she didn't like it). Still, she tried to put on her most confused expression and tried to keep any anger out of her tone. "What's your guild called? And your name?"

"I'm Cutlass. My guild's called Lion's Pride but you don't have to join mine, any of the more well-known ones will be sufficient I'm sure," he finally provided a helpful reply. "Would you be willing to discuss this back in town?" He added, glancing suspiciously at the surrounding woodland, it wasn't really much of a clearing and at any moment monsters might well sneak up on them.

"So you're not angry with me anymore?" Silica asked timidly. Would it be easier to get away if she went back to the nearest town with him?

"Well you still have a lot to answer for, but I think it can be a peaceful discussion," Cutlass replied, putting away his rope to get out a dark blue teleporting crystal. She knew there was still no real chance of her successfully running far enough away to teleport. Better just to listen to him for now.

Before he could do anything though, Silica heard the audible crack, presumably from someone -or something- stepping on a twig. She turned towards the sound, staring at the trees expectantly, slipping a throwing knife into her hand. She was surprised when it was Kirito jumping out, fiercely tackling Cutlass before he could whisk her away anywhere. Cutlass seemed equally shocked as he was easily knocked down by the sudden attack. He'd come back for her!

"Run Silica! Once you're far enough away, teleport!" He roared at her, restraining his opponent.

It took her only a moment to grasp the situation before she ran as fast as she could. Kirito was too strong and too good at escaping to be defeated by one guy and hopefully they were too far into the woods to be ambushed. Still, it felt bad to abandoning him like that. She was tired and didn't run for very much longer before getting out a teleporting crystal of her own. She felt a sense of relief as it slowly started to activate with no interference.

Her vision of the grassy woodland faded away, replaced temporarily in blue light before darkening to the murky brown 34th floor. Her feet touched down on the cobblestone path at the edge of the settlement, just a short walk away from Kirito's house. She was dismayed to find it was still raining. Wasn't it supposed to stop after a long enough time? She was thankfully alone aside from the occasional NPC though. She sighed gratefully, considering just waiting here but it was safer under shelter.

She walked down the path, wondering how long it would take Kirito to escape, assuming he could at all. He'd been caught by Keita earlier hadn't he? But Kirito had been careless then, right? He was being cautious now and last she remembered he was only up against one guy. That guy was probably clearer level based on his agility but surely he had escaped situations like this before?

She found the house quickly and entered a darkened living room, immediately collapsing on the couch. She couldn't really rest but tried to relax as she intently watched the door, hoping she wouldn't be forced to wait too long. She had to believe that he'd return.

* * *

**So that's it for now. Hope it's not too bad and please do review with your comments as they are really helpful and encouraging. Thanks for reading! **

**I'll try and get later chapters written, and update as soon as I can. Feel free to badger me about it as I don't want to take so long next time. **


	9. The Secluded Swamp

**Hey there, as I said I updated faster than usual to make up for last chapter. Hope you like it! And thanks for all the reviews, they've been great. **

* * *

She didn't keep track of how long she stared at the wooden front door, waiting, and inwardly she knew it felt longer than it was but that didn't prevent her growing anxiety. If a few of them caught Kirito then she wasn't sure he'd be able to prevent them from poisoning or paralysing or tying him up in a rope. They could even kill him (which was hard to think about) if he was being too much of a hassle. It didn't matter how strong he was if they were feeling very ruthless and he probably couldn't run forever either.

Even if he did escape from all the other players, he was still on the very top floor and if he was already hurt and tired then those monsters could be dangerous. She could help out with monsters if she was there, she'd learned how to fight and support him but then she was more at risk from other players now with her weaker stats despite her green cursor. The best thing she could do was to stay where she was. The temptation to run out the door was still there though.

Before she could get anymore worked up, the door handle turned slowly open and Kirito's head, followed by the rest of his body, appeared in the doorway. She found herself smiling brightly and immediately stood up to hug him. He was back and didn't look even a bit hurt! Kirito seemed to relax as he caught sight of her and kindly hugged her back.

A second later she stood back, to a respectful distance though she didn't drop the smile. A part of her wanted to impulsively kiss him but she was trying to be mature and she really didn't want to strain anything, not after all that had happened. Mostly she was just relieved that'd he'd returned and things could be normal again. All the death in the game was awful.

"You alright?" He asked, in a casual tone.

"Oh, I'm fine! I teleported back without a problem," she replied, quick to be reassuring.

He nodded. "We're not safe yet," he replied, quick to be the opposite of reassuring.

Silica blinked, he seemed calm and there was clearly no one with him so what was the problem? They were in a death game, yes, but it wasn't like that was a new development or anything. And the playerbase as a whole didn't trust her anymore but that didn't seem like a very immediate sort of danger. "What's wrong?" She had to ask, hoping it wasn't an obvious threat she was supposed to know.

Kirito walked deeper into the room, suddenly looking exhausted. "That guy, Keita, was able to track you, that's how he found me. I think he must have been following us on the first floor and saw me teleport to the 66th," he explained, not too angry, she didn't think.

It wasn't hard to work out how. "He could see me because we're friends," Silica exclaimed shrilly. Feeling stupid, and a little betrayed, she hurriedly opened her menu.

"Will it be necessary to delete all your friends?" He asked softly, sitting down on the couch just behind her.

All her friends? She had about a hundred of them, loads of companions throughout the game. There were at least four people she still regularly texted for fun and sometimes met up with. A few were incredibly convenient contacts to keep as they helped her to trade wares and find gear and access information and deliver gossip. True, she'd been less reliant on them since she'd begun living with Kirito but even now they were useful to her. In one fell swoop she could lose all her connections and she'd be solely reliant on Kirito and herself. Usefulness aside, it'd still be really sad to lose all her friends.

She found Keita's name and immediately deleted him. That was simple enough really, she knew now that she should never have trusted him, not that she'd ever thought of making friends as a tracking device. There were a lot of benefits to making friends with someone, as well as being able to find them you could easily send and receive messages, view their guild and any other stats that weren't set to private. It also meant that the person was a friend, not because the system said so but because they'd made the choice, if she deleted them then she'd probably never be in touch with them again.

"It's so easy for them to see me and soon the news will spread that I'm with you and then they- they'd track me down... as easily as Keita did," Silica replied, not even trying to hide how upset she was. She'd love for someone to say that it'd all be fine either way.

"Well delete some at least," Kirito suggested.

There was no delete all button so she'd have to do it one at a time anyway and she could get rid of the friends she never talked to. These were mostly from old guilds she'd joined for a short time and made a few friends before leaving. She ignored the more difficult names, the ones she'd genuinely miss but began getting rid of the rest. It wasn't easy but she didn't really have any good reason to keep a lot of them and there was no reason they couldn't track her like Keita had.

* * *

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, they didn't dare to leave and the small house was very calm. Dinner was cooked and eaten without fanfare and they didn't really talk. Silica wasn't sure what Kirito was thinking but she didn't want to open any topics that could be in some way painful. It was easier to wait and see how things progressed and there was always the next day. Hopefully, that was the right attitude to take.

She'd left just a couple contacts on her friends list while she thought about what to do with them - surely they wouldn't track her down immediately. She wanted to keep them but then she needed the security now more than ever. Silica also pondered over the rather grim mind-set she'd been in, a holiday or some fun diversion was another thing worth considering.

Silica was grooming Pina whilst Kirito appeared to be reorganising his inventory - an activity he appeared to do way more than necessary. She was starting to relax until she heard the gentle knocking on the front door.

It took her a moment to realise the implications before she stood up in alarm, staring at the door in horror. Someone was out there and presumably knew that they were in here. Had her friends let her down again? So quickly? Once again, the door handle once again turned slowly open but this time, instead of Kirito smiling at her in the doorway there was a girl hiding her face under a cloak. She entered alone but that was more than enough.

"Who's there?" Kirito demanded harshly at the figure. Then he turned to her, gripping her arm. "Let's run out the back," he whispered.

"My, my don't you recognise me? I should be offended. You don't appear to have aged a day since I last saw you, Kirito," the girl said, dropping her dark hood to reveal her grinning face.

"Argo!" Silica said, alarmed. Kirito froze too, beside her. The dark cloak, the whisker marks, the cocky smile and the metal claws - it was unmistakably her.

Argo chuckled as if they were good friends or something. "And Silica too, I'm not surprised to find you here."

"How did you find us?" Kirito demanded again though he sounded more calm.

Argo merrily closed the door behind her and closed the distance between them. "Easy enough really, Keita had tracked down your house and I just bribed him for the information. He's been moody all day though, wonder why?"

Silica felt renewed anger for the guy. He was far too effective at ruining everything. "So why are you here then?" Silica snapped.

Argo didn't lose her smile, well it was more of a smirk really. "Oh you know, it's good practice to gather information from the source," she answered vaguely.

Silica felt the grip on her arm tighten and she glanced at Kirito. "You came to see me purely for business?" He asked. He raised his voice. "I haven't seen you in_ years _and you come to sell all my secrets? For what, money and prestige?"

That caused Argo to look genuinely upset. "For reputation if you must know," she replied stiffly. "And I didn't just come for that, I wanted to see you again."

"Let's just go," Silica requested softly. They couldn't possibly hang around and it wasn't like Argo had anything helpful to say.

But Kirito was distracted. "I've been surviving - being branded a red player for life was purely an accident by the way," he said to her.

"Hmmm... I really find it difficult to believe something like that could happen, it stresses credulity you know?" Argo replied in a weirdly chatty manner. "I don't believe you're a killer though," she confessed.

Silica was getting quickly tired of this conversation. She'd just waltzed in here to confess to what should be common knowledge? And she was far, far too curious, Silica wasn't about to trust an information broker with information that she didn't want anyone to know. But Kirito seemed to still be frozen, he apparently was still interested in meeting new people.

"Seriously what do you want? We don't want you to spread information about us as it could lead to more people tracking us down. It's probably better if we don't tell you anything," Silica interjected.

Argo was looking at her now. "Silica, I have little interest in selling either of you out, but please don't pretend that I can't still provide a service," she said slowly, like she thought she was an idiot or something.

Silica clenched her fists. "I have no reason to trust you more than anyone else. You're probably friends with Keita!"

Argo didn't look annoyed though, if anything she looked amused. "Keita is indeed one of my contacts, you should count that as a benefit though, I can tell you all about him."

"Argo..." Kirito broke in, in his soft voice. "Can I trust you?"

Somehow, Kirito managed to get Argo to be serious again. They stared into each other's eyes. "Yes, I promise. You have my word," Argo finally replied.

To her great irritation, Argo sent Kirito a friend request and he quickly accepted. In an effort to at least be seen doing something, Silica sent her a friend request too, there was no harm in it now after all. Hers was accepted with a teasing grin and Silica had to calm herself down. Maybe she could annoy the girl with chatty messages at the crack of dawn or something? Argo would probably force herself to read them.

"Well we should be leaving then, this house isn't safe anymore, right?" Silica said, giving a pointed glance towards the back door.

"I guess you should. If you don't mind the higher level monsters then the 52nd floor may be a good hideout thought I doubt you'd be able to find yourself a house like this one," Argo offered.

Kirito nodded. "We'll probably scout out several floors." He turned to Silica. "You still certain about coming with me, we'll be in the wilderness from now on?"

She didn't have to think about it. "I'm sure." She'd probably be unwelcome around other players anyway.

Argo finally left then but there was no time to talk. They quickly packed away all the possessions that they could carry, sadly not including the kitchen or the beds though Kirito did manage to take all his smithing stuff. It was late by now so they quickly teleported up to the 52nd floor as Argo had suggested. Silica couldn't help but miss the house, even if it was always raining. She realised now that it was far more comfortable than the wilderness.

The 52nd floor was a noxious swamp. It had some sort of backstory about how all the water had been poisoned for some reason not the Silica really cared about the game's very loose story. Inhaling the air was uncomfortable though it didn't actually harm the player so long as they didn't fall in. If they did then antidotes were a life-saver. Despite how unpleasant the level was, some hunters did venture in because the all the monster drops in the area were rather good for making potions, but they were few and easy to avoid.

Kirito had a passing knowledge on all the levels as he regularly went to the top floors to help with clearing some of the more obscure dungeons alone and had spent enough time on the 52nd to know the places which weren't covered in poisonous swamp and were therefore suitable for setting up camp. Sadly, for some reason all these places were rather rocky.

Still, they set up camp and Kirito got a fire going. The number of people were so few that there was little chance of any being attracted to the fire and most of the monsters on the level actually disliked it as they were swamp-dwellers so it wouldn't exactly increase the chances of a monster encounter. Then he used his hunting skill to make some simple traps. There was apparently also a trapping skill in the game which allowed way better traps and security but Kirito hadn't been interested in wasting skill slots and had instead trained hunting high enough that it would be a decent defence against level 50 monsters even if still imperfect.

Once those preparations had been made, they burrowed up in sleeping bags blankets and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

"Kirito?" Silica drummed up the courage to ask. She didn't want to be to meek to say anything and she'd waited long enough.

They'd spent the day fighting monsters on the floor, now that this was likely their semi-permanent residence it was important that they knew how to efficiently take down the monsters. Silica had been forced to get used to taking a few down by herself as it was very possible that it'd be necessary to. Still, she was stronger than she used to be and was getting pretty good at throwing knives at her enemies. Pina's attacks and heals were stronger as a result too. Honestly the monsters weren't too hard so long as she evaded the poisons though killing giant venomous moths was just strange.

"Yeah?" Kirito was broiling some meat (fortunately not from this level, it was all probably too toxic).

"I don't suppose... you know if you like me?" She asked nervously, staring at her fingers.

She couldn't help but look up for his expression though. "Maybe," he answered in the most non-committal voice ever. He took notice of her expression and hurriedly added. "I mean, well, I'd like to find out. If you're interested that is," he replied. She realised that he was really nervous too.

And then she realised he'd sort of said yes.

"Really?" She asked, not wanting to get her hopes up but couldn't resist a smile.

He looked her in the eye. "You've been amazing Silica and I like being around you. So yeah," he finished awkwardly.

He liked her! Maybe he was still uncertain but it wasn't like she was that certain either. So she beamed and shifted herself so she was sitting right next to him. "I like you too! One day we'll get out of this game so we can meet in real life too, okay?"

He nodded. "I'd like that," he said and for once there really sounded like genuine hope in his voice.

* * *

Things seemed normal as she helped him where she could with lunch, but comfortable too. After eating, they took a walk round the level, exploring it. Truthfully it probably wasn't that massive but it took ages to move very far with all the swamps and plants and randomly placed walls. It was pleasant enough, particularly with Kirito's darkly humorous comments over the area.

"See here, how there's a clearly marked path on the ground?" Kirito was saying. There was indeed a fairly wide earthy path surrounded on both sides by murky brown waters. "Kayaba probably thought it looked too convenient or something so it's actually not very firm. If you stood still long enough you'd actually start to sink into it. It'd be difficult to get out of so it'd probably be fatal if you got attacked," he continued, smirking slightly.

Silica frowned at it. She wasn't completely convinced but wasn't that interested in trying it out either. "Is that even realistic? Oh and does that mean there's some buried treasure in it?"

Kirito seemed to consider her question. "Maybe there is loads of valuable items at the very bottom of the swamp, shame I don't know fishing or something, and the game is not reality but other than that I couldn't possibly say." He actually sounded rather interested at going fishing in the middle of the swamp.

Later in their walk he pointed out the grass of all things. "The detail on it's really vivid in this part, see?" He said, crouching down and fingering the individual blades. To be honest she couldn't really see any difference. It was grass. A whole patch of slightly shiny grass, but still just grass.

"So?" She asked, knowing he probably had some weird reason for bringing it up. Maybe the grass was secretly plotting to kill them?

"That's because it actually counts as an item, if you pick it up it'll go to your inventory. It probably has some sort of purpose for something I couldn't care less about but that means monster encounters are way more frequent, there's almost certainly guards for these sorts of things," he explained, looking impressively unconcerned with the idea.

"Cool, I wonder what it does?" Silica replied nervously. She didn't care what the grass did but the idea of getting ambushed was not fun. Especially if this secretly turned out to be the most powerful grass in the game and so a hundred grass-loving monsters would be waiting to stop them from taking it.

As it happened, they'd hardly taken a step before a swarm of huge wasps decided that they were worth killing. A single thrown knife managed to kill one of them so they weren't very resilient but they made up for that in numbers. Silica tried to stay calm, she'd gotten used to fighting multiple enemies but she knew that this was definitely a battle designed for more than two players, as one of them jabbed at Pina and did a substantial amount of damage.

They were simple yet elegantly designed creatures, with cool buggy eyes, long yellow and black bodies complete with the obligatory massive stingers at the back and some furiously beating wings. They group quickly surrounded them on all sides so she couldn't easily defend, though it did make them easy to hit. They didn't really seem to possess much of a survival instinct, but then any monster who bothered to attack them was sentencing itself to death anyone. Pina hadn't been that stupid and she'd had to chase him before she could tame him.

Against these numbers, killing them as fast as she could was best so she threw her knives quickly, staying close to Kirito who had no need to move very far for his swords to find an enemy. It was rather satisfying seeing so many of them defeated so quickly though it'd be a chore to try and retrieve all her knives when they were done. And that was the worst of the encounter, neither of them, nor Pina were in much danger. Using potions at the end would be more of a precaution than a terrible need.

Shortly after, Silica had most of knives back and the walk through the level continued. It was far from some sort of romantic date or something but it was interesting anyway. Exploring was fun and simple (and a little scary) in Aincrad.

By nightfall, both of them had retreated to their campsite. It was weird, all the troubles she'd been having with the clearers and their distrust of red players was sort of inconsequential now. She pretty much couldn't do anything now to change their situation and hiding from them was really easy with the game as massive as it was so they'd somehow become a smaller concern. Kirito seemed far from miserable out in the wilderness so maybe he didn't really mind not being a proper clearer.

She'd lost all her connections though. At present there were just five people left on her friends' list. Kirito, Argo, Heathcliff, her good friend Marcia and the cool market guy Jorm whom she'd have hated to lose touch with. Even those names were technically risky but she trusted them. Still, there were so many towns she no longer felt safe to visit and she'd even have to be really careful just going shopping. It was going to be strange.

Silica sighed. The game was just plain unfair but thinking about it wasn't helping either. Instead she could focus on the friend who was probably more than a friend now. Exploring was sort of cool but something closer to a date would be awesome. She made a note to ask him if there were any pretty places they could go that would be a nice relaxing diversion. Like a holiday. She wasn't sure exactly what people were meant to do if they were dating, maybe they weren't supposed to do anything, but something cheerful sounded good.

* * *

**That's it for now. Hope that was okay, I'm a little uncertain. **

**Please do review with our comments, they're really encouraging and helpful!**

** Regarding a couple of reviews I should say that Asuna doesn't really have a very large role in this story, I mention her because I think she's worth mentioning, that all. I don't see Kirito/Silica as a really cracky pairing, and don't really see Silica as a 'loli,' she's a character who has a personality to me, if that makes a difference. Oh and I will update Reality at some point, though this tends to be my priority. Hmm... after writing this, I'm not really sure that all that much happened in this chapter. **


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