Sword Art Online

Chapter 16

At this point, the wide sky would make people think of the vast galaxy behind it.

This «wideness of the sky» was a feeling that a virtual reality would never be able to duplicate. The autumn season that passed seemed to be all forgotten, and the blue sky looks like herds of sheeps as they gathered high in the air together with the thick clouds. The fine cables had two sparrows standing there, and the military airplane that was flying in the air reflected the sunlight back.

Shino stared at this vast and endless scenery, and she looked like she wouldn't be irritated by it.

The wind now would be considered warm for mid-December, and the after school noise from students wouldn't reach the back of the school. Normally, the sky in the capital of Tokyo would be covered with a thin grey, but today, it looked like a town in the north. Shino sat beside the flowerbed with black soil and placed her bag on her knees. And then, she let her soul move through the unlimited space for about 10 minutes.

However, a moment later, several footsteps accompanied by laughter were heard as they got near to Shino and pulled her back from space to earth.

She turned her neck that was trying its best to look up, pulled her white shawl and waited for those intruders to walk near.

Endou and her two companions came in from the northwest area of the school building and the large incinerator. They smirked upon seeing Shino and showed cruel smiles.

Shino's left hand took up the bag and said,

“Since you took the initiative to invite me, don't be late.”

After hearing Shino say that, a lackey of Endou blinked her thick eyelids, kept her smile and shouted,

“Asada, you're really mischievous nowadays, aren't you!”

The other lackey said with a similar tone,

“Yeah~ isn't this too much to treat your friends like that?”

The 3 people, who were about 2m away from Shino, each thought that they could give threatening looks which they thought would be most effective. Shino stared hard at the predatory insect-like narrow eyes belonging to Endou who was standing in the center.

Both of them remained silent for a few seconds. Endou then smiled and lifted her chin.

“Oh well, we're friends anyway. Oh yeah, if we have troubles, you should help us. We're a little tight here...”

On hearing her say that, the other two started laughing.

“So just lend us 20,000 yen first.”

Endou said that in a tone like she was borrowing a rubber eraser.

Shino took off her NXT optical glasses that didn't even have a prescription on the lens, and put it in her skirt pocket. She gave the sternest of looks at Endou's trio, and said each word out clearly.

“I said it before. I don't have money to lend you.”

At this moment, Endou's eyes narrowed like cables. She gave a stubborn look from her face and said with a deeper voice,

“...Don't think you can continue to be so arrogant. Speaking of which, I really brought that thing with me from nii-san, so don't go crying, Asada.”

“...Whatever.”

Shino thought that these people wouldn't be so daring as to take out a gun near school, but Endou actually smirked and reached her hand into her school bag.

A black automatic pistol was whipped out from that bag which had lots of dolls hanging on it. This scene really gave a little sense of black comedy. Endou gingerly pulled out the large model gun and then pointed it at Shino with her right hand.

“I heard that this can blow a hole in a thick cardboard. Nii-san told me not to use it to shoot someone, but you won't listen to that right, Asada? You're used to it.”

Shino's eyes were naturally taken in by the black handgun.

Her heartbeat hastened. The ringing in her ears caused all other sounds to leave. She started breathing hard, and an icy feeling started to move up her fingertips.

However, Shino gritted her teeth and motivated all her mental strength to look away from the the gun's profile. Her eyes moved from Endou's right hand that was holding the gun, then started moving to the arm, and then to the shoulder, the dyed hair and finally Endou's face.

Endou's eyes were pulsating with her blood vessels showing due to over excitement, and the irises were turning to an ugly black. The owner of the handgun was just a pitiful worm who's drunk in violence.

The real terror wasn't the gun itself, but the person holding it.

Perhaps because Shino didn't give the expected response, Endou anxiously smirked and said these words.

“Cry, Asada. Kneel down and beg for forgiveness. Or else I'll really shoot.”

Then, she aimed the model gun at Shino's left shoulder before smiling. Her shoulders and arms jerked slightly, and Shino immediately knew that she was going to squeeze the trigger. However, the bullet didn’t fire.

“Damn it, what's going on!?”

Though she squeezed the trigger a few more times, she could only hear the sound of plastic rubbing against each other.

Shino took a deep breath, gained strength all over her body, threw the bag onto the floor and reached her arms out.

She used her left thumb to press down hard on Endou's right wrist, and got the gun while her grip weakened. She then slid the index finger into the trigger guard, and the grip easily landed in her hands. The gun felt like plastic, but it was heavy.

“A 1911 Government? Your brother really likes such traditional designs. Just doesn't fit my tastes, though.”

Shino said that and showed the left side of the gun at Endou.

“The Government has a thumb safety and a grip safety, and you can't shoot it without disengaging these two safeties.”

Clak, clak. With these two sounds, both safeties were removed.

“Also, it's a single-action gun, so you have to cock the hammer right from the beginning.”

Shino flicked the hammer up with her thumb, and the trigger lifted up slightly with a little hard sound.

She turned her eyes from the stunned Endou and company and looked around, found a row of blue plastic bins about 6m away beside the incinerator, and there happened to be a can on it.

Shino then placed her left hand on the grip and got into a basic sidearms shooting stance. She lined her right eye with the sights, aimed it at the empty can, considered for a while, lifted the gun up a little, held her breath, and squeezed the trigger.

'PA'. With a soft sound, a little recoil was sent to Shino's hand. This Government did really show recoil, and the orange bullet flew out.

As Shino wasn't familiar with the trajectory of this gun, she thought that the first bullet would miss. However, the bullet luckily grazed the top of the empty can, which shocked Shino herself. The aluminum can let out a 'Klang', spun like a spinning top and finally fell and dropped from the bin.

Fuu, Shino sighed and placed the gun down. Endou's arrogance was already long gone as she could only stand there in shock. As Shino looked at her eyes, she timidly closed her mouth and took half a step back.

“No...no...”

After hearing her terrified sound, Shino relaxed her stern glance.

“...It's true that it's better not to use this to shoot others.”

She said that as she lowered the hammer before engaging the 2 safeties. As Shino handed over the gun, Endou's body jerked, but still reached out for the model gun timidly.

Shino grabbed her school bag and again tugged at her shawl. She said goodbye to the 3 people behind her and started walking forward. However, Endou and company didn't respond at all. The trio could only stand there blankly until Shino went around the corner and disappeared.

The moment she couldn't see Endou, Shino's legs immediately lost their strength as she nearly collapsed onto the floor. She finally managed to stand up by supporting herself on the school building.

A thunderclap rang inside Shino's ears, and the blood was flowing quickly through her temples. The reverse flow of acid made her throat hurt slightly. If anyone was to tell her to do what she did just now, she would say that she wouldn't be able to do that again.

Even so—this can be considered a first step.

Shino forced herself to move her weak legs and made herself move away. The icy weight of the model gun was still stuck on her hands and couldn't be shaken off, but after putting her hand under the dry cold wind, her touch finally began to recover. She took out her glasses with her numb fingers and put it on.

She crossed the corridor that linked the west staircase of the school compound and the sports hall, reached the side of the field after walking for a while, passed the sports clubs members who were running and cheering themselves on, through the little woods on the south of the track, and the main gate appeared in front of her.

Students were going back in groups, and just when Shino was about to pass through these people and head through the gate, she felt that something was amiss.

Some female students were standing on the school side of the wall, looking through the school gate, and exchanging words which she did not know.

Shino noticed that there were 2 girls from her class who she had a somewhat good relationship with, and she walked to them.

A girl with long hair and black framed spectacles noticed Shino, smiled and raised her hand.

“Asada-san, are you going home now?”

“Yeah—what are you people doing?”

As she asked that, another girl with chestnut-colored hair that were tied into two braids shrugged, smiled and answered,

“Listen to me. There's a guy at the school gate with a uniform that's not from a nearby school. He parked his bike there and even had two helmets. It seems like he is waiting for a student from our school. It's a little like gossip, but we want to know who was so daring to invite her boyfriend over to the gate to fetch her, right?”

The moment she heard this answer, Shino immediately realized that her face was all white. She checked her watch and was screaming in her heart 'no way'.

He did agree to meet her at the school gate at this time, and that person even said that 'don't waste your bus fare, I'll come over to fetch you'. However, he shouldn't be so aloof so as to park his vehicle in front of the school gate—

...No, that guy would definitely do that.

Shino timidly leaned her body on the fence and peered outside from the school gate. Immediately after that, she felt completely weak. That male student who was wearing a uniform she had never seen before was leaning on a bright little motorbike that had it's tripod down. He was holding two helmets and looking up at the sky in a dazed manner—undoubtedly, he was the boy she had got to know two days ago.

Thinking that she would have to say hello to him and take the back seat of the bike with dozens of people looking at her, Shino couldn't help but blush. She muttered inside her heart 'I really want to log out from here', and squeezed out her last ounce of courage before turning to face her classmates beside her.

“Eh...well...he...he's my friend...”

She said in a soft voice that almost couldn't be heard. The eyes of the bespectacled girl widened.

“Eh...Asada-san's?”

“Wha, what kind of friend?”

The other girl shouted out like this too. Noticing the stares that gathered over because of these sounds, Shino could only hug her bag and shrink back...

“So...sorry!”

Then, she started apologizing and ran away for some reason.

Shino had already went through the green bronze school gate and arrived at the back lane as she heard a voice from behind yell out to her.

“Explain everything clearly to me tomorrow!~”

Even though she arrived beside him, this daring visitor still looked dazed as he looked up at the blue sky.

“Well...”

After talking to him, he blinked and turned his eyes over before showing a lazy smile on his face.

“Ah, good afternoon, Sinon.”

Meeting under the bright sun like this again, it felt like Kirito in the real world had a transparency that seemed to have left the ground. His slightly long black hair made his skin look more bright, and the slender body that looked shockingly like a girl's looked similar to his avatar in the virtual world.

This weak feeling, or rather, this feeble presence made Shino remember that he once spent two years in captivity, and caused her to keep her scathing words.

“...Good afternoon...sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It's nothing. I just arrived too—speaking of which...why does it feel like...”

At this moment, Kirito finally noticed the students that were watching from near the school gate. He looked around and said,

“...Everyone's looking at us...”

“Pl...please...”

Shino's voice had some reluctance.

“Wouldn't other people notice if you park your bike at someone else's school gate!?”

“I...is that so? Then...”

The boy suddenly gave off a teasing smile. Shino had seen that smile a few times in the virtual world.

“If we continue to stay here, would the disciplinary teacher run over here to make a ruckus? That seems interesting.”

“Do...don't kid around!”

In fact, the teachers may really come over. Shino instinctively turned back to look at the school gate and then said softly,

“Hu, hurry up and go!”

“Okay okay...”

Kirito handed the light green helmet that was hanging onto the handle to Shino as he continued to smile.

This guy's inner world messes me up like a mischievous imp, just like how it was like in GGO. I can't be fooled by his appearance—Shino told herself deep inside her heart as she received the safety helmet. She tilted her bag sideways and put on the half helmet. She then stopped as she didn't know how she was to buckle it. At this moment...

“Excuse me a for bit.”

Kirito reached his arm over and quickly hooked her helmet up. Shino's face again felt hot as she hurriedly pulled the mask down. She was already starting to wonder how she was going to explain things to everyone the next day.

“...Sinon, well...is your skirt alright?”

“I have sports shorts underneath.”

“No, that's not the problem.”

“You can't see it from the front seat anyway.”

After taking a potshot of revenge, Shino quickly sat down on the back seat of the bike. As she would often take the back seat of her grandpa's Coyote Honda 90, she was used to it.

“Then...you better hold on tight.”

Kirito twisted the key, and the rare internal combustion engine let out a loud roar. Shino again shrank her neck back. However, the vibration that reached her waist and the smell of the exhaust gases were truly memorable as she couldn't help but smile. She then wrapped her arms around Kirito's slender body.

It would be a little troublesome for her to head from the Bunkyo area of Yushima to their destination, the central area of Ginza, if she had to take the subway. It would be easier to move around above ground.

They drove from Ochinomizu, to Chiyoda highway before reaching Koukyo. The bike moved slowly around the moat^[5] for safety reasons, but luckily, the weather today was fine, and the wind that blew past her face felt rather comfortable. After moving through the major gate, they went through the Uchibori highway then Harumi Avenue, turned left, went through the JR bridge, and then arrived at Ginza Yonchome.

Even though the speed they drove at could be considered a huge difference from riding on the three-wheeler buggy and getting away from Death Gun, they still spent less than 15 minutes to reach the destination. Kirito immediately parked the bike.

Shino was holding the helmet in her hand as she was led by Kirito to a high-class cafe she had never been to before. The moment she pushed the door aside, the waiters in white shirts and black ties bowed deeply to them. Shino couldn't help but panic and looked somewhat embarrassed.

On hearing the waiter ask if it was for two, she felt whether it was like... and panicked even more. However, a voice without restraint was suddenly heard, breaking the entire high-class atmosphere.

“Oi~ Kirito-kun, over here!”

“Ah...we have an appointment with that guy.”

As Kirito said that, the waiter indicated that he understood without changing his expression, bowing as he walked forward. The shop was full of rich housewives who were going shopping, and their high school uniforms looked very obvious. Shino could only curl back and gingerly walk on the floor that was polished to an abnormal shine.

A tall and skinny man, who was wearing a high class deep blue western suit, a patterned tie and black-framed spectacles, got up from the table where both of them were headed. Shino heard that he was a civil servant, but besides giving off that white-collar presence, he did look like a scholar too.

As they sat at the table where the man indicated, warm towels and the leather menu appeared in front of them.

“Here, help yourselves.”

Shino flipped the menu open as if she was prompted by the guy's voice, and immediately couldn't say anything. Let alone sandwiches and pasta, even the desserts had 4 digit numbers behind them.

Just as Shino was so shocked that she didn't know what to do, beside her, Kirito snorted coldly and said,

“It's better not to be nice with him. We're spending money from our hardworking citizens.”

The girl glanced over and found that the bespectacled guy was smiling and nodding too.

“The, then...I'll order this rare cheese cake with cranberry sauce to go along...and also Earl Grey.”

Shino ordered these as her heart was going green 'Wow, 2200 yen^[6]!'. Unexpectedly, Kirito, who was beside her, said—

“I want baked apple pudding, mont blanc and espresso.”

Those unbelievable things were said. Shino couldn't even imagine how much money that would cost.

The attendant bowed and walked away.The bespectacled man reached into his pocket and took out a black business card holder. He took a business card from the holder and then handed the business card to Shino.

“Hello. I'm Kikuoka from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Technology.”

He said his name with a steady voice. Shino hurriedly took the business card and bowed back.

“He, hello...I'm Asada...Shino.”

The moment she said that, this man called Kikuoka gave an ominous look and said,

“It's because of our carelessness that we caused Asada-san to be in such a dangerous situation. I'm really sorry.”

“No...no worries. You're too kind.”

As Shino hurriedly lowered her head again, Kirito interrupted from beside her.

“It's better for him to apologize. If Kikuoka-san was able to investigate more thoroughly, we wouldn't have to meet such danger.”

“...I'm really sweating now that you mention that.”

Kikuoka lowered his head like a kid being lectured, but then lifted his eyes and continued.

“But Kirito-kun, you never expected «Death Gun» to be a group of people, right?”

“That's true...”

After saying that, Kirito leaned on the chair which looked like an antique, which then let out a creaking sound.

“Anyway...tell us what you know up till now first, Kikuoka-san.”

“Of course...but it's only been 2 days since we knew of their crimes. It would take some time to explain everything...”

Kikuoka took the coffee cup that was right in front of him, took a sip, and then continued.

“While I said that there was a group, there were actually only 3 members. At least from what the leader Shinkawa Shoichi said, they had three people.”

“That guy called Shoichi was the mantle guy who attacked Sinon and me in BoB, right?”

Kikuoka gently nodded his head at Kirito's question.

“I guess that should be right. From the confiscated AmuSphere records we got from his house, we were able to check that he did log into Gun Gale Online at that time.”

“House...that guy called Shinkawa Shoichi, what kind of person was he? Was he the mastermind?”

“...To explain all that, we have to start from the SAO incident in year 2022. But before that...”

The waiter just so happened to arrive at this moment as he pushed the trolley with lots of plates of food on it. After waiting for the waiter to arrange these plates onto the table and leave, Kikuoka then gestured Shino not to hold back.

She didn't really have much appetite, but she should still be able to eat it. After saying 'itadakimasu' with Kirito, Shino took the gold fork.

She sliced a bit off the milky white block that was dyed in bright red sauce and placed it inside her mouth. Besides the heavy taste of thick cheese spreading in her mouth, the cake itself melted inside. Surprised, Shino immediately had the thought to ask for the recipe, but thinking about it, she knew that even if she asked the shop, they wouldn't reveal it.

Unknowingly, she ate about half of the cake before putting her fork down and picked up the red teacup. She took a sip of the warm liquid that had a little orange tang in it, and the tense feeling deep inside her was eased.

“It's really nice...”

Shino muttered. On hearing that, Kikuoka happily said,

“Normally, food should accompany happy topics. But it's alright. We can come over another time.”

“I, I see...”

Kirito continued to eat the golden brown mont blanc in front of him, and at this point, laughed and dampened Kikuoka's mood.

“I'll advise you not to. This guy's «topics of interest» are either dirty or disgusting.”

“That, that's too much. I'm rather confident in my travel experiences in southeast Asia...oh well, let's talk about this first.”

Kikuoka took out a tablet PC from his office bag, and then touched the screen with his long fingers.

Shino's body tensed up slightly as she got ready to hear what this person, who looked like a teacher, had to say.

Of course, she wanted to know all about this «Death Gun» incident. However, at the bottom of her heart, there was a slight voice muttering that she didn't want anything more to do with this.

Perhaps a certain part deep within her still trusted Shinkawa Kyouji. Even when that terrifying syringe was placed at her neck, Shino still couldn't hate Kyouji completely, and neither could she give up on all her feelings for him. That person wasn't the real him, something that hacked into his mind caused him to do this—Shino still believed in this saying.

It's been about 40 hours since what happened on Sunday night.

That night—as Shino was prompted by Kirito to go to the bathroom to wash her face and change clothes, the police arrived at her house.

Shinkawa Kyouji, whose head suffered heavy trauma and was vaguely conscious, was immediately arrested and then sent to the hospital by ambulance.

For safety reasons, Shino and Kirito were sent to another hospital and made to take a mandatory checkup. The doctor on duty told Shino that she didn't have anything other than a few bruises. Soon after, the police started their investigations in the hospital, and she tried to clear her mind that was still blurred by a layer of confusion, and told the police exactly what happened inside the room.

She herself didn't notice it, but the doctor diagnosed that her emotional stress level was at its limit, so the police's investigation stopped at about 2am in the morning. Shino then spent the night in the hospital room, and after waking up at 6am, she refused to accept the doctor's proposal to return to her apartment and instead went to school.

Just like that, she groggily went through Monday, which was yesterday. Even though Kyouji continued to skip school, he should still be registered to the school, so Shino thought that the school would know about it. In the end, nobody was talking about it at school.

As Shino ignored Endou and the rest completely and went back to her apartment, the police were already waiting for her at the door. After changing, Shino and the police went to that hospital yesterday, and Shino took a second diagnosis from the doctor. This time, Shino asked a lot of questions about Kyouji, but the police told her that Kyouji was alright, but he kept quiet while being interrogated.

Because of «security reasons», the police wanted Shino to remain in the hospital. After eating her dinner and bathing, she made a short call to her grandparents and mother at her old home before sleeping in the hospital room the hospital had prepared for her. The moment she laid on the bed, Shino immediately sank into a deep sleep, and her memory was cut off from there. It felt like she had a long dream, but she couldn't remember anything about it at all.

On Tuesday, which was this morning, the policemen again escorted her to her apartment. As she was dropped off, the police told her that her questioning would be over. Even though it was a good thing, how would she know about developments from now on...Shino thought as she got ready for school. Just when she was cutting a tomato for breakfast, her phone suddenly rang. It was from Kirito. The first thing he asked was whether Shino was free after school, and Shino instinctively answered yes.

Just like that, Shino sat beside Kirito and waited for his «associate»—the man who was a civil servant to speak.

Kikuoka turned to look up from the tablet PC and then lowered his volume, probably scared that other people may hear it.

“The General Hospital Director's elder son Shinkawa Shoichi was frail and sick when he was young, and often moved between his house and the hospital ever since he graduated from middle school. He even enrolled in high school a year late...thus, his father had already given up on letting Shoichi take over the family business and pushed this burden onto Kyouji, who was 3 years younger than him. The director then started getting at home tutors for Kyouji and would sometimes even teach him himself, and would leave Shoichi alone. Shoichi wasn't filled with expectations, but his younger brother was forced into despair because of the huge expectations...that's what their father said when he was questioned.”

Kikuoka paused at this moment and wet his lips with coffee.

Shino looked at the table surface and tried to imagine how the «parents' expectations» would be like. But no matter what, she just couldn't imagine that happening.

Even though both of them were so close, she had never noticed that Kyouji was under so much pressure. I just kept caring about my own stuff and never actually thought of interacting with others truthfully—as Shino realized this again, her chest felt a sharp pain.

Kikuoka continued,

“—But even in this situation, the brothers were rather close. Once Shoichi dropped out of high school, he turned to the internet as his heaven and started playing MMORPG, and this interest of his affected his brother. After that, the elder brother ended up being a captive of «Sword Art Online» and was in a coma in his father's hospital for 2 years. Once he survived and returned, Kyouji viewed him as some sort of idol...or even treated him like a hero.”

At this moment, Shino noticed that Kirito beside her sounded somewhat tense as he breathed. However, Kikuoka's deep and calm voice then continued.

“Once Shoichi survived, he did not mention about what happened in SAO for a while, but after he ended his recuperation and returned home, he started bragging about how he killed many players in that world, how many people were scared of him, this real killer...to Kyouji who wasn't doing well at school and threatened by the upperclassmen, what Shoichi said didn't irritate him, but even made him feel relieved and satisfied.”

“Well...”

Shino spoke softly. Kikuoka lifted his head and tilted his neck as if to prompt her to continue.

“These things...were said by Shinkawa-kun, no, Kyouji, right?”

“No, these were based on conclusions made from the older brother's testimony. Shoichi continued to talk during the police investigations, and even had guesses about his younger brother's heart. However, Kyouji was completely different from his brother and remained silent even till now.”

“I see...”

Shino really couldn't imagine what kind of plane Kyouji's soul was floating on. She even felt that if she logged into GGO, she could see Spiegel waiting there at the bar where they meet up...even though it's not possible.

“Ah, please continue...”

Kikuoka nodded his head after hearing Shino's words and then again glanced at the tablet PC.

“We have no idea what was the key factor that made the two brothers head down the «road of no return», so we can only guess...but Shoichi should have started playing Gun Gale Online on Kyouji's suggestion. Shoichi didn't have any phobia about the VR world that many survivors of SAO would have, but he wasn't that enthusiastic when he started playing. He noted that instead of practising his skills by fighting against monsters, he might as well wait on the streets to observe other players and imagine ways of killing them. However, ever since he got the «Invisible mantle» from the RMT system, everything changed.”

“RMT...”

Shino couldn't help but say it out. The mantle which Death Gun had, the «Metamaterial Optical Camouflage» ability, should be a really rare item that boss-like monsters would drop at a really low percentage. The price should be much more expensive than the Hecate II.

“Well...I guess that must be really expensive...”

After she said that, Kikuoka nodded his head, and then shook his head with a look of disbelief.

“It's said to be an estimated value of more than 300,000 yen. However, Shoichi would get 500,000 yen^[7] in allowance from his father every month.”

“That means...that large sniper rifle and the Estoc that was made from the rare material were bought through money...good thing that SAO didn't have a trading area or an RMT...”

As Kirito muttered this, he didn't look like he was joking at all. Also, Kikuoka nodded his head seriously and continued.

“That's true—ever since Shoichi could make himself disappear with that mantle, he had been practising ways to obscure himself from others. At this moment, he merely felt that it was interesting to tail someone from behind...however, on a certain day, he found that the person he was tailing went into the presidential estate to operate a game terminal. Shoichi had an idea and took out his binoculars to try and look at the screen from behind a pillar. And then, he immediately found that person's real name and address and other personal particulars in the real world...”

“In other words...he didn't buy that invisible mantle to obtain information, but the opposite...he had that mantle first before doing such a thing...”

Kirito sighed and then leaned his back on the chair.

“...In the past, any MMO would have some sort of «Hiding» skill, and it's rare to see those who don't have it. But...I feel that the invisibility in VRMMO can be used to do a lot of bad things. At least it should be banned from being used on the streets...you need to feedback this to Zasker, Sinon.”

As the topic was suddenly shifted to her, Shino could only hurriedly answer.

“Y, you go submit it...but, that means that the mantle was the reason that gave birth to «Death Gun».”

The last part of those words were obviously said to Kikuoka. The bespectacled civil servant nodded his head and then turned his eyes to look at the tablet PC again. After seeing his kind smile, Shino suddenly had a strange feeling, but that didn't matter now, so Shino didn't say her next thought. Kikuoka continued talking as the sunset shone on the table surface.

“...I guess you can put it like that. Shoichi immediately memorized the personal information on instinct and wrote it down after he logged out. At this moment, he didn't really have some detailed plan to go about with this crime, but being able to get real information on players made him happy. After that, he would spend many hours in the presidential estate and wait for players to appear and write their real addresses down. Finally, he got a total of 16 real player names and addresses. Among them...Asada Shino-san, yours was included.”

“...”

Shino nodded. Since it started before September, that would be before the 2nd BoB tournament. There were about 500 players who registered. Even if only half of them inputed their real names and addresses so as to get the model gun, it wouldn't be impossible to steal 16 players' real life information.

Kikuoka continued to explain.

“On a certain day in October, the younger Kyouji indicated to Shoichi that he had a problem with his character development. At that time, he seemed to have said angrily that 'it was because of the fake information «Zekushiido» spread', and Shoichi remembered that he had Zekushiido's real name and address and told it to Kyouji.”

That's right. It was likely at that moment that the wall between Kyouji's imagination and the real world started to break apart.

“Shoichi indicated that it wasn't a plan one person came up with.”

Kikuoka's calm voice slid into Shino's ears.

“It's said that as the two of them were discussing about how to handle Zekushiido's personal information, the plan to create «Death Gun» started to take shape. However, Shoichi mentioned that they were just joking around in the beginning. Shooting in the game and killing a player in real life...this sounded easy, but there were a few difficulties in reality. After days of discussion, they slowly started to overcome one obstacle after another. And the biggest obstacle they faced was the master key that could break electronic locks and the way to inject drugs...”

“A General Hospital should have a legal master key to open a patient's house when there's an emergency. I guess their father's hospital...”

After hearing it from Kirito, Kikuoka looked like he was blowing a silent whistle as he curled his lips.

“As expected of Kirito. Actually, the government was promoting keyless sensor door locks to add control to personal residences that may not be easy to get broken in...but that's classified information. Anyway, the two of them worked hard to steal the unlock mechanism, the high pressure syringe and Succinylcholine from their father's hospital. According to Shoichi, carrying out this plan itself was like a game. He said that this was completely the same as gathering intel on targets in SAO, preparing their equipment and launching raids. It's said that he even told the police who was taking his statement 'aren't you the same?'. It seemed that he meant that the game was about going about and talking to NPCs everywhere, collecting information, catching the bountied criminal and handing him over to collect money, and that what the police was doing wasn't any different.”

“I think that you better not trust his words fully.”

The moment Kirito suddenly said these words, Kikuoka frowned and asked,

“Really?”

“Yeah. Maybe that Shoichi may have some part of him which really felt that way, but as «Red-Eyed XaXa», even though he kept telling people around him that this was just a game, he knew that players will really die and had such an addiction to killing. To him, whether it's the virtual world or the real world, only things that were beneficial to him were real. The sense of reality was wearing thin on him...this may be the dark side of VRMMOs.”

“I see. Then...how about your reality?”

Shino thought that Kirito would give a mischievous smile that he would normally give the moment he heard Kikuoka's question. However, he gave an abnormally serious look as he stared up at a certain spot in the air.

“...It's true that I left a part of myself in that world. Right now, my personal worth has decreased.”

“Don't you want it back?”

“Please don't ask that, will you? That's my personal privacy.”

This time, Kirito really gave a wry laugh, and then glanced at Shino.

“—As for that, what do you think, Sinon?”

“Err...”

Having being asked that all of a sudden, Shino couldn't help but feel somewhat troubled. She turned her thoughts into words, which she wasn't really familiar with, but she still finally tried to express her own thoughts.

“Well...Kirito, what you said just now was different from what you said before.”

“Eh...?”

“You once said that 'there wasn't any virtual world'. And said that wherever the person was in was reality. Even though there're many VRMMO games, a gamer won't be divided after going to every world, right? Right now, I'm...”

Shino stretched her right hand out and touched Kirito's left wrist with her fingertip.

“This world is the real world. Even if this is a virtual world that's created from AmuSphere, it's still a real world to me...that's how I think it should be.”

Kirito widened his eyes and stared at Shino for a while, which made Shino embarrassed. Then, he showed a smile that didn't have any mischief in it.

“...I see. You're right.”

After saying that, Kirito turned to look at Kikuoka and said,

“You better take down what Sinon just said. That may be the one truth in this entire incident.”

“—Don't kid around with me.”

Shino's right fist tapped Kirito's shoulder gently before turning forward. At this moment, Kikuoka was staring at Shino for some reason, and may have felt awkward as he moved his eyes to his empty cake plate.

“Yes, you're right. And Shoichi's condition—was completely different from Asada-san. It ended up as the place he wasn't at being his reality altogether...”

“That guy continued to repeat the words 'it's not over yet'. Maybe that guy still hasn't completely returned from Aincrad...the aim of this ‘created new world’ that Akihiko Kayaba created—maybe it can be realized once that floating city completely collapses...”

“Don't say such scary things. His death still has lots of mysteries behind it...but it has nothing to do with this. Let's summarize this...Shoichi had no psychological barrier at the planning stage when he wanted to get into the target's house and inject the drug. At that time, the first victim was «Zekushiido»...Shigemura Tamotsu, and the one who killed him was Shoichi. At around 11pm on the 9th of November, he used the unlocking mechanism to open the target's room and entered it. About 11:30pm, he used the high pressure syringe on Shigemura who wore the AmuSphere as he was taking part in the «MMO Stream» interview, and got injected in the lower jaw. The drug he used was called Suxamethonium Chloride, also known as Succinylcholine, a muscle relaxant, and the victim Shigemura's breathing and heartbeat stopped and died. In other words, the one who shot Zekushiido in GGO was the younger brother Kyouji...”

On hearing Kyouji's name, Shino's shoulders shuddered. On the night two days ago, as Kyouji was all over her, he did mention Zekushiido, and that vengeful voice rang in her ears.

Because of the false information Zekushiido spreaded around that caused a mistake in Kyouji’s stat allocation, he wasn't able to get the title of «the strongest»—even though «Yamikaze» was a super AGI-type who was really strong, which would have denied Kyouji's thoughts—but his hatred for Zekushiido was far stronger than the upperclassmen in the real world who tormented and bullied him.

No—I was wrong...at that time, to Kyouji, the real world was already...

“The second victim was Usujio Tarako, and Shoichi was the one who killed him in the real world. The method was almost completely the same. They chose 7 people as targets, and the common condition amongst these targets were that they all lived in Tokyo and have the old-model lock that wouldn't leave any records of being opened, or where there were spare keys near the door...”

“It would have taken quite some time to gather this much information.”

After hearing Kirito say that in amazement, Kikuoka's face tensed up and nodded his head.

“It should have taken a lot of time and effort. But—after taking the lives of two, it seemed that nobody believed the legend of «Death Gun».”

“Yeah...everyone just felt that it was just a stupid report—I was one of them.”

Shino muttered, and Kikuoka agreed with her view completely.

“Yeah. Kirito-kun and I considered all sorts of possibilities, but in the end, all we could conclude was that 'this was just a rumor'. However, our guess was already wrong...”

“If...if we could have noticed the truth a day earlier, we could have protected the lives of those two players who entered the finals...”

After hearing the anguished words from Kirito, Shino lowered her head and said to him,

“—But you saved me.”

“No, I didn't help at all. That was all about your own strength.”

Shino glanced at Kirito, and had the thought that she hadn't thanked him properly yet, but at this moment, Kikuoka said again,

“If it wasn't for you two's hard work, the 7 people on the namelist would have been killed by them before the situation got attention, so you two don't have to be so hard on yourselves.”

“It's not that...it's just that I'm very unhappy that the ratings of VRMMOs will become worse again.”

“These sprouts that were grown by «The Seed» aren't so weak that they'll wilt because of this. Right now, these countless sprouts are gathering to become a towering giant tree that can match the World Tree. Really, I don't know which guy did this!”

“...You know. You better continue talking.”

Kirito coughed dryly and prompted Kikuoka to continue.

“Yes...however, I guess you should know what happened next. Both of them found that the threat of Death Gun didn't spread much and felt really angry, and so decided to come up with an even scarier plot. The brothers decided to come up with a killer plot of 3 people in the 3rd tournament to decide the strongest, commonly called the Bullet of Bullets finals. And the players that became their targets were...«Pale Rider», «Garret» and «Sinon»...which is you, Asada-san.”

“...”

On hearing that, Shino nodded her head. Shino knew of the 4th casualty, Garret. He was a trendy guy who wielded an old fashioned Winchester rifle. Shino remembered the cowboy cap that could be considered his trademark and prayed for him silently deep inside. At that moment, she suddenly noticed something and said,

“Ah...speaking of which, this may just be a coincidence...”

“What is it?”

“The 7 targets may have a common point. Including me, everyone of them weren't of the AGI-type.”

“Oh...? What does that mean...?”

“Shinkawa-kun...no, Kyouji only added his AGI stat, so he was stuck in the game. I guess...he should have some complicated feelings towards other types...like those who stack up on STR.”

“Hmm...”

Kikuoka immediately couldn't say anything and could only look at the screen of the tablet PC.

“What you meant is that...his motive was always from the game...now the prosecutors will have some difficulties cross-checking him...but will it really become like this...”

Kikuoka seemed to be in disbelief as he continued to shake his head. At this moment, Kirito lamented,

“No...I feel that it's really possible. To MMO players, the character stats are absolute values. I know of some people who were in a joking mood as they nudged their friends hands while they were adjusting their stats, causing their friends to accidentally add an extra point, and then both of them would quarrel and start killing each other in the game over it for months...of course, these were all in games.”

Shino could also understand why such a thing happened. However, Kikuoka merely widened his eyes and then shook his head.

“Looks like the prosecutors, lawyers, judges and attorneys need to have some experience of diving into VRMMOs. No—it's about time we set some laws related to them...hmm, but that's not what we have to worry about. Err...where were we?”

He glanced at the tablet PC and then nodded his head.

“That's right, we talked about how they chose 3 people as targets. However—unlike the last two killings, there was a huge problem with the execution of the plan in the BoB finals. As «Death Gun» in the game and the person outside the game couldn't contact each other, it would be difficult for both parties to shoot at the same time. Finally, this problem was barely solved with the live telecast from outside the game, but...”

“It's still difficult to execute it, right? And there's movement.”

Kirito interrupted with a scowl on his face and continued,

“I missed this and thought that there were only 2 Death Guns...”

“I, I see. They seemed to have chosen a trio nearest to their house...like how Pale Rider lived in Omori, Ota, and Garret was living in Kawasaki, Musashi Kosugi, which weren't too far away. But the Bunkyo, Yushima area Asada-san lived in was rather far. Also, Kyouji, who always wanted to be Death Gun, was insistent on being the one killing in the real world. Shoichi had a bike, but Kyouji didn't have a license—so Shoichi invited a new partner into the plan. Yes...that person's name is called Kanemoto Atsushi, 19 years old now, an old acquaintance of Shoichi—or rather...”

Kikuoka glanced at Kirito.

“His guild partner during SAO. His character name was...«Johnny Black» Have you heard of...”

“Yes.”

Kirito looked down and nodded his head.

“He was XaXa's partner in «Laughing Coffin», a player who used a poison dagger. At that time, both of them attacked a few players and killed them...damn it...if I had known...I should have...”

Before he could say it, Shino quickly reached her right hand out to grab Kirito's left hand. At the same time, she looked into Kirito's eyes and slowly shook her head.

Kirito immediately knew what she meant.

Kirito immediately looked like a baby who was crying and smiling, showing that he knew, but that expression immediately disappeared and became that usual poker face. At this moment, Shino moved her fingers away from his icy hand and turned forward. Kikuoka, who had been staring at them from the opposite side, continued with his explanation.

“...There was no mention of whether this Johnny Black—also known as Kanemoto—was involved in this plan in Shoichi's testimony. To Shoichi, Kanemoto seemed to be a person who's really hard to understand at times...”

“Why don't you just ask that Kanemoto?”

Kirito's reply was as simple as ever, but Kikuoka shook his head.

“We haven't caught him yet.”

“Eh...”

“Shinkawa Kyouji was arrested in Asada-san's apartment, and 40 minutes later, his brother Shoichi was arrested in his own house. Then, the police followed Shoichi's testimony and arrived at the apartment in Ota where Kanemoto was at, but there was no one inside the room. That apartment is still under surveillance, but there's still no news that we caught Kanemoto yet.”

“...Can we confirm that he was the one who killed «Pale Rider» and «Garret» in the finals?”

“I guess it should be him. Shoichi did mention that he handed the same drug syringes to him and Kyouji. We didn't find those weapons, but we found hair that matched Kanemoto's DNA in the victims houses.”

“Syringes...”

Shino couldn't help but feel a chill after thinking of the name that made her remember about this term that would remind her of the drug name. Kyouji's voice 'this is the real Death Gun' when he placed the syringe at her neck continued to echo in her mind.

Kirito seemed to have the same thoughts as Shino as he looked and said,

“Were the drug’s use finished after killing the other two targets?”

But Kikuoka shook his head to deny this.

“No...a small syringe of Succinylcholine would be fatal enough, but for added security, Shoichi gave him three drug syringes, so he may still have one left. That was why the police insisted on protecting you people until morning from Monday on, especially Asada-san who may still be in danger.”

“...You're saying that Johnny Black may continue to hurt Sinon...?”

“No, that's just for added precaution. The police felt that it wasn't necessary too. As their Death Gun plot collapsed, there wouldn't be any benefit to attack Asada-san. Besides, Kanemoto and Asada-san had no reasons to harm each other or personal grudge. Right now, the automatic identification camera network in the center of Tokyo had started its trial, so I guess he won't be able to run away for long.”

“What's that...?”

“It's commonly called the S2 system. The computer will automatically analyze the faces of all the people the camera sees and then look for the fugitive...well, the details are classified.”

“That's really amazing.”

Kirito frowned as he took a sip of coffee.

“I have the same feeling too. Anyway, I think it's just a matter of time before Kanemoto's arrested. Let's get back to the incident and summarize this...”

Kikuoka's fingers moved on the tablet PC, and then shrugged, lifted his head and said,

“You should be more familiar with the rest than I do. Shinkawa Kyouji immediately came to Asada-san's house to attack after the tournament was over, but luckily, he was arrested without achieving his goal. Shinkawa Shoichi was then arrested next, and the remaining Kanamoto Atsushi is being wanted. The brothers are still being interrogated in the Fuji branch. Sorry for taking such a long time...but my report ends here. That's all the information I have now...do you have any questions?”

“Well...”

She felt that this may be a question that couldn't be answered, but Shino couldn't help but ask,

“Shinkawa-kun...Kyouji, what will happen to him from now on...?”

“Mu...”

Kikuoka pushed his spectacles up with his fingers and bemused.

“Shoichi's currently 19, and Kyouji's 16, so they will be tried under the juvenile laws....but this case is a huge one that involves 4 lives, so the juvenile court would probably send the case back to the prosecutor. Also, they probably need a psychiatric evaluation. Even though we have to wait for it to end...but looking at their actions, I think there should be a high chance that they would be sent into a juvenile jail. That's because those two have lost their sense of reality...”

“No...I don't think they lost their sense of reality yet.”

After hearing Shino mutter this, Kikuoka blinked and indicated with his eyes for her to continue on.

“I don't really understand the older brother...but Kyouji...to Kyouji, Gun Gale Online's the real world to him, which was why he decided—”

She raised her right hand, pointed her finger straight, and then placed it down again.

“To abandon everything in this world and head to that real world called GGO. Maybe people in this world...would feel that he was just running away, but...”

Shinkawa Kyouji was the one who wanted to take Shino's life away. The fear and despair he gave Shino was unmeasurable. But even so, Shino still couldn't begrudge him and felt reluctant. This painful feeling caused Shino to continue to say,

“But I guess this online gaming wouldn't just be a game of entertainment to us once our minds and time were spent to a certain level. Earning experience and money to become stronger is really a troublesome and difficult thing. Of course, it's nice to play with friends occasionally...but there's a lot of pressure to continue playing like they're working just to be the strongest, like what Kyouji did.”

“Stress...caused by playing games? But...wouldn't that be the complete opposite of its purpose...”

Kikuoka said in surprise, and Shino nodded at him and continued.

“Yes. Kyouji...reversed this world with that world.”

“But...why? Why was he so willing to sacrifice so much to get this so-called title of being the strongest...?”

“I'm not too sure about that...I just said it before, to me, this world and the game are all connected...Kirito, do you know why....?”

Shino looked right, and found that Kirito was leaning his back on the chair, closing his eyes and thinking. Soon, he opened his mouth and muttered.

“Because you wanted to be strong.”

Shino closed her lips, thought about this short sentence, and then nodded her head slowly.

“...That's right. I was the same the last time. Maybe every VRMMO player is the same...just trying to be stronger...”

Shino turned her body around and faced Kikuoka from the front.

“Then...when are visitors allowed to meet Kyouji?”

“Well...he'll probably be kept in custody after we cross-examine him. We have to wait until he's sent to a juvenile observation center.”

“I see—I'll go see him. Once I see him, I want to tell him what I was thinking before...and what I'm thinking now.”

No matter how late, no matter how much he didn't want to listen to her, Shino felt that she had to do this. This time, Kikuoka finally showed what looked like a whole-hearted smile.

“You're really a strong person. Yes, please do. I'll make arrangements to his management plan in the future and send an email to you.”

He then looked at the watch on his left wrist and said,

“Sorry—it's about time for me to leave. I can be said to lack leisure, but there're really lots of things to handle.”

“Sure. Sorry for troubling you.”

Shino also thanked him after Kirito.

“Well..thank you.”

“No need to be so kind. It was my negligence that caused both of you to be in danger, so this should be what I should do. I'll notify you if I get some new information.”

Kikuoka placed the tablet PC into the office bag beside him and stood up from the chair. Just when he was about to reach for the bill on the table—he suddenly stopped.

“Oh yes, Kirito-kun...”

“...What is it?”

“This is what you wanted me to get.”

He took a small piece of paper from the inside pocket of his western suit and handed it to Kirito.

“Death Gun...no, Red-eyed XaXa—Shinkawa Shoichi, once he heard that this was the question you raised, he answered it without hesitation. However, he asked us to send a message back to you. Of course, you don't have to care about him at all, and any messages from a suspect can't be revealed in an investigation, so the police appeared to have refused his request...so, do you want to hear it?”

Kirito's face looked like he just drank some really bitter coffee, but he still nodded his head in the end.

“Since you brought it here, I'll listen.”

“Then...muu...”

Kikuoka took out the second piece of paper, saw the contents, and read,

“...‘This isn't over. You don't have the power to end everything. You'll soon notice. It's showtime.’ just like that—”

“...Such a slippery guy.”

It's been about 10 minutes after Kikuoka smiled as he waved his hand and left.

As both of them left the cafe and headed for where the bike was parked, Kirito suddenly grumbled.

“...Who is that guy? He called himself an officer of Internal Affairs Ministry...but somehow...”

Shino thought that he was really an enigmatic person and said this to Kirito. However, Kirito merely shrugged his shoulders and answered,

“Well, I can be certain that he's under the VR world Management sector. At least for now.”

“Now?”

“Think about it. Things just happened less than 2 days ago. Don't you feel that he knew too much about what's going on inside the police force? The Japanese jurisdiction departments would never get involved in each other's department, so that shouldn't be common.”

“...What do you mean?”

“He originally said that he wasn't really in a single unit, like the police or something...it's not really possible, but he...”

“...?”

“I once met him here before and followed him when he went back.”

Shino gave a look of disbelief as she watched Kirito walk beside her. However, the boy just looked like nothing happened and continued.

“In the end, there were 3 large sedans waiting at a nearby underground car park, and the driver sure didn't look like someone you want to mess with when he has short hair and a black suit. I tried my best to follow them with my bike, but maybe I was discovered...Kikuoka was dropped off in front of Ichigaya station, and he disappeared while I was looking for a parking spot.”

“Ichigaya? Not Kasumigaseki?”

“Yeah. The Internal Affairs Ministry's in Kasumigaseki...but what's in Ichigaya should be...the Ministry of Defense.”

“Min...”

Shino immediately couldn't say anything and could only continue blinking.

“This means that...he's from the self defence force?”

“So I said it wasn't really possible. The police's relationship with the defence ministry should be worse than that of the internal affairs department.”

Kirito shrugged slightly. At this moment, Shino finally thought of something.

“Ah...speaking of which, Kikuoka-san was wearing...I guess, spectacles with very small degree or no degree, because the lens didn't really reflect much.”

“Is that so...I see.”

Shino looked at the boy who seemed to understand and then said,

“But...even if that person has some relationship with the defence ministry, why must he investigate VRMMOs? They shouldn't have any relationship with each other right?”

“Well...I heard that someone intended to use FullDive technology to train soldiers, even though that's the situation with the US Army.”

“Wha, what?”

This time, it was Shino who was shocked and stopped. Kirito then stopped and shook his right hand.

“Like for example...hm...can we talk about guns?”

“Y, yeah...it's alright if it's just listening.”

“Good. For example, if I give you a real sniper rifle, can you successfully finish the loading until the firing?”

“...”

Shino recalled how she shot the can with the Government model gun a few hours ago and nodded her head.

“I guess so...if it's just firing. But in the real world, I don't know how to lower the recoil, so I may not be able to hit the target.”

“But I don't even know how to load bullets. If we can train weapon and basic operations in the virtual world, we may be able to save a lot of ammunition and fuel.”

“Rea...really...”

Shino couldn't help but look at her right hand. The scale Kirito was talking about was way too big, and it was really hard to imagine such a situation.

“Of course, this is just a possibility. Just this year alone, we have no idea for how many purposes FullDive technology can be used for, so it won't be strange to see whatever new thing that happens in the future. Anyway—better be more careful about that guy.”

After saying that casually, Kirito walked over to the bike and took off the clamp on its back wheel. As he handed a helmet over to Shino, he said with a rare hesitating attitude to her,

“Well...”

“...? What is it?”

“...Sinon, do you have some time after this...?”

“I don’t really have anything to do. Maybe I won't want to log into GGO for a while.”

“I see—sorry, I have something I want to ask you to help out with...”

“What is it?”

“The image of that cave during the BoB finals were seen by...those SAO-era friends of mine. And they knew that I was that «Kirito»...well...if you can help me explain to my friends that we weren't flirting, I'll be really happy.”

“...Heh.”

Shino started feeling that it was interesting and gave a smile. Even though she felt very embarrassed about that, after hearing this boy who would do things at his own whims say that he's bothered about being suspected of having an affair with her, she had a 'now what are you going to do' thought.

“But even if they're your old friends, it's amazing that they could recognize you from your name.”

“Yeah...they recognized my sword skills.”

“I, I see—it's alright to help you out, but you owe me one. You're treating me to cake next time.”

After hearing her say that, Kirito gave a sheepish look and said,

“Are...are we going back to that earlier shop again...?”

“I won't do such a cruel thing.”

“That's great. Then...please follow me to Ochinomizu for a while. It won't take you much time.”

“What, isn't that just beside Yushima? That's on the way home.”

She received the helmet and put it on her head. After Kirito buckled it for her, Shino couldn't help but think 'I should have learnt how to put on a helmet in GGO to save myself trouble'.

After moving up Ginza highway to Showa highway and moving north for a while, they arrived at the redevelopment around the east side of Akihabara station. They went past the silver skyscrapers that looked like the streets of Gurokken and entered near Okachimachi. The surroundings had a heavy old town like atmosphere.

The motorbike turned around the alleys like an old bull dragging a cart, and they finally stopped at a small shop.

Shino got off her seat, took off her helmet and looked up. This black glowing wooden building gave a chilly feeling, and only the metal signboards that were formed by two dices on the door incidated to her that it was a cafe. Looking down, the words «Dicey Cafe» was carved in, which should be the shop's name. The sign hanging on the icy cold door was flipped to the «closed» side.

“...Over here?”

“Yeah.”

Kirito nodded and took out his bike keys before pushing the door without hesitation. The slow-tempo music of jazz accompanied a quick 'Clink' as the door was opened.

Shino entered the shop like she was attracted by the fragrance of coffee. Under the orange light, the wooden boards were glowing too. The entire space was small, but it had an unspeakable warmth. This made Shino's tense shoulders relax.

“Welcome...”

Upon entering the shop, a clear baritone came immediately. Looking around, Shino spotted a large man with chocolate-colored skin standing behind the bar. That face of an old war veteran looked intimidating, but that white shirt and little butterfly knot bow tie on the collar gave an amusing feeling to that.

There were already two customers who were in the shop. On the round chairs in front of the bar counter, there were two girls wearing school uniforms. Shino noticed that their uniforms were the same color as Kirito's.

“You're too slow!”

One of them, a girl with shoulder-length hair curling inwards jumped up from the round seat and exclaimed that to Kirito.

“Sorry, sorry, Chrysheight spoke too much.”

“I ate 2 apple pies while waiting for you. Kirito! It'll be your fault if I grow fat!”

“W